Proven Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin

What are turmeric and curcumin? Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow color. It has been used in India for thousands of years as both a spice and a medicinal herb. Recently, science has begun to support traditional claims that turmeric contains compounds with medicinal properties.

These compounds are called curcuminoids. The most important is curcumin. Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has strong anti-inflammatory effects and is a very powerful antioxidant.

Here are the top 10 evidence-based health benefits of turmeric and curcumin:

• Turmeric contains bioactive compounds with medicinal properties.
• Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound.
• Turmeric can increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
• Turmeric may reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Turmeric may help prevent cancer
• Turmeric may be beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
• Arthritis patients respond well to curcumin supplements.
• Curcumin has benefits against depression.
• Turmeric may help slow down aging and fight age-related chronic diseases.

Turmeric contains bioactive compounds with medicinal properties.

However, turmeric's curcumin content isn't that high; it's about 3% by weight. Most studies on this plant use turmeric extracts, mostly containing curcumin, often in dosages exceeding 1 gram per day. Simply using turmeric as a spice in your cooking would be very difficult to reach these levels. Therefore, some people opt for supplements.

However, curcumin is poorly absorbed into your bloodstream. To experience the full effects of curcumin, its bioavailability (the rate at which your body absorbs a substance) needs to be improved.

It helps to consume it with black pepper, which contains piperine. Piperine is a natural substance that increases curcumin absorption by 2.000%.

In fact, the best curcumin supplements contain piperine, which makes them significantly more effective.

Curcumin is also fat-soluble, meaning it breaks down and dissolves in solid or liquid fats. Therefore, taking curcumin supplements with a high-fat meal might be a good idea.

Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound.

inflammation It is incredibly important. It helps fight off foreign invaders and plays a role in repairing damage in your body. While acute, short-term inflammation is beneficial, it can be concerning if it becomes chronic and starts attacking your body's own tissues.

Scientists now believe that chronic low-level inflammation may play a role in some health conditions and diseases. These include:

• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Metabolic syndrome
• Alzheimer's disease
• Various degenerative conditions

Therefore, anything that can help fight chronic inflammation is potentially important in terms of helping to prevent and treat these conditions.

While the topic of inflammation is multifaceted and likely lacks a simple answer, the key takeaway regarding curcumin is that it is a bioactive substance capable of fighting inflammation. However, very high doses are required to achieve medicinal results.

Turmeric can increase the body's antioxidant capacity

Oxidative damage is believed to be one of the mechanisms behind aging and many diseases. It involves free radicals, which are highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons. Free radicals tend to react with important organic substances such as fatty acids, proteins, or DNA.

The main reason antioxidants are so beneficial is that they protect your body from free radicals.

Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals due to its chemical structure.

Additionally, animal and cellular studies suggest that curcumin may block the effects of free radicals and stimulate the effects of other antioxidants. Further clinical trials in humans are needed to confirm these benefits.

Turmeric can increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

Before scientists understood neurons better, it was believed that they could not divide and multiply after early childhood. However, they now know that this is not the case.

Neurons have the ability to form new connections and can multiply and increase in number in specific regions of the brain.

One of the main drivers of this process is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This is a gene involved in making a protein responsible for supporting the life of neurons.

BDNF protein plays a role in memory and learning and can be found in brain regions responsible for eating, drinking, and body weight.

Several common brain disorders, including depression and Alzheimer's disease, have been linked to decreased levels of the BDNF protein.

Interestingly, animal studies have found that curcumin can increase BDNF levels in the brain.

This could be effective in delaying or even reversing many brain diseases and age-related decline in brain function. However, since these studies were conducted on animals, it is difficult to say what the results mean for humans.

Furthermore, given its effects on BDNF levels, it seems plausible that it could help improve memory and attention. However, more studies are needed to confirm this.

Turmeric may reduce your risk of heart disease.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide. Researchers have studied it for decades and have learned a great deal about why it occurs. Unsurprisingly, heart disease is incredibly complex, and various things contribute to it.

Curcumin may help reverse several steps in the process of heart disease.

Perhaps the main benefit of curcumin when it comes to heart disease is that it improves the function of the endothelium, the lining of your blood vessels.

Endothelial dysfunction is a major driver of heart disease. This occurs when your endothelium is unable to regulate blood pressure, blood clotting, and various other factors.

