Turmeric is a golden-colored powdered spice you are probably familiar with. It adds a robust flavor profile to foods, giving food a vibrant color boost as well. Coming from a plant hailing from the ginger family, turmeric also has a compound called curcumin. This is the chemical compound that scientists have uncovered that provides potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. Thanks to this, it’s possible to use turmeric and curcumin for joint pain.
Turmeric is an excellent source for getting curcumin that combats joint pain. Curcuminoids, a group of natural chemicals that curcumin is a part of, have distinctive bright, yellow colors. The average turmeric root contains anywhere between 2% and 5% of curcumin. The fascinating function of curcumin is that it can work on several functions and processes simultaneously. This allows it to be used to treat and cure everything from pain and inflammation to increased brain health and reduced tumors. When it comes to turmeric and curcumin for joint pain, it can reduce the symptoms people with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other arthritic conditions suffer from.
How Curcumin Works
To understand how curcumin can help relieve joint pain, we have to take a look at its role as an antioxidant, TNF-inhibitor, and COX inhibitor.
At least some of the inflammation that sufferers of arthritis experience is caused by free radicals that are within the body. When too many of these are in your body, you experience oxidative stress. This is something that can lead to inflammation. When you take antioxidants like turmeric and curcumin for joint pain, you neutralize free radicals.
Curcumin can also suppress your body’s reaction to what is called the tumor necrosis factor, or TNF. This is a chemical that gets made by your immune system and leads to inflammation, especially for those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and other arthritic conditions. It’s not entirely understood yet how curcumin can suppress TNF, but we know it does.
Researchers have also found that curcumin has properties that make it a COX inhibitor. This means that they can offer some helpful relief for pain due to blocking COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. This has a direct influence on reducing inflammation that leads to joint pain.
There is more to how inflammation occurs in the body. Your body produces cytokines, which are inflammatory proteins. Many of these cytokines are controlled by a molecule called N H-kB. This is essentially an on/off switch for certain genes. When taking something like curcumin, you are able to “turn off” the molecules that are causing inflammation. This can all be done without experiencing any unwanted side effects that certain anti-inflammatory drugs can produce.
Can Turmeric Help Reduce Arthritis Pain?
There has been research done that suggests turmeric can help people with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. The benefits supersede those that come with taking anti-inflammatory drugs, due to the absence of adverse side effects.
Additional research has been done on the effects of curcumin on osteoarthritis, which has revealed even more exceptional benefits. For example, people who have joint pain in their knees due to osteoarthritis see their condition improve significantly after taking a curcumin supplement. Other research has found that turmeric extract can be just as effective as taking the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. However, there will be far fewer gastrointestinal issues when considering the turmeric extract over ibuprofen. Other studies have corroborated the findings in ones like we already mentioned. They all found that within a few weeks of taking a standardized turmeric extract, you can see any arthritis-related joint pain become significantly reduced.
While there is a tremendous amount of supporting evidence indicating the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin, we are only in the early stages of research. It is very likely that even more benefits will be uncovered, whether it’s for people suffering from arthritis or other diseases and conditions. Due to turmeric being a natural product of the environment, it leads to far fewer side effects than pharmaceutical drugs. If something that is “natural” can provide the same, or even more significant, level of relief for joint pain, it’s definitely preferred over something synthetic that has unwanted side effects.
How to Take Turmeric and Curcumin for Joint Pain
Since only up to 5% of turmeric consists of curcumin, you will want to get more curcumin into your body. The best way to get the amount of curcumin that helps reduce joint pain is to take a supplement that contains it. That is why a joint supplement like Jointfuel360 can be incredibly beneficial.
Wrapping Up
Don’t wait until joint pain sets in. You can implement strategies for health and wellness over the long term. An active lifestyle, combined with a healthy diet and quality health supplements is a great way to help you keep moving!
* These statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
SOURCES:
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/ageing-muscles-bones-and-joints
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https://www.healthline.com/health/osteoarthritis/understanding-aging-and-joints
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