Inventing the Wheel Again?

The perfect Curcumin finally materialized, but science and clinics are still digging for it

Jim, stocky and almost 50 years old, is an Army veteran and baseball coach. For years, severe backaches tortured him. “Some days the pain was almost unbearable,” says Jim, “some days I could no longer move, let alone work. Painkillers and shots didn’t help much, it was hell.” Then he met a friend whom he hadn’t seen in awhile. He told him about his problems. The friend responded: “Why don’t you try this new curcumin, my whole family takes it, and it helps us all.” Jim had never heard of curcumin and was skeptical. But, the friend got him a bottle of the yellowish-brown liquid, and the next day Jim tried the stuff, like he had tried so many other remedies before.

“It may just be my imagination,” Jim says today, “but I felt a difference virtually on the spot. It’s hard to describe what it was, but I felt energized, the pain subsided, and I was in a better mood, and relaxed. In the following days, I felt better and better, and now my back pain is almost completely gone, the inflammation disappeared, I finally sleep through the night, and I am not depressed any more, I’m doing better now all around. “

The phenomenal effects of curcumin are actually water under the bridge. For more or less 5000 years, doctors and healers in India, China, and other Asian countries have been using curcumin successfully as an all-purpose weapon against a wide range of symptoms and illnesses. Now, physicians and scientists in the West agree that the Asian herb is not only a healthy spice, but also an almost omnipotent remedy, a kind of Swiss army knife of natural medicine to prevent and fight about 600 maladies. And because of that, the popularity of curcumin is growing exponentially here in the US and in Europe, partly because most conventional medicines and supplements have nasty or even dangerous side effects, and are becoming more and more expensive. Curcumin, on the other hand, reveals new evidence of its incredible versatility and efficacy, nearly on a daily basis. A rapidly increasing number of tests and clinical trials shows positive results of curcumin successfully preventing and fighting almost all chronic diseases, from cancer to Alzheimer’s, from heart conditions to arthritis, diabetes, and etc. The secret behind the phenomenal successes that surprise doctors and scientists: like no other remedy, curcumin fights uncontrolled inflammation, the root cause of more or less every chronic disease.

Here is a brief explanation for those of us who know anything about curcumin. Curcumin is the medically effective part (about five percent) of the Asian turmeric plant, which grows in tropical and humid areas. Especially in India, it is a ubiquitous spice (Curry), fabrics are dyed with it, and curcumin has always been considered a medicinal herb by Ayurvedic and Chinese healers. The strong anti-inflammatory effects are well known in Asia, and have been praised for thousands of years, and used effectively to fight hundreds of maladies and diseases.

In clinical tests and studies, curcumin continuously surprises scientists with positive, and sometimes even overwhelmingly good results. Usually with a crucial caveat though, due to the limited bioavailability or absorption of curcumin, its clinical effectiveness and healing power is severely limited. In other words, because curcumin is not water soluble, the body can’t process it, and excretes almost all of the valuable ingredients unused after experiencing very limited benefits. Quotes from recent studies: “Curcumin is the major bioactive component of turmeric, but has poor oral bioavailability. That limits its clinical applications”, or “Curcumin has a wide range of pharmacological applications, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antibacterial, wound healing, antiatherosclerotic, hepatoprotective, and anti-carcinogenic. HOWEVER, its clinical applications are limited owing to its poor aqueous solubility”, or “the clinical application of curcumin for some cancers has been restricted because of its extremely poor solubility, instability, and poor oral bioavailability, as well as rapid metabolism and elimination from the body “.

These quotes and conclusions, which you can read in almost all relevant studies, make some experts and insiders furious and disappointed at the same time. “Are these doctors and scientists not reading the actual and corresponding literature and scientific results of their own colleagues?”, asks one of them, who doesn’t want to read his name in an article, concerned about unleashing the fervor of fellow scientists. He says, “for years now methods and techniques have been known and published, that show how to manufacture curcumin that is 100 percent water soluble, and thus fully bioavailable, and thus many times stronger than conventional curcumin.”

In other words, the restrictions and limitations described in almost all actual studies shouldn’t apply anymore, because a “new” solubilized curcumin exists; it is produced in Europe and sold even through Amazon. The patented trick to fully enhance the bioavailability? Copy a technique of our own body, and enclose the curcumin molecules in infinitesimally small (20 to 30 nanometers) spheres, which are water-soluble on the outside and successfully deliver curcumin on the inside; and voilà, the so called micelles make curcumin 100 percent water-soluble and bioavailable, and thus a universal hero to maintain health and fight harmful diseases. The White Knight of ancient healers transforms into a Superman for the modern ages.

Recently, an important study was published, which was financed by the German government, that shows that the “new”, solubilized curcumin is almost 200 times stronger than conventional curcumin, it is absorbed 7 times faster in the bloodstream, and it stays there in high concentration for hours longer. Finally more good news: the “new” curcumin is, according to the study, free of any serious side effects. Is this the ultimate breakthrough of the “miracle cure “curcumin? It should be, but it seems that progress, once again, crawls at a snail’s pace in the medical community, computers and ultra fast information technologies haven’t changed a lot in the Holy Grails of science.

If experts familiar with the newest developments of curcumin are right, the enhanced curcumin has the potential to be a game changer, a potent, effective, and affordable remedy to boost the immune system and to fight a battery of chronic diseases. It is a remedy for generations to come. And it is about time that medical and scientific authorities take note of the progress being made right under their nose.

Unfortunately, there is more nonsense going on in many universities and clinics. Dozens of scientific projects around the world are still trying to optimize curcumin. This is just as if the wheel is being invented again. The optimal curcumin definitely exists already, it is produced, it is used, and it works perfectly fine and successfully. There is no longer any reason to invent it again, and waste time and money doing it. The new, existing curcumin is 100 percent water-soluble, it is fully bio-available, it is perfect, and a higher potency of curcumin is simply not possible. Why don’t students and their professors do their homework and acknowledge it exists, and doesn’t have to be further optimized or even reinvented?

No expert seriously disputes the incredibly positive and diverse applications of curcumin. The new techniques to shrink the herb to nanometer sizes, and thus multiply its efficacy exponentially is breathtaking and revolutionary. What Jim described at the beginning of this article, the almost immediate and direct effects after taking solubilized curcumin, is new and startling, especially when consumers compare the effects with the conventional curcumin. Meanwhile, thousands of men and women who have tried the “new” curcumin have confirmed the ultra fast reaction. Almost all agree that they felt an effect the same day, or at the latest a day later. Bill, 71 years old and a passionate tennis player says: “After every match, my bones, muscles, and ligaments hurt, I needed hours and sometimes days to recover. After only a single dose of this new curcumin, I didn’t feel the pain anymore, I was only slightly exhausted and my friends asked: What happened to you? And there were other, unexpected effects, I sleep better now, I’m able to concentrate much more now, and I recover faster after exercise.”

Meanwhile, experts who study the effects of curcumin are convinced that the optimized curcumin has an important role to play in the future. “It is a very cost-effective alternative to conventional drugs with no side effects,” says one of them, and ads, “there is only one problem though, the pharmaceutical industry does not have the slightest interest in promoting this potential competition for many of their blockbuster drugs, so, only consumers can help curcumin to succeed, and to accomplish the decisive breakthrough.”