The New Benefits of Curcumin
According to multiple studies, this plant chemical keeps viruses from replicating.
There's a plant derivative with profound anti-bacterial and anti-viral effects. This plant chemical is curcumin (Buy at Amazon). You already know it for its ability to fight inflammation, boost testosterone, ward off fat gain, and improve mood. Now we can add its anti-viral effects to the list.
A Long List of Viruses
Curcumin has already exhibited anti-viral effects against numerous human pathogens:
- Influenza viruses PR8, H1N1, and H6N1
- Coronaviruses
- Hepatitis B and C viruses
- Human papillomavirus, the cause of genital warts that may lead to malignant squamous cell cervical cancers
- Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses (mosquito-borne)
- Japanese encephalitis (an infection of the brain)
- Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, highly lethal to children)
- Rift Valley fever (a disease that spreads from animals to humans)
- Herpes simplex
- Coxsackieviruses (viruses that may cause hand, foot, and mouth disease, as well as diseases of muscles, lungs, and the heart)
- Human immunodeficiency virus
Granted, most of these results occurred in vitro, but it's not far-fetched to assume that some of these findings apply to living human beings.
A Monkey Wrench in the Virus Machinery
Curcumin, even without specifically considering viruses, is a potent immunomodulator – it affects the activation of T cells, B cells, macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells, all of which comprise the various fighters in your personal, biological, Mortal Kombat game.
Moreover, it can downregulate various pro-inflammatory cytokines, which interact with the cells of the immune system to regulate the body's response to disease and infection.
All of that is hugely impressive, but curcumin also has specific effects on viruses themselves so they have a harder time carrying out their goal of using your body as a virus factory.
In some instances – as is the case with some mosquito-transmitted viruses – curcumin actually interferes with the binding of the virus to the cell. It doesn't kill the virus or even interfere with its black RNA heart, but just prevents it from latching onto otherwise vulnerable cells. Other times, curcumin goes a step further and actually interferes with viral replication machinery or suppresses cellular signaling pathways.
Best of all, the research suggests that most of curcumin's effects are achieved by smallish, completely realistic doses and that afflicted viruses don't develop any "immunity" to curcumin, which is viral poetic justice at its best.
How To Use This Info
To reap all the benefits of curcumin, take one 400 mg capsule per day of the micellar formula (Buy at Amazon). You'll need a lot more if you're using a non-micellar formula. The plant polyphenol is notoriously hard to absorb. Micellar curcumin, however, contains solid lipid curcumin particles that produce 95 times more free curcumin in the bloodstream than regular curcumin (even if it contains piperine).
References
- Jagieta GC et al. "'Spicing up' of the immune system by curcumn." J Clin Immunology. 2006 Jan;27(1):19-35. PubMed: 17211725.
- Mathew D et al. "Antiviral potential of curcumin." J Funct Foods. 2018 Jan;40:692-699.
- Mounce BC et al. "Curcumin inhibits Zika and chikungunya virus infection by inhibiting cell binding." Antiviral Res. 2017 Jun;142:148-157. PubMed: 28343845.
- Teymouri M et al. "Curcumin as a multifaceted compound against human papilloma virus infection and cervical cancers. A review of chemistry, celluar, molecular, and preclinical features." Biofactors. 2017 May 6;43(3):331-346. PubMed: 27896883.
- Ting D et al. "Multisite Inhibitors for Enteric Coronavirus: Antiviral Cationic Carbon Dots Based on Curcumin." ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2018;1(10):5451–5459.
- Zorofchian S et al. "A Review of Antibacterial, Antiviral, and Antifungal Activity of Curcumin." Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:186864. PubMed: 24877064.