A journey through the flavours and tastes of the East to discover precious plants with health benefits2. New exciting frontiers in turmeric use, the 'golden'spice

摘要

Let's go on with our journey through the flavours and tastes of the East to discover precious plants and discuss turmeric. Along with ginger, pepper and cinnamon, turmeric is a real spice of health, a 'golden' spice. It was a kundalini yoga teacher, Yogi Bhajan, who first prepared the golden milk (milk containing turmeric) and offered it to his students to help the joints to remain more elastic and his followers to maintain poses longer. This empirical use is, to date, supported by modern and extensive scientific documentation proving the usefulness of bioavail-able turmeric in the treatment of joint problems [1-3]. To maintain yoga poses longer, it is also crucial to have good elasticity and muscle resistance. Keeping good muscle strength and toneis important not only for those who love yoga or even play sports non-competitively but especially for those who are growing old. In fact, the loss of muscle mass and strength is one of the main risk factors for limited mobility, falls and fractures in the elderly. The loss of muscle mass in the elderly is called sar-copenia, as first described in 1989 by Irwin Rosenberg [4]. According to various data, the prevalence of sarcopenia is almost 5-13% among people 60-70 years old, even reaching 50% in peopleover 80. As the number of people aged over 60 worldwide is 600 million and will increase to 2 billion by 2050, we can consider that in the coming decades this muscle disorder will affect more than 200 million people [5]. Many research groups are now studying the influence of exercise, nutrition and macronutrients on the prevention and treatment of this age-related muscle atrophy. To date, the use of plant derivatives in this field is poor, but it might represent a treasure trove of ingredients, first of all turmeric.