Curcumin has many fans - UCLA, the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Tufts to name but three US hospitals. Why? It is a powerful antioxidant that is anti-viral and anti-bacterial and seems to have great potential to fight cancer, especially colorectal cancer.

Curcumin is the ‘active’ ingredient of the Indian/Asian curry spice Turmeric.  To put this technically, curcumin is the principal curcuminoid in turmeric.  Curcuminoids are polyphenols.  Turmeric powder is ground from the root of a plant called Curcuma Longa, which is a member of the ginger family and is found throughout Southern Asia, even growing wild in the Himalayas.

This vivid yellow to brown spice was used, like many Asian spices and chillies, to hide the taste of stronger tasting meats and fish – even those that might have gone a little ‘off’ in such hot climates.  Like many such spices, it also performed a necessary and functional role – it was a cleanser, a ‘bacteria-killer’ in the stomach, protecting against ‘tainted’ foods!

Wide activity

Curcumin first caught my attention when I read a research report on its ability to prevent the ‘crossed wires’ of Alzheimers, through blocking a certain peptide forming.  Therapeutic doses seem able to prevent, and also reverse, early stages of the disease.  (My father had the disease, in case you wondered!).  As I started to do my homework, I found clinical trials for all manner of ‘illnesses’ from cystic fibrosis to reduction of risk in stomach and colorectal cancers.

Curcumin/turmeric has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years as a ‘cleanser of the body’.  It appears to work at a number of levels:

1. It can inhibit unwanted bacterial action in the stomach and intestine:

For example (i) , University of Chicago researchers have shown it inhibits Heliobacter Pylori, a bacterium known to be responsible for stomach ulcers and some stomach cancers.  In Ayurvedic medicine, curcumin was used in poultices for this same reason – to kill unwanted bacteria.

2. It is a significant anti-inflammatory:

Arachidonic acid is a precursor/stimulator of the production of bad eicosancids (see our reviews of omega 3 and vitamin D) and thus to inflammation, which is itself a precursor to certain cancers.  Curcumin has been found to inhibit several of the pre-inflammatory enzymes (e.g. COX–2 and iNOS) in vitro and in vivo with animals.  Japanese research suggests it works in much the same way as salicylin. (ii)

3. It boosts crucial cellular glutathione levels:

Glutathione is a crucial intracellular antioxidant, helping the cell maintain its correct oxygen levels and ‘fight off’ the effects of stress hormones.  Research has shown that curcumin can prevent the action of an enzyme that limits glutathione production.

4. It is a powerful antioxidant:

“Turmeric extract tested more potent than garlic, omega 3 and cat’s claw (devil’s claw)” said German research. (iii)

5. It can prevent and treat cancer:

“Curcumin can suppress tumour initiation, promotion and metastasis.  Extensive research over the last 50 years has indicated it can prevent and treat cancer”.  So says the mighty MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.  ‘The anti-cancer potential stems from its ability to suppress a wide variety of tumour cells, down-regulate transcription factors, down-regulate enzymes such as COX-2 and other inflammatories, chemokines, cell-surface adhesion molecules, down-regulate growth factors”, etc., etc. (iv)

It’s not just MD Anderson that are fans:

Tufts have conducted research with breast cancer patients concluding that curcumin and isoflavanoids seem to inhibit the action of environmental oestrogens. (v)

UCLA have researched its potential with colorectal cancer (San Diego – Chauhen).

Kentucky University researchers report on its inhibition of B lymphoma cells. (vi)

Sloan-Kettering (New York) even offered that green tea spiced with curcumin was a double anti-cancer beater!

There are a dozen or more studies where curcumin has caused cell death in cancer cells; and even more where it prevents tumours forming a blood supply.

Firstly, much of the work uses cell cultures.  Most other studies use a variety of animals.  There have been human trials, even clinical trials, primarily with cervical cancer lesions and with gastrointestinal cancers; however, these are limited.  So, although the biochemical knowledge is vast, the use of oral curcumin to prevent and treat cancer is still in its infancy.

Next, there is a problem maintaining ‘effectiveness’ inside the cells; there are several studies that show oral consumption needs to be maintained in order to maintain blood and cellular levels.  So it’s curry every day, then!

Supplementation

Actually, a single curry meal delivers very small amounts of active curcumin, so you would have to maintain daily consumption.  Or you can supplement. (Research from Taiwan shows that even 8 gms per day for three months is ‘safe’.  In one UK clinical trial a variety of doses from 0.45 to 3.6 gms per day was used with colorectal cancer patients, all having no adverse effects.

Curcumin supplements may be heavily contaminated – with everything from pesticides to other spices – so you must choose a reliable supplier, ideally of curcuma longa. If you are thinking of buying Curcuma Longa you might like to look at the Natural Selection Product of Choice. You can do this by clicking here. 

Counter indications

Some supplements contain piperine, supposedly to increase bio-availability.  This can interfere with certain drugs.

Curcumin can inhibit coagulation in vitro and so may be inadvisable if you are taking anti-coagulants.  It might increase the risk of bleeding.

It might also be advisable not to take it if you are pregnant or lactating.          At Last - the definitive, research based book on how to build a diet to help beat cancer. Click here to read about it.

In summary

Clearly there is a huge enthusiasm, even expectation, overseas for curcumin, if not in British hospitals and oncology departments.  But the real issue is can you take enough of it orally to deliver it in adequate doses to your breast or prostate cells?  Certainly curcumin (curcuma longa) was seen to be an important herb in the natural and successful treatment of prostate cancer that we covered in Cancer Watch (icon 2006, issue 3 ).  We will just have to wait and see whether this longstanding Ayurvedic medicine will curry favour with the UK medical fraternity.

  (i)Magad et al, Anticancer Res 2002.  22(6C) 4179-81

  (ii)Vane: Nobel Prize 1982

  (iii) J Pharmacology 2003 55; 981-6

  (iv) Aggarwal et al Anticancer Res. 2003. 23; 363-98

  (v) Environ Health Perspective 1998; 106. 807-12

 (vi) Clin. Immun. 1999.  93; 152-61

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