Turmeric – Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
Howdy folks!
This is Abbey, finally back with another addition to our understanding of proper nutritional supplementation. It’s been a bit since I’ve chimed in here, but today we’ll focus on something you’ve probably heard a lot about in the last few years: turmeric! Turmeric is the herb that is present in lots of very flavorful foods, such as curry. So, what on earth is it doing amongst our health kicks? Turns out it’s actually doing a lot! Standard Process® works to bring it to us in a form called Turmeric Forte. Let’s get into it.
The Pitch
What: Turmeric is the name for the herb that contains large amounts of curcumin, commonly known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It’s been used medicinally for over 4000 years! It is a potent product and, in its bio-available form (curcuminoids!), a great free radical scavenger. Free radicals are the chemical forms in our bodies that oxidize (think rust) things like our cell membranes and DNA… not good! Curcuminoids work by attaching themselves to these free radicals (instead of your cells!) and then removing them as they are digested out. That is what makes them so powerful as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-mutagenic, and anticancer formula. Seriously, this is some good stuff!
How: Turmeric Forte works best long-term, sometimes taking up to 18 months to build up in the system to produce its full effects. The product tends to have a cumulative effect, meaning the longer you take it the better. In acute cases, taking 2 tablets 3 times a day can enhance the function of the product. For cases of maintenance, we can adjust it to 1 tablet, twice daily.
Who: It’s for those dealing with serious pain and inflammatory responses, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular risk, pre-diabetic risk and type II diabetes, or generally anybody wanting to age in a healthy way. Inflammation is a serious factor in all of these disease processes, and turmeric is here to work on that!
Why: Why use the Standard Process brand? Because curcumin and its various forms are molecules that are notoriously non-bio-available when taken orally. Curcuminoids have very low solubility. Curcumin is degraded in the stomach before it ever gets to the intestines to be absorbed and used. Do you see the problem? Something good for us has a hard time getting into us. So, what do we do? Standard Process created a formula of curmin-galactomannoside (CGM) that is present in the product Turmeric Forte. This compound protects the curcumin through the digestive process of the stomach, so that the actual curcuminoids can be absorbed and used from the small intestine when they reach it. In many turmeric supplements you find, black pepper has been added to turmeric to increase its bio-availability. Long term, this is NOT as effective, and in high doses was shown to be slightly toxic (Don’t panic! It’s just not your best option!). The research on CGM has shown it to be completely safe, AND APPROXIMATELY 24x MORE BIO-AVAILABLE- think more bang for your buck.
Phew! That’s a lot of info! If you got bogged down in the mess, here’s what I suggest: Start taking Turmeric Forte. It’s good for about anything that hurts and is going to keep you healthier long-term. It’s safe, effective, and highly bio-available in your system. How cool is that? And guess what? It’s on the shelf in the office today. Come check it out and get adjusted while you’re at it.
Cheers to health made simple!
Abbey
PS – Turmeric Forte is not the cheap stuff you buy at Walmart or Costco. Turmeric Forte is the best stuff on the planet. Get the good stuff, your body will thank you.
If you want a little extra reading, here are the articles I looked at too:
Prasad S, Aggarwal BB. Turmeric, the Golden Spice: From Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine. In: Benzie IFF, Wachtel-Galor S, editors. Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd edition. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; 2011. Chapter 13. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92752/
Krishnareddy, N. T., Thomas, J. V., Nair, S. S., Mulakal, J. N., Maliakel, B. P., & Krishnakumar, I. M. (2018). A Novel Curcumin-Galactomannoside Complex Delivery System Improves Hepatic Function Markers in Chronic Alcoholics: A Double-Blinded, randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. BioMed Research International, 2018(1), 9159281. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9159281
Pancholi, V., Smina, T. P., Kunnumakkara, A. B., Maliakel, B., & Krishnakumar, I. M. (2021). Safety Assessment of a highly bioavailable curcumin-galactomannoside complex (CurQfen) in healthy volunteers, with a special reference to the recent hepatotoxic reports of curcumin supplements: A 90-days prospective study. Toxicology Reports, 8, 1255-1264. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214750021001141?via%3Dihub
Matthewman, C., Krishnakumar, I. M., & Swick, A. G. (2023). Review: Bioavailability and efficacy of ‘free’ curcuminoids from curcumagalactomannoside (CGM) curcumin formulation. Nutrition Research Reviews, 37(1), 14-31. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nutrition-research-reviews/article/review-bioavailability-and-efficacy-of-free-curcuminoids-from-curcumagalactomannoside-cgm-curcumin-formulation/707713D95F40F825C182905D45595120