This is the part of the blog where I talk about supplements that are potentially useful for chronic illness, collect and briefly summarize some of the science behind them, and then give my personal opinion of the supplement.
This week, I’m talking about turmeric, also marketed as curcumin or curcuminoids which are both derived from turmeric. Turmeric is a rhizome or root in the ginger family, used in many Indo-Asian cuisines. It has a distinct yellow-orange color, which you may see in your supplement pills. Curcumin is the yellow chemical in turmeric, and the one that is proposed to have inflammation fighting benefits as a supplement.
Curcumin itself has poor oral bioavailability, making it difficult for our bodies to absorb in order to see any real benefits in small doses. This may mean that we need to take more of it to see a real change. How much, though? Clinical doses of 1 gram of turmeric showed significant serum curcumin. A study of 117 people, at that dose, did prove relative anti-inflammatory properties. Other studies have shown that chronic stress, oxidative stress, and chronic illness related inflammation may be linked and able to be suppressed or depressed by the effects of curcumin on inflammatory pathways. It can prevent against oxidative stress in human microvascular endothelial cells, according to another study. It’s even been shown to improve fine motor function in adult rhesus monkeys, which bodes well for human reactions to the compound. It may even improve the inflammation of the ovaries in patients with PCOS. So the question is, if there’s all this research promoting the idea of giving curcumin and turmeric a chance, how do you go about doing that?
I think turmeric, as a supplement, is a pretty good option. It’s a good complementary therapy supplement, it doesn’t interact with any other medications, and it’s not difficult to find. The current science is fairly positive on its ability to affect the inflammatory pathways of the human body, and more promising research continues to come out. I don’t think getting a turmeric latte or drinking tons of trendy turmeric smoothies will be the cure you’re looking for. But I do think that in terms of reducing overall inflammation, it’s absolutely possible for turmeric, in specific quantities, to have benefit. The science is fairly clear thus far that a dose of between 500-1000 mg of curcuminoids or straight curcumin itself, or alternatively a dose of about 1 gram of turmeric powder per day, will provide clinically significant levels of curcumin in the human body. At this point, if you’re going to see improvement, you will- provided you’re patient enough to wait 4-6 weeks. Reducing inflammation is not a simple, nor a quick task.
Here is a disclaimer, though. Curcumin alone is not going to improve your arthritis. It seems most helpful in an overall regimen of other anti-inflammatory lifestyle changes.
In essence, turmeric/curcumin: good as a supplement combined with other anti-inflammatory lifestyle options, scientifically researched, and complementary to many other chronic illness regimens.
Trusted brands of curcumin/turmeric supplementation for good bioavailability and actual clinical research seem to be Theracurmin, Longvida, and NovaSol. Natural Factors sells a well reviewed Theracurmin supplement in many places, including on Amazon.
And that concludes our Supplement Science- if you have a supplement you’d like me to research, please send me an ask!
Sources:
Cavaleri, Franco. "Presenting a New Standard Drug Model for Turmeric and Its Prized Extract, Curcumin." International Journal of Inflammation, 15 Jan. 2018, pp. 1-18. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1155/2018/5023429.
Yan, He, et al. "Curcumin, Inflammation, and Chronic Diseases: How Are They Linked?." Molecules, vol. 20, no. 5, May 2015, pp. 9183-9213. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/molecules20059183.
Bowley, Bethany G. E., et al. "Oral Curcumin Supplementation Improves Fine Motor Function in the Middle-Aged Rhesus Monkey." Somatosensory & Motor Research, vol. 35, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 1-10. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/08990220.2018.1432481.
JUN, SHI, et al. "Curcumin Pretreatment Protects against PM2.5‑Induced Oxidized Low‑Density Lipoprotein‑Mediated Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells." Molecular Medicine Reports, vol. 16, no. 3, Sept. 2017, pp. 2588-2594. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3892/mmr.2017.6935
Mohammadi, Shima, et al. "The Effect of Curcumin on TNF-Α, IL-6 and CRP Expression in a Model of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome as an Inflammation State." Journal of Reproduction & Infertility, vol. 18, no. 4, Oct-Dec2017, pp. 352-360. EBSCOhost,
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