Turmeric Benefits & Breast Health with Dr. Pendergrast
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month we decided to ask Robert Pendergrast, M.D., author of Breast Cancer: Reduce Your Risk with Foods You Love, if he had any culinary tips for how to reduce your risk of breast cancer while preparing Clean Cuisine.
When Dr. Pendergrast suggested doing an article on turmeric we were especially enthused because we know turmeric benefits are tremendous and well researched … and the benefits extend well beyond breast cancer prevention. In addition, turmeric really can be an exciting spice to experiment with in the kitchen (especially if you love Indian food.) We hope you find the article below as informative as we did.
Thank you Dr. Pendergrast!!
Turmeric Benefits: A Spice That Could Save Your Life
By Robert Pendergrast, M.D.
I am hoping that turmeric will become one of your regular spice choices by the end of this page. You are probably familiar with it as one of the characteristic flavors of Indian curry, and I want to let you know also of the growing evidence for its medical benefits. But even if you are not an adventurous eater, you can still enjoy its benefits, either in “non-spicy” recipes or as an encapsulated supplement.
Turmeric is a spice that has well-researched properties for cancer prevention. It imparts that characteristic yellow-orange color to Indian foods, and has a distinctive flavor. It is not highly pungent or “hot” like chili peppers, just very flavorful. The spice is the ground powder from the rhizome (underground stem) of the plant, closely related to ginger. It has been cultivated and used in cooking for at least 4000 years of recorded history in India, so you can imagine how many recipes you could choose from after 4000 years!
First let’s talk about its potential for preventing breast cancer.
The major ingredient of turmeric powder is curcumin, which has normally been the subject of any medical research on this topic. Studies have shown that curcumin significantly slows the growth of breast cancer cells which were started by exposure to pesticides. And in combination with a soy protein the effect was even stronger. However, at least one study has shown that the addition of curcumin to the diet DURING chemotherapy for cancer made the chemotherapy less effective because curcumin is such a strong antioxidant. So let me be very clear: based on good science, I recommend that women who are concerned with breast cancer prevention eat this spice on a regular basis, and women who already have breast cancer can add it to their diet, but NOT during chemotherapy. Once finished with chemotherapy, using turmeric makes good sense as a way to enhance standard treatment.
If you don’t enjoy the taste, you can find it as a ground powder in capsules. While there are no standardized preventive dosing guidelines, I recommend somewhere around 500 mg of curcumin twice daily.
Additional Turmeric Benefits:
Next you should understand that turmeric is a potent anti-inflammatory. In fact, it is this strong effect against inflammation which in part explains its role in preventing cancer. But inflammation is involved in so many more unpleasant things in the body, notably arthritis, chronic pain, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Here’s a short simple way to look at how this spicy treasure can help turn that inflammation around. There is a class of enzymes called cyclo-oxygenases (COX for short) involved in producing inflammatory compounds in the body called prostaglandins. There are 2 types of COX, and COX-2 is the one most involved in pain and inflammation. That’s why a few years ago, there was a multi-billion dollar investment by big pharmaceutical companies in making drugs called COX-2 inhibitors, which turned out to be very good treatment for arthritis. The problem with those drugs is that at least one of them also turned out to make heart attacks more likely. That was really bad news. But the good news is that research shows that turmeric also inhibits COX-2 and does not seem to have any of those nasty side effects. Thanks again to nature’s pharmacy for a helper that does not harm. You can safely use it alone or in combination with other herbs for arthritis symptoms.
Turmeric also inhibits an immune compound in the body which can flare out of control in inflammatory disease states, called NF-kappa B, and this is probably one of the most important reasons I recommend it for the prevention of Alzheimer’s dementia.
And because this spice has been consumed in great quantities as a food over centuries, I have no concerns about its safety. I encourage you to get to know and love it in your cooking, and also to supplement with it if any of those health concerns especially concern you. It’s a real gift from nature, so enjoy it with gratitude!
