[ed. note: Michael Jorrin, who I like to call Doc Gumshoe, is a longtime medical writer (not a doctor) who writes about non-financial health and medical issues for us a couple times a month. Like all of our authors, he chooses his own topics and his words and opinions are his alone. Enjoy!]
We’re talking about curcumin, of course. The hype, which comes at us in all directions like no-see-‘ems in hot sticky weather, would have us believe that it’s a cure for every disease under the sun and every other celestial body. The actual scientific backup for these claims is skimpy and insubstantial. I don’t think I would have risen to the bait proffered by this particular lengthy over-the-top promotion, except that it provides an opportunity to delve into at least three potentially interesting questions, to wit:
One, what is really known about the potential benefits of curcumin/turmeric, other than as a pleasing seasoning in many Asian dishes?
Two, is there really a single common pathology that accounts for the harms caused by – in the words of the particular promotional piece that came to my attention – “all 619 known diseases?”
Three, is it the case that, given the insufficiency of micronutrients in our diets, “supplementation is mandatory?” This last injunction comes from a comment to the recent Doc Gumshoe piece about diets, and, although it had nothing to do with the particular micronutrients (if any) in curcumin, it does have specific – if somewhat tangential – relevance.
For Gumshoe denizens who have been paying attention to other perhaps more important matters, such as the fate of the nation and the world, curcumin is a yellow substance in the rhizomes of the turmeric plant, Curcuma longa. Those rhizomes, which are sort of root clumps like ginger, are cooked, dried, and used as spices in many Asian curries. Curcumin is used in cosmetics mostly because of its color, and has recently become one of the darlings of the supplements industry, as per the promotion we’re looking at.
Just to show you what this particular spiel looks like, here’s how it leads off:
You notice that right off the bat it claims to be a pill for every disease – and to have no side effects. Now, you might quibble that it doesn’t actually claim to be a cure for every disease. But wait – there’s more!
“Studies have documented its ability to cure 619 diseases — virtually everything that affects your health.
Kills 16-times more cancer cells than the leading chemo drug Eloxatin — without harming healthy cells (International Journal of Oncology)“‘It’s 400-times more potent than the diabetes drug Metformin’ — reports Auburn University researchers (Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications)
“Performs better in memory tests than the drug Aricept (the most widely prescribed Alzheimer’s drug)— Salk Institute for Biological Studies
“More effectively treats Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) than Prozac — without Prozac’s devastating side effects, according to a randomized, controlled study.
“Lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels better than the statin drug Lipitor (Journal of Drug Research and Development)
“Treats chronic uveitis — a leading cause of blindness — better than corticosteroids... the only available prescription treatment (Journal of Phytotherapy Research)
“Beats Celebrex for relieving knee arthritis pain (Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine)
“Relieves rheumatoid arthritis pain better than Ibuprofen (Journal of Phytotherapy Research)
“‘Therapeutic effects are comparable to pharmaceutical NSAIDs… but with a major difference in that this compound is nontoxic and free of side effects.‘ – Vanderbilt and University of Pittsburgh researchers (Journal of Surgical Neurology International)
“‘Could enhance erectile function with more efficacy and more prolonged duration of action than Viagra’ (International Journal of Impotence Research)
“‘More effective in stopping the protein fragments from forming than many other drugs being tested to treat Alzheimer’s’ – UCLA Alzheimer’s Department and Veterans Affairs researchers (Journal of Biological Chemistry)
“Destroys more colon cancer stem cells than FOLFOX (one of the most widely prescribed chemotherapy protocols) – Baylor University researchers”
And then, to tie it up in a neat bow, this quote:
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“This shows promising effects to prevent and cure every chronic disease including cancer.”
— Biochemist Dr. Bharat Aggarwal, PhD, former researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center
Where to start the sleuthing process?
Unfortunately, Dr Aggarwal is not the ideal choice to endorse this “cure.” Perhaps you notice that he is a “former researcher” at MD Anderson. As it happens, Dr Aggarwal has been charged with fraud, and is no longer at MD Anderson. He is described as a leading researcher into the cancer-fighting properties of plants. Sixty five of his papers have been characterized as fraudulent, and the journal Cancer recently retracted one of those papers with apologies; more retractions are to come. Dr Aggarwal’s investigations of the medicinal properties of curcumin have been cited more than 1700 times, and are at least partly the basis for much of the current interest in curcumin. That’s not to say that the whole proposition that curcumin has valuable medicinal properties is nothing more than fraud and deception, but it does make one wonder.
The person directly behind the lengthy spiel about curcumin is one Al Sears, MD. Needless to say, his objective is not to sell curcumin pills for a buck apiece. No – he wants you to buy his book and subscribe to his service. Here’s a bit about his proposed deal:
“Confidential Cures: Your Guide to Truth and Lies in Medicine from Around the World is my solution for you.
“As a member of this privileged group, you’ll have unrestricted access to information and advice you can act on immediately — information that will come to you on a monthly basis.
“There’s a modest fee I’ll ask you to pay for this exclusive membership service, but it comes to less than the price of your morning coffee.
“Just $3.25 a month — about what you’d pay for a good cup of coffee!
