La Grande Inflammations Foe: Curcumin

Curcumin – the nemesis of inflammation? Quite possibly! Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC talks with our La Grande chiropractic patients daily about inflammation and pain, particularly back pain and neck pain, arm pain and leg pain. Chiropractic care via an anti-inflammatory nutrition approach is helpful especially when adding curcumin into the mix, an addition supported by several recent studies!

 

 

A new scoping review (based on 389 citations from 8 different databases) of evidence about the use of curcumin for inflammation-related condition found a lot of support for the clinical benefit of curcumin for diseases in which inflammation plays a key role like osteoarthritis, metabolic disorders, etc. (1) A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (65 of them) that studied the impact of turmeric/curcumin on inflammation and oxidation balance discovered that supplementation significantly reduced inflammatory markers (CRP and IL-6) and improved anti-oxidant activity, enhancing the body’s inflammation/oxidation balance.  (2) Another analysis of randomized controlled trials (29 of them focused on 5 types of arthritis – ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and gout/hyperuricemia) revealed the safety of using curcumin as well as the improvement in terms of pain and inflammation’s severity. (3) A further analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials expressly centered on the effects of curcumin on osteoarthritis concluded that curcumin and curcuma longa extract may be safer and more effective supplements for osteoarthritis than NSAIDs and placebo. Moreover, the adverse effects of curcumin were akin to those of placebo, rendering it a safer option. In fact, when compared to NSAIDs, another commonly used treatment for osteoarthritis, curcumin compared with NSAIDs was found to have similar effects on joint pain, function, and stiffness but with a lesser incidence of adverse events. (4) So why not give this natural alternative a chance? Let’s talk about it at your next La Grande chiropractic visit.

 

 

 

Schedule your La Grande chiropractic appointment now. If inflammation is your enemy, we can talk at your next appointment about including curcumin to your supplement nutrition plan! Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is here to help reduce inflammation and pain!