Turmeric (Curcuma longa) has a long history of use in traditional Indian (Ayurvedic) and Chinese medicine.

For centuries, turmeric has been used to treat complaints such as gastrointestinal and liver disorders, poor digestion, anorexia, cough, diabetic complications, inflammatory conditions, traumatic injury with swelling and pain, rheumatism, sinusitis, menstrual problems, wounds, and skin diseases.

Curcumin is the primary active ingredient in the well-loved eastern yellow spice turmeric. With almost 3000 preclinical investigations, curcumin is one of the most widely investigated botanical constituents in literature.

It is a polyphenol antioxidant that makes up between 3-5% of the spice. No study to-date has found curcumin to be toxic to animals or humans at any dose.

Most of the recognised benefits of curcumin have been attributed to its powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Inflammation and oxidative damage have been shown to play a major role in many chronic and degenerative illnesses, including neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic, pulmonary, autoimmune and neoplastic diseases.

Curcumin’s Role in Inflammation & Arthritis

Studies have demonstrated that curcumin acts as a master switch of inflammation by acting at the level of pro-inflammatory enzymes and transcription factors, including nuclear factor- kappa beta (NF-kB), a critical mediator of inflammation.

This anti-inflammatory activity makes curcumin effective against a number of conditions related with chronic inflammation including cancer, heart failure, dementia, exercise-related muscular fatigue and arthritis.

The pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha plays an important role in the regulation of immune cells and the development of systemic inflammation, and has been implicated in a variety of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and cancer.

Both in vitro and in vivo studies showed that curcumin has profound inhibitory effects on the production of TNF-alpha.

Gut Health

Curcumin shows its ability to help treat a number of inflammatory bowel disorders and gastrointestinal diseases such as GIT cancers, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

In a recent study, curcumin was given to inflammatory bowel disease patients with significant reduction in their symptoms.

This was partly due to curcumin’s ability to act on the epithelial cell level of the colon where it prevented the cell wall destruction, as well as dampening the overactive immune response that is the cause of much of their discomfort and pain.

A significant reduction in the spasmodic contractions of the colon was also noted, which is of huge benefit to not only these patients but potentially to IBS sufferers too.