Free Curcumin, Which Curcuminoid Formulation Is Best

Free Curcumin, Which Curcuminoid Formulation Is Best

free-curcumin.

If you’ve ever heard of a positive study that mentioned curcumin, then most likely it was due to free curcumin. And when I say free, I don’t mean at no cost to you. Free curcumin is a curcumin molecule that is unchanged and hasn’t been metabolized. When curcumin is ingested, it goes under an enormous amount of changes and gets converted into metabolites and glucuronides. Studies show these derivatives offer different health benefits then free curcumin. Therefore, it is important to know which supplement can offer this superior curcuminoid.

 

Hard To Find Data.

As I stated in my last article Bcm-95 Vs theracurmin, marketing for these types of supplements are the worst. Trying to find the truth sometimes requires hrs of searching which many people just can’t do. Of course positive data is brought upfront, while negative data is swept under the rug quietly in hopes of never being found. This couldn’t be more true when it comes to free curcumin. Data is either modified or excluded completely from studies and product information alike. I’m mostly talking about theracurmin here but most brands are guilty of the same to a lesser extent. Either way, consumers are left in the dark.

 

Free Curcumin.

While it’s hard to find a clear winner in terms of free curcumin absorption, studies are available that gives us a slight glimpse of possible contenders. It’s hard enough to compare total curcumin absorption between brands, but it becomes pretty much  impossible with free curcumin. So instead of looking for information that doesn’t exist, lets focus on what does. The following chart is tremendously helpful in narrowing down your search for which brand can offer you free curcumin.

free-curcumin-curcuminoid-chart-graph

 

Regular Curcumin Powder.

10g of regular curcumin extract powder is capable of producing detectable levels of free curcumin in the blood. However, a pharmacokinetics study showed that it is extremely rare and only 1 out of 12 patients had detectable levels. That is pretty disappointing to say the least.

 

Only Two Choices Left.

Regardless of the common argument about how free curcumin is measured in formulated curcumin studies, Bcm-95 and Longvida seem to be the only two choices left for debate. Both claim to provide a product that can deliver free curcumin into the blood stream and have studies to somewhat back up that claim. While these studies are still murky at best, they are better then no studies at all. We can at least say these two options are far better then the rest, at least when it comes to free curcumin. The key here is to avoid taking a supplement that has no data to show it can offer you the curcuminoid in question. Avoiding clear losers can save you both time and money.

 

Bottom line.

Negative information is hard to find since a lot of money is at stake for these nutraceutical companies. The marketing gimmicks they use can surly confuse just about anyone. What’s worse, these companies have started to cleverly conduct studies that showcase their products best instead of producing studies that provide both positive and negative results without bias. Furthermore, studies are purposely conducted in a way that makes it extremely difficult for similar products to be compared.  Almost as if it was done just to confuse consumers from knowing the truth. So in the end, we are trying to put together a puzzle with missing pieces in the hopes that enough information is uncovered to make the right choice. And as always, feel free to comment below and let us know which curcumin you chose.

 

Source:

Free Curcumin, Which Curcuminoid Formulation Is Best was last modified: January 21st, 2017 by Cancermind
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40 Comments

  1. Daniel 6 years ago

    What is the dosage of longvida you would recommend as an adjunct therapy for someone who is currently battling cancer?

    • Author
      Cancermind 6 years ago

      Daniel,

      Unfortunately, human cancer studies using longvida are lacking and therefore make it extremely difficult to figure out dosage. By looking at cancer studies done with other forms of curcumin like the 2008 MD Anderson study I mentioned in my other article http://www.cancermind.com/curcumin-anticancer-cure-cancer-review/ that used 8 grams of regular curcumin per day showed an anticancer response in 2 out of 21 pancreatic cancer patients.

      Just based on calculations, longvida curcumin contains 20% curcumin per 200mg (40mg curcumin) or 400mg (80mg curcumin) per capsule that can be (up to) 65 times more bio available than regular standard curcumin. So 123 mg of longvida curcumin would be equal to about 8g of regular curcumin. That would mean 1.53 capsules of 400 mg longvida or 3.07 capsules of 200 mg longvida would be equal to the dose used in MD Anderson study under perfect conditions. In real life these numbers would fluctuate significantly and we have no idea if similar results can be expected.