“Confidential Cures is only $39 for a 12-month subscription — an unbelievably modest $3.25 a month, or about the cost of a large coffee, or cappuccino from Starbucks.“Best of all, Asia’s Wonder Spice: The $1 Cure for Every Disease…Without Side Effects is yours FREE when you subscribe to Confidential Cures today.
“Privileged Information — But Only for a Privileged Few
“Only the members of my inner circle ever see the unique, life-altering discoveries that Confidential Cures is packed with.
“How important and exclusive is this?
“Well, just remember that Confidential Cures offers you an inside look at remedies and treatments you’d never hear about otherwise — remedies that take you beyond the restrictive, “prescription only” tyranny of the big drug companies.
“Only 500 New Openings
“And as I mentioned earlier, today I’m opening our doors to 500 like-minded individuals… who are determined on seizing control of their health and lives. Everyday Americans who don’t want to fall victim to the mainstream medical establishment’s lies.”
Elsewhere he makes the usual claims that Big Pharma is sending its evil agents everywhere in the world to get patents on these precious healing plants so that they can suppress them forever. And that Big Pharma is aided in this campaign of hiding the most valuable health information from the populace by the FDA, and by “leftist elements in the government.” I’m not precisely sure why “leftist elements” would be in cahoots with Big Pharma, since leftists are not usually closely allied with Big Business of any kind. But it’s always best to summon up as many Frankenstein monsters as possible.
“Sears runs something called the ‘Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine’ and proclaims himself as the leading anti-aging physician in the US. If you Google him, you will find numerous self-congratulatory websites as well as several that strongly suggest that he is a quack. More I will not say.
Benefits of curcumin: some possible, some less so
The one medical use for curcumin for which there appears to be reliable evidence is osteoarthritis. A small randomized controlled study (53 subjects) compared a supplement containing curcumin plus glucosamine and chondroitin with placebo; both groups of subjects also received exercise therapy. No surprise, the patients taking the supplement had less pain than those on placebo. (In my PubMed search I could not find the study cited in the promotional piece from Al Sears, which claimed that curcumin was equivalent to NSAIDs, but without side effects.) The glucosamine-chondroitin combination has been reported, in some cases, to provide relief of joint pain by, in effect, lubricating the joint. And curcumin has been reported to have some anti-inflammatory effectiveness.
As to the way curcumin exerts these anti-inflammatory properties, the landscape is shrouded in dense fog from which vague outlines of potential anti-inflammatory pathways may be tentatively inferred. There appears to be evidence, mostly in animals, that treatment with curcumin reduces the presence of some markers of inflammation, such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), which is a malefactor in rheumatoid arthritis, and also of the enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), both of which are implicated in liver damage. A suggested mechanism whereby curcumin achieves this result is through upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), which has been associated with anti-inflammatory effects. I would point out, as a cautionary note, that this particular mechanism was described in a journal entitled PPAR Research, suggesting a certain predisposition.
That’s just one of 1004 papers listed in PubMed as having something to do with the anti-inflammatory mechanism of curcumin. I could do no more than take a look at a few of them, and mostly just the abstracts. But just to give you an idea of what’s out there, PubMed lists 8695 citations that include some discussion of curcumin. Of these, 1357 discuss the mechanism of action of curcumin. When it comes to human studies, the number shrinks dramatically – only 138 in toto. And the number of randomized controlled human studies is just 21. Of those 21, some report mildly encouraging results, including lowering LDL-cholesterol, reducing gingivitis (but not plaque), and reducing the pain from osteoarthritis. Others were inconclusive. Nearly all emphasized the need for further research.
I should add here that 115 of the papers about curcumin are by that Dr Aggarwal. I do not, by the way, accuse Dr Aggarwal of making fraudulent claims about curcumin in order to enrich himself. I suspect that he is one of the large cohort of researchers that are so absolutely convinced of the essential truth of their assertions that they manipulate evidence to support their convictions. Much of the research on curcumin is done by individuals who are deeply rooted in Ayurvedic medicine. They may acknowledge the need to bolster their beliefs with the trappings of the Western scientific method, but, from their perspective, the Truth is the Truth.
I tried to track down the sources for the assertions in the Al Sears spiel, and, based on what I could find in PubMed, the most positive statement that I can make is that curcumin, when used with some of those standard therapies (such as Metformin and Eloxatin) sometimes enhances the outcomes. It does appear to be quite safe.
However, there is one important problem with using curcumin as a drug: it is very difficult to get enough of the active ingredient into the circulation to have any therapeutic effect whatever. It is very poorly absorbed when taken orally, and it has a very short half-life, meaning that the duration of action is brief. In many laboratory studies, injectable formulations have been employed in an attempt to boost effectiveness. These, however, are not available as supplements and are only used in research settings.
Is Big Pharma interested, or are they putting the lid on the garbage can?
From the Sears spiel, you would think that Big Pharma is quaking in its boots lest the magic curcumin capsules totally put it out of business. Their global strategy, according to Sears, for suppressing “naturopathic” healing is to get patents on every conceivable healing plant and then bury any such treatments under reinforced concrete. Well, not so. They can’t patent the plant or fungus itself, but only the specific medicine that they concoct based on that naturally-occurring substance. And if they can patent it, another outfit can concoct something slightly different, and patent that.
But you can bet that Big Pharma is paying very close attention to the research on curcumin, and when something promising comes up, they will make their move.
