Buy Curcumin and Turmeric supplement, 500
mg each pill
Joint Power Rx
for healthy joints as we age
Curcumin
extract is one of the major antioxidant extracts found in the spice turmeric. Through
its antioxidant mechanisms, it supports
colon health, exert neuroprotective activity and help maintain a healthy
cardiovascular system.
Because joint pain is so debilitating, glucosamine and chondroitin alone are not enough. This powerful formula has glucosamine sulfate (from shellfish), chondroitin sulfate, MSM, CMO complex, boswellia serrata extract, turmeric and curcumin, cat's claw extract, devil's claw extract, grape seed extract, and sea cucumber.
Dosage: Depending on the medical reason, one can take one capsule a few times a week or up to 6 capsules a day as long as your health care provider is aware you are taking a large dose.
Q. Is this product enteric
coated?
A. It is not. I have have not yet seen human studies that compare
the effectiveness of enteric coated to regular gelatin capsules. If those
selling enteric coated pills have such studies, I would be glad to review
them.
Health benefit
Many human trials are needed before we can know
with any certainty how we can best use curcumin in medicine. But one thing
is certain: most doctors are not, at this time, aware of the potential
benefits of curcumin and turmeric. There is ongoing research regarding the
role of this herbal extract for its use in Alzheimer's disease, diabetes,
inflammatory conditions, and several types of cancer. One concern is that
it is poorly absorbed and most of it stays in the gastrointestinal tract
which makes it ideal as a treatment for GI conditions. Some claim that
absorption into the bloodstream is improved significantly when this supplement
is used in combination with a black pepper extract called piperine, also known
by the brand name Bioperine.
Alzheimer's disease benefit
In laboratory studies, curcumin inhibits amyloid formation.
Amyloids are insoluble fibrous protein aggregates that clump in the brain cells
of Alzheimer's patients. Whether such supplements help reduce the incidence
of Alzheimer's disease or
help improve this condition is not known at this time.
Curcumin structure-function, bioavailability, and
efficacy in models of neuroinflammation and Alzheimer's disease.
J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2008.
We examined the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, or anti-amyloidogenic effects of
dietary curcumin and tetrahydrocurcumin, either administered chronically to aged mice or acutely to lipopolysaccharide-injected wild-type
mice. Despite dramatically higher drug plasma levels after tetrahydrocurcumin
compared with curcumin gavage, resulting brain levels of parent compounds were
similar. Only curcumin was effective in
reducing amyloid plaque burden, insoluble beta-amyloid peptide, and
carbonyls.
Curcumin inhibits formation of Abeta oligomers and fibrils and binds plaques and
reduces amyloid in vivo.
J Biol Chemistry. 2004.
Our data suggest that
low dose curcumin effectively disaggregates as well as prevents fibril and oligomer formation, supporting the rationale for
its use in clinical trials
preventing or treating Alzheimer's disease.
Anti-inflammatory
Curcumin prevents interleukins from promoting
inflammation.
Arsenic damage to DNA, reversal
Curcumin protects DNA damage in a chronically arsenic-exposed population of West
Bengal.
Hum Exp Toxicol. 2010.
Groundwater arsenic contamination has been a health hazard for West Bengal,
India. Oxidative stress to DNA is recognized as an underlying mechanism of
arsenic carcinogenicity. This field trial in Chakdah block of West Bengal
evaluated the role of curcumin against the genotoxic effects of arsenic induced
oxidative stress. Antioxidant enzymes like catalase, superoxide
dismutase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione
peroxidase and non-enzymatic glutathione were analyzed. The blood samples
of the endemic regions showed severe DNA damage with increased levels of ROS and
lipid peroxidation. The antioxidants were found with depleted activity. Three
months curcumin intervention reduced the DNA damage, retarded ROS generation and
lipid peroxidation and raised the level of antioxidant activity.
Colon polyposis
Combination treatment with curcumin and quercetin of adenomas in familial
adenomatous polyposis.
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006.
Familialadenomatous polyposis is an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by
the development of hundreds of colorectal adenomas and eventual colorectal
cancer. Regression of adenomas in this syndrome occurs with the administration
of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, but
these compounds can have considerable side effects. Five familialadenomatous polyposis patients with
prior colectomy (4 with retained rectum and 1 with an ileal anal pouch) received
curcumin 480 mg and quercetin 20 mg orally 3 times a day. All 5 patients had a
decreased polyp number and size from baseline after a mean of 6 months of
treatment with this combination.
