Chances are you’ve heard of turmeric and curcumin. Sometimes these two are treated as synonymous to one another, other times people may refer to them as two separate composites. Let’s connect the curcumin to its original source, turmeric, and see how this extraordinary natural anti-inflammatory has proven itself time after time.
Turmeric is a spice from India that has been used in Ayurvedic (natural) medicine for millennia. Curcumin, however, is a potent component of turmeric. To use an analogy, think of a nut and a shell. The shell is turmeric, and the nut is the curcumin. It is the curcumin inside the turmeric that is wanted. Consuming turmeric in its essence nets a lesser portion of curcumin, approximately 8-10 percent. Curcumin that has been extracted from the turmeric root could provide even greater benefits.
There are other components in turmeric that produce a higher effectiveness of inflammation reduction. Blending curcumin with its own turmeric essential oil could result in an even more potent substance at fighting disease when compared to the anti-inflammatory prescription drugs, plus curcumin comes without the side effects.
Curcumin works so well with a varying range of diseases because of its powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Not just arthritic inflammation in joints and connective tissue, but the many cases that are inflammatory-based: cancer, heart disease, asthma, IBS, diabetes, psoriasis, and cirrhosis, just to name a few. If we can reduce the inflammation and allow the body to repair itself as needed, that can give a new dawn to how a person feels, how they respond to stress, not to mention improved health markers.
Nearly all chronic diseases have a common denominator: unchecked, destructive inflammation. Usually synthetic drugs work at reducing a single inflammation pathway, not so with curcumin, which can help diminish multiple inflammation targets. Curcumin can help down-regulate COX-2, the enzyme linked to most inflammation. It can inhibit LOX-5, another pro-inflammatory enzyme. Curcumin can work through so many pathways that inflammation travels throughout the body. It can also act as a powerful antioxidant to reduce free radicals in the body that can lead to cell damage.
A fairly common response to turmeric is that it needs to be taken with black pepper. Not so with curcumin since it has already been extracted from turmeric. It is ready to get right to work. There is a downside to taking black pepper with certain supplements or medications. Black pepper’s job is to allow or speed up the permeation in the gut expediting nutrient absorption. If you were to take a pill that has a time release mechanism, meaning you want it to stay in the body much longer, black pepper negates that.
Inflammation is a normal process that the body undergoes as needed. It is a response to an area that requires some form of rehabilitation (i.e. healing) due to damage being done to a large tissue area, all the way down to a cellular level. Curcumin is one of the most researched natural compounds that could play a key role in reversing some of the more common diseases and ailments.
by John Connor, CNC
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