Curcumin as a Profound Anti-Inflammatory Agent
(Published March 2015 in The Guardian)
Dear Islanders...
Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric (Curcuma longa) – the chief ingredient in curry – and one of the most intensely studied natural products available today. As of March 2015, more than 5,000 scientific studies have been conducted focusing on curcumin. While curcumin has demonstrated significant activity in many experimental and clinical studies, its primary biological effects relate to its action as a broad-spectrum antioxidant and profound anti- inflammatory agent.
Curcumin has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory activity in a variety of experimental models as well as clinical studies. In fact, in numerous studies, curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects have been shown to be comparable to the potent drugs hydrocortisone and phenylbutazone as well as over-the-counter anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen. Some clinical studies have further substantiated curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects. While most anti-inflammatory drugs only impact one or maybe two of these mediators, curcumin exerts actions against all of them.
While there is a lot of excitement with curcumin, there is also some concern that clinical results will not be as impressive as preclinical studies in cell cultures and in animal models due to the fact that regular curcumin is poorly absorbed and rapidly metabolized and eliminated from the human body. Dosages as high as 12 grams of curcumin have failed to significantly raise blood levels. Fortunately, there now exists a new curcumin product that has solved this issue of poor bioavailability.
Theracurmin is an all-natural preparation utilizes advanced techniques to reduce the particle size of curcumin as well dramatically increase its solubility. The average particle size of curcumin in Theracurmin is 0.19 to 0.3 μm compared to an average particle size of 22.75 μm in curcumin powder. That represents a reduction of over 100 times.
This reduced particle-sized curcumin is provided in a colloidal suspension with a vegetable gum (gum ghatti) to dramatically increase its solubility in water. The result is an unparalleled increase in the absorption of curcumin compared to all other commercial forms tested including other enhanced forms of curcumin. At equal dosage levels, Theracurmin produces blood levels that are signfiicantly greater than regular curcumin or any other commercial form. Theracurmin is clinically proven as the most bioavailable form of curcumin.
Because Theracurmin enhances the absorption of curcumin, all of the benefits associated with curcumin are also enhanced. Theracurmin has been the subject of several clinical studies that have shown superior effects. Specifically, Theracurmin possesses an ability to reduce tissue damage caused by inflammation, improve liver function, increase the ability of the heart to function more efficiently, increase the flexibility of the arteries, improve joint function, and improve quality of life scores in cancer patients.
Clearly, curcumin is an extremely unique and interesting molecule. There is a reason why
so many researchers around the world have devoted so much attention to understanding its action. And, now with a form of curcumin (i.e., Theracurmin) these researchers finally have a form that will allow them to achieve the same sort of concentrations shown to be effective in preclinical studies.