Curry ingredient could give spice of life to sufferers of liver disease

HAIR dye and smoking could damage the liver but the Indian spice curcumin may slow down the progress of liver disease, experts said today.

One study examined the effect of curcumin – which gives the curry spice turmeric its bright yellow colour – on diseases in mice while a second looked at the effects of smoking and hair dye use among humans.

Curcumin has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine – practised on the Indian subcontinent – to treat a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders.

Previous studies also suggested it has anti-inflammatory properties and works as an antioxidant.

The curcumin study, published in the journal Gut, was carried out by experts from Austria and the United States.

It studied tissue and blood samples taken from mice with chronic liver inflammation.

The study involving smoking and hair dye was by researchers in Manchester and Newcastle.