Ingredients to Crave for

Hello Friends, welcome back to our blogs section of IndusViva, where we will be talking of health tips, information about various products that we offer and their positive effects on health. In today’s episode we will start a new series called “Ingredients to Crave for” – a detailed information on various ingredients that are being used in our products and their significance in maintaining good health.

We will be talking about how the ingredients will help maintain one’s health covering from the facts mentioned in Ayurveda , folklore or traditional systems of medicine and how they are validated using the modern aspects of science. We will be telling you some data and information mentioned in some well-known journals and publications which talk about the benefits of these herbs and ingredients that go in our product.

The structure of this series “Ingredients to Crave for” will cover all the hero ingredients we use in our IndusViva products and every episode will be focusing on one of the ingredients and emphasise on the benefits that these ingredients do provide us by using them on regular basis. In the subsequent episodes, we will be talking about the next ingredient or continuation of the benefits that we discussed in our previous episode.

So friends, let’s start this journey into the world of beautiful ingredients.

To begin with, we will start our journey with a very well-known herb “Turmeric” a culinary herb which we all humans have been using from ages. We use it in kitchen as a spice for producing tasty food and at the same time to impart its beautiful golden yellow colour to the foods that we consume.

Turmeric is scientifically known as Curcuma longa, its rhizomes (roots) are used for its therapeutic and culinary benefits.

From Haldi doodh to the Haldi lep, it has always been our granny’s go-to aid. From relieving pain to soothing inflammation, enhancing skin to healing wounds, preventing diseases to regulating body functions, Turmeric does it all!

The main active ingredient present in Turmeric which is responsible for its therapeutic edge is known as Curcumin , it is the same ingredient which is responsible for its bright yellow colour.

It is grouped under group of phyto-compounds termed as Polyphenols.

It is curcumin that makes turmeric a magical healer. Researchers found that inflammation and oxidative damage play a role in insulin resistance. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric fight off the damaging free radicals. Thus, it helps in managing blood sugar levels.

The anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin is most likely mediated through its ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), lipoxygenase (LOX), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). COX-2, LOX, and iNOS are important enzymes that mediate inflammatory processes.

Because of the crucial role of inflammation in most chronic diseases, the potential of curcumin has been examined in neoplastic, neurological, cardiovascular, pulmonary and metabolic diseases.

Curcumin is being recognized and used worldwide in many different forms for multiple potential health benefits. For example, in India, turmeric—containing curcumin—has been used in curries; in Japan, it is served in tea; in Thailand, it is used in cosmetics; in China, it is used as a colourant; in Korea, it is served in drinks; in Malaysia, it is used as an antiseptic; in Pakistan, it is used as an anti-inflammatory agent; and in the United States, it is used in mustard sauce, cheese, butter, and chips, as a preservative and a colouring agent, in addition to capsules and powder forms.

Curcuminoids have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS), and good tolerability and safety profiles have been shown by clinical trials, even at doses between 4000 and 8000 mg/day and doses up to 12,000 mg/day of 95% concentration of three curcuminoids: curcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin, and demethoxycurcumin.

The idea that curcumin can attenuate systemic inflammation has implications beyond arthritis, as systemic inflammation has been associated with many conditions affecting many systems. One such condition is Metabolic syndrome (MetS), which includes insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hypertension, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), elevated triglyceride levels, and obesity, especially visceral obesity.

Curcumin has been shown to attenuate several aspects of MetS by improving insulin sensitivity, suppressing adipogenesis, and reducing elevated blood pressure, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Both overweight and obesity are linked to chronic low-grade inflammation; although the exact mechanisms are not clear, it is known that pro-inflammatory cytokines are released. These cytokines are thought to be at the core of the complications associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, addressing inflammation is important.

Curcumin as we discussed in this blog, is a very well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredient, as a company having Science in its gene, we use Curcuma longa (Turmeric) in iCare to provide manifold health benefits it provides.

In the next episode of “Ingredients to Crave for” we will discuss many more such therapeutic benefits Turmeric provides.