Turmeric, the yellow spice, is used in Indian homes for a variety of purposes from cooking to various homemade remedies for different aliments.

Curcumin, a potent antioxidant present in turmeric, can help in fighting number of diseases. Various studies are being conducted to test ability of curcumin to cure diseases like colon cancer, psoriasis and Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists from Japan are investigating a method, which can boost body’s intake of antioxidants found in curcumin. Earlier tests have shown that when drugs like insulin are encapsulated into small structures called liposomes, body’s absorption of these chemicals increases.

Koji Wada and colleagues used animal models to study whether curcumin, when encapsulated in liposomes, can be more effectively immersed into the bloodstreams.

It was found that when rats were fed the liposome encapsulated curcumin, the absorption of curcumin by the bloodstream quadrupled hence increasing antioxidant levels in the blood which leads to an increase in body’s ability to fight diseases.