Curcumin in turmeric checks the formation of fat as well as of blood vessels that help fat tissues grow. It turns white fat into brown fat which enhances fat burning, boosts antioxidant levels, and lowers inflammation in the body. It also tackles other causes of obesity, such as hypothyroidism, increased blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood glucose, insulin resistance, and stress.
Those who keep up with weight loss fads may know that turmeric is a common ingredient in weight loss products and that turmeric tea is a favorite with weight watchers. This golden spice from the East has anti-inflammatory properties and can prevent and manage a number of conditions like diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, thanks to curcumin.1 But is turmeric truly good for weight loss? Let’s find out.
The primary reason for weight gain is consumption of more calories than are burnt off. The excess calories are stored in the body as fat, whether as visceral fat around vital organs or as subcutaneous fat under the skin. Weight gain may be due to physical inactivity or due to other health conditions like hypothyroidism, stress, depression, chronic inflammation, and PCOS.2 Besides fighting obesity directly through multiple mechanisms, turmeric can also fight against all these risk factors.
1. Regulates Fat Metabolism
When consumed with other anti-inflammatory herbs and spices, turmeric helps with weight loss since curcumin regulates lipid metabolism, which plays a central role in the development of obesity.
Curcumin prevents the differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes. Simply put, it prevents the formation of mature fat cells, in the early stages in the cell cycle, by modulating certain cell signals.
In mature fat cells, on the other hand, curcumin inhibits the secretion of inflammatory chemicals called adipokines and increases the expression of adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory chemical. It also raises the antioxidant defense in cells and activates an enzyme called AMPK that enhances fat burning.6 Curcumin also inhibits angiogenesis or the formation of new blood vessels that are necessary for the growth of fat tissues.
Another novel way in which curcumin enhances fat burning is by transforming white fat into brown fat by elevating the levels of neurotransmitter norepinephrine. White fat is the type that is stored under your skin, sometimes even around your vital organs, and leads to obesity, while brown fat helps in burning fat and glucose into energy. So the more brown fat, the lower your chances of gaining weight.
2. Fights Chronic Inflammation
Curcumin is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties, which makes it a good weight loss remedy. Inflammation and obesity feed off each other. Chronic inflammation in the body, whether due to a long-standing infection, injury, poor immunity, or a faulty diet, can mess with your hormones and lead to metabolic disorders including obesity. Obesity, on the other hand can also trigger chronic low-grade inflammation in the body. The visceral fat cells become inflamed as they create more free radicals (reactive oxygen species) and this in turn leads to the release of more inflammatory mediators.
Turmeric can strike the problem at its root by enhancing the levels of antioxidants that fight free radicals. Curcumin inhibits inflammatory pathways in the body as well. It also prevents and repairs damages caused by obesity to other organs like the heart, liver, and kidneys
3. May Prevent Weight Gain Due To Hypothyroidism
Turmeric is often recommended in the diet for hypothyroidism as an anti-inflammatory food and may help in weight loss. Hypothyroidism is a chronic lack of thyroid hormones which regulate metabolism in your body. This condition slows down the metabolism and reduces the rate of fat burning, making you gain weight rapidly. A study has found that when hypothyroid rats were given turmeric extract, vitamin C, or vitamin E, their thyroid weight and total cholesterol levels dropped and circulating thyroid hormones increased. While the study did not directly measure loss of body weight, the results indicate a better-functioning thyroid gland and an improved metabolism, which has the potential to trigger weight loss.
4. Fights Metabolic Syndrome
In most cases, an obese person also has metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by high amounts of visceral fat, triglycerides, increased blood pressure and plasma glucose, insulin resistance, and reduced HDL cholesterol.Often, patients of metabolic syndrome do not lose weight despite diet control or exercising. In one study on such obese individuals with metabolic syndrome, curcumin increased weight loss and reduced body fat, waist and hip circumference, and BMI more effectively than just dietary and lifestyle interventions.This could again be attributed to turmeric’s anti-inflammatory property and its ability to regulate a diverse range of functions in the body.
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Tag: Blog , Health , Turmeric , Weight Loss