How to increase bioavailability of Turmeric by 2000% for amazing benefits

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Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine have been utilizing turmeric for its medicinal attributes for over 5,000 years. This super-spice is one the most researched plants in the world with hundreds of possible health benefits. As a result, there are thousands of researches available on turmeric medicinal properties.

Extensive research over the past few decades has shown that it plays a major role in the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Curcumin is non-toxic and has a variety of therapeutic properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-cancer, antimicrobial activities and many others. It helps in neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, metabolic, autoimmune diseases and also diabetes and arthritis.

The main active compound  is curcumin; a yellow substance isolated from the plant Curcuma longa. It is the main active composite of turmeric and comprises 0.3-5.4% of raw turmeric.

Curcumin is a potent agent for treating a variety of diseases, however, several studies are saying that it has a very low absorption, high rate of metabolism, rapid elimination from the body and quite a low bioavailability. One study revealed that administration of curcumin resulted in only 1% bioavailability of curcumin in rat plasma.

The majority of curcumin gets metabolized before it reaches the bloodstream. Increasing the dose does not lead to higher absorption. Delivery tactics can significantly increase the bioavailability of curcuminoids. To increase the bioavailability several formulations are now available which includes nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, and phospholipids. However, there are also natural enhancers and other ways, and that is what this article will be about.

Let’s take a look at six natural ways to increase the bioavailability of curcumin:

The concept of ‘bioavailability enhancers’ is derived from the old traditional system of Ayurveda, where black pepper, long pepper, and ginger are used as natural bio-enhancers.

1. Black Pepper

Piperine, a main component of black pepper, aids in the absorption of curcumin. Piperine acts as bioenhancer to vitamins, amino acids, minerals and herbal compounds (including active components of ginseng and Pycnogenol), and also many drugs. In humans, curcumin bioavailability was increased by 2,000% at 45 minutes after co-administering curcumin orally with piperine with no adverse effects. Even just a small pinch of pepper is sufficient. Additionally, initial brain uptake of curcumin was increased by 48% comparable to that without piperine.

2. Healthy Fat

Turmeric is fat-soluble, thus for your body to fully absorb the compounds, you need to mix it with a a fat source, such as coconut oil, flax, hemp or olive oil or ghee. When eaten with a healthy fat, your body directly absorbs curcumin into the bloodstream bypassing the liver.

For a quick snack just sprinkle some turmeric powder onto an avocado (and also add black pepper). Turmeric with coconut oil or coconut milk (also known as golden turmeric tea) is lately very popular as well. You will find golden tea recipe later in this article.

3. Heat

According to Dr. Sukumar, your body can get the most benefits when you add turmeric to your cooking.

”The moment you heat oil and add turmeric to it, it now becomes completely bio-available to you.”

In addition, researchers say that boiling turmeric in water for ten minutes increases its solubility twelve fold (not absorption). Don’t expose turmeric to prolonged heat (curcumin is moderately sensitive to heat). Ten minutes should be just about right. More than 15 minutes and as a result, curcumins are starting to get destroyed.

4. Quercetin

Another substance is Quercetin, which is one of the most potent flavonoids. It is a plant pigment that occurs in several plants and foods, such as red wine, capers, red grapes, red onions, green tea, apples, berries, tomatoes, peppers, green leafy veggies, cruciferous vegetables, asparagus, beans, quinoa, and legumes. Fruits with a blue color or dark red have the highest quercetin content. Quercetin inhibits the sulfotransferase enzyme that inactivates curcumin, thus resulting in better bioavailability for your body.

Quercetin is a potent antioxidant, lowers inflammation, supports your heart, helps fight pain, also shows some promise as an anti-cancer agent and more. You can get quercetin from the foods above, or you can use it in a supplement form, a popular combo is quercetin-bromelain, which I use as well, and it is extremely helpful for allergies and sinus problems amongst other benefits.

Moreover, still thinking there is a little difference between organic and conventional food? How about this – Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that organically grown tomatoes had 79% more quercetin than the conventionally grown ones.

I recently wrote about health benefits of quinoa, which is high in quercetin, read more about 8 amazing health benefits of quinoa

5. Bromelain

Bromelain is a protein extract from the stems of pineapples, although the juice from the pineapple’s flesh contains bromelain as well. It is an enzyme compound and is often used in digestive enzyme supplement formulas, usually together with papain (from papaya). Bromelain’s other health benefits include sinus problems, allergies, asthma and joint pain.

Due to turmeric’s low rate of absorption, curcumin is often formulated with bromelain for increased absorption and enhanced anti-inflammatory effect. According to the Nutritional Supplement Educational Centre, bromelain may have an added benefit when taken with turmeric, because it may increase the amount of curcumin absorbed by your body.

6. Ginger

Ginger is best known for treating many forms of nausea (especially morning sickness), and stomach discomforts including GERD and ulcers. Its benefits are way more than that – from pain relief to cancer-fighting properties.

The gingerols from the ginger act as bioenhancer and usually, ginger works synergistically with piperine. Ginger promotes the intestinal absorption of many compounds and elements, including some drugs.

