The spice known as turmeric may be the most effective nutritional supplement in existence.

Many high-quality studies show that turmeric has major benefits for your body and brain. Many of these benefits come from its main active ingredient, curcumin.

Read on to learn what the science says about turmeric and curcumin as well as their benefits.

What are turmeric and curcumin?

Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its yellow color.

It has been used in India for thousands of years as both a spice and medicinal herb. Recently, science has started to back up traditional claims that turmeric contains compounds with medicinal properties .

These compounds are called curcuminoids. The most important one is curcumin.

Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant.

Here are the top 5 evidence-based health benefits of turmeric and curcumin.

1. Curcumin is a natural anti-inflammatory compound

Inflammation is incredibly important. It helps fight foreign invaders and has a role in repairing damage in your body.

Although acute, short-term inflammation is beneficial, it can be a concern if it becomes chronic and attacks your body’s own tissues.

Scientists now believe that chronic low-level inflammation can play a role in some health conditions and diseases. These include :

  • heart disease
  • cancer
  • metabolic syndrome
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • various degenerative conditions

That’s why anything that can help fight chronic inflammation is potentially important in preventing and helping treat these conditions.

While the topic of inflammation is multilayered and there’s likely no simple answer, the key takeaway regarding curcumin is that it is a bioactive substance that can fight inflammation. However, very high doses are required to produce medicinal results.

2. Curcumin can boost brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Before scientists had a better understanding of neurons, it was believed that they weren’t able to divide and multiply after early childhood. However, they now know that isn’t the case.

Neurons are capable of forming new connections, and in certain areas of the brain they can multiply and increase in number.

One of the main drivers of this process is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This is a gene that’s involved in making a protein responsible for promoting the life of neurons.

The BDNF protein plays a role in memory and learning, and it can be found in areas of the brain responsible for eating, drinking, and body weight.

Many common brain disorders have been linked to decreased levels of BDNF protein, including depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Interestingly, animal studies have found that curcumin may increase brain levels of BDNF.

By doing this, it may be effective in delaying or even reversing many brain diseases and age-related decreases in brain function. Still, since these studies were performed in animals, it’s hard to say what the results mean for humans.

It may also help improve memory and attention, which seems logical given its effects on BDNF levels. However, more studies are needed to confirm this.

3. Turmeric may help prevent cancer

Cancer is a disease, characterized by uncontrolled cell growth. There are many different forms of cancer that appear to be affected by curcumin supplements.

Curcumin has been studied as a beneficial herb in cancer treatment and been found to affect cancer growth and development.

Studies have shown that it can :

  • contribute to the death of cancerous cells
  • reduce angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels in tumors)
  • reduce metastasis (spread of cancer)

Whether high-dose curcumin — preferably with an absorption enhancer like piperine — can help treat cancer in humans has yet to be studied properly.

However, there is evidence that it may prevent cancer from occurring in the first place, especially cancers of the digestive system like colorectal cancer.

In a 30-day study in 44 men with lesions in the colon that sometimes turn cancerous, 4 grams of curcumin per day reduced the number of lesions by 40%.

4. Turmeric contains bioactive compounds with medicinal properties

However, the curcumin content of turmeric isn’t that high. It’s around 3%, by weight. Most of the studies on this herb use turmeric extracts that contain mostly curcumin itself, with dosages usually exceeding 1 gram per day.

It would be very difficult to reach these levels just using turmeric as a spice in your foods.

That’s why some people choose to use supplements.

However, curcumin is poorly absorbed into your bloodstream. In order to experience the full effects of curcumin, its bioavailability (the rate at which your body absorbs a substance) needs to improve.

It helps to consume it with black pepper, which contains piperine. Piperine is a natural substance that enhances the absorption of curcumin by 2,000%.

In fact, the best curcumin supplements contain piperine, and this makes them substantially more effective.

Curcumin is also fat soluble, which means it breaks down and dissolves in fat or oil. That’s why it may be a good idea to take curcumin supplements with a meal that’s high in fat.

5. Curcumin may be useful in treating Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to up 70% of dementia cases.

While treatment exits for some of its symptoms, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s yet. That’s why preventing it from occurring in the first place is so important.

There may be good news on the horizon because curcumin has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier.

It’s known that inflammation and oxidative damage play a role in Alzheimer’s disease, and curcumin has beneficial effects on both.

In addition, a key feature of Alzheimer’s disease is a buildup of protein tangles called amyloid plaques. Studies show that curcumin can help clear these plaques.

Whether curcumin can slow or even reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in people is currently unknown and needs to be studied. Profil