Enhance Overall Well-being with Turmeric Supplements!

Overview

Introduction

Turmeric is a plant from the ginger family. This herb has attracted a lot of attention both from the medical fraternity as well as from culinary enthusiasts.

The diverse pharmacologic effects of turmeric are attributed to compounds known as ‘curcumin’. Turmeric is enriched with polyphenolic compounds known as curcuminoids.

Curcumin is the most active ingredient of curcuminoids. The bright yellow-orange color of turmeric comes mainly from fat-soluble curcuminoids.

Bio-availability

The compound curcumin by itself has very poor bioavailability due to poor absorption & rapid metabolism which eliminated this compound from our body rather quickly.

Curcuminoids constitute about 2%-8% of turmeric weight and curcuminoids have about 75% curcumin, the most active compound along with others: demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin which adds up to 10%-20% off the present curcuminoids.

For increased absorption of curcumin, piperine, the most active component of black pepper is added. Only just a pinch of piperine is reported to have increased the bioavailability of curcumin by 2000% in the human body.

The vast majority of ‘turmeric-based supplements’ manufacturing companies follow a process where the base ingredients remain the same (curcumin, other curcuminoid compounds along with piperine).

Some companies might add other natural ingredients for therapeutic benefits but it doesn’t affect the absorption capacity of curcumin.

Turmeric attributes all its positive pharmacologic effects to the compounds known as curcumin. The bioavailability of turmeric is greatly improved if ingested with other compounds like piperine, and turmeric’s benefits are further enhanced with this process.

There is another way to increase the bioavailability of turmeric. That is to consume turmeric (either raw or powdered) with a rich source of fat.

Curcumin only makes up approximately 5% of turmeric, comparable to how piperine, the active component in black pepper, also makes up about 5% of the spice.

To get the benefits of a single curcumin supplement capsule from culinary turmeric, it will require us to eat a humongous amount of either raw or powdered forms of turmeric. Hence it is recommended to look for turmeric supplements that have just the right ingredients in the right amount.

All the positive health benefits of turmeric are attributed to curcumin.

Curcumin comes in a variety of forms, including capsules, tablets, ointments, energy drinks, soaps, and cosmetics. The use of curcuminoids has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Health Benefits of Curcumin (Turmeric Supplements)

The compound, curcumin helps in the management of inflammatory and degenerative eye conditions.
The systematic meta-analysis concluded that 8–12 weeks of standardized 1000 mg/day curcumin treatment can alleviate arthritis pain and inflammation-related symptoms.
According to one recent study, curcumin showed promising results in preventing COVID-19 infections by inhibiting the pathogen entry & viral genome replication.
Curcumin significantly lowers the overall cholesterol, triglyceride levels & LDLD levels.
The compound curcumin significantly showed improved performance on sustained attention and working memory tasks thereby showing its positive effect on humans’ cognitive actions as well.
Preclinical studies have found curcumin prevented or reversed certain pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
A number of studies have shown that curcumin might be helpful in slowing the progression of kidney damage and preventing kidney failure.
Due to curcumin’s anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, it has shown promising results in the treatment of certain diseases of the oral cavity. For example, the topical application of a curcumin gel was found to reduce gum bleeding and periodontal bacteria
Another study supported that 2 g of curcumin and 20 g of piperine supplementation can help to relieve muscle soreness after an intense workout. This may aid in reducing recuperation time and hence boosting performance during following workouts.
The compound, curcumin has a potential anti-anxiety effect as well.
There are hundreds of trials successfully conducted to co-relate curcumin in inhibiting the progression of a wide spectrum of cancers. In order to elaborate on those studies, it will require an article of its own due to the number of studies being done. There is a mountain of evidence from preclinical & concluded studies that exerts that curcumin has very potent anti-cancer properties.

Side Effects

In a study, a dosage in the range of 500mg–12,000 mg of curcumin may lead to diarrhea, headache, rash, and yellow stool.
In a very rare case, an increase in gallbladder contractions was observed in people supplemented with single doses of 20 to 40 mg of curcumin.
Curcumin inhibits platelet aggregation suggesting that curcumin supplementation may increase the risk of bleeding in people taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications, such as aspirin.

Curcumin supplements have not been determined for the safety of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Conclusion

Curcumin, the principal curcuminoid found in turmeric, has the potential to treat or prevent a variety of diseases in humans. It’s health benefits goes beyond any myths as thousand of medical trials have been done to establish the health facts that have been discussed. It is now up to us to decide whether or not to use ‘turmeric supplements’ for our general well-being after reading this article. Speaking from my experience, I recommend that you at least give it a try!

Citation

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/#B20-foods-06-00092
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664031/
https://www.umassmed.edu/nutrition/blog/blog-posts/2019/6/using-black-pepper-to-enhance-the-anti-inflammatory-effects-of-turmeric/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33897833/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17999464/

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