Curcumin & Weight Loss

A common curry spice -- known as "turmeric" as well as "curcumin" and part of the ginger family -- has been found to help mice on a high fat diet remain svelte as well as keep their cholesterol down.

Curcumin is known for its anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant value, and now it is being heralded for reducing angiogenesis (i.e., the blood vessel formation required to create new fatty tissues) as well as lowering cholesterol. Gotta love this bright orange spice, used in Ayurvedic medicine for 1000 years, for all the good press it keeps getting!

Folks who take our Arthro 3 product--which has 300mg each of curcumin, boswellia, and MSM--are devoted enough that when prices for curcumin rose substantially for a period of time (based on all the promising research on this botanical), the clamor was loud to bring Arthro 3 back ASAP! The anti-inflammatory value of this product seems to be quite strong indeed.

While I haven't heard anyone taking Arthro 3 bragging about inexplicable weight loss, I have heard tales of weight loss from taking Constant Health, which does have 250mg of turmeric (curcumin) in every scoop, along with 15g of protein and 5g of fiber, some better-known allies of healthy blood sugar levels and thus weight management.

One of my dear friends, Lynda St. Dennis, is a big fan of our Constant Health, drinking a shake every morning. Lynda finds that her mid-morning cravings disappear and that she can easily go until lunch with no more than a Constant Health shake for breakfast (she drinks it plain, no rice or soy milk, in just water, by the way).

The mouse studies on the relationship between curcumin and weight management have not yet been duplicated in humans; however, with weight loss being the biggest category in both foods and dietary supplements, you can count on more studies getting funded to explore this relationship. Meanwhile, my readers can "weigh in!" :-)