Turmeric. Consumer Reports Google recently published its "Food Trends" report, and it’s got a lot to offer.



This year's report looked at the food queries by volume from 2014 to 2016 and compiled a list of the trends. These were put into categories of sustained and seasonal risers and decliners as well as rising and falling stars.

You may be surprised to find out the top rising star under "foods with function" is turmeric.

And it’s not just gaining popularity in a certain geographic area. Turmeric has taken a foothold across the nation.

So why has this long-used spice gotten so much attention recently? It has huge health benefits.

Turmeric’s active ingredient, curcumin, has been suggested to treat a suite of dermatological diseases. A study done just last month uncovered treatment in the forms of oral ingestion and topical application showed significant improvement in skin health.

Some conditions you can look forward to possibly being relieved if you take a chance on turmeric are acne, psoriasis, alopecia, and facial photoaging.

The spice’s ingredients also provide a potent anti-inflammatory effect. This means less swelling and pain after irritation or injury. It has been used to significantly decrease pain and other side effects after acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which are both linked to high cases of mortality and hospital treatment.

Other anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric and curcumin may include relief from arthritis and tendinitis.

Cancer patient undergoing treatment. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images And here comes the granddaddy of all news: The curcumin in turmeric could help protect your body against cancer.

The Advanced Center For Training, Research and Education in Cancer located in India has been exploring curcumin’s ability to induce apoptosis, or cell death, in cancer cells, thus preventing them from becoming prolific in the body.

The only problem right now is the lack of bioavailability, meaning that the body doesn’t readily absorb the curcumin in enough quantity to become extremely successful. But researchers are currently working on pairing the ingredient with different fat solutions and nanoparticles to improve its uptake in the body and yield better results in cancer treatment.

Turmeric has long been known as a tasty spice to add to any dish, but with its newfound health benefits it’s no wonder the internet is going crazy over this ingredient.