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Chemistry-of-Turmeric — http://www.compoundchem.com/

Turmeric is a wonderful ingredient to add to a curry – it also has been exalted as a wonder food with lot’s of great benefits for health. Some of the more pervasive anecdotes with regards to turmerics ‘heath benefits’ are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects and benefits for digestive health and IBS.

I have always had a bit of a problem with the anti-oxidant hypothesis in health, as an ex polymer chemist I was very experienced in protecting polymer products such as paints and adhesives from the effects of oxidation and environmental free radical degradation. This was not always easy to achieve – even the in simplest of formulations.

These free radical reactions do occur in our bodies – at a base level we are a very complex mix of chemical reactions and our bodies contain polymers. Turmeric is a polyphenol, and polyphenols do show anti-oxidant properties. With anti-oxidant protection, as a chemical reaction, one factor needs to be fulfilled – the anti-oxidant has to be situated at the site where the free radical reactions occur to be able to mop them up. Therefore any research involving turmeric in petri dishes to observe it’s anti-oxidant (and anti-inflammatory or anti-cancer effects), or by feeding animals unsustainably large amounts may be very interesting, but far from proving it to be an effective anti-oxidant in our body. There is a problem with turmeric – it is very poorly absorbed in the digestive tract, it has poor solubility – therefore it would be difficult to transport it to the site of reaction. If the anti-oxidant cannot physically be transported to the site of free radical reaction, then it is clearly not possible for it to react! Until this problem is solved it is perhaps an entirely useless medical treatment, and of course it needs to be studied in humans as a treatment, with randomized controlled trials and ultimately a systematic review. These problems can possibly be solved – by utilizing chemistry.

But…but…turmeric is ‘natural’, is the response, so therefore it is surely better for us than all those ‘chemicals’ in medicines? If you are going to use the anti-oxidant theory for promotion of ‘alternative’ natural care, then you are buying into chemistry by using this as your argument. Spoiler alert – curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is a chemical – see the info-graphic above. If it was effective it would be called a medicine, which may be possible in the future with lot’s more health research – but certainly we are a very long way from this now. One research paper proposed turmeric as a jack-of-all trades, in other words ‘useful’ for numerous health areas, which concomitantly also means master of none, an insightful figure of speech here, perhaps.

For digestive complaints turmeric has a long history of use in ayurvedic medicine as a compound which can be useful for indigestion, but with little strong evidence for effective use in either IBS or indigestion – just tantalizing pre-clinical trials and uncontrolled studies.

Past history has taught us that medicines are often derived from naturally occurring pharmacological plants, so research of turmeric should certainly continue – but we really shouldn’t be tempted to jump the gun with promoting turmerics alleged health effects, this is disingenuous.

So does turmeric have any benefits at all? Of course! Turmeric is low fodmap as a spice and can be used to flavour low fodmap recipes for people who have irritable bowel syndrome and imparts these foods with a very vibrant colour. If you are wanting a January ‘health kick’ from turmeric, or use it to ‘cure’ your IBS, then think again, but enjoying a great, warming, vibrant low fodmap meal made from turmeric, either low fodmap curry, or the low fodmap soup recipe below, in the depth of winter, is surely a sublime use of this wonderful spice?

Carrot, ginger and turmeric soup

Ingredients

500g carrots

1 tablespoon of oil

1 teaspoon of Moroccan spice (Fodify)

1 teaspoon of ginger

2 teaspoons of turmeric

1500mls water

seasoning to taste

Method

Peel and chop the carrots

Fry the spices in oil to release the flavour

Add the water and carrots to the spices

Cook till the carrots are soft, then blend with a handblender

Season

Serves 3-4

https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/curry-spice-kills-cancer-cells/

https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/spice-for-mice/

https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/could-curry-spice-boost-brain-cell-repair/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11894-016-0494-0

talkhealth Blog

It’s now October – time for the nights to draw in and Halloween is just around the corner. Have you time to cook some dark dishes for All Hallows’ Eve? Would you like a story before we begin out tasty treat? You would? Now I am not in the habit of believing in ghosts being a pragmatic scientist at heart, but I do love a good story and a recent visit to Wycoller Hall certainly stirred the senses and not in a good way. The Lancashire area is steeped in legend and tales of witchcraft and haunting and the ancient hamlet of Wycoller is no exception. The old dilapidated ruin of Wycoller Hall holds a story within it’s architecture to chill you to the core. This the tale of Wycoller Hall and the headless horseman that haunts it’s grounds.

Locals watch the weather forecast with trepidation – it is said that the horseman rides when the weather is stormy and wild, a night reportedly not to wander out, perchance you encounter the headless spectre and his steed.

Simon Cunliffe, Lord of Wycoller was said to been short to temper and hearing of his wife’s reported indiscretions with another man, lost all sense of reason and drove his horse ferociously down the lane and over the cobbles back to the hall. On arrival he leaped from his mount and ran through the hall and up the stairs to his wife’s bedchamber. Before death his wife allegedly cursed the family with downfall, a fate which later came to pass. Showing no mercy he murdered her and left, racing back up the lane on his horse, never to be seen again. The spectres dark fate on tempestuous nights is to repeat this event ad infinitum.

The story goes that when the weather is wild a rider is heard galloping down the lane, over the ancient pack-horse bridge. The dark horses hooves sparking cobbles, the whites of the steeds eyes blazing, nostrils flared and flaming, flanks sudoriferous. His mount, headless above Stuart ruff – literally losing his head to his outrage – is certainly a sight to behold leaping from his horse. Entering the ruin he is heard striding up long vanished stairs to the lady Cunliffes bedroom. A crack of a whip is heard then bloodcurdling screams echo around the remaining walls of the hall. He then returns to his mount and is heard dashing up the lane into the underworld – till the next time the weather is as stormy as his temperament.

Now looking at the image below tell me you can appreciate the atmosphere at this little hamlet? Even in the height of summer it can be very chilling. What is the story telling us? Well perhaps anger only ultimately hurts the angry person? I wonder?

The recipe above uses the second Fodify spice mix – Thai green curry

Ingredients

2 cooked chicken thighs

1 teaspoon of Fodify spice mix Thai green curry

1 Kaffir Lime leaf

400 ml of chicken stock

1 teaspoon of fish sauce

1.5 teaspoons of tamarind

200ml of light coconut milk

2 teaspoons of cornflour

1 aubergine

Small amount of oil to fry herbs and aubergine

Method

Add oil to the pan and fry the herbs for 2-3 minutes to release the flavour. Add the aubergine, finely chopped kaffir lime leaf and cook. Add the tamarind, stock (home made or perhaps Atkins & Potts classic chicken stock or Borough Broth Chicken Bone Broth – although this choice is very expensive.) and the rest of the ingredients and serve with rice noodles.

Serves 2

All ingredients for this recipe were purchased.

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