  2. Daniel J Kim 6 years ago

    Thanks so much for your reply. I was wondering if there was an article on your site in which you list all the things that are, in your opinion, the most promising kinds of natural therapies that may be worth trying? So far I’ve seen you write some positive things (along with caveats) about aged garlic extract and forms of curcumin that are better absorbed than standard curcumin. I was just wondering what else is out there that you feel may be promising and warrants further research?

    • Author
      Cancermind 6 years ago

      Daniel,

      I don’t have an article where I list all the top promising natural cancer treatments but great idea. I might do one soon now that you mentioned it. But I would say the natural treatments that i have come across that are most promising in my opinion in no particular order are:

      Curcumin & Turmeric.

      Melatonin.

      Flaxseed & Flaxseed oil.

      SFN (Broccoli Sprouts).

      Aged garlic.

      Apatone.

      Avemar.

      Silibinin.

      Bio-30 / Bio-100 Propolis.

      Frankincense.

      Any plant based diet.

      Anti-PD-1 & any Immuno therapy needs to be included in this list even though it is not a natural treatment.

  3. Karen 5 years ago

    So I’m trying to decide which to use for my sister and dose. Now should the dose be increased for plus size people she is 280lbs. I got these two brands from reading your site. I’m so confused Lol.

    Genceutic Naturals, Curcumin, 250 mg, 60 Softgels (BCM-95).

    Now Foods, CurcuBrain, Cognitive Support, 400 mg, 50 Veggie Caps (Longvida).

    Thanks

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      Karen,

      Either of those two would be good options. Regardless of brand it comes down to bcm-95 vs longvida and user preference. Some studies give longvida the edge and some give the edge to bcm-95. But in order to properly compare, calculations must be done which makes it a little confusing. For instance, regardless of how much each company says they absorb better than standard curcumin, both have different percentage of curcumin per capsule or pill. Therefore, a proper comparison can’t be done unless calculations are done.

      Bcm-95 uses turmeric oils mixed back in with curcumin to increase absorption and longvida uses solid lipid curcumin particle technology. You can find a lot of support for both forms of curcumin.

      And to answer your other question, generally speaking, dosage is calculated based on body weight.

      If you do decide to use bcm-95 you can look into the life extension version which just contains more mg per capsule which might make it easier if taking a larger dose.

  4. Karen 5 years ago

    Thanks, so more searching I found this brand CuraPro the price is double but it works out because one pill has more curcuminoids and my sister hate to take pills so that’s a big one. Now I’m thinking one pill would be good for the avg. size person. Would two be ok to take with her size being 280 lbs?

    CuraPro 750mg
    Serving Size: 1 Softgel
    Amount Per Serving:
    Proprietary Complex … 750mg
    Curcumin (BCM-95) Micronized (Curcuma longa)
    Rhizome Extract, phospholipids, turmeric essential
    oil, supplying 500 mg of pure curcuminoids.

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      Karen,

      I haven’t used that brand in the past but have used euro pharma terry naturally (curamed) which is similar in regards to mg content.

      As far as dosage, the bcm-95 cross-over study to test bio-availability used 2000 mg or 4 capsules of 500 mg bcm-95. That would equal about 2 and a half softgels of the curamed.

  5. Karen 5 years ago

    Thank you so much for all your help.

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      Karen,

      No problem. Wish you and your sister the best of luck.

  6. anna 5 years ago

    Hi, CancerMind!

    I am looking for the study that states the BCM-95 contains free curcumin, but I can’t seem to find it on your site or online. I looked through the study for BCM-95 listed on this post, but it doesn’t appear to state anything regarding free curcumin. Thanks!

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      Hi Anna,

      Take a look at curcumin bioavailability article and scroll down to table 5. Once you’re at this table you will see bcm-95 is the second row listed and under column (cur analysis) it states free curcumin. This means the type of analysis they used was measuring free curcumin and not total curcumin.

