Turmeric works best in a scientific dose
CURCUMIN is a minor compound of turmeric, the Indian spice widely used in curries.
Thousands of published studies have already shown its exciting capacity to benefit those with a range of health conditions.
But until now it s been hard to enable the human body to absorb the volumes required to make a difference. A 45g supermarket jar of ground turmeric is less than 2 per cent curcumin, which means it contains less than 1g of the active ingredient.
So a whole jar would not contain one daily dose.
Not only that, but studies have shown that most people cannot absorb enough curcumin in its natural form to benefit, which means simple curcumin tablets might not work.
However, there has now been a major step forward in harnessing the spice s unique power.
The discovery of an effective way to standardise the dose and boost the body s absorption of the compound has brought new hope that curcumin s therapeutic properties can at last be delivered in a reliable way with every tablet.
It follows a decade of research by international scientists working in university laboratories.
They were looking for a way to boost curcumin absorption and succeeded in combining it with plant-based phospholipids from soy beans.
Phospholipids are a class of fat that is a major component of all cell membranes. Studies show that combining them with curcumin produces a 29-fold increase in its uptake.
The supplement, now available in Britain, has excited the interest of researchers trying to find a reliable and reproducible dose to demonstrate the properties of curcumin.
The product is manufactured to pharmaceutical grade, and there are now further studies under way to demonstrate its benefits. We are very excited by the level of interest from scientists, said Alf Lindberg, a former secretary to the committee of the Nobel prize in medicine, and a chief scientific officer to the manufacturer.
At last we think we have a way to deliver a reliable, regular dose of this compound. We re hoping the latest trials will give definitive proof of the benefits of the supplement.