Indian Takeaways: Good for What Ails You?

I’m not sure whether many of my friends across the world follow the ‘Brit Binge’syndrome but over here  unfortunately it seems to be that Saturday night is binge night – go to a night club with your mates, drink rather more than a few beers and then end up with the munchies.  In order to stop the attack of the mutant munchies, one then heads for the nearest pizzeria, kebab house or Indian takeaway.

We’re constantly being told that it’s not good practice to partake of these tasty takeaways on a regular basis due to high fat content, the number of calories, etc, etc but now it seems we can enjoy a good curry and insist it’s for the ‘benefit of our health’!

Some while ago researchers at the University of Arizona believed that turmeric, which has been used in Asian medicine for centuries to treat inflammatory diseases and disorders, could help in preventing rheumatoid arthritis.  They did various tests and, having managed to take an extract from the root which didn’t have any essential oils in it, discovered that it contained curcumin.  This curcumin stops a certain controlling protein (known as NF-KB – catchy name!) from sticking to the genes which are activated in the joint – in essence, it blocks that particular protein from nibbling its way through to your gristly bits!!

The research suggests that if this works with arthritis then there’s a good chance it can be modified to work with other inflammatory ailments such as asthma, multiple sclerosis and possibly osteoporosis.

Duke University in North Carolina have also seen the merits of turmeric and discovered that this spice may prevent the spread of amyloid protein plaques in the brain.  These plaques are thought to cause dementia.  The University feels there may be some evidence that people who cook up a curry two or three times a week are at lower risk of contracting dementia but they’re currently checking out what happens if you go on a curry binge – might be good for stopping your dementia but I suspect that we may end up with quite an ‘ecological disaster’ with all that flatulence flooding into the atmosphere!

All of this research has obviously whet the appetites at the Cork (Ireland) Cancer Research Centre who say they can show that curcumin can destroy cancer cells.  Dr Sharon McKenna of the Centre said that curcumin started to kill cancer cells within the gullet in 24 hours.  These cells also began to digest themselves after the curcumin had sent out shockwaves to them.  A director of Cancer Research UK is quite excited by this research and has said that the natural chemicals in turmeric could be developed into treatments for oesophageal cancer (part of the throat).

Oesophageal cancer rates have risen by more than 50% since the 1970s and this increase is thought to be linked to a rise in obesity and alcohol intake.  Each year in the UK alone almost 8,000 are diagnosed with this form of cancer and it’s the sixth most common cancer causing death (around 5% of all UK cancer deaths).

So, all ‘gay young things’ heading for a morsel to beat the binge munchies, I would suggest you head for the nearest curry house!  Although, of course, I wouldn’t advocate either a beer binge or an Indian takeaway seven days a week – everything in moderation as they say over here in the lager lout capital of the world!!!!