As Halloween passes, many of us are surrounded by leftover sweets and sugary treats.
It is a time when indulgence feels almost expected, yet it also highlights one of the most serious health issues of our age, the global rise of type 2 diabetes.
Last week, we talked about clearing the cobwebs from the mind and lifting the fog that often settles in at this time of year.
But as the Halloween candles burn out, another kind of shadow lingers. It is cast not by ghosts, but by the grip of modern medicine on how we think about health and disease.
A Forgotten Breakthrough
Back in 2012, researchers in Thailand discovered something extraordinary.
They gave prediabetic adults a daily dose of curcumin, the bright yellow extract of turmeric, and followed them for nine months.
At the end of the study, not one person in the curcumin group had progressed to type 2 diabetes.
By contrast, more than 16 percent of those taking a placebo did.
That is 100% prevention of diabetes progression, an outcome that no pharmaceutical drug has ever achieved.
And with minimal side effects.
Yet the story quietly disappeared.
The System That Keeps Us Sick
Pharmaceutical companies pour billions into drugs that manage blood sugar, not into research that might make them unnecessary.
Metformin, the frontline diabetes drug, reduces diabetes risk by only 31 percent over three years, and some cholesterol-lowering statins actually raise diabetes risk, especially in post-menopausal women.
Meanwhile, natural compounds like curcumin cannot be patented, so there is little incentive to promote them.
The result is that ground-breaking research gets buried, while “blockbuster” drugs dominate prescriptions and profits.
What the Latest Science Shows
More than a decade later, new studies are proving that early trial right.
Recent reviews in Nutrients (2024) and Frontiers in Pharmacology (2023) confirm that curcumin can improve insulin sensitivity, lower fasting glucose and HbA1c, and even protect insulin-producing beta cells from inflammation.
Curcumin does not just control symptoms. It supports the body’s own ability to regulate blood sugar naturally.
One Molecule, Many Benefits
If you followed last week’s edition, you will remember we also mentioned curcumin in BrainPower™ for focus and cognitive health.
The same compound that sharpens the mind may also protect against one of the world’s most pervasive chronic diseases.
Nature’s remedies rarely work in isolation. They strengthen systems, not symptoms. That is the kind of medicine the world needs more of.
Final Thought
As we pack away the pumpkins and recover from the sugar rush, it is worth remembering how easily modern life normalises excess, and how rarely we hear about natural ways to restore balance.
It has been more than ten years since that landmark diabetes study, yet few have heard of it.
Perhaps it is time to dust off this forgotten research and question why a safe, natural nutrient with such promise still sits in the shadows.
Because sometimes the real trick is the one played on us, when nature’s best answers are hidden in plain sight.
Read More From Naturally Healthy News
If you would like to learn more about the many health benefits of curcumin, take a look at:
Unlocking the Golden Secrets: Curcumin’s Health Benefits
Reference:
https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/35/11/2121/30921/Curcumin-Extract-for-Prevention-of-Type-2-Diabetes
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2023.1216708/full?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39683570/