      You can also check out the entire study abstract this table is referring to but be aware they do not use the term free curcumin to differentiate from total curcumin because of the analysis they used. It’s extremely hard to compare different curcumin types due to varying dosage sizes, amount of actual curcumin found within formulations, and even the type of analysis used to measure curcumin levels.

  7. James 5 years ago

    Curcuwin as part of their marketing on amazon.com mentions that Longvida fat-fed the people before their study with cream cheese bagels to get a better result. I don’t see this a great negative personally, just take some olive oil with it.

    I believe the same is true with many things like vitamin D and fish oil, better if you take them with a good fat like olive oil for better absorption.

    I think Longvida still has the most studies behind it, but I have started to see more people get behind curcuwin. This one blogger is claiming consumer.com rates curcuwin as the best.

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      James,

      Curcuwin is basically the brand name of ultrasol not to be confused with Novasol which is owned by Aquanova and currently selling under solgar brand. I did some research on curcuwin (ultrasol) and here are some things I found.

      First, the study they are referring to that proves curcuwin has better absorption then all other forms of curcumin can be found here. The issue I see is that they only tested it against 3 other forms of curcumin. Meriva, bcm-95, and C3 complex. So since it wasn’t tested against all other forms of curcumin I would say the term they use on amazon “curcuwin was conclusively proven the most bio-available curcumin product on the market today” to be inaccurate.

      I couldn’t find other curcuwin bio-available studies directly on the manufactures website or anywhere else for that matter that would support most of the information and or claims that relentless improvement brand containing curcuwin is making. If you know of any other studies feel free to provide the links.

      I did however come across a comparative assessment study testing a novel form of curcumin that had a helpful list of pharmacokinetics on various curcumin formulations including curcuwin. That list shows it isn’t the most bio-available curcumin formulation on the market. You also have to take into consideration whether you care more about Cmax or AUC when looking at any curcumin formulation.

      These companies will always focus on the largest number and use that to say it’s the best when comparing it against other formulations. Not only that but total amount of curcumin inside each dose is also very important. Some doses have only about 20% curcumin (curcuwin) where as others might contain about 86% curcumin (bcm-95). All these things need to be taken into account which actually might change which type of curcumin formulation you think is most bio-available.

  8. James 5 years ago

    I also think Longvida is the way to go till other companies get more research.

    What do you think about the claim that Longvida absorption is 3x-4x better with fat? Circuwin said it in a negative way, but for those taking Longvida, this is good information to know, if true.

    All the brands I have found recommend taking Longvida on an empty stomach with water. Should we be taking it with olive oil instead?

    1MD has a formulation that has bosweilla that I am currently using, trying to save my joints.

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      James,

      Longvida is a solid choice based on current research. In regards to claims that fat can increase absorption of longvida, I would need to see a study showing exactly that in order to believe it. Fat soluble vitamins like vitamin d are known to be better absorbed when taken with fats and have studies like this to prove it. This study shows a 32% higher 12 hr plasma level in group that took vitamin d3 with a fat containing meal. So you are completely correct about that. And one would guess that it must work for curcumin formulations that use fat lipids to improve bioavailability but that doesn’t mean it will in a real life environment. Plus a 32% increase is a far cry from 400%. I would like to see the study that shows the 3x-4x absorption increase if you can find it.

  9. Sameer 5 years ago

    HI..

    There are other newly developed products by the name of Novasol and CurcuWin. Both claim higher bio-availability than BCM-95.

    What is your take on this?

    • Author
      Cancermind 5 years ago

      Hi Sameer,

      I have looked into both of these new formulations recently and will be writing more about them soon. Novasol seems to be the superior choice right now in terms of bio-availability and based on the single study I read performs better than bcm-95. However, since this formulation is pretty new to the market it only has one study that i am aware of compared to bcm-95 which has many. I think that’s an important aspect because we have a large amount of data with bcm-95 and we don’t have that yet with novasol.

  10. Dan 4 years ago

    There are new curcumin products available recently:
    Corecumin from (curcumin packed in micelles)
    Turmeric oral spray from Betteryou, (administration via the soft tissue of the mouth, transdermal)

    What is your opinion about these new methods to administer curcumin?
    Thanks in advance for your answer.

