Also, black pepper has many other compounds in it. It is not pure piperine. The Bioperine is pure stuff--piperine only. In some of Doctor's Best products it is 5mg/ capsule.

You can buy it alone, purified and that is 10mg per tablet.

Once things get concentrated and purified, bioavailability and other factors may become important.

Thanks everyone!

mrsD, you had mentioned the NOW brand; I can't find how it had enhanced absorption, but I might not be looking very well. I was hoping you might have insight about it. Thank you, Ken

NOW is typically a good company. BUT, they may not have an advanced absorption version of curcumin. Not every manufacturer has an advanced curcumin. NOW tends to have high quality and affordable prices on most of their items.
I believe some of the enhanced forms are patented, so they cannot be copied by others.

A good supplement company does have, clean facilities, accurate content, testing of the batch before making for adulterants, etc. Uniform content from pill to pill.

The data on curcumin is still being put together. But I do think the studies use an enhanced form to get results.

provided by jackD



For those who would like to read more..
.
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/...urcumin_01.htm

The epic4health site sells this BCM95 as Curcugel

http://www.epic4health.com/cuenbicu.html

Does this help with psoriasis?

YES!

But you must take a "bio-active version" NOT JUST THE SPICE VERISION!!!!!
.
http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Suppleme...-Curcumin.html

jackD

p.s. It is also great for foot/toe fungus.

One VERY BAD side-effect is my HDL INCREASED from 41 to 76 since I started taking it!!!
(I also took some Pycnogenol 200 mg & Astaxanthin 8 mg which are also noted to increase HDL)

Adv Exp Med Biol. 2007;595:425-51.

Curcumin and autoimmune disease.
Bright JJ.

Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Methodist Research Institute, Clarian Health, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. jbright1@clarian.org

The immune system has evolved to protect the host from microbial infection; nevertheless, a breakdown in the immune system often results in infection, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, myocarditis, thyroiditis, uveitis, systemic lupus erythromatosis, and myasthenia gravis are organ-specific autoimmune diseases that afflict more than 5% of the population worldwide. Although the etiology is not known and a cure is still wanting, the use of herbal and dietary supplements is on the rise in patients with autoimmune diseases, mainly because they are effective, inexpensive, and relatively safe. Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound isolated from the rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa that has traditionally been used for pain and wound-healing. Recent studies have shown that curcumin ameliorates multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease in human or animal models.

Curcumin inhibits these autoimmune diseases by regulating inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma and associated JAK-STAT, AP-1, and NF-kappaB signaling pathways in immune cells.

Although the beneficial effects of nutraceuticals are traditionally achieved through dietary consumption at low levels for long periods of time, the use of purified active compounds such as curcumin at higher doses for therapeutic purposes needs extreme caution. A precise understanding of effective dose, safe regiment, and mechanism of action is required for the use of curcumin in the treatment of human autoimmune diseases.

PMID: 17569223 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Thank you. I have been following up on all this and I have a lot of reading to do. One alternative I have found that would work well with NOW's Curcumin supplement that mrsD mentioned is to just add a Bormelain supplement to the mix. I don't have links yet because I like to read things before I link them ...

But in a nutshell, this Bromelain stuff seems to enhance absorption, have NSAID-like properties and possibly work in a positive way with antibiotics. Ken

When I gave you that NOW example, that was to show a lower PRICE compared to what you were using. If you read that whole post carefully, you will see that "enhanced" products are recommended over both your current one and the unenhanced NOW product. NOW was given as an example of a quality company selling at affordable prices.

The epic4health website gives comparison blood levels between regular curcurmin without enhancement, and the Curcugel they offer.

You could also buy the NOW brand, since you seem stuck on it, and ADD Bioperine separately by Source Naturals (this is the only company who makes it). However if you use any RX drugs, I wouldn't recommend Bioperine for you at this time.

The enhanced versions of curcumin are patented. So at this time there are not many makers.
Curcumin that is NOT enhanced, would still be good the any issues in the GI tract, since most of the spice stays in there.

So I went on PubMed again.... there are some new papers about curcumin absorption:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...m&ordinalpos=3
(I believe this is the LongVida product although India is researching on their own to make a similar one.)

This is another delivery form being worked on:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...&ordinalpos=17

This mentions the newer delivery agents being investigated now.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...&ordinalpos=19

This one compares the nanoparticle style with piperine...and you can see how less effective the piperine one is:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...&ordinalpos=20

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...&ordinalpos=28

And a transdermal article:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...&ordinalpos=35
Sounds interesting.

I did a keyword search for bromelain and curcumin absorption and there were no hits on PubMed. I can't therefore vouch for how effective that combo would be.

So there are many new articles appearing on PubMed, mostly from other countries. I hope we see some of this research applied to humans soon!

For those who know how to click...
.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120?

jackD

For those who lack that ability...


Planta Med. 1998 May;64(4):353-6.

Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers.
Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, Majeed M, Rajendran R, Srinivas PS.

Department of Pharmacology, St. John's Medical College, Bangalore, India.

The medicinal properties of curcumin obtained from Curcuma longa L. cannot be utilised because of poor bioavailability due to its rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall. In this study, the effect of combining piperine, a known inhibitor of hepatic and intestinal glucuronidation, was evaluated on the bioavailability of curcumin in rats and healthy human volunteers. When curcumin was given alone, in the dose 2 g/kg to rats, moderate serum concentrations were achieved over a period of 4 h. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg/kg increased the serum concentration of curcumin for a short period of 1-2 h post drug. Time to maximum was significantly increased (P < 0.02) while elimination half life and clearance significantly decreased (P < 0.02), and the bioavailability was increased by 154%.

On the other hand in humans after a dose of 2 g curcumin alone, serum levels were either undetectable or very low. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg produced much higher concentrations from 0.25 to 1 h post drug (P < 0.01 at 0.25 and 0.5 h; P < 0.001 at 1 h), the increase in bioavailability was 2000%.

The study shows that in the dosages used, piperine enhances the serum concentration, extent of absorption and bioavailability of curcumin in both rats and humans with no adverse effects.

PMID: 9619120 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]