Curcumin, worth the hype?

The benefits of supplementing Curcumin and why is this supplement often combined with black pepper?

Curcumin, well known and likely in your kitchen cupboard but why take this as a supplement? Often found in turmeric, curcumin is a powerful antioxidant and its health benefits include anti-fungal properties, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. Having a diet high in antioxidants is beneficial as they can fight against an array of diseases. 

Unfortunately the absorption rates into the bloodstream of curcumin alone are quite poor, this is the main downside to a curcumin supplement. So why is it common to see this supplement consumed with black pepper, the reason these two are often mixed is due to black pepper containing piperine. Piperine can be isolated outside of black pepper and some of the best curcumin supplements contain Piperine alone. Piperine works by naturally increasing the absorbtion of the curcumin by 2,000%. 

Curcumin is similar in anti-inflammatory properties to ibuprofen, this means it has the potential to reduce inflammation in disease related instances. There are often two types of inflammation, actue and chronic. Some causes of chronic inflammation for instance are not always linked to disease and can be from prolonged stress and autoimmune disorders. Another form of chronic inflammation is a injury, this can occur even if the injury has healed. Acute inflammation is short term and the body will return to its normal state, this can also be caused from injury or illness.

Due to its anti-inflammatory properties curcumin is often seen in a ‘gym’ environment due to its ability to tackle exercise induced inflammation which can mean a quicker recovery and better performance.

In additon to benefits relating to anti inflammatory, there has been studies to look at curcumins relationship to lower risk of heart disease, depression, preventing cancers, treating Alzheimer’s and arthritis patients due to its inflammation benefits. Obviously all of these terms are very generalised statements and needs to be researched in greater detail but this supplement holds some very promising benefits.

How should you take this supplement? Curcumin can be taken at any point throughout the day but due to curcumin being fat soluable, meaning it will start to break down with the consumption of fat and oil. Meaning it could be benefical to take these with a meal which is high in fat.

It is important to note that all benefits of this supplement hold limited validity due to ongoing research. If you are looking into potentially adding this supplement for a specific reason I would suggest looking into further research down one of these subject headings.