Cancer prevention or treatment
Curcumin has the capacity of interact with
multiple molecular targets affecting the many processes in cancer formation. Curcumin, in mice, interferes with the spread of
breast cancer tumor cells to the lungs. Administration suppressed two
proteins that tumor cells use to keep themselves immortal. Studies evaluating
the role of curcumin and cancer continue to advance at a fast rate.
Breast cancer
Curcumin
helped stop the spread of breast cancer tumor cells to the lungs of mice. Tests
have already started in people, too, said Bharat Aggarwal of the Department of
Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
in Houston. Earlier research showed that curcumin can help prevent
tumors from forming in the laboratory. For their study, Bharat Aggarwal injected
mice with human breast cancer cells -- a batch of cells grown from a patient
whose cancer had spread to the lungs. The resulting tumors were allowed to grow,
and then surgically removed, to simulate a mastectomy.
Then the mice either got no additional treatment; curcumin alone; the cancer
drug paclitaxel, which is sold under the brand name Taxol; or curcumin plus
Taxol. Half the mice in the curcumin -only group and 22 percent of those in the
curcumin plus Taxol group had evidence of breast cancer that had spread to the
lungs. But 75 percent of animals that got Taxol alone and 95 percent of those
that got no treatment developed lung tumors. Earlier studies suggest that people
who eat diets rich in turmeric have lower rates of breast cancer, prostate
cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.
Colon cancer
Consumption of the putative chemopreventive agent curcumin by cancer patients:
assessment of levels in the colorectum and their pharmacodynamic
consequences.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005.
Patients with colorectal cancer ingested curcumin capsules (3,600, 1,800, or 450
mg daily) for 7 days. Biopsy samples of normal and malignant colorectal tissue,
respectively, were obtained at diagnosis and at 6 to 7 hours after the last dose. Blood was taken 1 hour after the
last dose of the herbal extract. The concentrations of curcumin in normal
and malignant colorectal tissue of patients receiving 3,600 mg of curcumin were
12 and 7 nmol/ gram, respectively. Curcumin sulfate and
glucuronide were identified in the tissue of these patients. Trace levels of
curcumin were found in the peripheral circulation. The results suggest that a
daily dose of 3.6 g achieves pharmacologically efficacious levels in
the colorectum with negligible distribution outside the gut.
Phase I clinical trial of oral
curcumin: biomarkers of systemic activity and compliance.
Clin Cancer Res. 2004.
Curcumin
exhibits anticancer activity in rodents and in humans. Its efficacy appears to
be related to induction of glutathione S-transferase enzymes, inhibition of
prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production, or suppression of oxidative DNA adduct
(M(1)G) formation. Fifteen patients with advanced colorectal
cancer refractory to standard chemotherapies consumed capsules compatible with curcumin doses between 0.45 and 3.6 g daily for up to 4 months. Levels of
curcumin and its metabolites in plasma, urine, and feces were analyzed. Three
biomarkers of the potential activity were translated from preclinical models and
measured in patient blood leukocytes: glutathione S-transferase activity, levels
of M(1)G, and PGE(2) production induced ex vivo. Dose-limiting toxicity was not
observed. A daily dose of 3.6 g
engendered 62% decrease in inducible PGE(2) production in blood samples taken 1
hour after dose.
Leukemia
Turmeric and green tea: a recipe for the treatment of B-chronic lymphocytic
leukemia.
Clin Cancer Res. 2009.
Two naturally occurring compounds, curcumin, the active ingredient in the spice
turmeric, and the green tea extract epigallocatechin-3-gallate, have marked
effects on the apoptotic machinery in chronic lymphocytic
leukemia. These
results provide a preclinical foundation for future clinical use of these
compounds in this disease.
Curcumin inhibits the multiplication of leukemia cells in laboratory studies.
Melanoma influence
Curcumin interferes with the growth of melanoma cells. Tests in laboratory dishes show that curcumin made melanoma skin cancer cells more likely to self-destruct in a
process known as apoptosis.
Curcumin -induced antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects in melanoma cells are associated with suppression of IkappaB kinase and nuclear factor kappaB activity.
Prostate cancer
Phytoestrogens in common herbs regulate prostate cancer cell growth in vitro.
Nutr Cancer. 2004.
Seven phytoestrogens found in common herbal products were screened for estrogen
receptor binding and growth inhibition of androgen-insensitive (PC-3) and
androgen-sensitive human prostate tumor cells. In a competitive
3H-estradiol ligand binding assay using mouse uterine cytosol, 2.5 M quercetin,
baicalein, genistein, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and curcumin displaced >
85% of estradiol binding, whereas apigenin and resveratrol displaced > 40%. From
growth inhibition studies in LNCaP cells, apigenin and curcumin were the most
potent inhibitors of cell growth, and EGCG and baicalein were the least potent.
