If you’ve been keeping up with health trends, chances are you may have heard of turmeric. From turmeric ginger shots for a boost of immunity to its use in supporting joint health, this yellow spice has a variety of benefits!
Turmeric’s versatility stems from its main active ingredient – curcumin. Let’s dive into what that is and how it can help support our health.
What is curcumin?
Turmeric has been long used in India, dating back almost 4000 years. Besides being used as a spice in cooking, it’s also used as a medicinal herb. This is because it contains compounds called curcuminoids, one of which is curcumin.
Curcumin is a fat-soluble compound, which means it’s more easily absorbed with fat or oil.
What can curcumin do for your body?
Many of curcumin’s health benefits come from its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Anti-inflammatory
While acute or short-term inflammation works to support our body during immediate concerns like healing a cut or scrape, chronic inflammation can take a toll on our wellbeing. Over time, it can lead to conditions like arthritis, where it becomes difficult to move our joints with ease. Inflammation can also cause issues within your gut, resulting in digestive disorders like stomach ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome.
The good news is that curcumin can be very beneficial when it comes to reducing inflammation and supporting our joint and gut health. Curcumin fights inflammation by regulating inflammatory signals and stopping the production of chemical compounds responsible for causing inflammation within the body. This helps to control and ultimately reduce excess inflammation within the body.
High in antioxidants
Curcumin is also a potent source of antioxidants. Antioxidants are molecules that fight harmful particles called free radicals. These free radicals can cause oxidative stress, which can damage our cells, ultimately resulting in excess inflammation, autoimmune conditions, or in certain cases, cancer.
Curcumin’s antioxidant properties neutralize free radicals, which can also help support the immune system. This is because fighting free radicals helps to protect the structural integrity of our cells and tissues, including immune cells, which in turn reinforces the immune defense.
Introducing curcumin to your routine
If you’re someone who struggles with excess inflammation and digestive disorders, or you’re looking to reinforce your immune system, increasing your intake of curcumin may be worth looking into. There are a few different ways you can incorporate this powerful nutrient into your health routine.
Your local health food store may have raw turmeric root available – it may look similar to ginger on the outside, but it will be a dark orange on the inside. You can also find it as a dry powder to use as a spice in cooking.
However, studies show that the curcumin content in turmeric is only around 3% by weight. It might be difficult to make sure your body is actually absorbing and benefiting from the
curcumin content with diet alone. That’s why many people turn to supplemental curcumin for help.
Our Curcumin Unlocked formula contains 300mg of TurmiPure® material, a turmeric extract standardized for high potency in all three curcuminoids – curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. This full-spectrum curcuminoid formula uses a proprietary water-dispersible dried colloidal suspension technology. In other words, this technique makes the capsules water-soluble, ultimately improving overall absorption and availability.
Check out our other curcumin formulas as well: Curcumin 100 Liposomal and Curcumin-Pro. If you’re looking for some tasty ideas to get you started, try this Turmeric Peach Smoothie or this Anti-Inflammatory Golden Latte.
Curcumin can help support your health in more than one way. Consider adding it to your healthcare routine to fight off inflammation in the joints and gut, as well as reinforce your immune defenses.
Sources:
10 Proven Health Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin
Curcumin: A Review of Its’ Effects on Human Health
The Impact of Curcumin on Immune Response: An Immunomodulatory Strategy to Treat Sepsis
Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Curcumin in the Inflammatory Diseases: Status, Limitations and Countermeasures
Curcumin content of turmeric and curry powders
Turmeric, the Golden Spice
Highly Bioavailable Forms of Curcumin and Promising Avenues for Curcumin-Based Research and Application: A Review
Leave A Comment