Bioactive Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements in Neurological and Brain DiseasePrevention and Therapy
2015, Pages 311–318
Abstract
Many
plants and plant-derived compounds called phytochemicals have been used
as drugs, either in their original or semisynthetic forms, for remedy
of diseases. These plant secondary metabolites can also serve as drug
precursors or prototypes. There are also several plant extracts in
clinical trials for the treatment of various diseases. Spices do not
only provide pleasure in everyday diets but have also been associated
directly with beneficial effects on health, because of their medicinal
effects, such as modulating gastrointestinal and cardiovascular
function, slimming, the optimization of skeletal muscle performance, the
reduction of chronic inflammation, the prevention of metabolic
syndrome, cancer prevention, diabetes prevention, ameliorating the
effects of aging and age-related diseases, and so on. Spice
phytochemicals have complex polypharmacological actions; the most
popular of these is their antioxidant effects. In this chapter, the
relation of the action of spices and their phytochemicals to antioxidant
effects on age-related diseases will be discussed together with some
possible pathways.
Keywords
- antioxidants;
- age;
- disease;
- spices;
- phytochemicals;
- turmeric
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.