Turmeric Curcumin for Inflammation
December 03, 2019
Turmeric and its active component curcumin are taking the health, wellness, and medical industries in a storm. Juices, tea powders, beauty products, essential oils, and supplements now advertise turmeric as a primary ingredient for a healthy lifestyle. Studies show that turmeric can reduce the effects of a variety of conditions.
This article lists many of the health benefits of turmeric curcumin. We will focus on how turmeric and curcumin can be used for inflammation.
Turmeric and Curcumin Before we start with the health benefits of turmeric, let us clarify something first. Is there a difference between turmeric and curcumin?
Turmeric is a member of the ginger family. The root is used as a dried powder spice and a fresh herb. It is traditionally grown in South Asian countries and India. People from India have been using it since 500 BCE as food, medicine, and beauty product.
Curcumin in turmeric gives the root and its products their distinctive golden color. The root’s medicinal qualities primarily come from this chemical. Some studies have shown, though, that turmeric contains other healthy substances.
How much of turmeric is curcumin? One root contains only about 3% of curcumin. Also, human bodies cannot process curcumin easily. This is why turmeric needs to be ingested with a substance called piperine.
Piperine helps the body absorb curcumin by 2,000%. Luckily it can be found in a common spice: black pepper. Extracting pure piperine from black pepper will produce Bioperine.
Dangers of InflammationOne of turmeric curcumin’s medicinal benefits is its ability to reduce inflammation. You might be thinking that inflammation isn’t a life-threatening condition. Yes, that’s true. But, even a small amount of inflammation can be a sign of a chronic disability or disease.
Let us examine inflammation a bit more closely.
Inflammation is your body’s natural response to an injury or disease. Your immune system will consider the “attack” on your body as a threat. So it will send out a signal to the area that something is wrong. The area will swell, turn red, heat up, or become painful.
If your body is healthy, inflammation is a good sign that you are healing well. But, if your body is not healthy, then inflammation could be a signal of an overactive immune system.
This means that your immune system is sending out signals to fight whatever is “attacking” the body even though it’s not necessary. This response could lead to something bad like your body developing heart disease, bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, or cancer.
For example, someone with heart disease usually has high blood pressure, high cholesterol count, obesity, diabetes, and a host of other risk factors. All these have one thing in common: inflammation.
So, you should not dismiss inflammation quickly.
Turmeric and Curcumin’s Anti-inflammatory PropertiesThankfully, thousands of studies have proven turmeric and curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties.
According to a review of curcumin’s potential health benefits, “curcumin has also been shown to suppress inflammation through many different mechanisms.” This means that turmeric and curcumin can be used in a variety of ways to reduce inflammation. Notably, it is effective in reducing pain and swelling.
One common inflammatory condition that turmeric curcumin can help with is gout.
Gout leads to intense pain, swelling, stiffness, and redness in the joints. A 2019 study showed that curcumin can stop the protein that is a major source of gout inflammation.
You have many ways to ingest turmeric curcumin. But since turmeric as a spice or powder contains only a minute amount of curcumin, the best way is through supplements. Be careful, though. Not all supplements contain the same amount of curcumin. Make sure that your supplement has a high percentage of curcumin and Bioperine for maximum health benefits.
