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If you’ve experienced it, you know that inflammation is no fun. Not only does it cause discomfort, but inflammation carries with it pain, swelling, and the risk of even worse conditions if left untreated.
It’s important to target and heal inflammation early on, so it doesn’t lead to DNA damage or even cancer (Source).
There’s an amazing, natural way to fight inflammation, and it’s a substance called Curcumin!
Before we tell you how Curcumin can help you fight inflammation, let’s define what Curcumin is.
Defining Curcumin:
Curcumin is a key component of turmeric, and it gives turmeric its bright yellow color! That’s part of the reason why turmeric is also known as its scientific name, Curcuma longa.
There are literally thousands of peer-reviewed studies proving the positive medical uses of Curcumin (Source). People have been using it to fight everything from colitis to diabetes to hay fever.
One of the reasons that Curcumin is such a universal health benefit is because of its anti-inflammatory properties (Source). That’s what we’re going to be focusing on today, since it’s one of the most powerful aspects of Curcumin.
Why being anti-inflammatory is important:
Since Curcumin has been found to be “anti-inflammatory,” that means it can help reduce inflammation,an immune response that causes redness, pain, swelling, heat, and sometimes immobility (in the case of acute inflammation).
There are two types of inflammation: 1) Acute and 2) Chronic (Source).
1. Acute Inflammation
Chances are you’ve experienced acute inflammation at least once in your life. Acute inflammation includes issues like
- Cuts, wounds, scraps
- Sprained ankles
- Broken bones
- Appendicitis
- Bronchitis
- Ingrown toenails
- A sore throat (from something like the flu)
These are the types of inflammation that are short-term and likely can only be solved with a doctor’s visit.
The other type of inflammation is…
2. Chronic Inflammation
This is the type of inflammation that Curcumin can help solve. Chronic inflammation is usually more long-term and wide-ranging. Some examples of chronic inflammation are
- IBD (Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Allergies
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Cancer
As you can see, many conditions with chronic inflammation can be deadly and all seriously affect one’s quality of life.
But there’s hope!
Curcumins anti-inflammatory properties, amazingly, can help treat the complications associated with most if not all of the aforementioned chronic inflammation examples.
That’s because Curcumin helps decrease inflammation and its associated pain, swelling, stiffness, and heat! While researchers are still examining all the different ways this actually works, Curcumin has been found safe and efficient for human use time and time again (Source).
Curcumin is a miracle supplement for chronic conditions like Crohn’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Cardiovascular Diseases, which often cause great pain and impaired lifestyles for those who are diagnosed.
Let’s examine these a bit more.
→ What is Crohn’s Disease and how can Curcumin help treat it?
There are two types of major “inflammatory bowel disease” (IBD). The first is Colitis, and the second is Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s is a disease that causes inflammation of one’s digestive tract, and, as we know, this inflammation leads to abdominal pain, swelling (called bloating), and more. Many patients with Crohn’s also have severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition because of the intense inflammation of their illness.
People living with Crohn’s often face a decrease in quality of life when their symptoms are active. Not only do they often have to run to the bathroom even while out with friends, but sometimes the pain is so debilitating that it’s hard to leave the house or work. Many patients also have to have parts of their digestive tract removed because the inflammation there is so great!
In some severe cases, Crohn’s can be life threatening!
Unfortunately, there is no known cure for Crohn’s, and while there are many medicines on the market to help treat it, most patients still have to live with extreme inflammation.
By taking a Curcumin supplement, patients are able to reduce the inflammation in their digestive tract. This helps them be able to eat more food and more variety of foods in addition to alleviating the pain that often comes with eating and going to the bathroom (Source).
Because of its ability to reduce inflammation in the gut for IBD patients, Curcumin can help them get rid of diarrhea and malnutrition. Curcumin has been shown to help with “leaky gut,” which many patients with IBD face.
→ Curcumin and Leaky Gut:
Since Curcumin is anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial, it greatly aids in digestive disorders (Source) like gut inflammation (like with Crohn’s) and intestinal permeability (i.e., “leaky gut”). This can help alleviate things like malnourishment due to intestinal problems and pain related to your gut’s immune response.