In PC-3 cells, curcumin was the most potent inhibitor of cell growth, and EGCG
was the least potent. In both cell lines, significant arrest of the cell cycle
in S phase was induced by resveratrol and EGCG and in G2M phase by quercetin,
baicalein, apigenin, genistein, and curcumin. Induction of apoptosis was induced
by all of the 7 compounds in the 2 cell lines.
Cataract
Antioxidant effect of curcumin in selenium induced cataract of Wistar
rats.
Indian J Exp Biol. 2004.
Wistar rat pups treated with curcumin
before being administered with selenium showed no opacities in the lens. The
lipid peroxidation, xanthine oxidase enzyme levels in the lenses of curcumin and
selenium co-treated animals were significantly less when compared to selenium
treated animals. Curcumin
co-treatment seems to prevent oxidative damage and found to delay the
development of cataract.
Inflammatory bowel disease
Curcumin therapy in inflammatory bowel disease: a pilot study.
Dig Dis Sci. 2005.
A pure curcumin preparation was administered in an open label study to five
patients with ulcerative proctitis and five with Crohn's disease. All proctitis
patients improved, with reductions in concomitant medications in four, and four
of five Crohn's disease patients had lowered Crohn's disease activity
index scores and sedimentation rates.
Liver health
Drs. A. Baghdasaryan and Michael Trauner of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology division at
the Medical University Graz in Austria found that feeding curcumin to mice reduced the types of inflammation that can cause liver cell
damage, blockage and scarring. A. Baghdasaryan, Michael Trauner and their team wanted to find
out if curcumin could delay the damage caused by progressive inflammatory liver
disease, including two conditions called primary sclerosing cholangitis and
primary biliary cirrhosis. Both of these conditions, which can be initiated by
genetic faults or autoimmune disease, cause the liver's plumbing system of bile
ducts to become inflamed, scarred, and blocked. This can lead to major tissue
damage and irreversible and ultimately fatal liver cirrhosis. Tissue and blood samples from
mice with chronic liver inflammation were tested before and after adding curcumin to their
diet for four or eight weeks. The spiced diet significantly reduced
bile duct blockage and curbed liver cell damage and scarring by interfering with
chemical signalling pathways involved in inflammation.
Curcumin improves sclerosing cholangitis in Mdr2-/- mice
by inhibition of cholangiocyte inflammatory response and portal myofibroblast
proliferation.
Gut. 2010.
Lupus
Oral Supplementation of Turmeric Decreases Proteinuria, Hematuria, and
Systolic Blood Pressure in Patients Suffering from Relapsing or Refractory Lupus
Nephritis: A Randomized and Placebo-controlled Study.
J Renal Nutrition. 2011.
In this study we investigated effects of oral curcumin
supplementation on patients suffering from relapsing or refractory lupus
nephritis. With each meal, each patient in the trial group received 1 capsule for 3
months, which contained 500 mg turmeric, of which 22 mg was the active
ingredient curcumin (3 capsules daily). The control group received 3
capsules (1 with each meal) for the same period, which contained starch and
were identical in color and size to capsules given to patients in the trial
group. A significant decrease in proteinuria was found.
Also, systolic blood pressure and hematuria were found to decrease
significantly. Short-term turmeric supplementation can decrease proteinuria, hematuria,
and systolic blood pressure in patients suffering from relapsing or
refractory lupus nephritis and can be used as an adjuvant safe therapy for
such patients.
Prostate gland and PSA level
Combined inhibitory effects of soy isoflavones and curcumin on the production of
prostate-specific antigen.
Prostate. 2010.
Sustained chronic inflammation in the prostate promotes prostate carcinogenesis.
Since an elevated level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) per se reflects the
presence of inflammation in the prostate, intervention to improve the PSA value
might potentially have beneficial effects for the prevention of the development
of prostate cancer. Isoflavones and curcumin have anti-inflammatory and
anti-oxidant properties. Our results indicated that together they could modulate
serum PSA levels. Curcumin presumably synergizes with isoflavones to suppress
PSA production in prostate cells through the anti-androgen effects.
Tendonitis
As an anti-inflammatory compound, it may help reduce the pain from tendonitis.
Curcumin side effects,
toxicity, danger, safety
No apparent curcumin side effects have been reported in the medical literature
thus far. Increased body temperature on high doses may be a possible curcumin
side effect on high doses. A study performed at the University of Michigan
showed no curcumin toxicity at doses up to 6 grams.
