Discover the power of turmeric

S cientists have made a major step forward in harnessing the unique power of curcumin, a versatile component of turmeric, that has been subject to a wide range of research.

The discovery of a method to standardize the dose and boost the body’s absorption of the compound has brought new hope that curcumin will at last be able to be delivered in a reliable and consistent way with every tablet.

The product, available to British consumers, called Turmeric+ has excited the interest of university researchers trying to find a reliable and reproducible dose to demonstrate the properties of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric.

Curcumin is a minor compound in the plant-root based Indian spice turmeric. Thousands of published studies have already shown its exciting capacity and further research is being conducted at leading institutions worldwide.

Although the research on curcumin is promising, until now it has been difficult to get the human body to absorb the large volumes required.

It has been shown that you would need to consume 17 curries per day to obtain the same amount of curcumin provided in a single Turmeric+ tablet.

Not only that, studies have shown that most people cannot absorb enough curcumin in its natural form, which means simple curcumin tablets may not deliver the levels required.

Turmeric+ follows more than a decade of research by international scientists working in university laboratories.

They were looking for a way of boosting curcumin absorption and succeeded in combining it with plant-based phospholipids from soy beans. Phospholipids are a class of fats that are a major component of all cell membranes and published studies have shown that combining them with curcumin will produce a 29-fold increase in curcumin uptake by the body.

Turmeric+ is marketed by Cambridge-based brand FutureYou. The product is manufactured to pharmaceutical grade and is now embarking on further studies and talks are underway with a number of British universities.

“We are very excited by the level of interest from scientists in our product,” said Alf Lindberg, a former secretary to the committee of the Nobel prize for medicine, who is a Chief Scientific Officer to Cambridge Nutraceuticals. “We think we at last have a way to deliver a reliable regular dose of this compound. We’re hoping the trials will give definitive proof of the benefits of Turmeric+.”