Curcumin Supplements

About Curcumin Supplements

Curcumin is a polyphenol naturally found in Turmeric Root that offers a range of benefits for promoting optimal health and chronic disease management. Curcumin actually has a poor bioavailability, meaning little is absorbed from the GI tract into the bloodstream. In fact, from standard turmeric supplements or even fresh root, most curcumin ends up in the colon and is passed as waste. Fortunately, there are natural ways to improve curcumin absorption to obtain more benefits from this powerful polyphenol.

Black pepper has been shown to increase the absorption of curcumin by a factor of twenty. The piperine in black pepper interferes with liver and intestinal glucuronidation pathways, which reduces curcumin breakdown. This allows more of the active compound to find its way to the body’s tissues, such as the joints and muscles. Though some curcumin preparations are enriched with black pepper to boost absorption, others use curcumin-phospholipid complexes, which also increase bioavailability.

Curcumin has many health benefits specific to various conditions and acts as a potent tonic to promote wellness and optimal health. Curcumin may be helpful for anxiety, depression, metabolic syndrome and even muscle soreness after exercise. This last effect is not surprising given that curcumin is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory that can manage some of the post-exercise muscle and nerve inflammation.

Curcumin is a safe and natural compound to take for chronic inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis and sports injuries. It has a strong antioxidant effect, helping to protect cells from free-radical damage. Curcumin has even been shown in clinical trials to assist with normalising blood lipids, such as triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. 

Research published by the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences in 2015 indicated that curucmin positively impacts weight management in overweight people. This effect may be due to the powerful anti-inflammatory nature of Turmeric root, or perhaps due to some other mechanism. Curcumin supplements are a must-have for the health conscious or anyone managing chronic health issues.