Are your supplements providing extracts of turmeric all they are made out to be? The name turmeric is familiar to many but are you familiar with the extensively studied extract called curcumin? This is the most potent and active constituent of this Asian spice.
Curcumin is the distinctive yellow-orange chemical extracted from the rhizomes (roots) of turmeric, a tall plant from the ginger family. Curcumin represents just 3-5% of this traditional Eastern medicinal spice. It is a polyphenolic compound and possesses diverse pharmacologic effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic activities (i.e. inhibits the development of new blood vessels as may occur in some cancers).
Curcumin attracts a lot of attention, even if it’s new to you, it is one of the most searched-for ingredients on the web. It is well known for its benefits in reducing inflammation and curcumin and the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil are two highly researched supplements that can help reduce inappropriate inflammation.
Turmeric and curcumin have for years been presented as a wonder remedy for many conditions
Reducing or resolving arthritis, relieving allergies, preventing cancer, improving heart health, reversing cognitive decline such as early onset dementia, resolving depression and increasing lifespan.
Underlying these claims is curcumin’s role in reducing persistent inflammation. For example, there are 11,216 research papersi that appear on PubMed (the National Institute of Health’s site for published scientific journal articles) when using the search words ‘inflammation’ and ‘Alzheimer’s’. Numerous books have been published focusing on brain health and inflammation on the subject for over 20 years now.
It is estimated, as reported in The Guardian in May 2022:
“there are 70 clinical trials around the world that are either active or seeking patients and are looking at the potential of curcumin to treat chronic kidney disease, cognitive decline, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), macular degeneration, and even to slow down the progression of various forms of cancer.”
In addition, there is substantive interest in identifying safe natural alternatives to pharmaceutical painkillers which have the risk of side-effects. In the world of sport, curcumin has gained a reputation as an aid to muscle rehabilitation by reducing exercise-induced oxidative stress and inflammation.
However, a complexity of curcumin is its poor gastro-intestinal absorption, making it very challenging to achieve high concentrations of curcumin in the blood through oral supplementation alone. Add to that a rapid rate of metabolism and systemic elimination and it leads to a challenge to raise blood levels of curcumin.
Manufacturers have explored how to improve absorption. Black pepper extract, known as piperine has been used for nearly twenty years to enhance the absorption of curcumin. Piperine interferes with a metabolic detoxification pathway called glucuronidation which may make it unsuitable for use with various medications. It may also encourage increased intestinal permeability. Another approach is the use of liposomal curcumin; thirdly, curcumin nanoparticles; fourthly, the use of curcumin phospholipid complex; and fifthly, the use of structural analogues of curcumin (e.g., EF-24). The latter has been reported to have a rapid absorption with a peak plasma half-life.
Allergy Research Group have set out to resolve this problem through their product called CurcuWIN. It provides 500mg per capsules of turmeric extract with a minimum of 20% curcuminoids. Anything over 200mg presents an effective dose.
CurcuWIN supplement uses the ‘UltraSOL Nutrient Delivery System’ developed by OmniActive which increases the relative absorption of total curcuminoids over standard curcumin by 46-fold, and with a 5.8-34.9 fold greater absorption. Studies also show that CurcuWIN is well tolerated with no reported adverse events. There are higher serum concentrations after 12 hours when CurcuWIN is taken vs a standard curcumin supplement.
The curcuminoids are preserved in the same profile as found naturally in turmeric
CurcuWIN has been granted a patent for sports nutrition as their delivery system has been clinically shown to support recovery, cardiovascular health and endothelial function, and limit pain post-exercise.
When you combine the technical know-how of CurcuWIN with the clinical experience of using it yourself and with clients, your comfort in recommending this as a first line intervention for inflammation will only grow.
Sources:
Ms SAB, Waldman PhD HS, Krings PhD BM, Lamberth PhD J, Smith PhD JW, McAllister PhD MJ. Effect of Curcumin Supplementation on Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, Muscle Damage, and Muscle Soreness. J Diet Suppl. 2020;17(4):401-414. View Abstract
Campbell MS, Carlini NA, Fleenor BS. Influence of curcumin on performance and post-exercise recovery. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2021;61(7):1152-1162. View Abstract
Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA, Aggarwal BB. Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Mol Pharm. 2007 Nov-Dec;4(6):807-18. View Abstract
Feng X, Liu Y, Wang X, Di X. Effects of piperine on the intestinal permeability and pharmacokinetics of linarin in rats. Molecules. 2014 Apr 30;19(5):5624-33. Full Paper
xii Chainoglou E, Hadjipavlou-Litina D. Curcumin in Health and Diseases: Alzheimer’s Disease and Curcumin Analogues, Derivatives, and Hybrids. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 13;21(6):1975. Full Paper
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