Ginger and Curcumin are close botanical relatives since both are rhizomes in the Zingiberaceae family. Researchers are increasingly focusing on the positive effects of combining these two plants. They found that through multiple mechanisms of protection against inflammation and oxidative damage, ginger and curcumin are very promising in fighting degenerative diseases and offers protection from the ravages of aging.

Turmeric Golden Milk Recipe

Golden Milk Tea, also called golden milk, is an ancient way of enjoying the benefits of turmeric with healthy fat included. There are many recipes for turmeric tea, but they usually comprise dissolving a paste of turmeric and water into a cup of coconut milk and/or coconut oil.

Here’s Dr. Weil’s recipe for Golden Milk:

”Heat 2 cups light unsweetened coconut milk (or almond or soymilk) with 1 tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger and 1 tablespoon peeled, grated fresh turmeric and 3-4 black peppercorns. Bring to a simmer and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten to taste (if desired).” 

note – because of more benefits, I add Cinnamon often as well and if you sweeten, use raw organic honey (or manuka honey for added benefits).

Natural News Organic Golden Turmeric Paste VIDEO :

CHECK THE VIDEO HERE

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups of filtered water
  • 1 cup organic Turmeric powder
  • 1tsp organic Black Pepper
  • 1/2 cup organic Coconut Oil

Instructions:

  1. First of all, mix the turmeric with water in a pan. Stir the liquid on low heat for 10 minutes.
  2. Once thickened, add the pepper and coconut oil and stir very well.
  3. Place in a jar with a lid and finally, store in your fridge.

Simple Turmeric Tea

Add a 1 or ½ teaspoon of ground turmeric to a cup of hot (boiling) water, simmer for about 10 minutes, strain if desired and add raw honey, ginger, and a lemon. You can experiment a little and add some other super-foods like cinnamon. If you like, add some organic milk or coconut milk due to the absorption benefits. And for the ultimate absorption, add a pinch of black pepper.

Conclusion:

Apply the bio-enhancing strategies to any food you cook – add turmeric, some healthy fat, black pepper, and ginger. For a quick, healthy snack sprinkle some organic turmeric powder onto an avocado with some freshly milled black pepper.

Don’t forget that turmeric makes an excellent natural toothpaste – So brush your teeth with it (don’t worry – your teeth will not turn yellow from it 🙂 . In addition, you can grow fresh turmeric at home, check here how to do it

And how do I take it? Turmeric powder or liquid 95% curcuminoids extract + ginger powder + black pepper + coconut oil + quercetin with bromelain in a supplement form (all this mixed in water as a healthy detox drink), and sometimes I make myself a nice warm cup of turmeric tea. Also, I use turmeric with black pepper and ginger as a spicing in almost every food when cooking.

* Caution: curcumin is a pretty strong yellow pigment so it can permanently discolor surfaces (or your hands, but not permanently 🙂

** Always buy from a reputable organic brand, because many turmeric powders contains relatively high amounts of heavy metals. As a result, you may be doing more harm than good to your body. See my recommendations which ones to buy in the link below.


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AUTHOR: Martin Hajek (Natural Health Investigator) – follow my work on FACEBOOK ; TWITTER ; GOOGLE+ ; MINIWEBSITE


Sources:

  1. 8 Amazing Health Benefits Of Eating Quinoa
  2. Recent Developments in Delivery, Bioavailability, Absorption and Metabolism of Curcumin
  3. Bioavailability enhancers of herbal origin: An overview
  4. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers.
  5. Physiological and therapeutical roles of ginger and turmeric on endocrine functions.
  6. Role of curcumin in systemic and oral health: An overview
  7. Recent Developments in Delivery, Bioavailability, Absorption and Metabolism of Curcumin
  8. Curcumin uptake and metabolism
  9. Heat-Solubilized Curcumin Should Be in Clinical Trials for Increasing Bioavailability
  10. Novel Turmeric Compound Delivers Much More Curcumin to the Blood
  11. Curcumin and turmeric: Improving the therapeutic benefits by enhancing absorption
  12. Bio-Enhanced TURMERIC Compounds Block Multiple Inflammatory Pathways
  13. Anti-Inflammatory Golden Milk
  14. Turmeric: The Spice That Actually Doubles as a Powerful Anti-Inflammatory
  15. How Do Turmeric & Bromelain Work As Cox Inhibitors?
  16. How turmeric kills cancer and how to optimize curcumin absorption
  17. Organic Golden Turmeric Paste
  18. How to Grow Your Own Supply of Turmeric Indoors
  19. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers.
  20. Biodistribution of [18F]-curcumin (A) and of [18F]-curcumin co-injected with piperine
  21. Effect of heat processing of spices on the concentrations of their bioactive principles: Turmeric (Curcuma longa), red pepper (Capsicum annuum) and black pepper (Piper nigrum)
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Martin Hajek
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I am into natural medicine and healthy lifestyle for more than 12 years. Writing about natural healthy lifestyle, longevity, herbs & supplements, nutrition, mental health, exercise, holistic medicine, healthy home, toxins&chemicals and much more. ''With natural medicine nothing is impossible, all diseases can be cured and prevented, with the right approach and 'open eyes' we can all live healthy and happy to 100+''


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