Another thing – skip this bit if you already know this elementary factoid – there is no difference whatsoever between the active elements in a drug and those in a supplement. They are chemicals, pure and simple. The healthy nutrients in our food are chemicals. So are the poisons in polluted water and air. Supplements, to the degree that they have physiologic effects, are drugs. The differences between supplements and drugs are mostly definitional, rather than fundamental. The implication of the word “supplement” is that the supplement is something that is missing from our nutrition; the supplement corrects a fault. But what’s in most marketed supplements wouldn’t be present in what we normally eat. Even in curry-eating populations, there’s not nearly enough turmeric in the food to result in the kinds of physiologic effects being described in this promotion.
In the meantime, the supplement makers, who are prevented from directly making claims that their supplements have any medicinal properties at all, need to resort to the likes of Al Sears or his similars. There have been wrangles between the FDA and supplement makers dating back almost 50 years. In the 1970s, the FDA made a move to regulate vitamins, but it was shot down by Congress. And again, in the 1990s, the FDA tried to subject supplements to some of the same regulations with which drugs must comply. Again, Congress would have none of it. The compromise is that the supplement marketers can only claim that they “support health.” To go beyond that, they need “independent” experts to speak on their behalf.
A basic reason that supplement makers do not want to be regulated like “ethical” drugs is that complying with FDA requirements for an indication is time-consuming and exceedingly expensive. The FDA requires evidence that the candidate drug is safe in relation to the degree of risk presented by the disease or condition that it’s meant to treat; a treatment for acne needs to be safer than a treatment for metastatic cancer. And it requires evidence of effectiveness in human beings with the disease. And, if there are already approved drugs that have demonstrated effectiveness in treating that disease, the candidate drug has to demonstrate some kind of advantage – better, quicker, safer, cheaper. As you have read in previous utterances from Doc Gumshoe, the mean cost of bringing a new drug to market is about $1.5 billion.
Do I think the supplement makers should be required to go through this identical process? I do not. But there should be some rational middle ground, where the benefits of the supplements in terms of supporting health are fairly evaluated, such that the marketers of supplements would be entitled to promote their products on the basis of validated evidence.
Is there a single common pathology involved in “all 619 known diseases?”
The easy answer is “of course not.” However, the pathology referred to in the Sears spiel is inflammation, and inflammation is indeed involved in a great many diseases. Almost without exception, an insult to the body brings about an inflammatory response, regardless of the initial cause of the insult – injury, infection, the malfunction of an organ or body system. However, it’s a bit simplistic to describe inflammation as a single common pathology. In our bodies there are many, many participants in inflammatory responses – certainly hundreds, possibly thousands. Some forms of inflammation are benign, as in the inflammatory response to an infection. The example I cited earlier, in which curcumin decreased levels of TNFα, ALT, and AST, was in a study in which curcumin was given to rats in which sepsis had been induced by creating an infection. Those inflammatory mediators were present in response to sepsis; some of them were recruited to the site of the infection to attack the infective agents, while the mission of some others was likely to clear away the debris. It is by no means clear that reducing the level of those inflammatory mediators in any way contributed to the well-being of the subject rats.
In any case, it is highly unlikely that any single agent, whether curcumin or any other, would be active against the immense range of inflammatory mediators and types of inflammation. Therefore, that first claim – “Studies have documented its ability to cure 619 diseases — virtually everything that affects your health” – is certainly hooey.
But curcumin seems to have a related characteristic that may have some value. It is described as an effective anti-oxidant – an antagonist of the free radicals that lead to harmful oxidative stress. A couple of blogs ago, we kicked around the issue of oxidative stress as a factor in the development of vulnerable plaque in cardiac disease. There are indications that curcumin might mitigate the effects of oxidative stress by inducing the expression of heme oxygenase 1 (HO1) in vascular endothelial cells; this is thought to be a protective reaction. To quote a paper investigating whether curcumin might be useful as a means of preventing the kind of cardiovascular injury due to the disruption of vulnerable plaque, “Thus, it is conceivable that curcumin could be used as a pharmacological ‘preconditioning’ agent to modulate the expression of intracellular pathways in organs or tissues requiring increased protection against oxidant-mediated injury; in vivo experiments are now necessary to address and verify this hypothesis.” (Motterlini R et al, Free Rad Biol Med 2000;28:11303-1312) The author points out, however, that it is very difficult to attain therapeutic concentrations of curcumin from dietary sources.
Nonetheless, the possibility of benefits from curcumin, related both to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant characteristics, appears to be legitimate.
Finally, is supplementation “mandatory?”
What prompted me to poses that particular question was a comment from a Gumshoe citizen on the recent post about diets. But let’s consider that injunction in light of what we know, or think we know, about curcumin.
Proposition: curcumin probably confers some health benefits related to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. These are as yet unproven in human randomized controlled trials, but the evidence so far supports the view that it is beneficial. It also appears to be quite safe.
Proposition: the amount of curcumin that we humans can absorb from dietary sources, such as putting abundant quantities of turmeric in our chicken tikka massala, doesn’t begin to reach the concentrations in our bodies that are equivalent to the concentrations in the animal studies where those benefits have been observed. Or, to put it another way, we can’t eat enough of it to do much good.
Therefore: if we want to experience the benefits of curcumin, supplementation is mandatory. Quid erat demonstrandum.
