Turmeric is
best known as the main spice in curry, but like most spices it does far more
than add flavor to foods. Turmeric has
been used for thousands of years in China and India for medicinal purposes, and
modern science has revealed the key ingredient responsible for its therapeutic
benefits. This ingredient or actually
ingredients are collectively referred to as “curcuminoids” and include
curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Curcumin is the primary curcuminoid in
Turmeric and the compound which most of the 6,235 peer-reviewed articles on the
benefits of Turmeric focus on.
The proven
benefits of Turmeric extracts are many including:
Acting as a safe anticoagulant that can help with vascular
thrombosis (NOTE: because of its slight anticoagulant effect it is important
NOT to take it with medications such as aspirin, Plavix, Coumadin, and other
anticoagulant drugs).
Turmeric has
been shown to be as effective as Prozac in treating
manic depressions and is very well tolerated.
Turmeric’s most
powerful benefit is as a very safe
anti-inflammatory substance. Most
diseases can be linked to excessive inflammation but all anti-inflammatory
medication has a dark side including greatly increasing risk of gastric
bleeding and kidney damage, elevated risk of heart attack, and the propensity
to increase blood pressure. Turmeric has
none of these side effects and in fact improves gastric health, is very
beneficial for the liver and causes no negative effects on the kidneys.
Side benefits
of Turmeric include improved liver health, improved cognitive health (it is
being studied for the potential to slow down Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
disease), and it has proven power anti-cancer benefits both for the prevention
and treatment of cancer.
Many studies
have proven Turmeric’s ability to act as a potent and safe anti-inflammatory substance
including studies showing Turmeric works as well if not better than some of the
most potent anti-inflammatory medications such as Diclofenac. However, Turmeric is much better tolerated
making it an ideal choice for the management of inflammatory conditions such as
arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease while also safely reducing oxidative
stress throughout the body.
Turmeric is
such a potent anti-inflammatory that it is even capable of rivaling the most
potent anti-inflammatory drug, corticosteroids, in the treatment of Psoriasis,
Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Scleroderma and Chronic pain. This is particularly relevant as
corticosteroids have a host of very serious side effects including delayed
wound healing, glaucoma, hypertension, insomnia, kidney and thyroid issues,
increased risk of infection, thinning skin, cancer, asthma, acne, and muscle
and bone loss!
Bioavailability Challenges
Until recently
the challenge with obtaining benefit from Turmeric is poor bioavailability of curcumin and its tendency to be metabolized quickly with
rapid systemic clearance. So despite
many proven benefits people have resorted to very high dosages which can cause
gastric and intestinal upset and other side effects.
To overcome
these challenges, several curcumin preparations have been developed to increase
the bioavailability of curcumin after oral administration. One in particular, Theracumin, has proven to be more effective than all the others. In a study published in the Journal of
Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, Theracumin was shown to be over 5 times
more bioavailable than the other two formulations tested AND over 27 times
better absorbed and bioavailable than standard Turmeric supplements. Here is the study: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jnsv/61/1/61_37/_pdf
This is great
news because this allows a much lower dosage which eliminates the GI side
effects that can be experienced with high intake of raw herb powder
Turmeric. For a great video review on
Theracumin done by one of the world’s leading physician on integrative medicine
Dr. Michael Murray click here: https://youtu.be/rDkeYDAzdLA
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