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Flawed Science Says Curcumin Is Unlikely to Boost Health

  • January 12, 2017

We live in a world with deceptive and contradictory information at our fingertips. This can make it extremely challenging to chart a path to optimal health. A recent article in Science Daily is a perfect example of the sort of information you want to avoid. They claim that far from being health boosting, curcumin has few, if any, therapeutic benefits.

Science Daily needs to get their facts straight. Curcumin, a bioactive ingredient in turmeric, exhibits over 150 potentially therapeutic capabilities. This includes anti-inflammatory antimicrobial activity and cancer fighting properties. All of this has been intensely studied for decades and utilized in traditional medicine since time immemorial.

Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It has shown great promise for promoting brain health. Another common condition that can benefit from curcumin's anti-inflammatory activity is osteoarthritis.

Turmeric is readily available in the spice section of any grocery store but what many fail to understand is that it's not enough to simply use turmeric in your cooking. The turmeric root itself contains only about three percent curcumin concentration, and curcumin is poorly absorbed. When taken in its raw form, you're only absorbing about one percent of the available curcumin.

Even in supplement form curcumin is unlikely to provide the results shown in various disease studies. To maximize its efficacy you should only consume organic extract. This can be converted into a microemulsion. Combine one tablespoon of the powder with one to two egg yolks and a teaspoon or two of melted coconut oil. Use a high speed hand blender to emulsify it.