Curcumin to the Rescue

This Episode is sponsored by Nature's Wild Berry. Visit Natureswildberry.com or search Nature's Wild Berry on Amazon 

Today’s episode is primarily about antiaging and the abilities of Curcumin to do just that.

Aging starts at birth of both genders.  There are more boys born but there are more deaths of them as well.  Girls seem to be hardier thus better survivors outside the womb. There are so many root causes of aging that it would be too long a podcast; science is tripling its advances by the day.  The causes of aging can be modif ied not by one's genes, but by one’s epigenetic environment and one’s disciplined abilities and capabilities.  

You  may have noticed that our parents and grandparents generations have lived well and often outlived their subsequent generations.  They usually lived in smaller towns with land to raise small crops and dairy cows, cattle or goats. Because there were no man-made fertilizers, herbicides, nor pesticides, nor GMO foods, their generation was able to establish an excellent foundation for graceful longevity.   

In the ‘70’s, the head of Pres, Reagan’s Nutrition  Commission, Grace Goldsmith, MD instructed our class at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in nutrition with proper whole foods, discouraging the ‘new food supplements’.  Of course, at the time, the soil still had all the proper minerals and bacteria that the plants needed to produce ‘real’ vegetables and fruits for us.  The turning over of the plants into the soils, the natural animal waste products used as fertilizer, and waiting to not plant the seventh year allowed the soil to regain its ‘strength’ and potency. Today’s commercial farmers do none of the above; and so our soils are ruined by unnatural fertilizers and the chemicals of the herbicides (Round-Up is the most common), and Pesticides (DDT,etc.)  “Organic” usually means there is no current ‘-cides’

being used on that produce but it doesn't mean that the soil can be eradicated of the residues and chemicals of even those that were banned many years ago.  Organic celery still has residues of DDT, but is significantly better than nonorganic celery for one’s health.

 

GMO foods originally made by Monsanto (directly across the river from Tulane Medical School), were never meant to interfere with our plants meant for food.  The wind allowed for cross- fertilization of the GMO with the edible food.  Corn for furniture polish and gasoline were crossed-pollinated with our edible corn-confusing our digestive system with what is not actually food. And these accidental hybrids can sure be tasty and very unhealthy.  Many good things have come out of commercial farming such as making the US the “food basket” of the world.

The organopesticides have preserved our foods and kept them free of bugs but make us unhealthy.  The herbicides have protected our food supply but at the cost of developing cancers in those that spray (pilots,farmers, landscapers)  and those that eat the food.  The two fruits that are to never be eaten unless labeled Organic are raspberries and peaches. The vegetables that are a must to be Organic are the root veggies-potatoes, celery, taro,etc.

 

So, on to the aging causes that can be modified with discipline. The removal of the aged components of the cell's interior, the cytoplasm, is autophagy. It is easily done when young but with increasing years, it slows down so much that the cell cannot do its function well.  There are several supplements to be mentioned later, but the easiest natural way to induce autophagy is to intermittently fast-from food 10-18 hours-but to drink water regularly. This translates into eating your protein, vegs, and carbs, only within an (almost) eight hour window. The oxidation of needed food and oxygen causes free radicals that are harmful- only a bit lessened by antioxidants.  This required rest from eating requires discipline as one must transition from the traditional 3 meals a day over approximately 12-13 hours to not eating 12- 16 hours and eating 1-2 moderate meals complete with the best organic foods one can buy.  One can drink black coffee, tea, or good water.  The transition can be acute but be prepared to be very hungry and hear the belly growling. The gradual way is less likely to make one frustrated as one works toward the goal: breakfast at 8-9 am , instead of 6-7;  and stop supper at 6-7pm.  Add ½ hour more to breakfast start time, and ½ earlier for the supper time.  If one works through the traditional lunch meal time, one approaches the end of the DAILY fast ready to eat well. Sooner than one thinks, the 8 hour window is achieved, and the fasting is able to be maintained.  Remember to drink black coffee or tea if thirsty or hungry.  Walking off the ‘hungry’ time is also a good technique. It is harder to use this if one is managing a young family as meals are usually time for family togetherness.  Get settled in with iced water to get and keep the conversation going. One will soon realize feeling more energetic and actually good, on this new routine which then makes the stress of disciplining oneself so much easier.