For patients with “leaky gut” or other digestive disorders, it’s really important to try to find a supplement that has liposomal technology. While Curcumin can help with nutrition absorption even if it itself is not absorbed very well, because of IBD or some such issue, (Source) it’s more effective to take a supplement that skips the digestive tract altogether.
That type of supplement is called “liposomal,” because it deposits the healing substance straight into one’s cells, thus bypassing the inflamed or “leaky” digestive tract of patients with IBD.
If you thought Curcumin’s ability to fight IBD was impressive, you’ll love this next part.
→ What is Rheumatoid Arthritis and how can Curcumin help treat it?
Rheumatoid Arthritis, like Crohn’s, is an auto-immune condition. In R.A., one’s immune system mistakenly attacks one’s own tissues. This leads to chronic inflammation all across the body. While R.A. usually causes swelling and pain in the joints, inflammation can also target other body parts like the eyes, lungs, and heart vessels.
The inflammatory aspects of Rheumatoid Arthritis can lead to complications like osteoporosis, increased infections, heart problems, and even lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
You can see why it’s so important to treat the inflammation associated with R.A.
This is where Curcumin can help. Curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties help it fight against the joint swelling and inflammation that goes along with Rheumatoid Arthritis. So while it cannot cure the illness, it can make the condition a lot easier to live with and decrease the chances of a patient contracting one of the negative complications associated with it.
As the researchers in one 2018 study put it, “Our findings show that curcumin alleviates CIA-induced inflammation, synovial hyperplasia, and the other main features involved in the pathogenesis of CIA via the mTOR pathway. These results provide evidence for the anti-arthritic properties of curcumin and corroborate its potential use for the treatment of RA” (Source).
In layman’s terms, this means that Curcumin can help reduce inflammation caused by R.A. and helps fix the increase in cells that’s often found in patients with R.A., which decreases the chances of developing some of these complications, like Lymphoma.
Curcumin’s healing powers do not stop there!
→ What are Cardiovascular Diseases and how can Curcumin help treat them?
“Cardiovascular Disease” is a fancy way of saying long-term heart problems. There are a wide-range of cardiovascular diseases, but Curcumin has been shown to effectively assist with the treatment of dyslipidemia, a common cause of cardiovascular diseases (Source).
Dyslipidemia is when a patient has a higher-than-normal amount of lipids (i.e., fats) in their blood. It can lead to clogged arteries, strokes, and heart attacks!
In adults, dyslipidemia is often caused by poor diet and exercise routines.
Curcumin can assist with dyslipidemia by lowering the amount of lipids in the blood.
But wait, you might say, what does fat have to do with inflammation?
Well, researchers have found that inflammation can lead to an increase in lipid cells and an increase cholesterol in cells (Source). This, of course, leads to dyslipidemia and its related heart issues.
So, by lowering inflammation, Curcumin can help fight artery build up and rising cholesterol levels.
Curcumin doesn’t just help with heart diseases caused by fat or cholesterol. It was also found to help with cardiac heat stress in mice (Source). It’s also especially useful in cases where diabetes leads to cardiac damage (Source).
These amazing heart benefits all relate back to Curcumin’s incredible anti-inflammatory properties!
The Key Takeaways
Curcumin is a great natural treatment for a wide-range of disorders caused by inflammation. In this article, we discussed the important role of Curcumin in fighting inflammation associated with Crohn’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases. But Curcumin helps so much more than that.
Take a look at our other resources on Curcumin to learn how it can help not only with inflammation but also with pain, bacteria, and more!
If you struggle with IBD, Rheumatoid Arthritis, or heart problems, or if you’re worried about chronic inflammation (and the associated chronic pain), add Curcumin as a daily supplement today!
Talk to your doctor about including curcumin as a daily supplement because chances are it can help you become a healthier you.
Share this article with a friend suffering from Crohn’s, R.A., or cardiovascular disease to help them improve their quality of life!