I was told Tumeric was good to take for inflammation amongst other health benefits. Does anyone here take this daily as a supplement ?
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No. 14 years with a jpouch and I don't take anything except an occasional probiotic.
Sue 
I take it regularly. Whether it's responsible for my lack of pouchitis symptoms, I can't say, but ... I haven't had to take antibiotics for about 2 years now. I also take probiotics regularly. I think it also helps with arthritis in my hands.
Yes, obviously it didn't help me or any of the other anti inflammatory stuff I was taking as per my functional medicine and GI doctor.
I take it in my food as a spice (it is in fact a very tasty spice that gives food a lovely yellow colour and very delicate flavour...try it in rice or on chicken or fish)...we eat about a tsp per person per day...not sure if it helps or not but it sure tastes good.
Sharon
Yes, I take a daily supplement and have for about 2 years now. I actually think my pouch function has improved since I began taking it, though I also began taking Align at about the same time so it's hard to say which one may be responsible for the improvement, or if it's a combination of the two. Interestingly though, when I was first diagnosed with UC and on the hospital ward, the daughter of one of the patients in my room was a naturopath and the first thing she told me was "TAKE TURMERIC." That was 10 years ago. I was too sick then to follow her advice (and truthfully forgot about it for a time), but a few years later I started reading some articles about it (including its benefits in treating Crohns and IBD) and nowadays many GIs will actually recommend it to their patients.
The brand I take is Botanica, the liquid phytocaps. I also use turmeric in my cooking. Turmeric is good for general inflammation, joint paint, liver and gall bladder and is thought also to have some cardiac benefits.
hi all, am revisiting the turmeric question after reading this on Consumer Labs report. I've copied the q+a and the website, which has viewers' comments. their teaser of rats' droppings and mice tails is to get you to sign up for a subscription. if anybody does, please post which brands they recommend . jlh
| ConsumerLab.com Answers |
Question:
How does turmeric spice compare to turmeric (curcumin) in supplements? I sprinkle it on my foods and wonder if that's equivalent to taking a supplement.
Answer:
Turmeric spice is ground (dried) turmeric herb — specifically the root/rhizome, sold as a powder. Consuming between ½ to 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder (about 1.5 to 3 grams) with food has been found to have certain digestive and cognitive benefits.
Most clinical studies, however, have not used turmeric powder, but turmeric extract. Only about 3% of the weight of turmeric powder is curcumin and "curcuminoid" compounds -- which are believed to be important to turmeric's effects. In turmeric extracts, the concentration of these is often increased to as high as 95%.
Therefore, it is not unusual for a capsule containing half of a gram of turmeric extract to provide 400 mg of curcuminoids, while the same amount of turmeric powder (ground herb -- just like the spice) might provide only about 15 mg. In fact, in 2013, ConsumerLab.com found that capsules of turmeric "herb" (not extract) from a well-known supplement brand contained only 3 mg of curcuminoids per capsule. Many brands of turmeric supplements contain a combination of extract and herb, and the ratio will greatly affect the amount of curcuminoids you get, so be sure to check the amounts of curcuminoids in popular supplements in ConsumerLab.com's Review of Turmeric and Curcumin Supplements and Spices >>.
Another way that turmeric extracts differ from turmeric powders is that extracts are less likely to be contaminated with heavy metals, such as lead, and do not contain the filth (insect parts and rodent hairs) normally found to varying degrees in the powders. In the Review, you'll also see our tests of levels of filth and heavy metals in popular turmeric spices for cooking, plus the dosage of herb or extract used in treating conditions such as ulcerative colitis, uveitis, arthritis, psoriasis, diabetes, depression, and cognitive function.
I do. I take 500 mg daily...........250mg/twice.
I tried turmeric, but think I may have been allergic to it. My throat got all closed-feeling, and it went away when I stopped taking it.
