5 Benefits Of Turmeric & Curcumin Supplements In Joint Pain
If you’re a joint pain sufferer, this names are surely no stranger to you. Curcuma longa, turmeric, they are already famous. But do you know what exactly you’re taking them for? Yes, they do improve your joint pain, but what exactly do they do?
Today I want to introduce you the top 5 benefits of turmeric & curcumin supplements. Or in other words, 5 reasons why they can do miracles in treating your pain.
Considering your situation, turmeric should be among the herbs you know best. But quite a few people know what exactly it’s good for.
1. Reduces Inflammation
If I had to describe turmeric in two words, that’s the expression I would use.
The best thing about turmeric and curcumin supplements is that they can decrease the inflammation from your joints, fingers or any other part of your body.
If you want a medical explanation, it is because it inhibits 3 different kinds of molecules – cytokines, enzymes and transcription factors. These molecules are responsible for inflammation, so inhibiting them is the best thing you can do in this case.
But what’s the point of decreasing inflammation? You can’t always feel that inflammation, so why is it so important to stop it?
Well, the immediate consequence of inflammation is pain. If your joints are swollen, they will also hurt. Sometimes they’re swollen on the inside and you can’t see it, but you only feel the pain.
So this is how the pain goes away. Once inflammation is calmed down, the pain disappears as well. So that’s the reason why curcumin supplements are so useful in pain. They treat the cause first, they don’t simply mask the symptom.
2. Heals Skin
Now you’re probably thinking “How can turmeric help my skin? Does it heal wounds or what?”. Well, sort of…
Arthritis patients tend to have a drier skin, because of the constant inflammation from their joints. Also, their skin is much more likely to get wounded. Unfortunately, that’s just one of the many secondary effects of auto-immune diseases.
Anyway, that’s the reason why turmeric and curcumin supplements are so useful in joint pain. Not only that they decrease inflammation, but they also protect the skin. Besides their anti-inflammatory effect, they are also natural antioxidants.
This means they will keep your skin healthy, speeding up the healing of wounds and giving an extra glow to your skin.
If you’re a woman, you may be very happy to know that turmeric also helps in the aging process. When your skin is dry, it is much more likely to get wrinkles. And that faster.
But as turmeric is an antioxidant, it will keep your skin in a great shape. This is why all modern anti-aging creams contain antioxidant substances. They protect the skin and keep it hydrated, so the effects of aging should appear slower and later.
3. Natural Antioxidant
If you read the previous paragraph, you probably have an idea about what this means. But let’s dig deeper into the problem.
To start with the beginning, experts believe that oxidative stress is one of the main causes of every disease. What is oxidative stress? Well, it is the reaction between free radicals and regular substances from our bodies.
But what are free radicals? They are some sort of very reactive molecules we have in our bodies. They’re not pathological, we have them by nature. As they react with other substances from the body, they produce effects like aging or different dysfunctions. Even inflammation can sometimes be caused by these free radicals.
Once again, that’s something that happens naturally, it’s not a pathological thing.
But there is something that can help us fight back – antioxidants. They protect our bodies from these free radicals, so they reduce the oxidative stress.
This is how turmeric supplements can help us. Turmeric and curcumin are natural antioxidants, so they keep oxidative stress away. In this way, they can protect us from inflammation as well.
It’s not like consuming antioxidants will keep you 100% safe from inflammation, but it can help significantly.
4. Fights Back Painkiller’s Side Effects
If you ever followed a longer treatment with painkillers or NSAIDs, you know what I’m talking about.
Patients with chronic inflammations are forced to take anti-inflammatory medicines most of the times. Now, that’s not a bad thing at all, because these drugs do their jobs and decrease the swelling. But they do have a lot of side effects, and some of the most common are digestive problems.
Gastritis, gut inflammation or bleeding are just a few of these side effects. And unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to prevent them. But that’s where turmeric comes in.
Turmeric and curcumin have gastroprotective effects. They can keep your stomach safe even when taking your regular medication. That’s not among their most famous effects, but it is definitely very useful.
Besides, turmeric supplements also help your body detoxify better. The liver is responsible for this process, so consuming a regular quantity of turmeric or curcumin for a few months can have a remarkable effect on your health.
Experts believe that toxines are the real cause of many cases of cancer, so that’s why detoxification is so famous nowadays.
5. Decreases Uric Acid Levels
Turmeric’s benefits are not only in auto-immune arthritis. It can also make miracles in gout.
There were several studies conducted so far, and they all reached the same conclusion. Curcumin, the active substance from turmeric powder, does decrease the levels of uric acid in patients with gout.
But what’s interesting is that scientist aren’t sure how exactly this happens.
Some say that curcumin inhibits certain enzimes that produce uric acid, other say it improves kidney function so uric acid is eliminated faster. There aren’t enough evidences for any of these, so it’s hard to state anything. It’s not sure yet, but the conclusion is clear – turmeric supplements do work in gout.
Howevere, there are some bad news as well. Unlike classic therapy, curcumin supplements don’t work so fast. You have to follow the treatment for a few months in order to see a major improvement. So if you’re too anxious to see an effect, don’t count only on curcumin supplements.
That’s the reason why turmeric and curcumin are preferred in chronic diseases, where you have to take the treatment for a long period. Taking them for just a few weeks won’t solve much, not even in gout.
So What Are The Benefits You Can Use?
Turmeric and curcumin don’t have good effects only in arthritis, which is a chronic disease. They can treat any joint inflammation, even a temporary one. They are also natural antioxidants and they can be a great solution to keep your skin healthy and glowing.
Even if you have a temporary joint pain, this kind of supplements can reduce the inflammation from your joints and cure your pain naturally.
I would recommend you a turmeric supplement especially if you have digestive problems. Classic painkillers can worsen digestive affections, so this kind of natural remedies can make miracles for you. Turmeric can also cause side effects, but they’re a lot more rare compared to classic therapy.
These were just 5 of the benefits of turmeric and curcumin supplements. There are probably many others, but as I’m only interested in joint pain, I only chose those 5.
Do you know any other benefits or curcumin and turmeric? Have they helped you in any other way? Let me know your answer in a comment and I will reach out to you.
