Curcuminoids May Lead to Healthier Hearts
SENDAI, Japan--Scientists from Tohoku University Graduate School of Life Science and Agriculture studying the effects of dietary curcuminoid supplementation on lipid metabolism in rats discovered that curcuminoids display antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic and hypercholesterolemic activities (J Nutrition, 131:2932-35, 2001) (www.nutrition.org). Male rats were assigned to three high-fat diet groups for two weeks: 1) .2 g curcumioids per 100 g diet; 2) 1 g curcuminoids per 100 g diet; and 3) control. Liver triacylglycerol and cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower in the 1 g group compared to the control. Based on these results, scientists concluded that dietary curcuminoids may have lipid-lowering effects.