The dietary supplement known as turmeric may be the most potent one available.
Turmeric provides significant health advantages for both your body and brain, according to several high-quality research. Since curcumin is its primary active component, many of these advantages are due to it.
Continue reading to find out more about turmeric, curcumin, and its health advantages from a scientific perspective.
What are turmeric and curcumin?
Curry’s yellow hue comes from the spice turmeric.
It has been used as a spice and a medicinal herb in India for countless years. The traditional beliefs that turmeric includes chemicals with therapeutic benefits are now being supported by research.
These substances are known as curcuminoids. Curcumin is the most crucial.
The primary active component of turmeric is curcumin. It is a very potent antioxidant and has potent anti-inflammatory properties.
The top 10 scientifically proven health advantages of turmeric and curcumin are listed below.
1. Turmeric contains bioactive compounds with medicinal properties
However, turmeric doesn’t contain a lot of curcumin. By weight, it is around 3%. The majority of investigations on this plant employ turmeric extracts with doses often surpassing 1 gram per day, with curcumin being the main component.
To achieve these levels alone by adding turmeric as a spice to your meals would be quite challenging.
Because of this, some individuals decide to utilize supplements.
Curcumin is not well absorbed into the circulation, though. Curcumin’s bioavailability, or how quickly your body absorbs a chemical, has to increase if we are to benefit fully from it.
Consuming it with black pepper, which has piperine, is beneficial. The natural compound piperine increases curcumin absorption by 2000%.
In actuality, piperine is present in the greatest curcumin pills, which significantly increases their potency.
Additionally fat soluble, curcumin disintegrates and dissolves in fat or oil. Therefore, it can be wise to take curcumin pills together with a meal that has a lot of fat.
2. Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound
Inflammation is quite significant. It aids in warding off outside intruders and aids in bodily damage healing.
Although short-term, acute inflammation is advantageous, it can be problematic if it persists and starts to destroy your body’s own tissues.
Scientists now think that some illnesses and health issues may be influenced by chronic low-level inflammation. These consist of:
- heart disease
- cancer
- metabolic syndrome
- Alzheimer’s disease
- various degenerative conditions
Because of this, anything that can be done to combat chronic inflammation may be useful in avoiding and treating these illnesses.
The most important thing to remember about curcumin is that it is a bioactive chemical that can treat inflammation, despite the fact that the problem of inflammation is complex and there probably isn’t a straightforward solution. However, in order to have a therapeutic effect, very large dosages are needed.
3. Turmeric can increase the antioxidant capacity of the body
One of the processes thought to be responsible for aging and many illnesses is oxidative damage.
Free radicals, very reactive molecules with unpaired electrons, are involved. Important chemical molecules like fatty acids, proteins, or DNA often react with free radicals.
Antioxidants are mostly helpful because they shield your body from free radicals.
Due to the chemical makeup of curcumin, it is a strong antioxidant that has the ability to counteract free radicals.
Additionally, research on animals and cells indicate that curcumin may inhibit the activity of free radicals and maybe promote the activity of other antioxidants. To substantiate these advantages, more human clinical research are required.
4. Curcumin can boost brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Before scientists had a better grasp of neurons, it was thought that during early life, neurons were unable to divide and grow. They now understand that’s not the case, though.
In some parts of the brain, neurons may grow and become more numerous. They are also capable of creating new connections.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is a key driver of this process (BDNF). This gene contributes to the production of a protein essential for maintaining the health of neurons.
The brain regions in charge of eating, drinking, and body weight include the BDNF protein, which has an impact on memory and learning.
Decreased BDNF protein levels have been related to depression and Alzheimer’s disease, among other widespread brain illnesses.
Curiously, investigations on animals have revealed that curcumin may raise BDNF levels in the brain.
As a result, many brain disorders and age-related declines in brain function may be effectively delayed or even reversed. However, since these experiments were carried only on animals, it is difficult to interpret what the findings signify for people.
Given how it affects BDNF levels, it may also aid with memory and concentration. More research is need to support this, though.
