If curcumin was featured on a game show like Jeopardy, this wonder spice could fit numerous categories of helpful benefits with the ubiquitous answer as “What is curcumin”? This golden nutrient is one of the most widely studied herbal nutrients. Curcumin provides credible benefit supporting healthy function in a wide variety of applications. Curcumin, the active compound found in the golden spice turmeric is truly an outstanding nutrient and takes home the sweepstakes trophy for its vast array of benefits.

Turmeric or curcumin intake as a spice without a carrier nutrient is hard to absorb in the digestive tract. By itself, it is rapidly metabolized and eliminated out of the body. This has made it a challenge for therapeutic use over the years. However, when curcumin is combined with a black pepper extract called piperine, the results dramatically change. The combination of curcumin with piperine increases its bioavailability by as much as 2000 percent!

Historical use of curcumin relates to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant benefits. A 2017 review in The British Journal of Pharmacology entitled “Curcumin, the golden nutraceutical: mutitargeting for multiple chronic diseases” shows there are over 100 different clinical trials in humans that show the safety, effectiveness, and tolerability of curcumin. The National Library of Medicine has nearly 12,000 studies on curcumin alone. As scientists continue to discover more and more about curcumin, the results continue to be stellar and highly promising.

When it comes to nutritional supplementation, the pillars of a good health program always focus on a high quality multiple vitamin, minerals, vitamin D, fish oil, and probiotics. Curcumin with piperine can easily be considered a pillar of any nutritional program. Dietary intake will help provide the rich spicy taste, but keep in mind that it is impossible to consume enough turmeric as a kitchen spice to provide the concentration of curcumin found in nutraceutical supplements. One literally would have to consume several pounds of turmeric per day to reach a therapeutic dose of curcumin.

Curcumin supplements standardized for 95% curcuminoids, the active compound, along with piperine are the very best turmeric/ curcumin supplements to take. If you are on a journey of rebuilding, restoring, and optimizing your health, add in some curcumin with piperine. It is truly an exciting golden nutraceutical that can be added to anyone’s healthy regime.