I like curry too. Haven't used it in a long time, but I used to, so why do I have MS..

Some added Curcumin thoughts:

Curcumin is a COX-2 inhibitor
Plummer et al. 1999 Inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase 2 expression in colon cells by the chemopreventive agent curcumin involves inhibition of NF-B activation via the NIK/IKK signalling complex

Curcumin induces apoptosis
Cipriani et al. 2001 Curcumin Inhibits Activation of V{gamma}9V{delta}2 T Cells by Phosphoantigens and Induces Apoptosis Involving Apoptosis-Inducing Factor and Large Scale DNA Fragmentation

Curcumin is anti-inflammatory
Lim et al. 2001 The Curry Spice Curcumin Reduces Oxidative Damage and Amyloid Pathology in an Alzheimer Transgenic Mouse

Curry is not 100% tumeric. Only partly so. But it is so nice to eat, and the oils in the food enhance the absorption of the curcumin part, that eating it is just pleasurable and good for you.

I love the smell it imparts to the house, esp in winter. It smells so good you can hardly wait for the stew to simmer or the soup the finish! I don't use it heavily in food... it can cause heartburn for me. (like in some Indian dishes). I use a Pondecherry type.(when I can find it )

Hello....I don't believe we've met... before.

I looked up your supplement and it is a simple curcumin powder in a capsule. The 95% cucuminoids does not imply the absorption of such only the content of the extract. Most of the quality extracts are of this potency. Curcumin is a part of tumeric.

The enhanced formulas we are discussing here are beyond the basic extract. For what you pay for your Vital Health product you could easily get more benefits by using one of the enhanced products which are in the same price range. You are paying a high price for an herb that other makers provide with less expense. This is just a recommendation to save you money and provide maximum response.
example:
http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Curcu...aps/13441?at=0

These enhanced products are what are used in the studies. Curcugel for example has this history. And it is nice to see that the Longvita product is becoming more available and affordable.
http://www.longvida.com/

For those wishing to directly deliver curcumin to the bowel for cancer prevention or local anti-inflammatory actions for Crohn's, the standard extract without enhancement would be probably the better choice.

Because you're just special, Sally!

Hi MrsD. I don't think we have either. I think this is an interesting thread and I will follow up on your thoughts about potency. I'm also, considering the possibility that curcumin may no longer be compatible with Kim's treatment regimen, but that's a different topic.

Here's another interesting article I found:

Yang, Fusheng et al. 2005 Curcumin inhibits formation of amyloid beta oligomers and fibrils, binds plaques, and reduces amyloid in vivo

Ken

Hi mrsD,

I appreciate your thoughts and have been considering them for a while. Just as you have pointed out, some curcumins absorb better than others. I'm getting ready to get new curcumin supps and thought about the NOW ones you linked above. They don't say anything about enhanced absorption so I wanted to check with you on this.

I am finding ones that feature improved absorption with bioperine, however I didn't get the impression you had those on the top of your list. Thanks for your post, it really has me thinking.

It is a pleasure to meet you.
Ken

The Bioperine does work. However, people using OTHER drugs may be at risk with it. There are just not very many studies of alot of drugs to show how it alters their absorption too.

I'll give you an example:
The work concerning grapefruit juice... took over a decade to evolve and started with one drug...Calan and expanded to many many drugs, if not MOST drugs out there. Grapefruit juice inhibits Cytochrome P450 which is in the lining of the GI tract. (as well as the liver). It was not understood that this barrier was there, and our drug studies developed doses for drugs based on how people absorbed them. Once you CHANGE that and enhance absorption, then people could get OVERDOSED.

This is what Bioperine does...it also enhances absorption. I did alot of searching a while ago looking for data, and it just does not exist for most drugs. I believe Dilantin was one affected.
This is an old paper, but not much has been done since 1985.

So now we have piperine (Bioperine) added to supplements to enhance their absorption. I just think it has to be used cautiously and by people who are NOT taking other drugs.
More here:
http://www.raysahelian.com/piperine.html

Posting on a board like this, one never knows who is reading what. So I cannot give a blanket recommendation for using Bioperine enhanced Curcumin.
I use the epic4health Curcugel 500 myself.
I also add curry spices to my soups, so I eat it too.

FYI folks,

Piperine is what gives black pepper it's spiciness.
I have a friend who is a nutritionist who recommended that I use black pepper in combo with curcumins/turmeric to enhance it's beneficial effect.

I try to save money when I can and turmeric in bulk is fairly inexpensive. So is black pepper. Since I use pepper in almost everything, including desserts, it doesn't bother me. I also add turmeric to everything I am cooking. It doesn't have to be a large amount, since the cumulative benefit happens whether it is one dose or spread out through meals. We do all our cooking from scratch and make a lot of soups and stews, and I put it in eggs, sauces and it's a part of my spice rubs for meats.

You don't have to spend large amounts of money buying manufactured pills to benefit from it.

Good stuff.

jackD


http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Suppleme...-Curcumin.html

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/...urcumin_01.htm