 This landmark study, comparing the ability of different spices to suppress inflammation, also compared their ability to protect DNA. Cloves, ginger, rosemary, and turmeric were able to significantly stifle the inflammatory response, but what about DNA protection? If you take a tissue sample from some random person, around 7% of their cells may show evidence of DNA damage, actual breaks in the strands of their DNA. And if you blast those cells with free radicals, you can bring that number up to 10%. But if the person had been eating ginger for a week, that drops to just 8%. This is from a tissue sample taken from someone who hadn't been eating any herbs and spices, and as a result, their cells were vulnerable to DNA damage from oxidative stress. But just including ginger in our diet may cut that damage 25%, and same with rosemary. But check out turmeric. DNA damage cut in half. Again, this is not just mixing turmeric with cells in some petri dishes, it's comparing what happens when you expose the cells of spice eaters versus the cells of non-spice eaters to free radicals and just sit back and count DNA fracture rates. And not only did the turmeric work significantly better, but a significantly smaller dose. This is comparing about 1 to 3 teaspoons a day of ginger, rosemary, to practically just a pinch of turmeric, about an eighth of a teaspoon a day. That's how powerful the stuff is. So I encourage everyone to cook with this wonderful spice. Tastes great and may protect our cells and our body, with or without the added stress. If you just count DNA breaks in people's cells before and after a week of spices without the free radical blast, we see no significant intrinsic protection in the ginger or rosemary groups. But the turmeric group still appear to reduce DNA damage by half. This may be because curcumin is not just itself an antioxidant, but boosts the activity of our own antioxidant enzymes. Catalyze is one of the most active enzymes in the body. Each one can detoxify millions of free radicals per second. And if you consume the equivalent of about three quarters of a teaspoon of turmeric a day, the activity of this enzyme in our bloodstream gets boosted 75%. Now, why do I suggest cooking with it, rather than just like throwing it in a smoothie? Well, this effect was found specifically for heat-treated turmeric, because in practice many herbs and spices are only consumed after cooking. They tested both turmeric and oregano, both raw and quote-unquote cooked forms. In terms of DNA damage, the results from raw turmeric did not reach statistical significance, though the opposite was found for the anti-inflammatory effects. So maybe we should eat it both ways. Practical recommendations for obtaining curcumin in the diet might be to add turmeric to sweet dishes containing cinnamon and ginger. I add it to my pumpkin pie smoothies, which are otherwise just a can of pumpkin, frozen cranberries, pitted dates, pumpkin pie spice, and some non-dairy milk. And also, cook with curry powder or turmeric itself. They also suggest something called turmeric milk, which is evidently a traditional Indian elixir made with milk, turmeric, powder, and sugar. I'd suggest substituting a healthier sweetener and a healthier milk. Soy milk, for example, might have a double benefit. If you're taking the turmeric to combat inflammation, compared to dairy protein, osteoarthritis sufferers randomized to soy protein ended up with significantly improved joint range of motion.