I have been taking it daily for 3 years for my follicular lymphoma, haven't noticed a difference but I take 30 vitamins a day, do wheatgrass juice and sprouts juice daily also.
My nurse anesthetist and I were chatting prior to my recent EUA, and she suggested that I take turmeric daily (which I already do), but to be sure it contains black pepper for better absorption. I've recently upped my "dose" to 1000 mg./day, and am doing well at the moment, even my fistula is a bit drier. But, I'm the first to admit - who knows what is helping and what is not with regard to all the things I take and do.
we use turmeric, curries, cayenne, cumin and various spices in our cooking. also alot of hot peppers, garlic and onions. i've only had very minor bouts of pouchitis, if at all. and i've had my pouch for over 20 years.
good luck !
You could also try all natural curcumin...........I take that along with all natural turmerics............natural anti inflammatories.
i just ordered some tumeric pills after reading all of these responses. it comes with black pepper in the capsul as well. paprine or something like that.
can anyone here answer my other post about taking tumeric with cipro and flagyl? its a new post under general discussion
I have a lot of insight into this. (I'm an MD) - Below are three links to excellent (and recent) research articles about the benefits of Curcumin in the setting of IBD and colitis-associated-cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26218141
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23233214
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20848615
The abstracts can be pretty scientifically dense, so I'll summarize a couple of points for discussion.
1.) The three articles above give good evidence that curcumin has a protective effect against developing colorectal cancer in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease.
2.) The suspected mechanism of protection likely includes harboring a more diverse colonic bacterial profile and regulating (several) cellular proteins, which has a direct anti-inflammatory action.
3.) I take six grams or more a day. Yep; six GRAMS. That may seem like a lot, but its really two pills three times a day, whenever I think of it. While I'm at work, I throw back two pills between random tasks and think nothing of it. In my experience, I have noted a clear improvement in all of my symptoms of UC (I still have my native colon, and my strategy is to "keep it" as long as I absolutely can, so anything with a decent body of scientific evidence to suggest a protective effect is a "go" in my book, so long as the risk/benefit ratio is reasonable).
I have zero adverse effects from the curcumin supplements. I'm a big VSL-3 guy as well. I've also found germinated barley meal to be excellent in control of symptoms.
If you have questions, ask away. I joined this group to help and be helped.
Thanks rustedfox for your input. As much as I try to go natural I am happy to have the input of an MD.
I'd read somewhere about turmeric possibly helping people with gastric problems so I purchased a bottle but I only half heartedly took the pills a couple of times. I think I will give it another try.
Jo
Hey Jo,
I generally caution people when they use the phrase "I try to go natural", or use the term "holistic", as there is a lot of confusion about what these terms actually designate. There is this pervasive feeling amongst the public that if its "all natural", then it "can't hurt you". This is a rather large fallacy. Taking an extreme example, snake venom and castor beans are "all natural", and are amazingly lethal. More relevantly, the first maxim of toxicology is: "All things are poison. It is only the dose that makes it toxic." Water and oxygen are certainly "poisonous" at high enough "doses".
The term "holistic" is taken by the general public to mean "occurring and used in its natural forms from herbal sources", which is also fallacious. "Holistic" is a concept which reflects the idea that the "whole is more than the sum of the parts". To treat anything "holistically" would include the use of western or "modern" medicine as well; but is too often thought of as "using what is perceived to be naturally occurring remedies only".
This all being said, I saw my GI provider just yesterday and discussed the curcumin issue with him. Having JUST been to the "Advances in IBD" conference, he informed me that it is now generally being recommended as adjuvant therapy to IBD patients, and has been "generally recognized as safe" for a long time.
I don't but I have two friends who have their colons who do. one who believes it has helped his symptoms, another who only recently started. I will have to check in with her. this note about the difference between extract and powder was instructive, thanks for that.
and rustedfox props for the help and additional viewpoints.
now to actually maybe go out and get some. any preferences for brands? thanks.