Researchers at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that curcumin, which is found in turmeric and “that gives curry its yellow hue, blocked the growth of melanoma tumor cells and even stimulated their death in the laboratory.”
“[Bharat B. Aggarwal and his colleagues] zeroed in on a molecule called NF-kappa B, which is known to be overactive in several types of tumors, including melanoma. The turmeric shut down the molecule and that lead to inhibition of the tumor growth.”
Who knew? Bring on the sambar! Anticipation of mom’s reaction has started: See, our culture knew long ago what is healthy for the body. You youngsters have no respect for our Ayurveda … and so it goes, as I hold the phone away from my ear for a good minute.
If you want to relay this news to family and friends in India or simply wish to order the aforementioned yellow cooking powder fresh from its source, software is now available “which for the first time enables people to make free calls from their mobile phones to users of Skype, the hugely successful Internet telephony network.”
The global desi community will soon be aglow and abuzz. Just doing my part to save my people their skin and $$$.
So is that why my grandmother always put it on her body? Do you think that it reduces the chances of skin cancer?
She always claimed that it was a “beauty” tip to make your skin glow, but maybe there is a practical reason too.
i’ve been reading about this for a long time now. Too bad us white kids who spend so much time in the sun will get old and wrinkled fast – it’ll prevent cancer but wont’ do much good in the beauty department :(
When I was a kid, various aunts and distant female relatives would chide my mother for scrubbing me with anything other than besan (gram flour) and turmeric powder. Man, that stuff would yellow up my mom’s spotless white bathroom quicker than you can say “Holi.” It wasn’t a long-lasting phase. Madras is full of yellow-faced maamis doing their vegetable shopping at the evening bazaar.
What a dilemma.. Haldi will leave it’s indelible mark in every kitchen where it’s used… and also on you if you stand in the same room, but everyone tells me that haldi is so good for the body… maybe moderation is the answer :-)
Anil, I wonder if it works when consumed orally in pill form! Hahaha, sorry to get all GNC yuppie on you! It has to be applied externally to work, I bet. When I was in India last, I noticed that stores (or pharmacies) carried a turmeric lotion/cream.
While helping a friend cook once, I got haldi water all over the first pair of super-designer jeans I ever purchased and was really upset about it. The only way to get it out completely was to treat the jeans chemically, therefore ruining them, so I just threw it in the regular wash. Thankfully, the haldi has faded with many washes.
For those of you out there learning Indian languages, turmeric powder is haldi in Hindi, haridhra in Sanskrit and manja podi in Tamil (literally means “yellow powder”).
I just noticed that our friendly co-op was selling fresh turmeric – like fresh ginger.
I was excited just to see it there though I have no earthly use for it. ( That is the stuff that makes yellow-faced mamis, yellow faced, right?)
who buys it and for what I wonder.
That would be the stuff that makes the yellow-faced maamis yellow-faced. Right. In fact, in India, my grandmother had a cook who would put it all over her face and then on her thirumaangalyam kayuru (mangalsutra thread, for anyone else reading this) for added measure. Every time she saw me, she would give me a big hug and I had to cringe in order for the turmeric not to get all over my t-shirts.
Between turmeric powder, mango juice and Fanta, I think we have the ochre shades on clothes covered. Shout is going to have to market an extra-strength product in India.
Maybe it’s just my fam, but my mom used to force my brother and I to drink an odd concoction of turmeric powder, ghee, and salt when we were ill. I could never tell if it worked or not, but it was always a welcome distraction from whatever illness we had.
It wa sin my family too. I hated it!!
Mites – thanks for “haridharam’. I have been saying it constantly for the last couple of days.