Curcumin Chelates Iron

[CureOrBust]

I could not find a recent Iron chelation thread, and do not remember ever hearing about curcumin and iron before.

But while looking up different forms of curcumin, I stumbled across a warning that it chelates iron from the body. I did a quick search in Google and the links were endless. Here is a single simple one that I stumbled across, which peaked my interest initially.

Iron chelation in the biological activity of curcumin. I'm sure its not the best, but its at least one example. And the full article appears to be HERE.

[Cece]

Does it cross the blood brain barrier?

I have a bottle of curcumin supplements, although I am not taking them regularly. It was on Cheer's endothelial health program.

[cheerleader]

Does it cross the blood brain barrier?

I have a bottle of curcumin supplements, although I am not taking them regularly. It was on Cheer's endothelial health program.

Curcumin/tumeric has been shown to cross the BBB when injected, but not when taken orally. I recommend it for it's antioxidant and inflammatory reducing properties, which have been proven in clinical trails. Jeff takes 500 mg. a day and we eat alot of Indian food.
I like EGCG for chelating properties a bit more....it crosses the BBB when taken orally, and is being studied in MS at Charité


Here's more info on curcumin.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/p ... /curcumin/

cheer

[CureOrBust]

Curcumin/tumeric has been shown to cross the BBB when injected, but not when taken orally.

Yes it has.

Curcumin blocks brain tumor formation

.... Oral delivery of this food component has been less effective because of its low solubility in water. We show that a soluble formulation of curcumin crosses the blood–brain barrier but does not suppress normal brain cell viability. ...

Oral Curcumin Mitigates the Clinical and Neuropathologic Phenotype of the Trembler-J Mouse: A Potential Therapy for Inherited Neuropathy

...Analysis of curcumin bioavailability (table 1) has also shown the presence of curcumin in brain within 2 h after treatment (with 100 mg of curcumin per kg of body weight) in both pups and adults tested in our study, suggesting that it might cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain in treated mice....

OK, so that ones a "might"... But they found it in the mice brains. Not many volunteers for human trials ending in disection.

The effect of curcumin (turmeric) on Alzheimer's disease: An overview

Oral bioavailability:
Curcumin has poor bioavailability. Because curcumin readily conjugated in the intestine and liver to form curcumin glucuronides.[39] In a clinical trial conducted in Taiwan, serum curcumin concentrations peaked one to two hours after an oral dose. Peak serum concentrations were 0.5, 0.6 and 1.8 micromoles/L at doses of 4, 6 and 8 g/day respectively.[40] It is also measured in urine at a dose of 3.6 g/day. Absorption is poor following ingestion in mice and rats. 38% to 75% of an ingested dose of curcumin is excreted in the feces. Absorption appears to be better with food. Curcumin crosses the blood brain barrier and is detected in CSF.

Curcumin does have a bioavailability issue. I would not take it solely for its Iron chelation properties. It was simply an interesting side fact I came across while I was looking into more bioavailable forms, which I had never heard of before.

[gibbledygook]

Also our blood brain barrier is badly compromised so maybe more curcumin gets through! I have taken large amounts of curcumin in the past and noticed a positive effect and I'd be taking it every day if I weren't pregnant.

[Cece]

Great information on curcumin. I checked the expiration on mine and it's a month away so I will be taking lots of curcumin in the next few weeks.

[Thekla]

I like the bit 'absorption appears better with food'. I cook a lot with turmeric---my kids think rice is supposed to be yellow. I read years ago that it was supposed to be good for something and just started using it--we buy big bags! I've taken it as a supplement too but I much prefer to eat and drink my nutrients. Maybe it isn't as concentrated but if it is absorbed better, perhaps lower concentrations frequently works.

[daniel]

Thekla -- that's my strategy too. I know lots of things in nature have a synergetic effect (eg. combining two items will produce 10x of the benefit of taking both items individually)... though there aren't many studies on this. I try and put spices in everything I can. Cinnamon in coffee in the morning or on apples. Turmeric,cayenne sprinkled in foods, etc. Also curry powder as well as mustard are great sources of turmeric.