The results of a study published in The Journal of Nutrition reveals that Curcumin, a bioactive component in Indian spice turmeric, can prove effective in losing weight.

The compound stalls the spread of fat-tissue by inhibiting new blood vessel growth, called angiogenesis, necessary to build fat tissue.

The study led by Mohsen Meydani at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, at Tufts University in Boston, was based on eighteen mice that were fed on special diets.

The study found that supplementing the animals' high-fat diet with Curcumin reduced the body-weight gain and total body fat. The Curcumin-treated group also had less blood vessel growth in fat tissue. Blood glucose, triglyceride, fatty acid, cholesterol and liver fat levels were also found to be low.

It is not sure as yet, whether the amount of Curcumin normally present in food dishes prepared with turmeric is sufficient to inhibit complex fat-tissue secretions that are involved in recruiting new blood vessel growth.