Turmeric Extract, Curcumin

Increased Risk of Stroke

Dyspepsia / Poor Digestion

Improves digestion by increasing the flow of bile from the gallbladder.

Chronic Inflammation

Curcumin comes from the spice turmeric. The rhizome of this plant has been traditionally used as an anti-inflammatory agent in Ayurvedic medicine. Curcumin appears to reduce proinflammatory leukotriene synthesis and also promotes the breakdown of fibrin. In a double-blinded trial, patients receiving 1,200mg of curcumin per day experienced reductions in stiffness and joint swelling comparable to the effects of phenylbutazone, a potent anti-inflammatory drug. Curcumin has also reduced inflammation in surgical patients.

Tendonitis

A derivative of a common culinary spice found in Indian curries could offer a new treatment hope for sufferers of the painful condition tendinitis, an international team of researchers has shown.

Researchers at The University of Nottingham and Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich have shown that curcumin, which also gives the spice turmeric its trademark bright yellow colouring, can be used to suppress biological mechanisms that spark inflammation in tendon diseases.

Dr Ali Mobasheri of the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, who co-led the research, said: “Our research is not suggesting that curry, turmeric or curcumin are cures for inflammatory conditions such as tendinitis and arthritis. “However, we believe that it could offer scientists an important new lead in the treatment of these painful conditions through nutrition. Further research into curcumin, and chemically-modified versions of it, should be the subject of future investigations and complementary therapies aimed at reducing the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the only drugs currently available for the treatment of tendinitis and various forms of arthritis.” [Curcumin Modulates Nuclear Factor ?B (NF-?B)-mediated Inflammation in Human Tenocytes in Vitro: ROLE OF THE PHOSPHATIDYLINOSITOL 3-KINASE/Akt PATHWAY. J. Biol. Chem. 2011, 286: 28556-28566, June 13, 2011.]

Cystic Fibrosis

The death rate from cystic fibrosis was reduced in a study with mice. Researchers are planning to determine the appropriate dose of curcumin and find out specific side effects during the initial stages of future planned patient study. [USA Today April 22, 2004]

Joint Pain, General

A 2006 study suggested turmeric had a better effect in preventing joint inflammation than reducing inflammation. Research in 2010 showed long-term improvement in pain and functioning for 100 patients with osteoarthritis in the knee after taking a turmeric supplement with curcumin. A small study in 2012 indicated that BCM-95, a curcumin product, worked better at reducing joint pain and swelling for patients than a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID.

For osteoarthritis, the Arthritis Foundation recommends taking 400 mg to 600 mg turmeric capsules three times a day, or using powdered root of 0.5 g to 1 g up to 3 g per day. For rheumatoid arthritis, 500 mg twice a day is recommended.

The foundation warned that turmeric can act as a blood thinner and cause upset stomach.

Fatty Liver

Obesity and Type II diabetes are often associated with high levels of leptin. This combination is also associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH can cause hepatic fibrosis. The mechanism of action is through hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) which become active. It has been reported that leptin stimulated HSC activation can be eliminated by the use of curcumin, a phytochemical from turmeric. [ Endocrinology, September 2010; 151: pp. 4168 – 4177]

In other words, the regular use of curcumin may help prevent the liver damage associatted with being overweight and tending toward diabetes.

Liver Detoxification / Support Requirement

Turmeric helps increase bile flow making it a liver cleanser that can rejuvenate your liver cells and recharge their capability to break down toxins.

Gallbladder Disease

Pulmonary Fibrosis / Interstitial Lung Disease

Curcumin was shown to have important therapeutic implications in facilitating the early suppression of paraquat toxicity and subsequent lung injury. Paraquat is a weedkiller that produces delayed toxic effects on the lungs when ingested. [Life Sciences, 2000, Vol 66 (2), pp. 21-8] Curcumin, when absorbed into the body has anti-inflammatory actions.

