9 Reasons Turmeric Boosts Immune Function

Turmeric is a flowering plant and member of the ginger family. You may have heard of it over the past several years because of its links to immune function. Commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine and Indian cooking, it has a distinctive orange coloration because of a compound within the spice, called curcumin.

It’s also an immune-boosting powerhouse, with evidence to suggest that turmeric can help buffer the body’s ability to stay healthy, fight off viruses, reduce inflammation and generally keep you at your best.

We offer a turmeric supplement right here at Leading Edge Health, called Curcleve, that’s made with an especially potent curcumin extract, Longvida. And here’s why that’s important: Longvida has exceptionally high bioavailability – as in, your body can get up to 285 times more curcumin out of Curcleve than with a standard curcumin supplement.

Let’s look closer at Turmeric and what it brings to health, wellness and your overall immune function.

What is Turmeric Good For?

Turmeric appears to help lower inflammation. This has a variety of health applications, from better immune function to heart health and brain function.

As well, turmeric may be good for your joints and reduce age-related joint pain.

Turmeric may also fight depression and even cognitive decline as you get older.

With that being said, you may be most familiar with turmeric for its immune-boosting properties – something it appears to do quite well, and one of the reasons why Curcleve is one of our more poplar anti-aging products.

A closer look at the studies done on turmeric reveal the following benefits.

#1 – Turmeric May Have Medicinal Properties

Ever wondered how curry gets its color? Here’s a hint: it’s the turmeric, which has been used for thousands of years in Indian cuisine.

To build on that, you may have heard that colorful natural foods tend to be extremely nutritious, because the compounds that give food its color also give it powerful nutrients that are good for your health.

Enter turmeric, which has compounds called curcuminoids, which have medicinal properties[1] – especially curcumin, which appears to help to lower inflammation.

The caveat is there isn’t much curcumin in turmeric. It’s just about 3% of the spice by weight[2].

If you want the medicinal properties of curcumin, you’re likely better off with a curcumin supplement, like Curcleve, which absorbs better into the bloodstream.

#2 – Curcumin May Lower Inflammation

Inflammation is an important process. It helps your body fight pathogens and plays a role in the healing process.

But while short-term inflammation is beneficial, the effects of long-term inflammation do the opposite. It tells your body to mistakenly attack your tissues and is linked to most, yes, most of all degenerative diseases in western culture[3], be they of the heart, the brain, and the rest of the body.

Curcumin may be a powerful took to keep long-term inflammation under control. Some studies suggest it’s just as powerful and anti-inflammatory drugs[4] and is very well-tolerated by most people who take it.

While the inflammation process is quite complicated, the simplified explanation for this may be that curcumin blocks a molecule, called NF-kB, which can lead to many chronic diseases[5].

#3 – Turmeric Helps The Body Use Antioxidants

Here’s another term you’ve likely heard in health circles over the past decade. We’re talking about ‘antioxidants’. These are molecules that fight free radicals – reactive molecules with one unpaired electron that lead to oxidative stress.

Like long-term inflammation, free radicals are a major cause of advanced aging and related chronic diseases because they can interact with and damage DNA, proteins and fatty acids.

Curcumin is a powerful antioxidant that appears to neutralize free radicals because of its chemical structure[6]. It also helps the body use its own antioxidant enzymes[7], which gives your body further defense against oxidative damage.

In other words, turmeric helps directly block free radicals, and helps the body do so as well.

#4 – Turmeric Helps Brain Plasticity

While it’s tempting to think you’re born with a finite amount of brain cells, we now know these cells, called ‘neurons’, can multiply and form new connections in some areas of the brain.

One of the reasons this happens is because of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) – a growth hormone in the brain[8].

Some evidence suggests that declining levels of BDNF can lead to depression and forms of dementia[9]. However, curcumin is actually shown to boost BDNF levels[10]. That in turn may help you keep your brain in top form, even as you get older.

And when you consider that BDNF helps boost neurons and their related connections, curcumin may also help sharpen your memory – a key mark of overall intelligence, although more studies are needed.

#5 – Curcumin May Help Your Heart

Heart problems are the leading cause of death on the planet[11]. We know this, although there are a variety of mitigating reasons for it, and taking turmeric alone is far too simplistic of an answer.

However, curcumin appears to be good for the heart, in part because it improves functioning of the endothelium – the lining of the blood vessels. This may help your body control blood pressure, blood clotting, and other factors for heart health[12].

One study of 121 randomly chosen people about to go through coronary artery bypass surgery found that those who took four grams of curcumin each day before and after the surgery had a 65% lower risk of heart attack in the hospital[13].

#6 – Curcumin May Help Prevent or Address Dementia

As a general guideline, what’s good for the heart is good for the brain. Sadly, dementia is a one-way road to loss of cognitive ability, logic and overall quality of life.

Because there is no cure for dementia at present, that makes it even more important to try to prevent it from happening in the first place.

There is some good news on that front. It’s this: curcumin appears to cross the blood/brain barrier, and seems to help address protein tangles in the brain, called amyloid plaques – and may even clear them up[14].

The boat is still out on whether turmeric can help reduce your chances of dementia, but studies like this suggest it’s a step in the right direction.

