Natural anti-inflammatory agent

Turmeric has been used by humans for more than 4,000 years. Turmeric was used in ancient India and Chinese traditional medicine to treat inflammatory diseases and relieve pain. It is the source of the yellow color in Indian curry. Curcumin also appears as a natural pigment in some of the snacks we usually eat. Turmeric is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. “Chinese Materia Medica”: “It tastes bitter and pungent; it is warm in nature and returns to the spleen and liver meridian. It breaks blood and promotes qi; stimulates menstruation and relieves pain.” “Chinese Pharmacopoeia”: “It is used for chest and rib pain and amenorrhea. , syndrome, rheumatism, shoulder and arm pain, swelling and pain from falling.” Modern medical research has found that curcumin in turmeric is responsible.

1. What is curcumin?

Curcumin is a polyphenol extracted from turmeric. It is a potent antioxidant with many health benefits.

2. The efficacy of curcumin

Curcumin mainly has two major functions: anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

Anti-inflammatory and analgesic

Curcumin has been shown to be effective in optimizing the body’s response to inflammation, which may help reduce inflammation and promote overall cellular health.

Modern science has confirmed that chronic inflammation is an important cause of many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, etc. Inflammation in our body is triggered by chemicals that can cause inflammatory reactions, such as prostaglandins (PG-E2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), etc. These harmful substances are converted from other chemicals in the body, and this conversion must be catalyzed by an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX-2). In a large number of experiments, medical scientists have found that curcumin can effectively inhibit the activity of cyclooxygenase and block the generation of inflammatory reactions. This is one of the principles behind curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects.

While it is anti-inflammatory, curcumin can also relieve pain and has some similar effects to drugs such as ibuprofen. It has a good effect in treating flank pain, rheumatoid arthritis pain, etc. It also has a certain effect in relieving soreness after exercise or traumatic pain.

Anti-aging effect

Mitochondria are the energy-producing structures in cells. Typically, as we age, the number and function of mitochondria decline. Reduced cellular energy causes inflammatory compounds to leak out of mitochondria and form cellular “waste products.” Within a cell, there is a function for disposing of cellular debris called autophagy. Reduced autophagy is a hallmark feature of aging. When the cell debris produced cannot be removed through autophagy, chronic inflammation is triggered. The chronic low-grade inflammatory response state will lead to accelerated human aging, thus forming a vicious cycle. Curcumin protects and optimizes mitochondrial function, preserves autophagy, and helps the immune system properly process and discard cellular waste.

Antioxidant

Another great ability of curcumin is to fight free radicals. A study in a well-known American medical journal pointed out that the antioxidant capacity of natural curcumin is 2.33 times that of bioflavonoids, 1.6 times that of vitamin E, and 2.75 times that of vitamin C. The antioxidant effects of these antioxidant nutrients are very specific: vitamin C acts on water-soluble pro-oxidants, vitamin E acts on fat-soluble pro-oxidants, and beta-carotene acts on superoxide substances. Curcumin, on the other hand, works on both water-soluble and fat-soluble oxidative substances, as well as other types of harmful molecules.

Benefits for heart health

Curcumin helps improve cardiovascular health and endothelial function, and may help prevent atherosclerosis caused by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Curcumin can prevent brain nerve cell damage and improve brain nerve cell function.

Concerns about cognitive decline have increased dramatically in recent years. Modern lifestyles and diets coupled with increased lifespans have made this concern a real and growing concern for people of all ages. There are links between inflammation and the cognitive health domains of memory, comprehension, language, psychomotor speed, and executive function. As an antioxidant, curcumin has been clinically found to have protective effects against several neurodegenerative diseases associated with high levels of inflammation and oxidative stress.

Protects the liver and promotes gallbladder.

Curcumin can reduce the content of various lipids in the liver, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of fatty acids in the liver, effectively relieving the burden on the liver, delaying the progression of hepatitis, and reversing liver damage.

Curcumin can increase the activity of “alcohol dehydrogenase” and “acetaldehyde dehydrogenase”, improve the body’s ability to decompose acetaldehyde, thereby inhibiting the increase in acetaldehyde concentration in the body after drinking, helping the liver detoxify, repair liver cells, and restore health. Liver function, preventing various toxins from damaging the liver.

Curcumin can increase the production and secretion of bile and promote the contraction of the gallbladder.

If you want to benefit from curcumin, absorption is key.

Anyone who talks about the efficacy of food and medicine without considering the absorption rate is just talking nonsense. Curcumin has unstable properties such as poor water solubility, limited absorption, rapid metabolism, and rapid excretion. If taken orally, 90% of natural curcumin will be excreted again. Therefore, if the human body’s absorption rate of curcumin is only 10%, it will be difficult to achieve the desired effect by eating a large amount of curry or taking a large amount of natural curcumin orally.

How to increase the absorption of curcumin?

Curcumin has poor bioavailability, but if combined with piperine, the main active ingredient of black pepper, the bioavailability can be increased by 2000%. So turmeric can be taken with black pepper.

In addition, taking turmeric with fat and a little heat can also help the absorption of curcumin.

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