For thousands of years, many cultures around the world have been aware of the health benefits of turmeric. As you may already know from our previous articles, turmeric and it’s an active compound, curcumin, contains potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It can improve digestion, migraines, back and joint pain, bloating, reduce free radical damage, and even more.
You can learn more about curcumin and turmeric here:
https://www.hclnutrition.com/blogs/news/turmeric-vs-curcumin-which-should-you-take
Unfortunately, the curcumin in turmeric is poorly absorbed into the bloodstream. As a result, you could be missing out on its advantages to health.
Piperine Enhances the Absorption of Curcumin
This is where black pepper comes in!
Piperine, the main active compound of black pepper, increases the absorption of curcumin by up to an astonishing 2000%.
Black pepper is a potent spice in its own right. Like turmeric, black pepper contains anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, making it potentially helpful for managing inflammatory conditions and reducing free-radical damage.
It’s not just curcumin, piperine increases the bioavailability of many nutrients, by preventing metabolizing enzymes (enzymes that are used to break down drugs, foods, and other substances) from doing their job.
Research has shown that piperine may also reduce inflammation associated with chronic diseases like asthma, arthritis, chronic gastritis, and Alzheimer’s, according to a review published in January 2018 in the Journal of Translational Medicine.
Turmeric and black pepper are powerful spices on their own. Both could offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, which may help ease or prevent inflammatory conditions, pain, and lessen free-radical damage.
Imagine, combining these two and get all these benefits!
How to choose the best turmeric supplement?
TOP 3 CRITERIA:
1. Look for turmeric supplements with at least 1000mg per serving of 95% curcuminoids extract!
2. Only the best turmeric curcumin supplements contain black pepper extract
3. Stay away from fillers ( always check "Other Ingredients" on the back )
If you’re interested in using turmeric and black pepper for health benefits, you may want to opt for a turmeric or curcumin supplement that also contains black pepper, as we mentioned above, to meet your health goals.
Be selective about your supplement, though.
Low-quality supplements may contain fillers like wheat, rice flour, binders, which could cause allergic reactions and reduce the efficiency of the main ingredients.
When we make our products, we want them to provide you as much nourishment as possible.
We do our research, and we take a holistic approach to everything we make so that you can get the most goodness out of a capsule or powder.
This is why all of our Turmeric supplements consist of 95% Curcuminoids extract with black pepper extract without fillers or binders. You can find them all here: https://www.hclnutrition.com/collections/all-products
EXTRA TIP: Boosting the effects of turmeric even more
One other reason, curcumin has limited bioavailability that it has low solubility in water. However, curcuminoids are lipophilic (they attach to fats), so we can help curcumin along by mixing it with good quality, healthy fats.
When eaten with fat, curcumin can be directly absorbed into the bloodstream through the lymphatic system, thereby in part bypassing the liver.
So the next time you are taking your Turmeric supplement with black pepper extract, consider taking it with a meal or some healthy fats (like nuts, seeds, eggs, avocado, fish oil capsules, salmon or dark chocolate)
SOURCES:
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Jurenka, Anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, a major constituent of Curcuma longa: a review of preclinical and clinical research, 2009.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3535097/
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120
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Srinivasan, Black pepper and its pungent principle-piperine: a review of diverse physiological effects, 2007
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12676044/
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Rakhi Agarwal & Sudhir K. Goel, Detoxification and antioxidant effects of curcumin in rats experimentally exposed to mercury, 2010