Turmeric may help boost heart health: Study

Consuming curcumin -- the active compound in turmeric -- may improve exercise capacity in patients with heart failure, a study claims.

Curcumin has been used as a traditional Asian medicine for centuries, primarily to treat gastrointestinal ailments and skin wounds, said researchers from the University of Nebraska in the US.

Studies increasingly suggest that the compound may prevent or limit muscle wasting associated with a number of health conditions, including heart failure, they said.

People with heart failure have a reduced function of the left ventricle -- the chamber of the heart that pumps blood out to the rest of the body -- called reduced ejection fraction.

A decreased ability to exercise or exercise intolerance is another significant characteristic of heart failure, according to the study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

The researchers theorised that a reduction in the normal signalling of Nrf2, a protein that regulates the expression of antioxidant enzymes, may play a role in the impaired expression of antioxidant enzymes. Read More

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