Supplementing with Curcumin

health

Curcumin

Curcumin/Turmeric has been an essential Indian home-remedy for centuries. It is considered an analgesic, an aid to lower blood sugar, an antibacterial and many other things.

Among many forms, one popular way to consume it is as Haldi Doodh, which is the same as that overpriced bottle of Golden Milk you’ll find at Whole Foods. This is typically consumed every night for its anti-inflammatory properties and a promise of relief from joint and muscle pain.

Recent studies have shown that curcumin has very low absorption when orally consumed. It is less bioavailable in this form. In one study patients were administered daily doses of 12g and even with that high a dose the plasma concentration of curcumin was low. So, the Haldi Doodh recipe isn’t as effective as we thought.

But there’s some good news – studies have also shown that if curcumin can find its way into your bloodstream, then it is able to permeate even hard to reach tissues like the brain, and when this happens several benefits are realized.

Making curcumin more bioavailable

Curcumin exhibits an array of potentially beneficial properties. But since it’s a xenobiotic, your body actively tries to get rid of it. So its effects are limited, unless it can be made more bioavailable. Meriva, a.k.a Curcumin Phytosome, is one such formulation which makes curcumin more bioavailable.

One common strategy used in pharmaceutical drugs and supplements is, the active molecule is bound to another compound which promotes the active molecule’s absorption. In Meriva, curcumin is dispersed in a phospholipid complex. This gets the curcumin past the stomach lining and from being cleared by the enzymes in the liver, thereby making it more bioavailable.

As a layperson with no formal education in biology or biochemistry, I was at first skeptical about consuming something like Meriva which is synthesized in a lab. I questioned if it safe to consume this over a naturally occuring form of curcumin, such as turmeric spice. But this thing with phospholipids does show up in nature as well.

Your body absorbs the omega-3 found in krill oil better than fish because the omega-3 in krill is naturally bound to a phospholipid, whereas in fish it is bound to a triglyceride. In other words, the omega-3 in krill oil is more bioavailable than fish oil. Examples such as this made me feel a little better about giving Meriva a shot.

Why am I taking Meriva?

I’ve always consumed NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, without hesitation, for headaches, hangovers or for muscle soreness from exercising. I’ve also been cavalier about visiting doctors on immediate discomfort from pain – and this visit often leads to a course of prescription strength NSAIDs such as naproxen or a high dose (800mg) ibuprofen.

A few years ago FDA strengthened their warning on non-aspirin NSAIDs because they can significantly increase the risk of heart-attack or stroke even with short term use.

I’ve paraphrased snippets from Dr.Rhonda Patrick’s interviews on The Tim Ferriss podcast and The Joe Rogan Podcast where she talks about why this is so.

Ibuprofen, naproxen and other such NSAIDs inhibit an enzyme known as COX-2, which is involved in inflammation and pain. There are a few fundamental mechanisms that increase the risk of heart-attack and stroke.

  • NSAIDs that inhibit COX-2 also inhibit the production of a molecule called prostacyclin, which is produced by COX-2 and relaxes blood vessels and unglues platelets. Inhibiting it causes the vessels to stiffen and it could cause plaque to come off and get clogged.
  • They inhibit the production of Nitric-Oxide which is also regulated by COX-2 and is needed for proper vascular function
  • Increases risk for heart-attack by disrupting mitochondrial function in heart cells

With all this evidence against NSAIDs, I’m considering using Meriva as an alternative.

Meriva as a substitute for ibuprofen

Even though Curcumin and ibuprofen provide anti-inflammatory effects, the underlying mechanism of how they achieve this in the body is different.

As mentioned above, drugs such as ibuprofen prevent inflammatory mediators such as COX-1 and COX-2 from being produced, which interferes with certain feedback loops in your body’s anti-inflammatory mechanism. But compounds such as curcumin and other naturally occuring antioxidants from fruits and vegetables are slightly toxic and stressful on your body. This produces something called a hormetic effect. This mild toxicity of curcumin activates anti-inflammatory and antioxidant genes in the body. Thereby activating your body’s natural anti-inflammatory response instead of artificially inhibiting a mediator such as COX-2.

Hormesis - Frequently, low doses of toxins and other stressors not only are harmless but also activate an adaptive stress response that raise the resistance of the organism against high doses of the same agent. This phenomenon is referred to as hormesis.

To be more specific, curcumin has been proven to upregulate the NRF-2 pathway (which is like a master switch for cellular repair) and inhibit NF-kB (which is a key signaling molecule in your body’s inflammatory response).

Dosage

The appropriate dosage seems to be about 500mg to 1g, twice a day. The pain relief from 2g of Meriva a day was found to be equivalent to 1000mg of acetaminophen (Tylenol) or 800mg of Ibuprofen.

Clinical studies

There have been a number of clinical studies with Meriva. Here are some interesting observations:

  • In one study for people with knee osteoarthritis, significant improvement in pain sensation, joint stiffness and physical function was observed at a dosage of 1g of Meriva (equivalent to 200mg of Curcumin). This was consumed as 500mg capsules twice a day. A significant reduction in all markers of inflammation such as C-Reactive Protein, IL-1B, IL-6, etc was observed. With this, the patients were able to reduce usage of NSAIDs such as Advil and realize improvements in GI health.
  • In another study Meriva reduced delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), occurring from working out, with a dosage of 1g of Meriva twice a day. Muscle soreness was quantified by MRI, lab tests and muscle sample tests.
  • A study comparing Meriva and acetaminophen (Tylenol) has also been performed.
  • Here’s a list of studies of Meriva on PubMed

References

NOTE: I’m not a licensed physician or a health professional. Exercise caution and consult your doctor before consuming any drugs or supplements.