Several studies suggest that curcumin may lead to improvements in heart health. Additionally, one study found it to be as effective as exercise in postmenopausal women.

In addition, curcumin may help reduce inflammation and oxidation (as discussed above), which can play a role in heart disease.

In a study of 121 people who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery, researchers gave them either a placebo or 4 grams of curcumin daily for several days before and after the operation.

Turmeric extract reduced the risk of having a heart attack in the hospital by 65%.

Turmeric may help prevent cancer

Cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth. There are many different types of cancer that appear to be affected by turmeric supplements.

Curcumin has been studied as a beneficial herb in cancer treatment and has been found to affect the growth and development of cancer.

Studies have shown that it can do the following:

It contributes to the death of cancerous cells.

reducing angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels in tumors)

to reduce metastasis (the spread of cancer)

Whether high-dose curcumin, preferably combined with an absorption enhancer such as piperine, helps treat cancer in humans has not yet been properly studied.

However, there is evidence that it may prevent the development of cancer, particularly digestive system cancers such as colorectal cancer.

In a 30-day study of 44 men with colon lesions that sometimes turn cancerous, 4 grams of curcumin per day reduced the number of lesions by 40%.

Turmeric may be beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to up to 70% of dementia cases.

While treatment can be discontinued for some symptoms, there is currently no cure for Alzheimer's. Therefore, preventing its onset in the first place is crucial.

There may be good news on the horizon because curcumin has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Inflammation and oxidative damage are known to play a role in Alzheimer's disease, and curcumin is known to have beneficial effects in both.

In addition, a key feature of Alzheimer's disease is the buildup of protein clumps called amyloid plaques. Research suggests that curcumin may help clear these plaques.

It is not currently known, and research is needed, whether curcumin can slow or even reverse the progression of Alzheimer's disease in humans.

Arthritis patients respond well to curcumin supplements.

Arthritis is a common problem in Western countries. There are several different types of arthritis, most of which involve inflammation in the joints.

Given that curcumin is a powerful anti-inflammatory compound, it makes sense that it could help with arthritis. In fact, several studies have shown a correlation.

In a study of people with rheumatoid arthritis, curcumin was even more effective than an anti-inflammatory drug.

Other studies have looked at the effects of curcumin on arthritis and may have noted improvements in various symptoms.

Curcumin has benefits against depression.

Curcumin has shown some promise in the treatment of depression.

In a controlled study, 60 people with depression were randomly divided into three groups. One group received Prozac, another group received 1 gram of curcumin, and the third group received both Prozac and curcumin.

After 6 weeks, curcumin led to improvements similar to those of Prozac. The group that took both Prozac and curcumin had the best results.

According to this small study, curcumin is as effective as an antidepressant.

Depression is also linked to decreased BDNF levels and a shrinking hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory. Curcumin may help increase BDNF levels, potentially reversing some of these changes.

There is also some evidence that curcumin may increase the brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

Turmeric may help slow down aging and fight age-related chronic diseases.

If turmeric can indeed help prevent heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's, it may also have benefits for longevity.

This suggests that curcumin may have potential as an anti-aging supplement.

Since oxidation and inflammation are believed to play a role in aging, curcumin may have effects that go beyond simply preventing disease.

REFERENCES

Ga-Young Choi, Hyun-Bum Kim, Eun-Sang Hwang, Seok Lee, Min-Ji Kim, Ji-Young Choi, Sung-Ok Lee, Sang-Seong Kim, Ji-Ho Park, “Curcumin Alters Neural Plasticity and Viability of Intact Hippocampal Circuits and Attenuates Behavioral Despair and COX-2 Expression in Chronically Stressed Rats”, Mediators of Inflammation, vol. 2017, Article ID 6280925, 9 pages, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6280925

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Wongcharoen W, Jai-Aue S, Phrommintikul A, Nawarawong W, Woragidpoonpol S, Tepsuwan T, Sukonthasarn A, Apaijai N, Chattipakorn N. Effects of curcuminoids on frequency of acute myocardial infarction after coronary artery bypass grafting. Am J Cardiol. 2012 Jul 1;110(1):40-4. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.02.043. Epub 2012 Apr 3. PMID: 22481014.

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