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.

Curcumin and Nanotechnology

"Colloidal silicon dioxide" is an ingredient in the AFI brand of curcumin with bioperine. So what, silicon dioxide is sand. But a quick search shows that colloidal, in this context, means that this is sand with particle sizes of less than 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, which is one millionth of a millimeter. 100 nanometers is considerably shorter than the wavelength of visible light, and only one twenty-fifth the size of a human red blood cell. This is so tiny that it is well within the realm of nanotechnology. Is that a problem?

Maybe so. Three recent press releases by Consumer Reports (here, here, and here) suggest that the jury is still out on nanoparticles for human use. Other consumer groups have also issued warnings. The FDA has not taken a position, nor does it require that manufacturers describe their nanotechnology ingredients as such. Therefore, nanosized colloidal silicon dioxide may be described on the label as "silicon dioxide" or simply "silica."

Well it's just sand, don't we all eat a peck of dirt? Probably so, but everyone who discusses nanotechnology agrees that the properties of materials change when particle size becomes so extremely small. To quote Consumer Reports, "carbon becomes 100 times stronger than steel, aluminum turns highly explosive, and gold melts." In fact, particles this tiny may be able to traverse cell walls and enter cells, possibly affecting DNA or inducing cell death. We already know that breathing silica dust can trigger an often-fatal disease called silicosis. What about ingesting it? One expert has said that nanotechnology has the potential for health risks similar to those of asbestos.

I'm as far from expert as you can get on nanotechnology and how it may affect human cells. But I'm pretty sure that nanoparticles can't hurt me if I don't consume them, breathe them, or spread them on my skin.

Personally, I'm going to stay away from supplements, including curcumin, with ingredient lists that include silicon dioxide or silica. Another likely nano-material is titanium dioxide, used as a whitening pigment and also to be avoided. No doubt there are more. Technology is moving faster than our overwhelmed and underfunded FDA is able to react, so we have to look out for ourselves.

Your comments are invited, pro or con.



Organic baby spinach, organic apples in key lime juice, blue cheese, organic pecans marinated in pomegranite juice and roasted, all in a pretty new 79-cent glass salad bowl from Ikea. Estimated Weight Watchers points = 3.