Curcumin, a powerful anti-inflammatory ingredient that fights chronic inflammation
. Antioxidants
Hello. I'm a pharmacist Jinny.
Do you know what modern medicine considers to be the root of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, cancer, etc.? It's called chronic inflammation. Unlike acute inflammation, which acts in an emergency to protect the body, chronic inflammation is a condition in which the inflammatory response persists even in non-emergency situations. Therefore, attempts are being made to prevent various diseases by effectively controlling chronic inflammation.
In this regard, today we would like to take a look at 'curcumin', which has recently been attracting attention as a powerful anti-inflammatory material. Curcumin is one of the polyphenols in turmeric, which is also the pigment that gives curry its yellow color.
Now, let's take a look at the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin, which have been revealed by the scientific community through research.
Curcumin has actually been used for centuries to treat inflammatory diseases, and over the past 20 years, a wide variety of studies have demonstrated its anti-inflammatory properties by modulating inflammatory factors.
Here's a review of a curcumin review published in 2009 in Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, published by Cell Press, a highly authoritative scientific journal publisher [1].
"Extensive research over the past 20 years has shown that curcumin mediates anti-inflammatory effects through downregulation of inflammatory transcription factor (NF-κB), enzymes (COX-2 and 5-LOX), and cytokines (tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 1 and interleukin 6). Because inflammation plays a decisive role in most chronic diseases, curcumin's potential has been investigated in neoplastic, neurological, cardiovascular, pulmonary, and metabolic diseases."
The various pharmacological effects of curcumin that are attracting attention from the scientific community are due to its very strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In addition to chronic inflammation, curcumin has also been shown to inhibit free radicals, another factor in aging and disease.
In 2020, a meta-analysis of four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on curcumin's antioxidant capacity was published in the journal Antioxidants. The paper reported the following conclusions [2]:
"In summary, this meta-analysis showed that pure curcumin has antioxidant properties. It has the potential to reduce the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum and increase the total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Curcumin's action on oxidative stress labeling is associated with properties for the removal of free radicals, nitrogen, chelated metals, and the regulation of numerous enzymes. Therefore, curcumin has been proven to be an antioxidant."
Curcumin's powerful anti-inflammatory properties are also true when it comes to arthritis. In particular, it is known to help with rheumatoid arthritis, which is one of the autoimmune diseases.
In 2012, a clinical trial of patients with advanced rheumatoid arthritis was published in Phytotherapy Research. Studies have shown that curcumin may help improve the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis more effectively than nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac sodium) [3].
"Interestingly, the curcumin group showed the greatest improvement in overall DAS (disease activity) and ACR (American College of Rheumatology) scores, which were significantly better than those in the diclofenac sodium group. And more importantly, curcumin treatment has been shown to be safe and is not associated with any side effects."
Today, we talked about curcumin, an anti-inflammatory substance. Curcumin is not just a bit of an anti-inflammatory, but it is also known to help prevent various chronic diseases. It's also being studied in relation to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and depression. Therefore, I think it will be more noteworthy material in the future.
I hope you have a healthy day in body and mind. It was Jinny.
[1] Aggarwal BB, Sung B. (2009). Pharmacological basis for the role of curcumin in chronic diseases: an age-old spice with modern targets. Trends Pharmacol Sc, 30(2), 85-94.
[2] Jakubczyk, K., Drużga, A., Katarzyna, J., & Skonieczna-Żydecka, K. (2020). Antioxidant Potential of Curcumin-A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 9(11), 1092.
[3] Chandran B, Goel A. (2012). A randomized, pilot study to assess the efficacy and safety of curcumin in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. Phytother Res, 26(11), 1719-25.
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