Dose escalation of a curcuminoid formulation. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2006.
Emails
My 24 year old son has recently finished radiation with low dose oral
chemotherapy (with temador) for a brain tumor. He is currently getting 5 days on
and 23 days off of oral Temador. He is also taking curcumin. How many capsules
and how often should he take that supplement? Should he continue taking it
even while he is not taking the oral chemotherapy?
We really wish we could give an informed opinion,
but it is difficult to know how curcumin is influencing the cancer, if any, how
many mg would be effective if it does work, what the interaction are with the
chemotherapy, etc.... Hardly any human trials are available with curcumin and
cancer, so it is extremely difficult to make any suggestions. We truly wish your
son a healthy recovery.
Is curcumin capable of raising blood pressure and does
it have an influence on those who have mild to moderate hypertension?
We have not seen any studies that would indicate it to raise blood pressure
or that it should not be taken by those who have hypertension.
My father has primary amyloidosis and it has
affected both his liver as well as the digestive system. Have you known of
tumeric and curcumin to improve liver function. I respect the work that you do.
I am not aware yet of the specific effect curcumin capsules
have on liver health.
Q. I have been attending the dental hospital in Walers
U.K. under Prof. Lewis for a Lichenoid infection on my tongue. Dr. Lewis, in
desperation, to try and find some relief for my condition which was not
responding well to other treatment, had seen your web site on curcumin and asked
me to give it a try. I ordered curcumin and I have religiously taken two capsuls
a day for three months and I am so pleased with the results. Although the
condition has not completely gone, it is 100 times better than it was and Prof.
Lewis is really enthused with the results, and has said that I may be one of the
first to try such curcumin treatment over here in the U.K.!! You can't imagine
how much it means to me to be almost free from pain and able to start eating
foods which are acidy and spicy, in moderation. I know that the Lichenoid
infection condition has no complete cure, but at least there is hope on the
horizon for the many sufferers of this unpleasant condition. Thank you so much,
I will continue to take the curcumin capsules long term. Regards. P>S> I don't
mind my name being used if you think this is worthy of your website. Judith
Pearce.
A. Thanks! Please keep us updated.
Can you tell us the actual name of the skin condition?
Q. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply
to my email, it was much appreciated, as I know how busy you must be. The
medical name for my complaint in Lichen Planus, My tongue is very sore with
blisters and lesions which subside at times and other times are very inflamed
and extremely sore leaving me virtually unable to eat, or at best a diet of
bland sandwiches!! I do find that the curcumin helps very much indeed and I
would urge anyone who wants to try it, to do so and persevere over a period of
three months to see the best results. I will keep you posted regarding my
progress. The other advantage also of the curcumin, is that you can take it long
term without having to have a "rest" period once a week. Regards, Judith.
A. One case history does not
prove anything. Curcumin may have been the herb that helped your lichen planus,
and we eagerly await other reports from those with lichen planus to see if your
response was an isolated case or whether in fact curcumin is helpful for lichen
planus. If we do get several reports of such help, then perhaps a dermatologist
or researcher may wish to investigate its role in this skin
condition.
Would appreciate knowing if there is research
information on the effect of curcumin on testosterone in men. Is it known to
interfere -by raising, or lowering testosterone? or does it have no effect
whatsoever.
We have not seen any research on the influence of curcumin on
testosterone levels.
I've been taking your Curcurmin Turmeric supplement since 2009 for retinal hemorrhaging due to presumed ocular histoplasmosis, and have had excellent results. Prior to taking it, for over 18 months I was having to have monthly injections of Avastin bevacizumab for fluid and bleeding in my left eye. Since taking the supplement, my retina specialist has stopped the injections, first telling me to come back in two months, and now giving me four months before my next appointment. He told me to keep doing what you are doing. It is wonderful! Just wanted your research department to know.
I saw that you are a vet and have been doing some
studies with horses. What is the typical dose for horses and are there any
studies I might be able to get a couple of mine into. The last I read for humans
was that the top dose given so far was 12g, but I never found any dosage given
in any of the equine studies, just the results.
Actually I am not a veterinarian. I did a Medline search and did
not find studies using curcumin in horses.
I have been diagnosed as
pre-diabetic and would like to see how this product will affect my blood sugar.
I read an article on another site that indicated that if curcumin does not have
an enteric coating that the supplement will not be absorbed into the blood
stream readily. Does your supplement have an enteric coating? Or is an enteric
coating necessary for absorption?
This product is not enteric coated. We have not seen any studies as
of July 2010 that such coating enhances absorption.