One of our favorite healing foods here at Balanced Babe is turmeric, and today we’re discussing the important chemical in turmeric that has been studied to show all sorts of wondrous health benefits.
Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is a potent chemical that gives turmeric it’s vibrant yellow color and acts as a mega healer for our body. It gets us so excited that we just have to share all of the potential benefits of this super-ingredient:
Benefits of Curcumin
- Supports a healthy inflammation response: Inflammation has been discussed time and time again on Balanced Babe and it can become extremely harmful when it becomes long term or chronic in our bodies. Some studies have shown that chronic inflammation goes hand in hand with various chronic diseases, so it’s essential that we do what we can with our lifestyle and diet to support our natural inflammation response. Some studies how curcumin can help support our inflammation response as well as specific medications.
- Helps our body increase our antioxidant activity: As we’ve mentioned before, antioxidants protect us from free radicals that act as unstable cars with three wheels, trying to steal a wheel from the stable “cars” in our body (our DNA, proteins, or fatty acids). Making sure that our body produces antioxidants means that we are fighting off these unstable cars driving around inside of us trying to wreak havoc. Studies have linked curcumin to having a chemical structure that helps us neutralize these free radicals, but there have also been studies that link it to activating our own antioxidant enzymes.
- May help prevent steps in the heart disease process: Studies have linked curcumin to helping our endothelial function (which is the lining of our blood vessels). If someone experiences endothelial dysfunction, which is a dysfunction that may prevent our endothelium from regulating blood pressure and blood clotting, it could result in heart disease. Also keep in mind having a healthy inflammation response also helps support a healthy heart.
- Can promote clear skin: We’ve written about the benefits of turmeric before, and here is an article that discusses the beauty benefits and how you can create your own turmeric face mask.
All in all, curcumin has been studied extensively to show its antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial activities. A downside though is that curcumin has been shown to have poor absorption in the body when consumed in it’s natural form. This means that we would have to consume large quantities of turmeric to deliver the wellness benefits we are looking for, which makes it a bit inconvenient for consistent use. Some wellness sources claim that adding a pinch of black pepper will increase the bioavailability of curcumin by eight fold. Also, since turmeric is fat-soluble, it is beneficial to take with some form of fat for optimum absorption.
Here is a Turmeric tonic recipe that you can easily whip up to reap the benefits of curcumin:
Golden Milk recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups almond milk
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp pumpkin spice
- pinch of himalayan sea salt
- pinch of black pepper
- Dried strawberries or bee pollen to garnish (optional)
Directions:
- Pour the almond milk into a cup, sprinkle the turmeric, pumpkin spice, salt and pepper into the cup. Stir vigorously, and enjoy!
Curcumin supplementation:
On the other hand, since it is hard to absorb curcumin by simply ingesting turmeric, many individuals turn to supplementation to experience the benefits of this potent compound. Our team at Balanced Babe was introduced to Natrol Extra Strength Turmeric, which is formulated with CurcuWIN®. CurcuWIN is water soluble and has been through trials to show that it can be up to 46 times more bioavailable than curcumin found in turmeric.
CurcuWIN is backed by multiple clinical studies and is GMO-free and maintains a natural profile of curcumin found in turmeric. The company also shared this fun little infographic with our team to show the bio-availability capabilities found in Natrol Extra Strength Turmeric.
Natrol LLC is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of vitamins and supplements. Established in 1980, Natrol produces quality vitamins and supplements including herbs and botanicals, multivitamins, specialty and sports nutrition to proactively manage and maintain good health. Natrol is available in mass-market retailers, online retailers, natural food and supplement stores e.g. Walgreens, Amazon, Spouts, etc. You can check out Natrol and their other supplements here
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The content in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. All information found on this website is for education and entertainment purposes. This article is in partnership with Natrol Extra Strength Turmeric, all opinions and writings are our own.
