Is Curcumin All It’s Cracked Up to Be?

Curcumin Powder

Curcumin, a brilliant yellow substance found in turmeric root, has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese and Indian medicine for its potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In recent years, scientific research has validated the traditional uses of curcumin, causing it to hit the mainstream. In fact, by 2025, the global curcumin market is expected to be worth an astounding $1.3 billion!¹

Unfortunately, most curcumin supplements are poorly bioavailable and unable to deliver significant health benefits. However, this doesn't mean we should give up on curcumin altogether! Curcumin bioavailability can be greatly enhanced with innovative product formulation techniques, including the use of liposomes and turmeric essential oils. By selecting a bioavailable form of curcumin, you can experience the powerful health benefits of this time-honored botanical!

Innovative Strategies for Enhancing Curcumin Bioavailability

Curcumin is a unique phytochemical that gives turmeric root its signature bright yellow hue. It comprises approximately 3.14 percent of turmeric root and is hydrophobic, meaning it does not dissolve readily in water.² This particular property of curcumin makes it poorly bioavailable in the human body, unable to be effectively transported in the bloodstream and taken up by cells.

However, curcuminoids are but one class of phytochemicals found in turmeric – turmeric also contains essential oils and resins, including turmerone and turmeric oleoresin. Turmeric essential oils enhance the bioavailability and therapeutic properties of curcumin, while turmeric oleoresins, commonly discarded during curcumin processing, offer their own health-promoting features!^3,4,5 Curcumin formulas that capitalize on the synergistic benefits of all turmeric components, rather than curcumin alone, are thus a superior alternative to isolated curcumin supplements.

Curcumin bioavailability is also enhanced by specific types of delivery systems. To date, the most effective delivery method developed for curcumin is a nanoliposomal formulation.⁶ Self-emulsifying delivery systems, which release their contents upon contact with digestive juices in the gastrointestinal tract, also enhance curcumin absorption.⁷ Piperine, an extract of black pepper, can further enhance curcumin bioavailability by inhibiting its breakdown in the liver.⁸

The 10 Evidence-Based Benefits of Bioavailable Curcumin

An abundance of scientific research supports the health benefits of curcumin. When administered in a bioavailable form, curcumin can support the wellbeing of your digestive tract, brain, joints, and skin, and may even slow the aging process!

Antimicrobial

Emerging research indicates that curcumin has potent antimicrobial properties. It inhibits the growth of the oral pathogen P. gingivalis and common antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii and S. aureus.^9,10,11 It works synergistically with pharmaceutical antibiotics and antifungals, potentiating their effects, and inhibits bacterial enzymatic systems that facilitate drug resistance.¹²

Brain function

Some of curcumin’s most promising health effects pertain to its impact on brain function. Curcumin has been found to increase serum levels of BDNF, a nerve growth factor critical for healthy brain structure and function.¹³ Low serum levels of BDNF causes learning and memory disorders and are associated with neurocognitive disorders such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease.^14,15 BDNF decreases with advancing age, so curcumin may also help alleviate natural declines in BDNF associated with aging.¹⁶

Curcumin may be a useful tool for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease due to its inhibitory effects on neuroinflammation and amyloid-beta aggregation, critical features of the Alzheimer’s disease process.¹⁷ Interestingly, curcumin-loaded lipid particles have even more significant effects than isolated curcumin on the inhibition of amyloid-beta aggregation.¹⁸

Blood Sugar Control

Optimal blood sugar control is a critical mediator of long-term health. Curcumin induces clinically-meaningful improvements in blood sugar control, blood lipids, and body weight in prediabetic and diabetic individuals.^19,20

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an accumulation of fat in the liver not caused by alcohol intake, is increasing in prevalence at an alarming rate globally. Like prediabetes and diabetes, it is characterized by reduced blood sugar control. Curcumin has been found to improve blood sugar, liver enzymes, and liver fat accumulation, alleviating NAFLD.²¹

Cancer

Curcumin has garnered a lot of interest for its potential anti-cancer activity. While much of the research is preclinical – performed on cultured cells and animals – the results are exciting and certainly warrant further study.

In cell culture studies, curcumin lipid nanoparticles have been found to induce autophagy in human glioblastoma cells, a type of brain cancer.²² Curcumin also demonstrates activity at multiple molecular targets involved with breast cancer.²³

Importantly, a growing body of research suggests that curcumin can safely be combined with certain types of chemotherapy to potentiate conventional cancer treatment and reduce its adverse effects, such as radiation-induced dermatitis in breast cancer patients.^24,25,26

Cardiovascular health

Curcumin supports a healthy cardiovascular system by improving vascular endothelial function and reducing elevations in inflammatory blood lipids.^27,28

Depression

Depression is a growing problem worldwide. In patients with mild to moderate depression, the magnitude of benefit from pharmaceutical antidepressants is minimal.²⁹ This has led to an interest in dietary, lifestyle, and nutraceutical interventions for managing depression. Preclinical research suggests that curcumin may alleviate depression by reducing inflammation and modulating the release of serotonin and dopamine.^30,31

Gut health

Curcumin demonstrates fascinating interactions with gut bacteria. In fact, these interactions may explain many of curcumin's systemic health benefits, despite its poor oral bioavailability!³²

In animal studies, curcumin has been found to alleviate intestinal inflammation by beneficially altering the gut microbiota. It also fortifies the intestinal barrier, protecting against leaky gut.^33,34 These findings suggest that curcumin may be a beneficial adjunct treatment for people with inflammatory bowel disease and other gastrointestinal disorders.

Healthy Aging

In the past few decades, the search for interventions that slow the aging process has taken the scientific community by storm. While scientists have screened many compounds for their potential anti-aging properties, few have shown more promise than curcumin!

Curcumin works to increase healthspan, the years of a person's life that are spent in good health, by making functional alterations at a cellular level. Curcumin inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory signaling molecules from senescent cells, cells that have ceased to divide due to old age or DNA damage and that accelerate physiological aging.³⁵ Curcumin also activates sirtuins, a family of anti-aging proteins associated with increased healthspan.³⁶

In the brain, curcumin slows processes that contribute to brain aging and cognitive dysfunction, including amyloid-beta aggregation and oxidative stress. In clinical trials, curcumin has produced marked improvements in memory and attention in older adults, indicating that its molecular mechanisms of action have real-world benefits for healthy aging.^37,38

Joint health

Curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties make it a powerful intervention for stiff joints. It is useful for alleviating symptoms of arthritis and has similar efficacy to diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, for knee osteoarthritis.^39,40 It may also relieve pain associated with rheumatic arthritis.⁴¹

Skin Health

Turmeric has been used for thousands of years in traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of skin diseases. Preclinical research indicates that curcumin protects against UV light-induced skin cell damage and reduces levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in eczema.^42,43, A small clinical trial suggests that curcumin is also an effective adjunct treatment for psoriasis due to its potent anti-inflammatory properties.^44,45

When taken in a bioavailable form, such as liposomal and self-emulsifying delivery systems or with piperine, curcumin offers an abundance of health benefits! Whether you’re looking to slow the aging process, support your joints, or protect your cognition, curcumin is one product you’ll definitely want to add to your healthy lifestyle!

References

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