The Gumshoe denizen (Machine Ghost) whose post led me to this commandment supplied the information that in order to achieve sufficient intake of 27 vital micronutrients would require an average caloric intake of 27,575 (± 4,661) calories per day. Removing six micronutrients from the list, and reducing it to 21 would mean that sufficiency could be attained with a daily intake of just 3,475 (± 544) calories per day. Obviously, neither diet is feasible. Machine Ghost’s conclusion was that, therefore, “supplementation is mandatory.”
But there is another conclusion to be reached from that information, which is that many or even most of those micronutrients are not that essential. The micronutrients referred to are mostly the vitamins listed in the FDA’s Reference Daily Intake (RDI) guidelines. If they were all really essential, in the amounts given in the guidelines, we would all be either the size of elephants or dead.
So, with regard to the putative benefits of curcumin, Doc Gumshoe sticks with his syllogism. But with regard to the general principle about supplementation, Doc Gumshoe demurs, politely, and with thanks to Machine Ghost for stirring the pot.
Do promotions like the Al Sears spiel actually do any harm?
In my opinion, they do. Not because they induce people to take the touted miracle pill, which probably won’t do any harm and might do some good, but because some of those people, in the belief that they are doing whatever they need to do to cure their illness and preserve their health, turn their backs on established medical treatment, sometimes with dire outcomes. Demonizing Western medicine and damming the entire pharmaceutical industry as being nothing but profit driven is a marketing strategy that works well for the supplements industry, but does not work well for the populace. When supplements marketers are accused of being deceitful, the response of the alternative health movement is frequently that it’s just an attack by Big Pharma intended to protect their profits. A couple of years ago, in a Doc Gumshoe piece about what I termed the unnecessary feud between mainstream and alternative medicine, I wrote this:
“A black eye for supplements marketers
A recent Canadian study (Newmaster SG et al. BMC Med. 2013; 11: 222) reported that a majority of herbal supplements tested by DNA bar-coding were not as described on the labels. The investigators bought 44 samples of supplements from 12 different manufacturers / marketers, and compared their DNA bar codes with those of the herbs of which they purportedly consisted. The products of only two of the twelve marketers were exactly as described on the label. Two of the twelve contained no authentic ingredients at all – they were 100% fake. The other eight consisted of a mixture of fake ingredients, contaminants, and varying proportions of the labelled herb, sometimes as much as 50%, and sometimes considerably less.
The totally fake ingredients were mostly harmless, including rice, soy, and wheat. The contaminants were another story. One bottle was fraudulently labelled as St John’s wort, which is promoted as an antidepressant (it has been touted as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor; however, this mechanism is disputed). It was found to consist entirely of Alexandrian senna, which is a powerful laxative. Ginko biloba supplements were contaminated with black walnut, which might be fatal for people with nut allergies.”
That study doesn’t seem to have slowed supplements promoters by much; it’s still pedal-to-the-metal for marketers and their spokespersons. (Of course, the pharmaceutical industry has repeatedly shot itself in the foot, as with an AK-47 – see Turing, Shkreli, et al.)
But I stand with Dr KSS, who in a comment a couple of years ago said it was probably okay to take supplements to stay healthy, but when you’re sick, you need doctors and real medicines.
* * * * * * *
Another Gumshoe trooper has just sent a link to a short article about curcumin with particular reference to Alzheimer’s disease. What’s especially interesting about this article is that it includes a number of bona fide references that I may actually be able to track down. I thank Dave for the tip and will report further before long.
At the moment, I am more concerned that I thought I would be about the possible spread of Zika. We learned yesterday that a large fraction of the entire population of Puerto Rico will likely become infected this summer, and the CDC predicts that up to 80% of the entire island may become infected. And then there are all those other viruses – MERS, dengue, not to mention HIV. On balance, I remain optimistic about our risks in Greater Gumshoeland, but seems to me the whole thing is worth a look.
“Quid erat demonstrandum” means “what was to be demonstrated”. “Quod erat demonstratum” means “it was demonstrated”, and is the actual expansion of QED.
I enjoy Latin quotations as much as anyone, but please get it right.
Quod latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
What?
Sir, you are correct! I learned it as “quid,” from my wonderful algebra teacher Miss Charlotte Truesdell, whom I venerate, She would say, “this is what we set out to prove, and now we have proved it.” I might just stick with “quid.”
Since the initial letters of the words in each case are the same, who are you to say which version is correct? Who made you international arbiter and High Scold? Personally, I think the “quid” form of this abbreviation is the better choice – and used more often – since it conveys a more complex meaning. To say something as simple as “It was demonstrated” in Latin is pedantic.
”gracidum mon canard”
I agree with most of the article, but throwing in my 2 cents…
I take several supplements every day, one is a quality multi. Turmeric/ curcumin is among the others. I just turned 60, which nobody can guess. I have not been sick other than a 2 day light cold a few times in 25 years, and I have the energy to get about 40-50 miles in each week + gym visits. So… with the quality of todays food choices in question, I am a BIG believer in supplements and I do believe that big pharma has the money and means to suppress true information about supplements and vitamins.
I take supplements too. I just bought a bottle of Living Well Brain Support Plus made with curcumin. Here, I must say, I don’t see any effects so far. But I like to try stuffs.
