How To Unlock Turmeric For Absorption
Did you know? Turmeric has a lock and key!! And if you want to know how to get the best therapeutic benefits from Turmeric, you’re going to need to find a Robin to this Batman.
Curcumin the bioactive therapeutic compound which gives Turmeric its bright yellow colour, has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects. Which have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy against conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, neurological diseases, inflammatory diseases and even some cancer (Kunnumakkara et al., 2023; Liu et al., 2022).
However, it’s eliminated from the body very quickly if it’s not paired with the following:
1. Peppercorn! - Or rather Piperin (Active compound), stop enzymes breaking down curcumin in the liver and increase absorption by 2000% (Prasad et al., 2014).
2. Fats and Oils - Curcumin is fat soluble, and becomes more available when taken or cooked with Fats (Stohs et al., 2020).
3. Polysaccharides - Starches! The natural complex sugars in oats, barley, mushrooms, and root vegetables, also feed your gut’s beneficial bacteria as prebiotics, which can turn curcumin into active forms (Tabanelli et al., 2021).
Some other foods that help: Peppercorn, cream, butter, ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, high fat milks like cow, coconut milk & macadamia milk, or polysaccharides like sweet potatoes, green bananas, psyllium husk, lentils, legumes. 🥔🍠🥥
So the next time you treat yourself to a well deserved turmeric latte or a lovely hot chai. Throw in a pinch of black pepper!
References
Kunnumakkara, A. B., Hegde, M., Parama, D., Girisa, S., Kumar, A., Daimary, U. D., Garodia, P., Yenisetti, S. C., Oommen, O. V., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2023). Role of Turmeric and Curcumin in Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases: Lessons Learned from Clinical Trials. ACS pharmacology & translational science, 6(4), 447–518. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.2c00012
Liu, S., Liu, J., He, L., Liu, L., Cheng, B., Zhou, F., Cao, D., & He, Y. (2022). A Comprehensive Review on the Benefits and Problems of Curcumin with Respect to Human Health. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 27(14), 4400. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27144400
Prasad, S., Tyagi, A. K., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2014). Recent developments in delivery, bioavailability, absorption and metabolism of curcumin: the golden pigment from golden spice. Cancer research and treatment, 46(1), 2–18. https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2014.46.1.2
Stohs, S. J., Chen, O., Ray, S. D., Ji, J., Bucci, L. R., & Preuss, H. G. (2020). Highly Bioavailable Forms of Curcumin and Promising Avenues for Curcumin-Based Research and Application: A Review. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 25(6), 1397. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25061397
Tabanelli, R., Brogi, S., & Calderone, V. (2021). Improving Curcumin Bioavailability: Current Strategies and Future Perspectives. Pharmaceutics, 13(10), 1715. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13101715