Curcumin Benefits

Turmeric.

For over 2000 years, turmeric has been used in Asian cuisine, cosmetics, and fabric dyeing.  Turmeric has been traditionally used as a spice, and as an anti-inflammatory remedy in both Indian and Chinese medicine. Curcumin a polyphenol extracted from turmeric Curcuma longa L., was used from ancient times in ayurvedic medicine in India [1].

Curcumin, the active ingredient of spice turmeric, is one of the most effective nutritional supplements. Several studies have shown that it has major benefits due to its antioxidant, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, anti-allergic, anti-dermatophyte, and neuroprotective properties. 

Bioavailability

Oral bioavailability of curcumin is low due to a relatively low absorption by small intestine along with extensive metabolism in the liver and an elimination through the gall bladder.  Ingesting curcumin by itself does not lead to the associated health benefits due to its poor bioavailability. A natural product capable of modifying curcumin bioavailability is piperine, the natural alkaloid of black pepper [2].  BCM-95—a 100% natural whole turmeric extract with essential oils significantly improves bioavailability of curcumin [3].

Clinical applications

In various research studies, curcumin has been used in treatment of several disorders (e.g., nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), knee osteoarthritis (OA), moderate hyperlipidemia metabolic syndrome risk, glioblastoma, obesity, impaired glucose tolerance or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and related muscle damage, osteo-muscular pain, chronic diabetic macular edema, advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Most of these benefits are due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Metabolic syndrome

Being overweight leads to chronic low-grade inflammation. Systemic inflammation has been associated with many conditions affecting many systems. One such condition is Metabolic syndrome which includes insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hypertension, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), elevated triglyceride levels, and obesity.

Curcumin has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, suppressing adipogenesis (fat storage), and reducing elevated blood pressure, inflammation, and oxidative stress [4,5]. In addition, there is evidence that curcuminoids lead to a reduction in plasma triglycerides and cholesterol [6].

Arthritis

Curcumin is beneficial to several aspects of OA, as suggested by a recent systematic review and meta-analysis that concluded: “This systematic review and meta-analysis provided scientific evidence that 8–12 weeks of standardized turmeric extracts (typically 1000 mg/day of curcumin) treatment can reduce arthritis symptoms (mainly pain and inflammation-related symptoms) and result in similar improvements in the symptoms as ibuprofen and diclofenac sodium. Therefore, turmeric extracts and curcumin can be recommended for alleviating the symptoms of arthritis, especially osteoarthritis. [7]

Studies in healthy people

Several studies in healthy people have shown that Curcumin can lower total and LDL cholesterol [8], may be beneficial in decreasing exercise-induced muscle soreness [9], and has potential ani-anxiety effect [10]

-By Mrunal Patil, MD

References:

  1. Hatcher H., Planalp R., Cho J., Torti F.M., Torti S.V. Curcumin: From ancient medicine to current clinical trials. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 2008;65:1631–1652. doi: 10.1007/s00018-008-7452-4.
  2. Hewlings, S.J.; Kalman, D.S. Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. Foods 2017, 6, 92
  3. Rita Tabanelli, Simone Brogi, and Vincenzo Calderone, Improving Curcumin Bioavailability: Current Strategies and Future Perspectives, Pharmaceutics. 2021 Oct; 13(10): 1715.
  4. Bradford, P.G. Curcumin and obesity. Biofactors 2013, 39, 78–87.
  5. Hlavackova, L.; Janegova, A.; Ulicna, O.; Janega, P.; Cerna, A.; Babal, P. Spice up the hypertension diet—Curcumin and piperine prevent remodeling of aorta in experimental L-NAME induced hypertension. Nutr. Metab. 2011, 8, 72
  6. Mohammadi, A.; Sahebkar, A.; Iranshahi, M.; Amini, M.; Khojasteh, R.; Ghayour-Mobarhan, M.; Ferns, GA. Effects of supplementation with curcuminoids on dyslipidemia in obese patients: A randomized crossover trial. Phytother. Res. 2013, 27, 374–379.
  7. Daily, J.W.; Yang, M.; Park, S. Efficacy of turmeric extracts and curcumin for alleviating the symptoms of joint arthritis: A Systematic review and meta-snalysis of randomized clinical trials. J. Med. Food 2016, 19, 717–729.
  8. Cox, K.H.; Pipingas, A.; Scholey, A.B. Investigation of the effects of solid lipid curcumin on cognition and mood in a healthy older population. J. Psychopharmacol. 2015, 29, 642–651.
  9. Drobnic, F.; Riera, J.; Appendino, G.; Togni, S.; Franceschi, F.; Valle, X.; Pons, A.; Tur, J. Reduction of delayed onset muscle soreness by a novel curcumin delivery system (Meriva®): A randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J. ISSN 2014, 11, 31
  10. Esmaily, H.; Sahebkar, A.; Iranshahi, M.; Ganjali, S.; Mohammadi, A.; Ferns, G.; Ghayour-Mobarhan, M. An investigation of the effects of curcumin on anxiety and depression in obese individuals: A randomized controlled trial. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 2015, 21, 332–338.

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