However, I had a great experience with Sam-e. I was biting my fingers since as far as I can remember. I would bite them and eat the skin, I would bleed, it was awful. And it was not possible to stop the urge. One day I tried Sam-e Mood Plus during a period of high stress at work. After two weeks, I completely stopped to bite my fingers and I have never done it again. And it’s not placebo because it’s of course not promoted for stopping one to bite his fingers. I suppose some things work on some people.
Most every evening I supplement a cold Tecate with lime and salt.
May I suggest a few tokes of medicinal weed when these urges occur.
What’s the “quality multi” you are taking?
You might want to update your info in the tinted panel re their Canadian supplement study. It was reported at length by both Marketplace and by The Fifth Estate, 2 popular Canadian TV shows.
A few months later both programs did an update.
LO and behold they were apologizing and apparently the data in the original study had been seriously flawed and the info presented was now retracted.
Don’t know the details but all the “low” or “no” amounts in products was wrong and for the most part the supplements are OK after all.
I can find no hint that the information in the original Newmaster paper has been retracted or modified in any way. A 2015 article reinforces those conclusions. (Drug Saf. 2015 Jul;38(7):611-20. doi: 10.1007/s40264-015-0306-8. DNA Barcoding and Pharmacovigilance of Herbal Medicines. de Boer HJ1, Ichim MC, Newmaster SG.) If you can supply any particulars, I would be grateful.
The best resource I know is consumerlab.com
Confused, is there actually a ticker to get significant exposure to this dietary Fad/Trend? Could always put extra Cumin in our Chile recipes.
I add Tumeric and Chia seeds to almost every dish/I also drink a glass of fresh lemon juice and bottled water. I watch what I eat, eat LOTS of veggies,beeries and high quality proteins. I wake up every day as stiff and sore as ever LOL> Maybe I’d be worse who knows but I think other than aspirin there are no otc miracle substances. PS My husband was in the original research regarding Glucosimine with a Canadian collegue
Deborah,
I take Stress B-Complex pills as supplement for my nervous system.
The immediate aftereffect is neon-colored urine, but the latent effect is more important to me.
I have found that it really alleviates any tingling, nerve ‘flashes’, or other such symptoms. It also seems to improve brain (nervous system) function. I recall better and I concentrate better.
When I don’t take it, the not-so-welcome symptoms rear their ugly head.
Turmeric is insoluble in water and usually passes through our system more or less in the form it was ingested. As stated earlier, its half-life is very short, so I am unclear how much efficacy is left in it after going through the digestive tract and all its acidic juices. Besides, the taste….ughh. 🙁
But constantly hydrating oneself sounds good. I try and do the same.
I have found that yoga twice a day(morning and evening) helps prevent stiffness the next day.
Jayne
You have to take curcumine with some fat as coconut oil and pepper that enhance curcumine effect.
Deborah,
I take MSM every day. It helps a great deal. . MSM is simply sulfer. I’d try it in small amounts and work up to a couple of teaspoons a day.
Deborah you might want to try Hyal-Joint as I find it very helpful and I am 75 and you would never come close to guessing my age. Do all my ordering from Swanson’s as they not only have excellent prices they also offer major brands besides their own.
Hi Deborah, you might want to try AminoBoosters with YTE® – seeing great results. Money back guarantee so nothing to lose https://www.getyourboomback.com/collections/aminoboosters
Nope, this is a piece inspired by a heavily promoted health newsletter, not an investment newsletter — Michael doesn’t usually write about investments specifically, he sticks to the health and medicine side.
I believe that use of the term “side-effects” is misleading. Folks who use it are working to downplay the additional effects that a substance causes, in addition to the effect that he/she/they are promoting. Please be alert, and think about this!
Respectfully submitted, Joan in Houston
Wow, if one would just eat a marijuana salad seasoned with curcumin then you could live happily without disease or illness forever (or you wouldn’t care). Too bad that curcumin doesn’t get you high or I’d be opening up a Curcumin Compassion Center here in my Left Coast Town.
Dr. Mercola has been touting curcumin/tumeric since at least 2013 in helping with everything from women’s hormonal health, male prostate, gallbladder, minimizing oxidative stress, potential as a neuroprotective supporter of brain health et cetera et cetera (emulaing Yul Brenner as the King of Siam). He talks about improving the bioavailabilty by making microemulsions by combining the powder with egg yolks and melted coconut oil mixed in a high speed blendor or boiling the powder in a quart of water which has to be consumed as soon as possible something many of us are not likely to do. OR you could buy his supplement which is superior to all others (raises hand “oh me, that’s me!)
Curcumin Advanced | High-Quality Curcumin Supplement
http://products.mercola.com/curcumin-supplement/
You missed the “and so forth” that was what made it memorable, what a great movie that was.
Like everything in life………”Buyer Beware”…….I do read Dr Al Sears and generally respect his work/advice and supplements for the following reasons; First of all, FULL disclosure, I am a former Big Pharma sales rep.
