Health benefits of herbs and spices: the past, the present, the future

Tapsell, Linda C.; Hemphill, Ian; Cobiac, Lynne; Patch, Craig S; Sullivan, David; Fenech, Michael; Roodenrys, Steven; Keogh, Jennifer; Clifton, Peter; Williams, Peter; Fazio, Virginia A; Inge, Karen E

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00548.x

Cited by 631 publications

(417 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…In India 31% of the population are lacto-vegetarian or vegan [79]. Turmeric is a household staple in India, with reported average daily consumption ranging from 0.24 g/person/day to as high as 4g/person/day [80, 81]. Curcumin, which is a naturally polyphenolic compound found in turmeric has multifaceted medicinal properties and has been implicated in helping to treat several types of neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease [39, 82, 83], retinal diseases [84, 85], Parkinson’s disease [86, 87], stroke [88], brain injury [22, 41, 42] and psychiatric disorders [89–91].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curcumin boosts DHA in the brain: Implications for the prevention of anxiety disorders

Noble

Tyagi

et al. 2015

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Diseas

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Dietary deficiency of docosahexaenoic acid (C22: 6n-3; DHA) is linked to the neuropathology of several cognitive disorders, including anxiety. DHA, which is essential for brain development and protection, is primarily obtained through the diet or synthesized from dietary precursors, however the conversion efficiency is low. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), which is a principal component of the spice turmeric, complements the action of DHA in the brain, and this study was performed to determine molecular mechanisms involved. We report that curcumin enhances the synthesis of DHA from its precursor, α-linolenic acid (C18: 3n-3; ALA) and elevates levels of enzymes involved in the synthesis of DHA such as FADS2 and elongase 2 in both liver and brain tissue. Furthermore, in vivo treatment with curcumin and ALA reduced anxiety-like behavior in rodents. Taken together, these data suggest that curcumin enhances DHA synthesis, resulting in elevated brain DHA content. These findings have important implications for human health and the prevention of cognitive disease, particularly for populations eating a plant-based diet or who do not consume fish, a primary source of DHA, since DHA is essential for brain function and its deficiency is implicated in many types of neurological disorders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curcumin boosts DHA in the brain: Implications for the prevention of anxiety disorders

Noble

Tyagi

et al. 2015

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Diseas

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“…Scientific evidence is accumulating that indicates herbs and spices have medicinal properties that alleviate symptoms or prevent disease. Caraway ( Carum carvi ), anise ( Pimpinella anisum ), and celery ( Apium graveolens ) belong to the Apiaceae family (Figure 1A), contain a high content of polyphenolics, and are demonstrated to have pharmacological activities [20,21,22]. These spice seeds have extensive dietary exposure, as they are major ingredients of curry powders and many savory spice mixtures used in Indian cuisine and for flavoring curries, soups, sausages, cakes, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemoprevention of Rat Mammary Carcinogenesis by Apiaceae Spices

Aqil

Jeyabalan

Munagala

et al. 2017

IJMS

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Scientific evidence suggests that many herbs and spices have medicinal properties that alleviate symptoms or prevent disease. In this study, we examined the chemopreventive effects of the Apiaceae spices, anise, caraway, and celery seeds against 17β-estrogen (E2)-mediated mammary tumorigenesis in an ACI (August-Copenhagen Irish) rat model. Female ACI rats were given either control diet (AIN 93M) or diet supplemented with 7.5% (w/w) of anise, caraway, or celery seed powder. Two weeks later, one half of the animals in each group received subcutaneous silastic implants of E2. Diet intake and body weight were recorded weekly, and animals were euthanized after 3 and 12 weeks. E2-treatment showed significantly (2.1- and 3.4-fold) enhanced growth of pituitary gland at 3 and 12 weeks, respectively. All test spices significantly offset the pituitary growth by 12 weeks, except celery which was effective as early as three weeks. Immunohistochemical analysis for proliferative cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in mammary tissues showed significant reduction in E2-mediated mammary cell proliferation. Test spices reduced the circulating levels of both E2 and prolactin at three weeks. This protection was more pronounced at 12 weeks, with celery eliciting the highest effect. RT-PCR and western blot analysis were performed to determine the potential molecular targets of the spices. Anise and caraway diets significantly offset estrogen-mediated overexpression of both cyclin D1 and estrogen receptor α (ERα). The effect of anise was modest. Likewise, expression of CYP1B1 and CYP1A1 was inhibited by all test spices. Based on short-term molecular markers, caraway was selected over other spices based on its enhanced effect on estrogen-associated pathway. Therefore, a tumor-end point study in ACI rats was conducted with dietary caraway. Tumor palpation from 12 weeks onwards revealed tumor latency of 29 days in caraway-treated animals compared with first tumor appearance at 92 days in control group. At the end of the study (25 weeks), the tumor incidence was 96% in the control group compared with only 70% in the caraway group. A significant reduction in tumor volume (661 ± 123 vs. 313 ± 81 mm3) and tumor multiplicity (4.2 ± 0.4 vs. 2.5 ± 0.5 tumors/animal) was also observed in the caraway group compared with the control group. Together, our data show dietary caraway can significantly delay and prevent the hormonal mammary tumorigenesis by modulating different cellular and molecular targets.

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“…Examples relevant to this study include chilli, cloves, menthol, mustard, wasabi, radish and cinnamon. In many cultures, these and other spices also play an important role in traditional medicine2, where they are used as analgesics and local anaesthetics, as well as to emulate thermosensation34.…”

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confidence: 99%

Dampened neural activity and abolition of epileptic-like activity in cortical slices by active ingredients of spices

Pezzoli

Elhamdani

Camacho

et al. 2014

Sci Rep

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Active ingredients of spices (AIS) modulate neural response in the peripheral nervous system, mainly through interaction with TRP channel/receptors. The present study explores how different AIS modulate neural response in layer 5 pyramidal neurons of S1 neocortex. The AIS tested are agonists of TRPV1/3, TRPM8 or TRPA1. Our results demonstrate that capsaicin, eugenol, menthol, icilin and cinnamaldehyde, but not AITC dampen the generation of APs in a voltage- and time-dependent manner. This effect was further tested for the TRPM8 ligands in the presence of a TRPM8 blocker (BCTC) and on TRPM8 KO mice. The observable effect was still present. Finally, the influence of the selected AIS was tested on in vitro gabazine-induced seizures. Results coincide with the above observations: except for cinnamaldehyde, the same AIS were able to reduce the number, duration of the AP bursts and increase the concentration of gabazine needed to elicit them. In conclusion, our data suggests that some of these AIS can modulate glutamatergic neurons in the brain through a TRP-independent pathway, regardless of whether the neurons are stimulated intracellularly or by hyperactive microcircuitry.

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Health benefits of herbs and spices: the past, the present, the future

Cited by 631 publications

References 105 publications

Curcumin boosts DHA in the brain: Implications for the prevention of anxiety disorders

Curcumin boosts DHA in the brain: Implications for the prevention of anxiety disorders

Chemoprevention of Rat Mammary Carcinogenesis by Apiaceae Spices

Dampened neural activity and abolition of epileptic-like activity in cortical slices by active ingredients of spices

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