Starting Curcumin Regimen

Food Pictures:

You may notice the food pictures on this blog; they're on my running blog too, different ones. I just wrote a post about the food pictures on my running blog here if you're interested.

Curcumin Ramp-up:

So far so good! I've now taken two grams of curcumin for each of two days, and four grams per day for two more days, with no detectable side effects except possibly one (1) hive. Just one place on one shoulder, gone a day later, quite likely not caused by the curcumin, though hives and rash are side effects that have been described by others. Next trick is six grams, which I will do today. If there are side effects I'll back off, otherwise I will hold at this dosage for a few days before increasing to eight grams per day.

I feel good though; a general sense of well-being. That could be in my head, the product of a nice Sunday afternoon heading toward the Fourth of July. But maybe the curcumin plays a part too. It is, after all, an anti-inflammatory and who knows what else. For much more about the benefits of curcumin, in fact ANYTHING about curcumin, see Margaret's Corner.

The Plan:

• Single dose: Two grams of curcumin and one gram of oil:
  • One gram of "Doctor's Best" curcumin with bioperine
  • One gram of "NSI" turmeric extract with bioperine, and
  • One gram of "Member's Mark" organic flaxseed oil or another beneficial oil.
• Four of those 2-gram doses per day, between meals:
  • Midnight. I get up a few times in the night for BPH anyway.
  • 5:00 or 6:00 am, before morning coffee or breakfast.
  • 10:30 am, well before lunch.
  • 4:30 pm, well before dinner.
• Empty stomach when possible. Experts say this works best. Some bottles of curcumin say to take it with meals, however, so I won't be a stickler.
• If a dose is missed, double up on the next one. Some people take all eight grams at once anyway. I'm spreading it out so that the curcumin is in the blood more of the time, though it might actually work better to take it all at once so that the peak concentration goes higher; I don't know.
• No aspirin. I have been taking an 81-mg aspirin daily for years, but curcumin thins the blood so I will stop. But if I were taking Revlimid or thalidomide, I would certainly want to discuss this with my doctor.
• Two brands, an equal amount from each, on the off-chance that one brand is not up to its advertised standards.
• Margaret also takes quercetin with her curcumin. I don't yet, but may start.

I am not a doctor. Curcumin in these dosages is NOT benign; if it were benign it wouldn't help. No one knows the long-term effects of curcumin in these dosages; I am taking a calculated risk. If you are considering curcumin, please consult with your oncologist or primary physician first, and be sure that you monitor the effects often enough.

The curcumin brands mentioned above are described in greater detail in a previous post. A single dose is pictured below, curcumin 2 grams and flaxseed oil one gram.




Organic oatmeal, organic fat-free milk, blueberries, organic strawberries, organic nectarine, organic plum, pecans. Estimated Weight Watchers points = 5.