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Why does curcumin or turmeric work?

June 26, 2020 By Dr. William Davis

Curcumin or turmeric (from which curcumin is sourced) has been shown to reduce arthritis pain, reduce inflammation, reduce triglycerides, even improve depression. But why?

I ask why because there is almost no absorption of curcumin into the bloodstream.

Recent evidence points towards two effects of curcumin that may explain why it does indeed work: 1) curcumin restores the integrity of the intestinal barrier, and 2) curcumin is a potent antibacterial and moderately potent antifungal agent.

So, if curcumin provides relief, it may indicate that you are really addressing disrupted bowel flora in conditions such as small intestinal bacterial or fungal overgrowth, SIBO or SIFO. Focusing on bowel flora may therefore be key to gaining further improvements in health.

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Filed Under: DIY Healthcare, Health Information, Latest News Tagged With: bowel flora, diy health, diy healthcare, diyhealth, diyhealthcare, dr william davis, prebiotic, probiotic, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, undoctored

About Dr. William Davis

William Davis, MD, FACC is cardiologist and author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wheat Belly series of books. He is also author of the new Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary DeMersseman

    June 26, 2020

    If curcumin doesn’t enter the bloodstream, then why are there warnings about taking it along with blood thinners?
    (I stopped using it after I read that on another website. Is that warning untrue?)

    • Bob Niland

      June 26, 2020

      Mary DeMersseman wrote: «If curcumin doesn’t enter the bloodstream, then why are there warnings about taking it along with blood thinners?»

      These frets likely arise because consensus medicine is largely clueless about nutrition and gut microbiome, they don’t bother reading actual papers (more below), and they are dealing with populations on standard diets (and therefore with leaky guts, which might well result in various things entering the bloodstream). There’s a similar [non]problem with fish oil. So their usual posture is: don’t do anything we can’t be bothered to understand.

      This page turned up in search, and runs through an extensive list of FAQs. Note sub-head
      4. No human study proves turmeric’s blood thinning activity

      That pretty much unsurprised me. This is the in-vitro vs. in-vivo problem, plus, even if human RCTs are run, the inclusion/exclusion criteria (and wider diet & meds) would easily bias results.

      Turmeric/curcumin metabolism seems to be widely misunderstood, including by the majority of supplement formulators, who add ingredients purportedly to improve absorption, entirely missing the point.
      ________
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      • Nirmal

        June 26, 2020

        Any suggested ratio of combination and OTC recommendation for the supplement that increases absorption? Thanks.

        • Bob Niland

          June 26, 2020

          Nirmal wrote: «Any suggested ratio of combination and OTC recommendation for the supplement that increases absorption?»

          Why would one want to do that? One of the key points of the video (and everywhere in the Undoctored and WB programs where curcumin is discussed) is that it almost certainly exerts its beneficial effects without being absorbed.

          The present video mentions that there is so far no data supporting additional effectiveness when agents (like piperine) are added to enhance absorption. That also suggests that there probably is no science ruling out hazards from increased absorption.
          ________
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