Kidneys are a bean shaped organ, present in a pair, one on each side of the spine. They are located below the rib cage at the back. They remove any waste materials from the blood; maintain the fluid balance in our body and a keep the balance of minerals and salts, and all the electrolytes.
This procedure, however, is not as simple as it looks from the description above. It is a complex procedure, and for this procedure to go on smoothly, the kidneys need to be in their prime health. There are many reasons for a kidney to lose its normal functioning. Some factors are genetic or hereditary, while others are acquired. While one cannot prevent genetic or hereditary factors from interfering with the kidneys, one can surely take some measures to prevent the acquired factors from disturbing the otherwise normal kidney functions.
Is Turmeric Bad for Your Kidneys?
Turmeric is actually good for your kidneys however taking excess turmeric on daily basis is bad and also use of turmeric supplements is not recommended as these supplements have blood thinning properties.
Where turmeric is concerned, it is a well-known fact that turmeric is a wonder spice when it comes to natural healing of many diseases. Turmeric contains the bioactive content curcumin. Curcumin is an excellent anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-oxidative and analgesic. Since ages, turmeric has been used in naturally treating many diseases, like skin problems, digestive problems and healing of wounds. Now its properties are being tested to ascertain its potential usage in treating kidney disorders.
Many of the kidney disorders have inflammation as one of its primary signs. Because of the anti-inflammatory properties of the turmeric, it is now being examined for its effect on reducing the inflammation in kidneys and some studies have shown a positive result here. Further research in depth is however needed to confirm this fact.
In the infections of the urinary tract, which may be a causative factor of the kidney disease, curcumin is being assessed for its antibacterial, antiviral and antibiotic properties. Many studies have confirmed that curcumin acts as a potential medicine in performing these functions when it comes to kidney disorders as well.
As curcumin is a known anti-oxidant, it helps to tackle the free radicles that are present in abundance in many conditions. Same is applicable in kidney diseases as well. Curcumin is also known to inhibit the renal cyst formation. Hence, it can be of prime importance in treating polycystic kidney disease. It slows down the enlargement of the cysts.
Curcumin is also seen to improve glomerular function. It is seen to reduce glomerulonephritis (a group of kidney disorders where the glomeruli are damaged) and improve the general kidney function.
Curcumin is also seen to be having a potential to treat diabetic nephropathy (a condition which is caused by long term diabetes).
Curcumin is also seen to be having potential to treat kidney stones. It is seen that while on the treatment with curcumin as a supportive treatment, if the stones recurred at all, they were very small in size. However, some studies show that turmeric may cause kidney stones if consumed in excess. This may be because of the high potassium content in turmeric.
Above findings are all in context with certain researches done to evaluate the performance of curcumin on kidney disorders. However, though they are quite a bunch of positive findings, they are not well-established facts and therefore they need more clinical research for further confirmation. However, Turmeric can be included in everyday diet, as there are otherwise no side effects seen on the body. Many herbal preparations include turmeric as a standard ingredient and are widely used in Indian cuisine.
Turmeric supplements must be administered with care. Turmeric supplements have a blood thinning property. Hence, they should be avoided in certain medical conditions, for e.g. diabetes.
Turmeric is a wonder drug when it comes to its numerous health benefits. It is already rocking as a potential remedy for numerous kidney disorders. However, further research is still needed to confirm its usage in any kidney disorders.
- “Turmeric.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, www.nccih.nih.gov/health/turmeric.
- Aggarwal, Bharat B., and Shishir Shishodia. “Molecular targets of dietary agents for prevention and therapy of cancer.” Biochemical Pharmacology 71.10 (2006): 1397-1421
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