Curcumin (Tumeric)

SandiaBuddy
SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

I was doing a bit of reseach on Curcumin, the active ingredient of Tumeric, the east Indian spice (available as a spice or as pills) and I thought this might be of interest to some members:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3836443/

"chemo-surviving colon cancer cells pose a major threat to the success of colon cancer chemotherapeutics via up-regulation of EGFRs and IGF-1R. Inclusion of curcumin. . . into colon cancer chemotherapeutics is likely to inhibit the growth of the chemo-surviving cells and reduce the likelihood of subsequent relapse following chemotherapy at no additional toxicity."


See also: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5411934/


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5104244/

 

 

 

 

Comments

  • ThomasH
    ThomasH Member Posts: 106 Member
    #2
    How Many Ways Can Curry Kill Tumor Cells Selectively?

    Hey SandiaBuddy, thanks so much for posting these links. They are definitely worth reading.

    Curcumin is one of the things that I found when I was doing my research into alternatives for myself. I was quite surprised to learn that there has been a tremendous amount of research with this stuff because I hadn't heard of it before my cancer. One of the articles that really stood out for me was this one:

    http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC2758121/

    It has a catchy title (which I shamelessly stole):

    Curcumin and Cancer Cells: How Many Ways Can Curry Kill Tumor Cells Selectively?

    It is a long article, but I highly suggest it. Based on that article, and ones like you posted, I have been taking 8 grams of curcumin daily since my diagnosis, and through my course of FOLFOX. (I take other things too, but the curcumin is my go-to thing) I STRONGLY believe it has contributed to my good response to FOLFOX. I have commented before that my Drs have all been surprised at the level of my response, and I've been hesitant to tell them that the curcumin is one of the main things I credit that to. Yes, the FOLFOX is good, but almost everything I have read makes me believe it isn't a complete killer, much like your articles say.

    I will stop myself before I ramble on, but I have a LOT of info on this particular subject if anyone is interested. One of the things I really believe in as a complementary therapy.

    Seriously, I think everyone should read up on this one.

    Thomas

  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
    #3
    ThomasH said:

    How Many Ways Can Curry Kill Tumor Cells Selectively?

    Hey SandiaBuddy, thanks so much for posting these links. They are definitely worth reading.

    Curcumin is one of the things that I found when I was doing my research into alternatives for myself. I was quite surprised to learn that there has been a tremendous amount of research with this stuff because I hadn't heard of it before my cancer. One of the articles that really stood out for me was this one:

    http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC2758121/

    It has a catchy title (which I shamelessly stole):

    Curcumin and Cancer Cells: How Many Ways Can Curry Kill Tumor Cells Selectively?

    It is a long article, but I highly suggest it. Based on that article, and ones like you posted, I have been taking 8 grams of curcumin daily since my diagnosis, and through my course of FOLFOX. (I take other things too, but the curcumin is my go-to thing) I STRONGLY believe it has contributed to my good response to FOLFOX. I have commented before that my Drs have all been surprised at the level of my response, and I've been hesitant to tell them that the curcumin is one of the main things I credit that to. Yes, the FOLFOX is good, but almost everything I have read makes me believe it isn't a complete killer, much like your articles say.

    I will stop myself before I ramble on, but I have a LOT of info on this particular subject if anyone is interested. One of the things I really believe in as a complementary therapy.

    Seriously, I think everyone should read up on this one.

    Thomas

    Article

    Great article.  Thanks for the link.  

  • sflgirl
    sflgirl Member Posts: 220 Member
    #4

    how much do you guys take?   I just got some capsules and they are 1500 mg

  • ThomasH
    ThomasH Member Posts: 106 Member
    #5
    From what I have read

    From what I have read, to be effective you need to take a fair amount, and the effect is different based on how much you take.

    1-2 grams per day is good for inflamation in joints and such

    4-8 grams per day is supposed to be anti-angiogenic, helps to prevent the growth of new blood vessels and so it helps to limit growth and formation on tumors

    8-12 grams per day reportedly can trigger apoptosis and makes some types of chemotherapy more effective (like FOLFOX)

    I take 8 grams per day and have for almost a year and a half now. I haven't had any bad side effects whatsoever personally, but I've heard that it can bother some people with sensative stomachs, I have not seen any research for anyone taking more than 12. Most of what I found talks about 8, so that is why I chose that much.

    You should also check your labels good. There are quite a few brands out there that will be high in tumeric content, but not high in the actual curcumin (which is the concentrated extract).  The curcumin is a real small percentage in tumeric, so you would have to take a large bag of that daily to do anything useful. Good things to look for to tell if you have the right stuff are things like 95% standardized extract for example. There are several brands that are calling it curcumin C3 complex, and most of those that I have seen look good.

    Also, curcumin is notoriously difficult for your body to absorb, so you might want  also look for some that contains black pepper extract. They also call that "Piperine" or "Bioperine" and it is useful because it makes the curcumin stick around longer in your system. This makes the curcumin up to 2000% more bio-available.

    I think there are a few others out there that are supposed to improve the bio-availability by using its fat soluability properties, but I have not personally played with that at all.

    That is about as condensed as I can make the research I have done on this. You can find this info on the PubMed site if you have an afternoon you would like to kill. Not sure if Buddy has anything else he has found, or anyone else has something to add?

    Hope that helps!

    Thomas

  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
    #6
    ThomasH said:

    From what I have read

    From what I have read, to be effective you need to take a fair amount, and the effect is different based on how much you take.

    1-2 grams per day is good for inflamation in joints and such

    4-8 grams per day is supposed to be anti-angiogenic, helps to prevent the growth of new blood vessels and so it helps to limit growth and formation on tumors

    8-12 grams per day reportedly can trigger apoptosis and makes some types of chemotherapy more effective (like FOLFOX)

    I take 8 grams per day and have for almost a year and a half now. I haven't had any bad side effects whatsoever personally, but I've heard that it can bother some people with sensative stomachs, I have not seen any research for anyone taking more than 12. Most of what I found talks about 8, so that is why I chose that much.

    You should also check your labels good. There are quite a few brands out there that will be high in tumeric content, but not high in the actual curcumin (which is the concentrated extract).  The curcumin is a real small percentage in tumeric, so you would have to take a large bag of that daily to do anything useful. Good things to look for to tell if you have the right stuff are things like 95% standardized extract for example. There are several brands that are calling it curcumin C3 complex, and most of those that I have seen look good.

    Also, curcumin is notoriously difficult for your body to absorb, so you might want  also look for some that contains black pepper extract. They also call that "Piperine" or "Bioperine" and it is useful because it makes the curcumin stick around longer in your system. This makes the curcumin up to 2000% more bio-available.

    I think there are a few others out there that are supposed to improve the bio-availability by using its fat soluability properties, but I have not personally played with that at all.

    That is about as condensed as I can make the research I have done on this. You can find this info on the PubMed site if you have an afternoon you would like to kill. Not sure if Buddy has anything else he has found, or anyone else has something to add?

    Hope that helps!

    Thomas

    Curcumin

    Thomas, your profile says, "Curcumin w/ piperine 4 grams twice daily, boiled in a cup as a tea."  Are you still doing that?  How does that taste and go down?  I think the curcumin is a very interesting avenue, but I am just starting and taking some capsules "Okinawa Triple Tumeric+" which have 780mg tumeric but 100mg total curcumin, plus some black pepper.  It sounds like there are other products available with a lot more curcumin.

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