Curcumin's 6 training benefits

[Biotest]

Scientific review finds that this stuff reduces inflammation and leads to superior recovery and muscle performance.

When you ask people why they work out, you get a variety of answers. Some do it to look better naked. Some do it to be strong. Others just want to live longer, and some work out solely for their mental health. But they all do the same basic thing: they lift weights and get sweaty.

The same is true when it comes to taking Micellar Curcumin ➔ Buy at Biotest.

Some people have read about how it helps relieve depression. Some take it because it acts as "erection insurance" by keeping blood vessels healthy and boosting nitric oxide. Many lifters take it to deal with aches and pains. Biohackers take it because it seems to combat certain cancers and improve heart health. Physique-focused lifters take it because it helps keep them lean.

Whatever the reason, they all take it. And now, a recent research review adds to that list. This study looked at all the curcumin studies related to working out.

The Study

In this systematic review ("Effects of Curcumin Supplementation on Sport and Physical Exercise"), researchers threw out all the animal and in vitro studies. They just wanted to collect info about curcumin's effects on human performance. Here's what they found:

1. Curcumin Controls Inflammation

Some inflammation is necessary for muscle regeneration, but too much leads to excessive and debilitating delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and screws up your progress.

Curcumin, however, mitigates excess inflammation, allowing for quicker recovery, possibly by modulating the NF-kB activity (a protein that controls DNA transcription and cytokine production), which leads to the cellular proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts ("baby" muscle cells).

Here are the inflammation-related findings from the paper:

• One study found that levels of IL-8 (interleukin 8, a cytokine secreted during stress) were lower after exercise in subjects using curcumin.
• Another study found more favorable levels of post-exercise interleukin receptor antagonist (IL1-RA) and alpha tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) levels over placebo.

2. It Helps with Pain and Muscle Damage

While inflammation is often associated with pain and muscle damage, there are other telltale factors, most notably higher levels of the enzyme creatine kinase (CK). Curcumin was found to mitigate levels of CK:

• Muscle pain and serum CK were lower 3 to 6 days after exercise in curcumin users when compared to placebo.
• Reduced muscle pain was observed in curcumin users on the third day post-training compared to the placebo group.
• Subjects who took curcumin displayed reduced muscle pain and lower CK values 24 and 48 hours post-lifting.
• Curcumin users had lower levels of interleukin-6 (Il-6) 24 hours post-resistance exercise, along with reduced muscle pain.

3. It Boosts Muscle Recovery and Performance

• One study found that curcumin improved jump performance both 24 and 48 hours after resistance exercise.
• Another study reported a lower average loss of power in sprints in curcumin users over placebo.
• Curcumin improved the range of motion 3-4 days after exercise, indicating quicker muscle recovery.

While we don't know if curcumin affects mitochondrial biogenesis in humans, we do know that it does in animals. The more mitochondria you have, the better your recovery, performance, and athletic potential. It's not a stretch to assume that curcumin might have the same effect in humans, which might explain some of the findings above.

4. Curcumin Fights Oxidative Stress

• Forty-seven cyclists displayed an increased reduction of endogenous glycation end-products (proteins or fats that are biomarkers of aging and degenerative diseases) and malondialdehyde (a marker for oxidative stress).
• Another study found that curcumin reduced serum concentrations of "derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites" and thioredoxin-1 (an antioxidant enzyme), along with higher values of antioxidant potential after aerobic exercise.

5. It Fights Physiological Strain and Training Stress

• In one study, curcumin users had a lower absolute increase of internal temperature, lower average body temperature, lower heart rate, and ranked lower on the Physiological Strain index during aerobic exercise than the placebo group.
• Another study of curcumin users found that they weathered training-induced psychological stress better than control groups.

6. It Helps with Heat Stress

• One study showed that curcumin users experiencing exercise-induced heat stress had lower levels of a gastrointestinal barrier damage-marker than those using placebo. Exertional heat stress, if not regulated, can lead to exertional heat stroke, which is a life-threatening condition. It's often seen in football training camps where players practice in high-temperature, high-humidity conditions.

Bioavailable Curcumin: How to Get It in You

As cool as these findings are, not every curcumin study shows positive benefits. Why? It's usually because the researchers didn't use enough of it or the right kind. Regular curcumin has a historical problem – poor bioavailability. Adding piperine to curcumin helped a little, but now we have something better: micellar curcumin.

By using solid lipid curcumin particles invented by neuroscientists at UCLA, micellar curcumin produces 95 times more free curcumin in the bloodstream than curcumin with piperine. In short, it's the kind you absorb.

This form of lipidized curcumin is found in Biotest Micellar Curcumin ➔ Buy at Biotest. Each capsule contains 400 mg of solid lipid curcumin particles.

References

1. Suhett LG et al. "Effects of Curcumin Supplementation on Sport and Physical Exercise: A Systematic Review." Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2021;61(6):946-958. PubMed: 32282223.
2. Jagieta GC et al. "'Spicing up' of the immune system by curcumin." J Clin Immunol. 2007 Jan;27(1):19-35. PubMed: 17211725.
3. Kuptniratsaikul V et al. "Efficacy and safety of Curcuma domestica extracts compared with ibuprofen in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter study." Clin Interv Aging. 2014 Mar 20;9:451-8. PubMed: 24672232.
4. Wu LY et al. "Curcumin Attenuates Adipogenesis by Inducing Preadipocyte Apoptosis and Inhibiting Adipocyte Differentiation." Nutrients. 2019 Sep 28;11(10):2307. PMC: PMC6836120.
5. Zorofchian SZ et al. "A Review of Antibacterial, Antiviral, and Antifungal Activity of Curcumin." Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:186864. PubMed; 24877064.