To your health and wellness,
Robert Pendergrast, MD
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Want to Get Turmeric Benefits From Food?
Try one of these anti-inflammatory Clean Cuisine turmeric recipes:
- Golden Latte
- Turmeric Salad Dressing
- Mood-Boosting Turmeric Smoothie
- Slow Cooker Turmeric Chicken
- Turmeric Detox Pops
- Pain-Reducing Turmeric Tea
- Turmeric-Ginger Detox Shots
Want to Get Turmeric Benefits From a Supplement?
Although we would not suggest taking curcumin (what is believed to be the most active compound in turmeric) in isolated form we do think turmeric supplements can be helpful if you aren’t up for cooking with turmeric on a regular basis. To get true benefits from cooking with turmeric you would need to consume approximately ¼ to ½ teaspoon of turmeric each day.
Since many people in India eat foods containing turmeric at almost every meal they are easily getting this amount on a daily basis. If eating that much turmeric isn’t your shtick, supplements might seem like an easy substitute to cooking with turmeric. The downside is that turmeric supplements are not well absorbed from the G.I. tract. However, research shows that by adding piperine (a compound found in black pepper) the absorption of turmeric is greatly enhanced. Interestingly, if you look at how cultures who consume turmeric regularly cook you’ll see the use of pepper and turmeric go hand in hand (ginger is also frequently paired with turmeric and ginger is known to help boost the absorption of turmeric also.)
One economical turmeric supplement we found containing piperine is the Vitacost Turmeric Extract Curcumin C3 Complex with “Bioperine,” a standardized piperine extract obtained from black pepper. You can purchase this extract online by clicking the image link below.
About Dr. Robert Pendergrast
Find out more about Dr. Pendergrast’s dietary approach to cancer prevention in his book Breast Cancer: Reduce Your Risk with Foods You Love. Dr. Robert Pendergrast is a Board Certified physician and faculty member of the Georgia Health Sciences University (formerly the Medical College of Georgia). He is an Associate Fellow in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, the program founded and directed by Dr. Andrew Weil. In addition to his writing and speaking appearances nationwide, Dr. Pendergrast currently cares for patients in Georgia and South Carolina at his Aiken-Augusta Holistic Health Center.
I am just wondering why you say that you don’t recommend taking curcumin. I have MS and I take the best curcumin supplement I can find. I believe not only that it helps me on a daily basis, but that it is also healing. It has helped me tremendously over the past year, along with other supplements that I take. Just curious.
Hi Tara, I too have MS and although I do take turmeric also, my husband and I don’t believe taking any isolated food compound (such as Lycopene from tomatoes or isoflavones from soy) is optimal because scientists still don’t know exactly how these substances work—and it is most likely that they do not work in isolation, but instead work in synergy with all of the other many, many compounds found in the “whole” food or “whole” spice/ herb, etc. So, for that reason I supplement with turmeric instead of just isolated curcumin. Hopefully this makes sense? If not, let me know and I can explain further…—ivy
I was fascinated to read this informative article – incorporating cancer fighting foods into our diets makes so much sense. Medical research indicates that turmeric interferes with cellular pathways that lead to several different types of cancer. I have been reading about the amazing health benefits of turmeric.
My mother is very much into medicinal herbs and vitamins and her good health at an advanced age is proof that there are benefits to eating the right foods and taking supplements. She does not know about this root or herb or spice. Whatever it is classified as, it sounds like a good spice for most any type of meal. I love spicy food and I welcome anything that ads some heat to my dinners. Plus, I am terrified of cancer and I am willing to do anything to avoid it.
I never knew turmeric has this benefits. Thanks anyways for posting this.
