Cheap but Chic: Turmeric Does More than Spice up Life
Turmeric may help ward off infection with Clostridium difficile in hospitals, researchers claim.
Curcumin — the active ingredient in the spice turmeric — inhibited the growth of various strains of C. difficile in vitro, according to Rattan Patel, MD, of Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues.
“It’s likely that daily use of turmeric in hospital settings, in food products like curry or soup, can potentially decrease the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea,” Patel said at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting.
Indigenous people on the Indian subcontinent have been using turmeric for more than 2,000 years to ward off gastrointestinal infection.
Noting that the turmeric cost just $1.99 at the grocery store, Patel said the spice could potentially be used as a novel and inexpensive means of preventing C. difficile infections in hospitals.
Pretty cool that that this hot and easily sourced ingredient has such punch in fighting infection!
