5. Curcumin May Help Treat or Prevent Diabetes
According to a past review of studies,
curcumin may help treat and prevent diabetes, as well as associated disorders like diabetic nephropathy (also called diabetic kidney disease), which affects people with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
One drawback: Many of the studies were done only in animals, not humans.
For example, one study found that feeding 80 mg of tetrahydrocurcumin (one of the main substances in curcumin) per kg of body weight to rats with type 2 diabetes for 45 days led to a significant decrease in blood sugar, as well as an increase in plasma insulin.
A study of obese mice with type 2 diabetes revealed that curcumin supplements helped lower blood insulin levels after 16 weeks.
The authors of a recent review note that curcumin may be a good adjunct to diabetes treatment to improve insulin resistance and blood sugar control, and lower blood lipids (fatty substances found in the blood).
Meanwhile, curcumin may help prevent diabetes through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and improve many of the factors that contribute to diabetes, including insulin resistance, high blood sugar, and hyperlipidemia (a medical term to describe elevated levels of fat in the blood; one type of hyperlipidemia is characterized by high levels of LDL or “bad” cholesterol).
Still, more human studies are needed to confirm.