Video

Traffic Pollution Can Inscreas Your Blood Pressure

A Texas Playground Caters Especially to Special Needs Children

BPA in Plastics May be Linked to Asthma

Communication Is Important When It Comes to Prostate Cancer

The Number of Home Births Has Gone Up

Which American Couples Are More Likely to Stay Together?

Workplace Wellness Can Help Reduce the Risk for Heart Problems

Some Parents May Hasten Death for Terminally Ill Children

Fitness Academics

Secondhand Smoke Increases Risk for Heart Disease in Kids

Toddlers Don't Learn Vocabulary From TV

Despite Worries, Most Parents Vaccinate Their Kids Anyway

Food Allergies Can Be Treated With the Allergen Foods

Signs of Heart Disease Could Be As Early as 3 in Obese Kids

The Number of Women Having Strokes is Rising

Tapping Into Curry's Health Benefits

Posted on 11/13/2009, 17:00
By -- Robert Preidt

Curcumin capsules might boost body's ability to absorb potent antioxidant

FRIDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Tiny capsules could increase the body's absorption of the yellow curry ingredient curcumin, which is being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of colon cancer, psoriasis and Alzheimer's disease.

Curcumin, the active ingredient in the spice turmeric, is a potent antioxidant. However, digestive juices in the gastrointestinal tract quickly destroy curcumin, which means little of it actually makes it into the blood.

It's known that encapsulating insulin and some other types of drugs into structures called liposomes can increase their absorption by the body.

In this new study, researchers prepared liposomes encapsulating curcumin and fed them to rats and found that this method quadrupled absorption of curcumin and also increased antioxidant levels in the blood.

This encapsulating process could solve the problem of poor absorption of curcumin in humans, the scientists said.

The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

More information

The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine has more about turmeric.

SOURCE: American Chemical Society, news release, Nov. 4, 2009

More news in Nutrition...

BigHealthTree.com Disclaimer

Bighealthtree.com Does Not Provide Medical Advice. This site, including the above information, is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or health advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or a qualified health or medical professional before starting any new treatment, changing existing treatment, or altering your current exercise and/or diet program. If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 911 (or the emergency services in your area) or your doctor immediately.

Rating: 3.4 / 5 (16 votes)