A perennial plant belonging to the ginger family.  Dried Curcuma longa is used as a spice: turmeric.  Turmeric is also used in Asian folk medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent, as well as for “indigestion, hepatitis, jaundice, diabetes, atherosclerosis and bacterial infections“.  The best-researched component of turmeric is curcumin, which has therapeutic potential for treating/preventing cancer, Alzheimer’s and inflammatory diseases.  Turmeric has also shown hypoglycemic and anti-obesity effects in animal experiments.

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