Turmeric

Anybody swear by this? I'm looking for natural supplements to tamp down inflammation. What brand do you recommend. I really don't want to cook with it.

How do you know they are not as effective? How can you tell, Durango?

It just seems like my symptoms improve whenever I eat the turmeric rice.  Maybe it's the way it's delivered to my gut.  I've been taking it for about a year now so I have a few days of comparison...

During one of my bad flares, I would eat white rice with turmeric and a bit of butter added. It was the only thing I ate that actually helped calm my colon. Everything else would make my flare worse. So yes, I swear by turmeric for use as an anti-inflammatory. In fact, I get better results with turmeric than with the 5-ASAs.

I take the tumeric pills 3 times a day. Not sure if its really helping but i got it so i take it. I started taking metamucil twice a day a couple days ago and this morning my stool is firmed up more than i seen in a month. Only going once a day since metamucil too.

Curcumin Extract - Not Turmeric

I took curcumin capsules (Jarrow & NOW brands) for a year - 500mg BID. There was no change in symptoms after starting and stopped use. I've had persistent refractory proctitis since diagnosis in 2006. Most of the OTCs I've tried have had NO noticeable impact on symptoms. I want maximum 'bang' for my every buck; If it's not helping - why waste my money and all that time swallowing Rxs & OCTs if it's not reducing, controlling or preventing symptoms.

There is a growing body of research of curcumin documenting evidence of its benefits in prevention, risk reduction, and symptom treatments in a multitude of conditions and disease states, including UC. It is only due to tight finances that I am not taking it now. Local retailers mark up the product price too high for long-term daily use. So I've purchased from two online retailers with discounted prices without sacrificing quality assurance; VitaCost.com and organicpharmacy.org

Below are three excellent information resource links to help you be more informed about using curcumin as an antinflammatory for UC.
--- Best Wishes, DennyRae


1) This is a NIH fact sheet - follow the URL below:
Turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) and Curcumin
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-turmeric.html


2) Curcumin (comprehensive 'summary' of the research for the public)
Micronutrient Research for Optimum Health
Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/curcumin/


3) Curcumin Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Study
Digestive Diseases and Sciences, Vol. 50, No. 11 (Nov 2005), pp. 2191–93
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/69229708/Curcumin-Therapy-in-Inflammatory- Bowel-Disease--A-Pilot-Study

I SWEAR by turmeric. I have tried probably every herb or supplement that has any scientific relationship to colitis, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that turmeric is the one that helped me the most.

However, if you pop a pill, it will do nothing. Turmeric is incredibly poorly absorbed by the body, so you either have to take a super expensive extract (the curcumin mentioned above falls under that category for me), or you do what I do-- take a teaspoonful of turmeric you buy from a middle eastern grocery store morning and night, washed down with water It is literally like eating dirt, but I'd rather eat dirt than bleed.

Good luck-- there's lots of good science behind turmeric!

I heard that you need to mix it with fat, like yogurt, oil or butter?

This is because it is fat-soluble not water-soluble. When cooking with it you normally mix it with the coconut oil.
I take my turmeric/curcumin by pill so that doesn't matter.

     I tried everything...you name it, I tried it, from SCD, all the meds oral and rectal, chiropractic, probiotics, etc...NOTHING WORKED.  I believe that until they find the cause of this disease, there will be no cure other than what I had done in June...total colectomy with end ileostomy...no colon or rectum = no ulcerative colitis.

Wow! What a lot of info! Thank you! I just began looking into Turmeric for joint pain which my GI is convinced is ancillary to the UC, which is almost in remission! Anyway, what I found out is that Turmeric (dose of 400-600 mg of curcumin, 95% curcumin or greater) should be taken with fat, phosphatidyl choline, piperine or bromelain to enhance bioavailability (absorbancy). I'm going to try the Natural Factors, I think. Any input or suggestions?