1( had 20 years of severe diarrhea, not ONE MD could ever help me and just wrote Rx’s that did not work and had bad side effects. Then started reading Dr Sears and others. Took Probiotic and diarrhea was GONE IN @ 2 DAYS! (Live Now PB8)
2) 30 years of unexplained SEVERE heartburn, got put on addictive poisonous Prilosec which worked until I learned of it’s addictiveness and side effects and had a hell of a time getting off of it……………I then tried Astaxanthin supplement (BioAstin Hawaiian) and heartburn GONE IN 2 DAYS! I do not claim to understand how it works but am amazed an d so much more ‘open minded” about taking natural supplements VS the CRAP I used to sell to dr’s! Yes, the supplement market is also full of bad quality items so do your homework and buy from quality mfr.
3) Decided to try Tumeric for depression as NO other Rx has ever helped and in past 2 months I feel 50%+ better than I have in years! (AND NO SIDE EFFECTS FROM ANY OF THESE)
4) Low T-levels for this 56 yr old man, was getting synthetic T-shots and raised T-levels but science not sure if that will add years to my life VS men with normal healthy T-levels so decided to try Dr Sears Primal Force Primal Max T-booster several months ago. Really helped energy as was my goal BUT worked SO well that shot my T-levels to a dangerous 1300+level, but good news is I stopped taking the T-shots and now awaiting next blood test results which I predict will be “normal”. I also take 4 other helpful supplements but too long to type………..Net advice, go “natural first” before going/last resort Big Pharma.
Net advice, go “natural first” before going/last resort Big Pharma.
I think that’s excellent advice. I’m also concerned that Dr Sears is getting mailgned by smear and innuendo here and have sent him an email of this article.
I don’t know anything about him, but I’d say Dr. Sears smears himself by sending out ads that effectively promise, in big bold letters, that curcumin is the cure to 619 diseases. That’s taking advantage of those who are desperate for cures but have little education or background information and are grasping for straws… much the same way promising a 1,000% return to save your retirement by trading a secret penny stock is smearing any reputation you might have as a financial analyst.
Travis: I agree with you that Sears is overhyping, and that’s an understatement. On the other hand, Big Pharma has been snake-oiling people for decades. They are the biggest fraud since the carnival barkers. They have ruined healthcare in America by brainwashing us into thinking they are the only game in town, while at the same time destroying the reputation of naturopaths who are sincerely trying to heal people. Their investment in chemo and radiation has cost the lives of millions; conventional cancer treatment is undoubtedly the biggest money-maker and biggest medical fraud of the last century. So, when you point out the questionable promises of supplements, you need to give balance to the picture and point out the egregious dishonesty practiced by Big Pharma in the name of their huge profits that have made it the richest industry in world history.
Excellent post Tom, there is definitely a strong bias in place in terms of various modalities of healing, of which the medical profession presents itself as the “gold standard” and everything else as quacks.
The fact is that mankind has been using and discovering the healing and nutritional properties of plants for thousand of years before the medical / pharmaceutical industry ever existed, which makes me wonder whether the “divide” between those who believe in natural remedies occurring in nature are primarily “Creationists” who believe in a “Supreme Being” and agnostics/atheists who think they are smarter than the Creator of all things and rely on so called science?
Are there frauds in the natural health industry, yes of course there are, but in the aggregate they do far less harm than the medical profession as a whole based on the statistics of iatrogenic (doctor caused) deaths.
There is no substitute for highly trained medical professionals in an emergency, and yes some drugs may be useful on a temporary basis in life or death situations but when it comes to actually recovering or maintaining healthy bodies the medical profession is largely clueless. Drugs do not HEAL by definition, they merely control symptoms by interfering with normal bodily functions, often with devastating side-effects. Rather than being labelled as “health care” a better definition for the medical profession would be “disease management” so when it comes to health matters my choice is naturopaths, / herbalists,
nutritionists, that focus on working in harmony with the bodies needs to build healthy cells and tissues as opposed to resorting to dangerous chemical concoctions brewed up in a laboratory.
Did you find that Primal Force beneficial? I ordered it but have yet to try it. I was looking at that and Testerone XL but I’m trying to get more info on it . I appreciate any help you can give me. extet@aol.com
Jfenlin, Curcumin and cumin are not related; however, curcumin (tumeric) as well as cumin would go well in your chili.
After distressing muscle pains following the use of statins, I discontinued them and started using Costco curcumin. My cholesterol levels are maintained at a satisfactory level although the ratio between LDL and HDL is not as favorable. But, although it makes physicians pleased, it remains to be seen whether maintaining a substantial ratio between LDL and HDL improves longevity or the quality of life.
I mention Costco as my source because I read in a recent expose of bogus supplements that Costco was one of the few that came out as advertised rather than filled with garlic powder and other harmless ingredients.
I am 86 and had sextuple by-pass surgery about 25 years ago. I had both ventricular and atrial arrhythmia and elected not to use coumadin but use natto-kinase instead. I have had no arrhythmia episodes in the last year. My physician is not usually very happy with me, but I enjoy good health and mobility considering my age. I do take prescribed drugs to control blood pressure and maintain a good level. It probably helps that I am retired from a high pressure occupation and have a good caring wife.
I also do Tai Chi, Qigong, meditation, and self help Jin Shin Jyutsu (eastern hands on therapy somewhat related to acupuncture) daily.
I would never invest in a Drug company that was trying to put itself out of business by curing the diseases from which it makes Billion$ every year treating symptoms.
I do not believe any publicly traded company is trying to put itself out of business. Would such an intent not violate their fiduciary responsibility?