I am a believer in an anti-inflammatory diet specific to the blood groups A, B, AB ,O in which a quick list of what to avoid will make fasting intermittently quite a bit easier.  There will be more foods to avoid by making a list of those SPECIFIC foods that cause any problem(s).  For example, most people of the blood group A can eat legumes as anti-cancer and healthful foods.  If since infancy, peas and other legumes cause headaches, one is not going to to eat what causes problems despite what almost any other person in that blood group can eat. So unique lists of food /drink intake which causes problems must be made, so the inflammatory specific to the individual can be avoided.  It turns out that most people only eat what they enjoy eating, and that is to what they most often react badly - thus must be eliminated from their diet.  Unfortunately, it has been known for sometime that taste dominates healthy eating.  It is not always that healthy food is distasteful, it is that the foods most often enjoyed are the ones that are highly inflammatory and cause cravings, thus making staying on the intermittent fast very difficult.  As the inflammatory foods are removed from  one's intake, the cravings diminish.  Simple carbs are the ones that metabolize into sugars; pasta, rice, breads, jellies, syrup,honey and cause inflammation. A small amount is not the problem, it is the moderate intake of these that cause cravings enough to cause the fasting to be broken and glycation, that is, the attachment of the sugar to proteins occurs and the tissue malfunctions.  Cataracts are more likely the cause of sugar intake rather than the sun’s UV light damage. By minimizing the sugary food intake, the cells can recover from the glycation as manifested by decreasing facial skin wrinkles, brain fog, and pain.  Here’s where Cucumin comes into play-it blocks the methylglyoxol so glycation cannot occur and tissue can function as intended. 

A bit about the curcumin extract from the ancient yellow colored herb, Turmeric, originating and used medicinally in Asia and India for several thousand years.

The homeostasis of the  body is so complicated yet finely tuned automatically that all one has to do is provide it with adequate sleep, food and water, and exercise.  In previous podcasts, i have talked of aged/dying cells that accumulate secondary to inefficient clearing as the years pile on, known as senescence.  These nondividing cells release damaging enzymes and inflammatory factors that harm nearby normal cells and tissues.  Many senescent eliminators were mentioned, but more recent studies have revealed curcumin is one of the best.  It can remarkably decrease the amount  of these old crummy cells in studies on animals. In human studies, the same effect of Metformin (prescribed for type ll DM)  increasing AMPK activity is what curcumin does naturally;  That is, if the proper amount of AMPK is present, metabolic processes are modulated correctly, decreasing the chance for Insulin resistance, and adult onset diabetes.  Curcumin has been found also to lower NFKb (Nuclear Factor kappa B) to decrease inflammation. Aging causes another protein to increase, mTOR, (mammalian target of Rifampin) which Curcumin will lower.  mTOR is needed in just the right amount to help in healing and in partially regulating metabolism, but increases of age bring destruction of tissues.  IL6 and hsCRP are inflammatory markers that curcumin can lower effectively.  Cancers, Diabetes, and arthritis are among the many diseases that spike these two markers. A loss of activity of a set of proteins that would shield DNA from damage and mutations in old age is sirtuins. Curcumuin comes to the rescue to recharge the waning activity of sirtuins.  The other remarkable activity of curcumin for the sake of DNA is increasing telomerase, the enzyme that preserves and repairs the protective ends, telomeres, of our chromosomes.  Since the ends can no longer be shortened, the DNA can continue to replicate and the cells can keep dividing and live. 

 

The most studied and thus, well known curcumin is BCM-95. It is in the Life Extension products of curcumin.  I have not always found that one to be “the best” for every person.  In fact, C3 from Ecological Formulas has been enhanced to be better bioavailable for at least 20+ years with ginger and other herbs.  Life Extension recently developed the combination of the fiber from the Fenugreek seed with curcumin to provide better absorption and thus get it more fully to the sources need.   Curcumin Elite has this combo.  Since curcumin can be a little tough on the lining of the stomach, it is best to take it with a small amount of food.

Curcumin Antiaging Properties.Life Extension Magazine Collectors Edition. 2022. 22-28.

 

Int J Molecular Sci.2018 Oct 9;Nutritional Modulation of AMPK-impact on metabol-inflammation

 

mTORSignaling Pathway: a Potential Target od Curcumin oin the Treatment Of Spinal Cord Injury.  Biomed Res  Int. 2017; 2017:1634801