Curcumin: Research and Benefits

Turmeric, a bright yellow member of the ginger family, has been used as a traditional remedy in Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic medicine as a flavoring agent for more than 2,000 years. It’s benefits, according to David Garner, CEO, and Mark Levitt, COO, Molecular Health Technologies, include anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, antiviral and anti-infectious activities. “In addition, the wound-healing and detoxifying properties of curcumin have also been studied significantly," they discussed.

More than 6,000 studies document curcumin’s potential health benefits, which include the areas of brain health, cardiovascular health, liver support, digestion and anti-cancer, to name a few. Even exercise-induced oxidative stress can be addressed with this powerful ingredient.

According to Giovanni Appendino, Ph.D., from Indena’s scientific board, medicine sees diseases like a series of high and steep cliffs. “People can fall from these cliffs, and to prevent casualties, you can send an ambulance at the foot of the cliff to help people as soon as they fall. Alternatively, and more intelligently, you can build a fence to prevent people from falling," he said. “Curcumin has the potential to act like this fence. With the problem of absorption substantially solved, it is time now to move from the mathematics of PK [pharmacokinetics] to the tribulations of the real world, where there is no shortage of diseases that might benefit from curcumin." 

For more information on curcumin research and its numerous benefits, check out the INSIDER Digital Pulse Curcumin Considerations.