Curcumin Benefits and Science:

If there is a better for your health natural food product, science doesn't know what it is. Disclaimer: However, in spite of the preliminary scientific enthusiasm about Curcumin, until more exhaustive scientific research is done, all benefits described below should be considered to be folklore, anecdotal, opinion and preliminary research. Exhaustive, double-blind, peer-reviewed, FDA accepted, scientific research needs to be completed (unfortunately, at the pace of science this will probably take fifty years) in order to make a claim of "healthiest food" or to make reliable health benefit claims beyond "possible" or "perceived by many". Yet, the amount of interest and perceived benefits from Curcumin is significant and should be considered by everyone who cares about their health.

• Curcumin helps improve the health of nerves and brain tissue by increasing the amount of BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) in the brain.
  • A long time ago, it was believed that neurons weren't able to divide and multiply after early childhood. Fortunately, it’s now been proven that this does happen.
  • A main driver of brain cell and nerve cell replication and maintenance is brain-derived Neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a type of growth hormone that functions in your brain to help preserve and grow brain cells. It actually makes your brain younger and more capable of learning!
  • Many common brain disorders have been linked to decreased levels of this hormone, including depression and Alzheimer's disease.
  • By increasing the amount of BDNF in the brain, Curcumin may be effective in delaying or reversing many brain diseases and age-related decreases in brain function. The only other factor in life that comes close to Curcumin in increasing BDNF in the brain is strenuous, high intensity interval training exercise.
• Curcumin is powerfully anti-oxidizing (IE, capable of neutralizing free radicals). Oxidants (free radicals) are one of the causes of aging... and a major cause of disease and inflammation. Therefore, Curcumin should help out with many facets of aging, brain damage and disease.
  • Curcumin effectively inhibits virtually all types of free radicals
    • DPPH, ABTS, DMPD, superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, ferric ions and ferrous ions.
  • Undoubtedly because oxidants (free radicals) are a major contributor to stress, depression and uneasiness, studies show that Curcumin supplementation helps in all these situations.
• Curcumin is powerfully anti-inflammatory.
  • Most scientists now believe that chronic, low-level inflammation plays a major role in almost every chronic, Western disease. This includes:
    • heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer's and various degenerative conditions.
  • According to scientists, anything that can help fight chronic inflammation is of potential importance in preventing and possibly reversing these diseases.
  • Curcumin is so powerfully anti-inflammatory that it matches the effectiveness of some anti-inflammatory drugs — without the side effects.
  • Curcumin blocks NF-kB, a molecule that travels into the nuclei of your cells and turns on genes related to inflammation. NF-kB is believed to play a major role in many chronic diseases.
• Curcumin is a chelator of heavy metals.
  • Helping to remove excess amounts of heavy metals from all tissues, including the brain (since Curcumin crosses the blood-brain barrier). This enables Curcumin to help out with many types of brain fog.
• Curcumin helps improve digestion by increasing bile flow through the liver and gall bladder into the gastrointestinal tract.
• Curcumin helps with menstrual issues by helping to calm the discomfort, cramping, bloating, excessive bleeding, mood swings associated with menstrual challenges.

Liquid Curcumin Dosing

• A normal serving amount of our Liquid Curcumin is 5 to 10 drops.
• We recommend one to four servings daily — three or four servings is a maximum therapeutic dosing level.
• You can add Liquid Curcumin to water or to any beverage or put directly in the mouth.
• Hot water enables faster dissolving, or with room temperature water, stir, drink, add more water and stir and drink again until no yellow residue remains.

Curcumin Safety

• Curcumin and Turmeric have a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) rating the the US FDA.
• Curcumin is safe for most people (with thousands of years of use; for exceptions see below).
  • A phase 1 human trial with 25 subjects using up to 8,000 mg of native Curcumin per day for 3 months found no toxicity from Curcumin.
  • Five other human trials using 1,125-2,500 mg of native Curcumin per day have also found it to be safe.
  • The amounts of Curcumin used in these studies were far greater (10 to 20 times greater) than the amounts in Liquid Curcumin - (Link to Pub Med, giving study results).
• Exceptions: In spite of the above, it needs to be recognized that natural foods are not always safe for every person. Just like not everyone can safely consume green leafy vegetables, grains, fruits or fish, not everyone can safely consume Curcumin. We strongly discourage the following people from taking Curcumin without discussing their plans with their doctor: pregnant and nursing women, those taking a blood thinner and persons with gall bladder problems.

Curcumin Facts

• Curcumin comes from Turmeric Root (curcuma longa). Turmeric root is the spice from which curry dishes are made.
• Turmeric root is related to Ginger root and is grown throughout India, other parts of Asia and Central America.
• Historically, Turmeric has been used in Ayurvedic medicine, primarily in South Asia, as an aid for many conditions, including breathing problems, rheumatism, serious pain, stomach and digestive disorders and fatigue.
• Curcumin is the active component of Turmeric root. It is a polyphenol (plant compound). It gives Turmeric its yellow-orange color, yet makes up only 3% of the compounds in Turmeric Root.
• Curcumin is not water soluble, so it is extracted from Turmeric by mixing the powder with ethanol, letting it stand for a few days, filtering and removing the ethanol.

 

 

The Mechanisms of Action of Curcumin:

• Curcumin enhances neurogenesis — via a network interaction of genes involved in neurotransmission, neuronal development, signal transduction, resulting in increased production of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor.

• Curcumin is an antioxidant at the molecular level, meaning that it is able to contribute electrons to free radicals without becoming a free radical, itself. Numerous studies show that Curcumin has shown a remarkable ability to improve systemic markers of oxidative stress.
• Curcumin can increase serum activities of endogenous antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, making those antioxidants more potent. A recent, randomized, control-data and meta-analysis indicated that Curcumin supplementation had a significant effect on all investigated parameters of oxidative stress including increased plasma activities of SOD and catalase, as well as boosting of serum concentrations of glutathione peroxidase (GSH) and lipid peroxides - in other words, the performance of all endogenous antioxidants was improved.
  • Scientists theorize that Curcumin "resurrects" spent endogenous antioxidants, IE donates electrons to them so that they can continue neutralizing free radicals.
• Curcumin’s direct reduction of free radicals is carried out by several different mechanisms enabling it to scavenge different forms of free radicals, such as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.
• Curcumin also increases the activity of GSH, catalase, and SOD enzymes and thus increases the neutralization of free radicals by endogenous antioxidants.
• Curcumin can inhibit ROS-generating enzymes such as lipoxygenase/cyclooxygenase and xanthine hydrogenase/oxidase
• Laboratory studies have identified a number of different molecules involved in inflammation that are inhibited by Curcumin including phospholipase, lipooxygenase, cyclooxygenase 2, leukotrienes, thromboxane, prostaglandins, nitric oxide, collagenase, elastase, hyaluronidase, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interferon-inducible protein, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and interleukin-12 (IL-12)
• In addition, Curcumin is a lipophilic compound, which makes it an efficient scavenger of peroxyl radicals, therefore, like vitamin E (tocopherols) and stabilized rice bran (tocotrienols) Curcumin can be considered as a chain-breaking antioxidant
• Finally, as mentioned under health benefits, Curcumin increases bile flow.