5. Curcumin may lower your risk of heart disease
In the world, heart disease is the leading cause of death. For many years, scientists have researched it and have learnt a lot about why it occurs. Unsurprisingly, there are many factors that contribute to and worsen heart disease.
Numerous milestones in the development of heart disease may be helped by curcumin.
Enhancing the functionality of the endothelium, the lining of your blood arteries, is perhaps curcumin’s most important benefit in terms of heart disease.
One of the main causes of heart disease is endothelial dysfunction. When your endothelium is unable to control numerous elements, such as blood pressure and blood clotting, this occurs.
Numerous research indicate that curcumin may result in improvements. Additionally, one study discovered that it works just as well for post-menopausal women as exercise.
In addition, curcumin can lessen oxidation and inflammation, both of which have been linked to heart disease.
Researchers randomized 121 patients having coronary artery bypass surgery to receive either a placebo or 4 grams of curcumin per day for a few days before to and following the procedure.
The chance of having a heart attack while hospitalized was reduced by 65% in the group taking curcumin.
6. Turmeric may help prevent cancer
Cancer is a condition marked by unchecked cell proliferation. Supplemental curcumin appears to have an impact on a variety of cancer types.
Curcumin has been investigated as a useful herb in the treatment of cancer and has been discovered to have an impact on the growth and development of cancer.
According to studies, it can:
- contribute to the death of cancerous cells
- reduce angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels in tumors)
- reduce metastasis (spread of cancer)
It has not yet been thoroughly investigated if high-dose curcumin, preferably with an absorption booster like piperine, can aid in the treatment of cancer in humans.
Evidence suggests that it could, however, stop cancer from developing at all, particularly tumors of the digestive tract like colorectal cancer.
In a 30-day research, 4 grams of curcumin per day decreased the number of lesions by 40% in 44 men with colon lesions that occasionally progressed to cancer.
7. Curcumin may be useful in treating Alzheimer’s disease
The most prevalent type of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease may be to blame for up to 70% of dementia cases.
Although there are treatments available for some of its symptoms, Alzheimer’s disease is still incurable. It is crucial to stop it from happening in the first place because of this.
Curcumin has been demonstrated to pass the blood-brain barrier, therefore there may be good news on the future.
Curcumin has advantageous effects on both inflammation and oxidative damage, which are known to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
Additionally, a buildup of protein tangles known as amyloid plaques is a crucial aspect of Alzheimer’s disease. According to studies, curcumin can assist in removing these plaques.
Curcumin’s potential to reduce or perhaps stop the course of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals has to be further investigated.
8. Arthritis patients respond well to curcumin supplements
Western nations frequently deal with the problem of arthritis. There are several varieties of arthritis, and most of them include joint inflammation.
It makes obvious that curcumin, which has strong anti-inflammatory properties, may benefit arthritis. In reality, a number of studies have found a relationship.
Curcumin outperformed an anti-inflammatory medication in a trial on patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Numerous additional studies that examined how curcumin affects arthritis found improvements in a number of symptoms.
9. Curcumin has benefits against depression
The antidepressant curcumin has showed some promise.
60 depressed individuals were randomly assigned to one of three groups in a controlled experiment. Prozac was given to one group, 1 gram of curcumin to another, and Prozac with curcumin to the third.
Curcumin has had results comparable to those of Prozac after six weeks. The group who consumed curcumin as well as Prozac fared the best.
This short study found that curcumin had comparable antidepressant efficacy.
A brain region involved in learning and memory, the hippocampus, as well as lower BDNF levels are associated with depression. By raising BDNF levels, curcumin may be able to slow or stop some of these alterations.
Additionally, there is some evidence to suggest that curcumin might increase serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain.
10. Curcumin may help delay aging and fight age-related chronic diseases
If curcumin may indeed aid in the prevention of heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, it might also have advantages for extending life.
This implies that curcumin may have application as a supplement for anti-aging.
Since inflammation and oxidation are thought to contribute to aging, curcumin may have effects that go beyond simply warding off illness.