Excellent article. I think a sharp line should be drawn between “supplements” which are nutritional and those which aren’t, and only have medicinal effects. I was glad to see you point this out, because it’s a crucial difference. My doctor does recommend turmeric to patients with arthritis; I honestly think I’ll refer her to your article!
We need to ask ourselves why inflammation is being recognized as the common denominator of our current epidemic of degenerative diseases. Instead of only scrutinizing substances which do or are claimed to reduce inflammation, why not focus more on what’s causing it? Tissue becomes inflamed because perceived “invaders” are present. Aside from the usual suspects (various pathogens), how about the myriad of man-made chemicals which our environment, including our food supply, is now loaded with? A lot of this stuff can build up in body tissues and be very difficult to dislodge, especially when it “keeps on coming.”
I know someone who was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis. Rather than accept the drugs, which are pretty severe themselves, he went to extreme lengths to clean the impurities from his body – a natural diet, purified water, and a lot of sweaty exercise every day. He started with short bike rides, then worked up to 10 to 20 miles a day until he was better. He went from being unable to do his job at all, to working long shifts on his feet all day with no problem. He said it has to have been the deep tissue circulation stimulated by heart-pumping exercise that did it. In other words, sauna sweating can help but alone is not enough.
There are people in both Big Pharma and the supplement industry who’d rather he didn’t succeed in his efforts, but took their bottled solutions instead, never mind the years of suffering and early death that would have meant for him. But there are others in both industries who, seeing that with their own eyes, would say “good for him” and look into those methods. All the intellect, talent, money and other resources being squandered now on bad or insufficient treatments would do endless wonders once truly employed in making and keeping people well.
I was diagnosed with rheumatism/fibromyalgia in my late 20s after the birth of my twin daughters. During my pregnancy, I experienced extreme toxemia which is common for a twin pregnancy. After getting increasingly stiff, I was checked by the director of rheumatism at the U of Wisconsin Medical School in Milwaukee (late 1960s) and was used as a specimen for medical students to examine. Every one of my trigger points was exceptionally sore.
The doctor told me that there was no medicine for the condition and that the only way I’d get relief was to do non-impact aerobic exercise for a half hour a day, 6 days a week. And, indeed, she was right.
Now then, instead of doing 30 continuous minutes of aerobic exercise, I do it 3 times a day for 10 minutes each. If I go for a spell (maybe a week and a half) without this exercise, my hands start hurting, my muscles become sore and I find it hard to move.
I currently use a Gazelle Supreme (Amazon, Prime, shipped for $220) which provides strength and aerobic exercises. Works like a charm. I have also written on my website (littleviews.com) about how to “fix” music so that its temple (beat) is 160 to 200 beats per minute. (tools are free on the Internet) . Exercise at those fast temples is guaranteed to give you an aerobic workout, whereas using a treadmill, exercycle, or even the Gazelle while watching TV does not.
I started the “plant based” diet 4 weeks ago and absolutely feel invigorated, especially after eating a kale salad. As I do not miss meat, dairy or potato chips, I believe that I’m eating better and enjoying it more. Best? I’ve found this to be a very inexpensive diet and my food costs have been halved.
I used HIIT every other day for 20 minutes (3 sets of max out for 25 seconds followed by 5 minutes of slower pedaling) on a exercise bike and in 3 weeks I’ve lowered my blood pressure from 179 down to 144.
Cancer and other heath issues is such a big business supporting so many people that cures are not desired as unemployment would rocket up. Big pharma will make sure of this as they have the $ and muscle to control and suppress cheaper cures thru the FDA and other government agencies. People are already destroying Medicare and the Social welfare system by living too long.
YES INDEED, more people are making a living from cancer than are dying from cancer, and natural non-toxic cures have been known since the 1920,s. Drugs do not cure, they may control symptoms for a time but unless lifestyles are changed to avoid chemicals in our air, food and water the epidemic will continue to say nothing of the need for better nutrition by avoiding processed and packaged food with preservatives and chemical additives. EAT FRESH, natural whole foods and you will avoid most diseases.
Performs better in memory tests than the drug Aricept (the most widely prescribed Alzheimer’s drug)— Salk Institute for Biological Studies
That’s a pretty impressive institute. And a pretty impressive result. Are you saying that’s rubbish as well?
I did a bit of sleuthing regarding Alzheimer’s research related to curcumin by the Salk Institute. There were two papers, both about a synthetic curcumin derivative called CNB-001, and both in transgenic mice – not in humans. What the studies found was that this compound did increase the clearance amyloid beta (Aβ) from the brains of these mice. (Valera A, J Neurosci 2013;33:10512-10525;Chen Q, PLoS One; 2011;6:e27605) From the second of those papers, here’s a snippet:
“Curcumin is a curry spice with multiple biological activities that is also effective in transgenic AD mouse models [5], [6]. To improve the potency and pharmacokinetic properties of curcumin, we synthesized a series of hybrid molecules between curcumin and cyclohexyl-bisphenol A (CBA), a compound that has neurotrophic activity which curcumin lacks [7]. The best compound in our initial library was CNB-001, a molecule that has improved stability over curcumin and that is neuroprotective in multiple neurotoxicity assays in which curcumin is inactive [8].”