#7 – Curcumin Supplements Might Reduce Arthritis Symptoms

Chronic inflammation takes a heavy toll throughout the body. One of those areas is the joints, which can wear down in a process called arthritis, which can be very painful.

The fact that curcumin helps reduce inflammation makes it of particular interest to arthritis patients. It’s shown to be even more effective than an anti-inflammatory drug[15] in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. And curcumin has shown in other studies to improve arthritis symptoms as well[16].

That makes a curcumin supplement, like Curcleve, all the more important for active folks as they get older.

#8 – Curcumin May Help Fight Depression

We’ve already established that what’s good for the brain is good for the heart. Some evidence suggests you can add depression to that list. One study, of 60 patients with depression, found that a group that took a gram of curcumin daily for six weeks, had improvements similar to those seen with an anti-depression medication[17].

While this was a small study, the results suggest that curcumin is just as effective as an antidepressant medication.

It’s also worth mentioning that depression is linked to lower levels of BDNF. We know that curcumin appears to boost this growth hormone in the brain, and there is some evidence it may also increase neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine[18], which further suggests turmeric may help fight depression.

#9 – Curcumin May Help You Age Slower

When you consider that oxidation and inflammation are responsible for much, even most of the chronic diseases in western civilization, including those of the heart and the brain, we begin to see curcumin and turmeric as an anti-aging supplement for better health as we get older.

There is some merit to that. Curcumin is indeed a popular anti-aging supplement[19], and is currently of interest for benefits that go well beyond disease prevention. Some studies suggest it may even help you live longer[20].

Of course, more research is needed. But it’s a promising development in our ongoing understanding of curcumin, turmeric, and the role they play in health and better living.

Why You May Need a Curcumin Supplement

So you want the benefits of turmeric – and curcumin in particular. If that’s the case, you may want to look for a curcumin supplement.

Here’s why: turmeric is less than 3% curcumin. You’d have to put a whole lot of turmeric on your foods to get any benefit from this anti-inflammatory and antioxidant substance.

Also, curcumin doesn’t absorb well into the bloodstream, and will likely have to be mixed with another substance to increase its absorption and efficacy.

And for that, we feel there is a clear winner.

Curcleve: Our Pick For The Best Curcumin Supplement

Curcleve is a curcumin supplement. It’s made with an especially potent curcumin compound, called Longvida. You can expect big results with Curcleve because of this – Longvida is a patented and medical-grade curcumin compound that absorbs up to 285 times better than a standard curcumin supplement.

It may also last in your body up to seven times longer.

There are other reasons we like Curcleve. It’s mixed with ginger and another patented compound, called Astragin, which is made of astralagus and panax ginseng.

What all this means in laymen’s terms: Curcleve is a high quality turmeric supplement that puts the benefits of curcumin – less inflammation, powerful antioxidants and health of the heart, brain and body – inside you, in a curcumin supplement that’s made in the United States at a CGMP-compliant facility and comes with a 67 day money-back guarantee.

In other words, if you want the benefits of turmeric, and curcumin in particular, Curcleve is a great place to start.

Learn More At: https://www.leadingedgehealth.com/products/curcleve/

FAQs About Turmeric

Have further questions about turmeric?

What is Turmeric?

Turmeric is a spice that comes from the turmeric plant. Native to Asia, turmeric is commonly used in Indian cooking and is one of the oldest supplements in the world. Its popularity comes from the fact that turmeric has powerful compounds that reduce inflammation, fight age-accelerating free radicals and may even help you age slower

What is the Difference Between Turmeric and Curcumin?

Curcumin is the active ingredient within turmeric that gives it the health benefits linked to the spice. It has a distinctly orange coloration, and it’s the same nutrients responsible for this vivid color that give curcumin (and turmeric) its health-boosting properties.

Is Turmeric Safe?

Without knowing your medical history, it’s impossible to say that turmeric is completely safe for you. That’s why you’ll want to speak with your doctor before using a curcumin supplement, especially if you have a specific health condition or concern, or you’re currently taking some form of medication.

With that clarified, our pick for the best curcumin supplement is Curcleve. It’s made at a CGMP-compliant facility in the United States. That means it is made with strict health and safety regulations in place, and you can also track when and where the product was made.

So speak with your doctor before consuming turmeric, whether in food or as a curcumin supplement. But unless there is something in your background that might cause a problem, it’s a good bet that you’ll be fine.

Why Can’t I Get Curcumin From Food?

There isn’t enough curcumin in the spice itself to make much of a difference for your health. Only about 3% of turmeric is curcumin by weight. Also, curcumin does not absorb well into the blood.

To get the benefits of curcumin, you’ll likely need a curcumin supplement. We recommend Curcleve here at Leading Edge Health. It’s made with a curcumin compound, called Longvida, which absorbs up to 85 times more effectively into the body than a standard curcumin supplement.

If you don’t like tumeric you can always give mushrooms and try and discover, “The Incredible Power of Mushrooms.” Or if mushrooms aren’t for you then discover, “The 8 Immunity Boosting Benefits of Elderberry.”

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3633300/

[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17044766/

[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12490960/

[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19594223/

[5] https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(18)87080-6/fulltext

[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17569207/

[7] https://analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jat.1517

[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2504526/

[9] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006322303001811

[10] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006899306027144

[11] https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

[12] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10543305/