I don’t quite know if this concept is being done anywhere, but I think it would be a great promotion for restaurants to use one day per week or one weekend (or more often), during breast cancer awareness month, to offer dishes in their menu which combine turmeric medicinal spice and any other foods and herbs that can prevent cancer. This would bring awareness, not only to breast cancer and the need for women to get regular checkups, but it would also serve to educate patrons about this herb and other foods they can implement into their diets. This would serve dual purposes.
It’s really nice of you to discuss breast awareness it’s been a top social and health issue nowadays. Thanks for supporting the campaign against breast cancer.
Losing someone to breast cancer is the most difficult thing I have ever had to go through, from the time they are diagnosed to the end all you can do is set back and watch them wither away. I for one appreciate anything that people can do to bring more awareness to the breast cancer situation. I now that there are a lot of people out there with different kinds of cancer and I feel for them as well, so awareness to cancer in general is an important thing. I am hoping that this spice will helps prevent all kinds of cancer in the end. Thank you for caring enough to post this information it is much appreciated.
Thank you for posting this information and helping to make people aware of new things they can try to prevent breast cancer. And simply making them aware of breast cancer is helping tremendously as well, the more people that are aware of this issue the more people will sign up to help the cause in some way. In this case especially the more the merrier.
I am not very familiar with turmeric but it sounds like a great spice to cook with, do you happen to have any recipes that I could make easily just to try it at first. Breast Cancer runs in my family so anything I can do to try and prevent it I will. This is some great information, the more people we can get aware of Breast Cancer and just how serious it is the better. Please post any recipes you might have, is it better on meat or vegetables or does it matter?
It is a good thing this spice is not too spicy as many people who are in their middle age often have a problem eating spicy foods. The benefits of this spice and the fact that it can potentially prevent cancer makes this root so vital and it should become a part of your diet. I wonder if this is like other supplements in that it should be ingested daily or is this something you just need to take every so often (like weekly perhaps?). From the photos, I guess it is brown in color, like many types of roots, but it may as well be packaged in pink and promoted this month during breast cancer awareness month.
I am so glad to see so much information out there about breast cancer, it helps so much to raise awareness and to raise money for the on going research to help cure it. I love the fact that they do all of these benefits like the runs and walks that they get together and do and the support given by the NFL is so great because it is national support. Thank you for even one more possible agent to help prevent breast cancer, it is much appreciated.
Thank you for this post, have you had a loss to breast cancer before? I had two really good friends pass away from breast cancer and I literally watched them wither away to nothing, and they were so sick the last days of their lives. If things like this would have come out before then I know they would have tried it to see if it would at least make them feel somewhat better. I get involved as much as possible with breast cancer awareness month because it has hit so close to home for me and anything I can take and share with the committees that I am on so they can spread the word even more is always a welcome help. Thank you and please keep up the excellent work you guys are doing.
One comment raised a question with me as far as Curry powder, is there any similarities in the two? And if it will help prevent breast cancer then wouldn’t it help with other forms as well? I realize that there are a lot of forms that it would need to be tested on but I think the research they did on Breast cancer and the results they got back would prompt them to try it right away. I think it is great that we have Breast Cancer awareness month and I especially think it is great that the NFL participates in such a big way making sure that men today are aware of how important it is.
I love curry powder on my meats. So if this substance tastes anything like it, this spicy treasure will be a pleasure to consume for the sake of your health and your palette. I wonder if this miracle spice is also helpful in preventing colon cancer or are the studies (if any) only for breast cancer. In any case, let us all go out and wear something pink because it serves to remind anyone who may see you about breast cancer awareness which just may prompt more women to get checked this year.
Breast cancer is a very serious issue today and anything that can help prevent it is a most welcome piece of advice. If your article is correct and this stuff really works I will give it a try even if it is hot. I would also like to find some of the cur cumin in supplement form as well because I think it would be easier for my mom to take that way as she has a lot of stomach problems when she eats spicy stuff anyway. This is really great information I appreciate the write up on anything that can help prevent breast cancer. I love all your blogs they are always so helpful please keep up the good work.