I draw your attention to the phrase “neurotropic activity which curcumin lacks.” And, we’re not talking here about curcumin itself, but about a derivative, synthesized in the laboratory. This is far from the one dollar pill for every disease with no side effects that Dr Al Sears is touting.
Thanks for the sleuthing. My Ph.D is in physics, so I’m not qualified to analyse the paper like you. But aren’t they saying, yes, curcumin is effective, but we’re trying to improve on that?
Roger
I personally take Pau d Arco the inner bark and it really does wonders. It especially is goof for your dogs if they get valley fever. Wonder drug I say yes!!! I buy it in bulk and put it in my gel caps. Extremely cheap and works.
I do not use prescription drugs. I do take natural supplements such as curcumin k2, CoQ10 PQQ, and several others on a daily basis. I feel that they are helping stay healthy. Our food sources (unless you buy only “organic”) do not contain the same amount of nutrients as our parents and early generations due to depleted soils. Go non GMO !!!
I never studied Latin, but more than one of my math instructors would conclude a proof with QED, explaining that “Quad erat demonstrondem”t translated as “That which was to be demonstrated”.
My math teacher told us -with a chuckle- that QED stood for “quite easily done”!
@michael: Have you ever looked into the claims of “Earthing” to reduce inflammation? I found a recent summary pubmed article at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378297/ . This article has several telltale signs of being biased, including appearing in “Journal of Inflammation Research”, but it includes quite a few references to other work that’s been done. I got interested in earthing several years ago, and made myself a homemade version by threading jewelry wire into a thin blanket. I put it away after a time, though I could feel the effects. It’s only anecdotal .. but recently I had a severely painful gout attack, and tried this blanket (grounded through a wall socket) to treat it. It was extremely effective, causing the pain to cease within a few hours. My gout attacks have previously lasted several days and up to 3 weeks.
I take a level tea spoon of turmeric, in juice, every morning. I do not rely upon it as a cure-all, but my theory is if doesn’t hurt you its worth a try.
I had Sears’ newsletter at one point. Basically he rips off his ideas from Life Extension Foundation and then embroiders them. Ignore him and pay LEF — at least it will go partly to research, items of which have been spot on (i.e. bringing metformin to the US, which FDA did years after Europe.) Yes, curcumin has passed screens for therapeutic value in research at Stanford, which now moved to Alabama with bright young pain researcher Jarred Younger. The stuff definitely has a role to play in calming over-excited microglia and perhaps other immune components. One type on the market is more concentrated and bioavailable than others. But its still early days and finding the right variety for the right use requires a lot of study. Al Sears work isn’t worth tuppence ha’penny in this or other matters — what’s good is recognizably borrowed.
I do not appreciate the snide, snarky tone and underlying bias in this article. While I agree with the theme that sweeping claims of a cure-all deserve a skeptical look with a critical eye, I disagree with the frequent put-downs of natural cures and those who use them. I also disagree with the implied theme throughout the article (more like hit-piece) that the only cures come from the patent medicine companies.
While much of the curcumin research may well have been fraudulent, the writer must certainly be aware of the rampant fraud problem throughout the medical journals, regardless of source, whether pharmaceutical-backed or otherwise. Several editors of prestigious journals have spoken out about this problem. Perhaps the writer may also be aware of the editing and curating which is happening in the PubMed archives, with valid research being culled if it proves something which could cost the pharmaceutical industry some of its profits.
This article on curcumin is written as if Dr. Aggarwal is the only source of fraudulent research. What I request is that “Doc Gumshoe’s” expose articles remain even-handed in their analysis, and eschew snarky snide digs like “…the magic curcumin capsules…” Such low methods of rhetoric are not helpful to your presented stance as clear-eyed analyst.
For the record, I can testify that there actually IS a concerted effort on the part of the patent-medicine industry to suppress and discredit the natural remedies and food-as-medicine movement. Much paper has been covered with ink on this subject alone, and Doc. Gumshoe should not be ridiculing it as a conspiracy theory. It is conspiracy fact, as documented in books, medical journals, meeting minutes, Congressional testimony, court records, documentary films and many first-person online anecdotes.
I certainly don’t intend to resort to a “snide, snarky tone” to belittle natural treatment courses in general. My particular condemnation of the Al Sears promotion of curcumin capsules at a dollar each as a “cure for all 619 known diseases” is not merely that it is fraudulent, but that deluding people – individuals with real illnesses in need of medical treatment, into the belief that a capsule containing a common spice can actually cure disease – is more than fraudulent. It could well be catastrophically harmful to their health.
The evidence up to now suggests that there are chemicals in curcumin that have potentially beneficial effects related both to inflammation and oxidation. Identifying and formulating those potentially beneficial agents in curcumin will require extensive scientific study. Curcumin by itself cannot deliver those benefits, perhaps because of its pharmacokinetic properties – very poor absorption and distribution in the body. At the same time, the supplements manufacturers and marketers do not conduct the research necessary to develop a bona fide pharmaceutical agent from the inactive raw spice. They appear to be content to put the “natural” substance into a pill or tablet, and entrust the publicizing of the purported benefits of their pill to the likes of Al Sears.
And with regard to a “snide, snarky tone,” isn’t referring to the drugs developed by the pharmaceutical industry as “patent medicines” rather snide and snarky? Patent medicines – that’s Peruna and Geritol.