Increased Risk of Melanoma

According to researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, curcumin blocks a key biological pathway needed for development of melanoma and other cancers. The spice stops laboratory strains of melanoma from proliferating and pushes the cancer cells to commit suicide by shutting down nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB), a powerful protein known to induce an abnormal inflammatory response that leads to an assortment of disorders such as arthritis and cancer. [Cancer July 11, 2005]

Cancer / Risk - General Measures

Curcumin, the ingredient that gives turmeric its yellow color and one of the best studied of the natural COX-2 inhibitors, has been shown to inhibit the development of cancer in animals. Dr. Chintalapally V. Rao, a scientist with the American Health Foundation in Valhalla, New York, has conducted extensive animal studies with curcumin and notes that while the new drugs “undermine the activity of the COX-2 enzyme, curcumin completely blocks formation of the enzyme itself.”

The intriguing evidence of curcumin’s anticancer effects in animal studies has prompted a clinical trial of the compound. Dr. Steven Schiff at Rockefeller University in New York is assessing whether curcumin supplements (250 mg twice a day) can inhibit the development of colon cancer in humans. Much better absorption is achieved when taken with bioperine.

One of the main causes of cancer is chemical-induced changes in DNA resulting in uncontrolled cell reproduction. One of the things that sets curcumin apart from most other anti-cancer supplements is that it can actually block chemicals from getting inside cells. Importantly, curcumin can interfere with pesticides that mimic estrogen, including DDT and dioxin. Curcumin competes for the same chemical doorway as estrogen and estrogen-mimicking chemicals, and as such has the power to block access to the cell and protect the cell from becoming cancerous.

So far, in animal studies, curcumin has been found to block the cancer-causing effect of other chemicals such as paraquat, nitrosamines and carbon tetrachloride.

Curcumin has a number of cytokine-inhibiting properties such as the inhibition of angiogenic signals from tissue-like bone marrow, as well as the down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as bFGF and HGF. It increases the expression of functional nuclear p53 protein in human basal cell carcinomas, hepatomas, and leukemia cell lines. This increases apoptosis. It also down-regulates the inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha in bone marrow stromal cells. Higher doses of curcumin would appear to be useful for cancer patients to take.

In India (where the spice is widely used) the prevalence of the top four U.S. cancers – colon, breast, prostate and lung – is 10 times lower. [Cancer July 11, 2005]

Increased Risk of Breast Cancer

In a study on human breast cancer cells, curcumin reversed growth caused by 17b-estradiol by 98%. DDT’s growth-enhancing effects on breast cancer were blocked about 75% by curcumin. Other chemicals which encourage breast cancer such as, chlordane and endosulfane, are blocked and the growth rate greatly slowed by curcumin. [Environ Health Perspect 1998, 106: pp.807-812]

Increased Risk of Prostate Cancer

Curcumin could be a potentially therapeutic anti-cancer agent, as it significantly inhibits prostate cancer growth, as exemplified by LNCaP in vivo, and has the potential to prevent the progression of this cancer to its hormone refractory state. [Prostate. 2001 Jun 1;47(4): pp.293-303]

Increased Risk of Multiple Myeloma

Natural News reported in the fall of 2013, that “curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric that is believed to provide the most therapeutic benefits, was found to be an effective weapon against multiple myeloma cells. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, a recent study on this powerful compound verified that it is an effective medicine against not only multiple myeloma and other forms of cancer but also against cognitive degeneration and arthritis.

Other research has linked sulforaphane, an anticancer compound found naturally in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, to targeting multiple myeloma. Like turmeric, sulforaphane was shown to help enhance the effectiveness of existing chemotherapeutic agents, meaning conventional cancer treatments suddenly become more viable when paired with certain natural therapeutic agents.”

Prostate Cancer

Curcumin could be a potentially therapeutic anti-cancer agent, as it significantly inhibits prostate cancer growth, as exemplified by LNCaP in vivo, and has the potential to prevent the progression of this cancer to its hormone refractory state. [Prostate. 2001 Jun 1;47(4): pp.293-303]

Multiple Myeloma

Natural News reported in the fall of 2013, that “curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric that is believed to provide the most therapeutic benefits, was found to be an effective weapon against multiple myeloma cells. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, a recent study on this powerful compound verified that it is an effective medicine against not only multiple myeloma and other forms of cancer but also against cognitive degeneration and arthritis.

Other research has linked sulforaphane, an anticancer compound found naturally in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, to targeting multiple myeloma. Like turmeric, sulforaphane was shown to help enhance the effectiveness of existing chemotherapeutic agents, meaning conventional cancer treatments suddenly become more viable when paired with certain natural therapeutic agents.”