Turmeric

Turmeric is great for just about every aspect of our well-being. Famous for containing curcumin, a phytochemical with antiinflammatory properties, turmeric is a particular asset for conditions such as lupus, in which the body can get stuck in a habitual cycle of reaction, even after the invader (in the case of lupus, the Epstein-Barr virus) is no longer present. Note that inflammation in chronic illness is due to the body’s immune response to a foreign presence such as a virus—not, as many sources mistakenly say, due to the body turning against itself. Sometimes, though, once a cycle gets started, the body needs an ally to come in and break the pattern. Turmeric is ideal for this job, because it contains natural and very beneficial steroidal compounds from the curcumin as well as other aspects of the turmeric that are critical to calm down outsized inflammatory responses to pathogens. This makes turmeric great for anything in the body that’s inflamed and causing pain, from nerves to joints to the brain. Speaking of brain inflammation, many people walk around with undiagnosed mystery low- grade viral encephalitis, a swelling of the brain on such a minute scale that it’s not detectable by medical testing, though its symptoms are sometimes diagnosed as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). (This is a tag for a mystery illness that’s the result of brain inflammation from Epstein-Barr.) Undiscovered enchephalitis results in mystery pressure in the head, dizziness, deep headaches, blurry eyes that can’t be fixed with a glasses prescription, confusion, severe anxiety, and panic. Turmeric is the ultimate antidote. At the same time that it attends to inflammation, turmeric’s powerful agents and compounds increase blood supply to areas of the body that need enhanced circulation, which makes this an ideal spice for those who have chronic histamine reactions, or toxic blood due to a sluggish liver or poor circulation. Turmeric’s high level of manganese combined with its curcumin make it great for the cardiovascular system—it balances cholesterol, helps inhibit tumors and cysts, and can help prevent virtually any type of cancer, especially skin cancers, when other healing protocols are in alignment. Plus, the manganese activates curcumin’s ability to help extract certain toxic heavy metals from your system.