Herbal Turmeric Protects the Liver Cells Against Alcoholic Toxicity, According to Studies

By Kyle J. Norton

The liver plays an essential role in filtering the blood from the digestive system before passing them to other parts of the body.

The liver also produces cholesterol, a waxy substance which aids digestion, builds cell membranes and produces vitamin D and steroid hormones.

Liver disease is a class of medical condition characterized by the reducing partly or completely the function of the liver, including liver disease.

Alcohol intoxication is a condition of alcohol poisoning caused by excessively high levels of  the recent drinking of ethanol in the blood (alcohol). Most common symptoms are mild sedation and poor coordination. At higher doses, overexpression of ethanol may cause slurred speech, trouble walking and vomiting.

Alcoholic liver toxicity is a condition of alcohol overconsumption that causes the reduce function of the liver. However, long-term excessive alcohol drinking has been found to
induce fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and chronic hepatitis with liver fibrosis or cirrhosis.

Believe it or not, the liver detoxifies over 80% of alcohol after entering the body.

Most common symptoms of liver alcoholic toxicity are a fluid buildup of the legs (edema) and in the abdomen (ascites),  jaundice, redness on the palms of the hands and easy bruising and abnormal bleeding.

In men, liver alcoholic toxicity may lead to impotence, shrinking of the testicles, and breast swelling.

Conventionally, treatment of long-term liver damage caused by alcoholic toxicity is focusing on lifestyle changes by limiting to no more than one drink a day for women and no more than two drinks a day for men.

In severe cases, medication and surgery may be necessary depending on the severity of the liver damage.

In acute alcohol-induced liver injury, Dr. Veronica L. Massey, the lead scientist wrote, "Alcohol consumption is customary in most cultures and alcohol abuse is common worldwide. For example, more than 50% of Americans consume alcohol, with an estimated 23.1% of Americans participating in heavy and/or binge drinking at least once a month".

And, "It is now clear that acute alcohol binges not only can be acutely toxic to the liver but also can contribute to the chronicity of ALD. Potential mechanisms by which acute alcohol causes damage include steatosis, dysregulated immunity and inflammation, and altered gut permeability".

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, native to tropical South Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, colorant, antiseptic, wound healing agent, and to treat flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

On finding a potential compound for the prevention and treatment of alcohol toxicity, researchers examined whether curcumin protects against oxidative stress in liver and brain in mice fed excessive alcohol.

The study included BALB/c mice induced alcoholic toxicity by administrating 20% alcohol (16 g/kg body weight) with or without curcumin (0.016% in diet) for 12 weeks.

According to the tested assays, the concentrations of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide (PC-OOH) in liver and brain of mice treated with ethanol and curcumin were significantly lower compared to mice treated with only ethanol.

However, observation of alcoholic influence on the brain showed no significant difference of PC-OOH level among all mice.

In other words, curcumin only has anti-alcoholic liver toxicity property.

More precisely, alcoholic overdose can only induce lipid peroxide level of liver but not of the brain.


Based on the findings, researchers wrote, "...daily curcumin consumption might be protective for the liver against alcohol-related oxidative stress in mice.

Taken altogether, turmeric processed abundantly bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of liver alcohol toxicity, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of turmeric in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Effect of Curcumin on the Increase in Hepatic or Brain Phosphatidylcholine Hydroperoxide Levels in Mice after Consumption of Excessive Alcohol by Chang Won Pyun,1 Kyu-Ho Han,2 Go Eun Hong,1 and Chi Ho Lee. (Hindawi)
(2) Acute Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury by Veronica L. Massey1 and Gavin E. Arteel. (PMC)