Common spices such as turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic, and cinnamon have significant therapeutic utility. We list the work scientific work done on these spices around the world.

Turmeric
Scientific studies have shown that turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) has anticancer properties—it protects DNA and stimulates detoxifying enzymes.[1–6] Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties [7] and is hepatoprotective.[8] It is antibacterial,[9] antifungal,[10] and promotes wound healing.[11] Turmeric protects against heart disease: it decreases low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglyceride levels,[12] is antithrombotic,[13] and prevents lipid peroxidation and aortic fatty streak formation.[14] Turmeric may protect against Alzheimer’s disease: it protects cells from beta-amyloid injury[15,16] and improves several aspects of Alzheimer’s disease in animal models.[16,17]. Click here to buy

Scientifc References
1. Aggarwal BB, Kumar A, Bharti AC. Anticancer potential of curcumin: Preclinical and clinical studies. Anticancer Res 2003;23:363–398.
2. Kawamori T, Lubet R, Steele VE, et al. Chemopreventive effect of curcumin, a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agent, during the promotion/progression stages of colon cancer. Cancer Res 1999;59:597–601.
3. Limtrakul P, Anuchapreeda S, Lipigorngoson S, Dunn FW. Inhibition of carcinogen induced c-Ha-ras and c-fos protooncogenes expression by dietary curcumin. BMC Cancer 2001;1:1.
4. Piper JT, Singhal SS, Salameh MS, et al. Mechanisms of anticarcinogenic
properties of curcumin: The effect of curcumin on glutathione linked detoxification enzymes in rat liver. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 1998;30:445–456.
5. Aggarwal BB, Sundaram C, Malani N, Ichikawa H. Curcumin:
The Indian solid gold. Adv Exp Med Biol 2007;595:1–75. Shishodia S, Sethi G, Aggarwal BB. Curcumin: Getting back to the roots. Ann NY Acad Sci 2005;1056:206–217.
6. Chainani-Wu N. Safety and anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin: A component of tumeric (Curcuma longa). J Altern Complement Med 2003;9:161–168.
7. Deshpande UR, Gadre SG, Raste AS, et al. Protective effect of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) extract on carbon tetrachloride- induced liver damage in rats. Indian J Exp Biol 1998;36:573–577.
8. Mahady GB, Pendland SL, Yun G, Lu ZZ. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) and curcumin inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori, a group 1 carcinogen. Anticancer Res 2002;22: 4179–4181.
9. Apisariyakul A, Vanittanakom N, Buddhasukh D. Antifungal activity of turmeric oil extracted from Curcuma longa (Zingiberaceae). J Ethnopharmacol 1995;49:163–169.
10. Sidhu GS, Singh AK, Thaloor D, et al. Enhancement of wound healing by curcumin in animals. Wound Repair Regen 1998;6:167–177.
11. Babu PS, Srinivasan K. Hypolipidemic action of curcumin, the active principle of turmeric (Curcuma longa) in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Mol Cell Biochem
1997;166:169–175.
12. Olajide OA. Investigation of the effects of selected medicinal plants on experimental thrombosis. Phytother Res 1999;13:231–232.
13. Quiles JL, Mesa MD, Ramirez-Tortosa CL, et al. Curcuma longa extract supplementation reduces oxidative stress and attenuates aortic fatty streak development in rabbits. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2002;22:1225–1231.
14. Kim DSHL, Park S-Y, Kim J-Y. Curcuminoids from Curcuma longa L. (Zingiberaceae) that protect PC12 rat pheochromocytoma and normal human umbilical vein endothelial
cells from A(1-42) insult. Neurosci Lett 2001;303:57–61.
15. Park S-Y, Kim DSHL. Discovery of natural products from
Curcuma longa that protect cells from beta-amyloid insult:
A drug discovery effort against Alzheimer’s disease. J Nat Prod 2002;65:1227–1231.
16. Ringman JM, Frautschy SA, Cole GM, et al. A potential role
of the curry spice curcumin in Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Alzheimer Res 2005;2:131–136.
17. Yang F, Lim GP, Begum AN, et al. Curcumin inhibits formation
of amyloid  oligomers and fibrils, binds plaques, and
reduces amyloid in vivo. J Biol Chem 2005;280:5892–5901.

Author wish to thank Prof. Hari Sharma, MD, DABP, FCAP, FRCPC, DABHM
The Ohio State University Center for Integrative Medicine; College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. for providing the article THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE Volume 13, Number 9, 2007, pp. 1011–1019
© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/acm.2007.7017-A that forms the basis of this blog.