    • Author
      Cancermind 4 years ago

      Dan,

      I looked into both corecumin (nurish.me) and cyclocurmin (better you turmeric oral spray) and I couldn’t find any human studies that show how bio-available these formulations of curcumin really are. Corecumin is based on micelles and nanotechnology which novasol is also based on. Not sure if they are using novasol and rebranding it. I couldn’t tell based on the information provided on the website.

      And as for cyclocurmin, i couldn’t find much information about the delivery system other than it is a unique encapsulation process. The website doesn’t even provide a proper supplement facts label. All it provides is an ingredient list that shows Water, xylitol, curcumin extract, acacia gum, potassium sorbate, citric acid, orange oil, xanthan gum. Question is what type of curcumin extract? They also use the term turmeric and curcumin interchangeably which might just be a marketing decision but doesn’t provide much confidence.

  11. Dan 4 years ago

    Thanks for looking into the matter. Concerning the bioavailabity of curmine in micelles (corecumin and others), according to this study it appears to be superior to everything else:
    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/mnfr.201300724

    • Author
      Cancermind 4 years ago

      Dan,

      That study you provided a link to used curcumin liquid micelles developed and provided by the founder and CEO of AQUANOVA. And AQUANOVA is the patent holder and producer of NovaSOL curcumin which I mentioned before. That most likely means the results from that study were based on Novasol even though they did not mention it by name. That study reinforces the absorption of novaSOL (if that was exactly what was tested) but doesn’t necessarily mean all products claiming to be micelles will have the same type of bioavailability or even worse be micelles at all. I would be cautious when buying or taking a product that claims to be a certain formulation with little information or data associated with it like the two versions you asked about. Especially when a supplement doesn’t even provide a supplement facts label so you know exactly what you are buying.

      Some supplements i won’t mention by name were marketed as being liposomal when in fact the formulation was not liposomal. You have to be careful.

  12. Sorin 4 years ago

    I’m a chronic myeloid leukemia survivor. After I learned about the disease, I did a long research work on the net. Besides the basic treatment (Nilotinib), I used 12 capsules per day of BCM 95 from Life Extension at the recommendation of Ajay Goel (from Baylor Institute ), Dr. Binu (from Arjuna Natural) and Regina Tischer and the team of doctors from Life Extension Europe (Amsterdam). I wrote 3 emails to Bharat Aggarwal who recommended me C3 complex. I’m glad I didn’t listen to him and used the BCM 95. I managed to stop the disease and now I have good analyzes, excellent physical form, job and social life. It was quite a fight !!!… I now only use 5 pills of 95 BCM per day for maintenance.
    For some time I have learned about a curcumin called Cureit in India and Acumin in the USA. There are about 10 supplement companies, some big (GNC), on Amazon using this type of curcumin. Here are some studies:

    Comparative Cureit

    Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Two-Dose Three-Arm

    bio-availability of cureit

    semanticscholar

    Pretty impressive. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of money with curcumin. Someone can bring me Acumin directly from India and the price would be half that of Life Extension. I would be tempted to try. What do you think as specialist about this curcumin? … Is it worth a try? …

    • Author
      Cancermind 3 years ago

      Sorin,

      Glad you had such great results with BCM-95. Acumin does look impressive based on the data available. It closely resembles Novasol when comparing Cmax and AUC. Since both have a similar profile, price will most likely be a key area to look into. If you are able to get Acumin for a cheaper price i would only advise you to make sure you are in fact getting an authentic product. I would only buy supplements from a credible brand that has been in business for many years with a good track record to avoid consuming something where the label doesn’t match the contents. 50% off for a fake product is 100% too expensive. So please be careful.

  13. Nelson 2 years ago

    I’m a newcomer to your site. I found it very interesting and educational, however I have an observation on your recommendations for curcumin (please note that I’m just a average guy so I may be believing fake info). BCM-95 is not a good curcumin formulation, while better than Theracurmin, it is easily surpassed on bio-availability by several others formulations.

    • Author
      Cancermind 2 years ago

      Nelson,

      Thanks for taking the time to reach out. I took a look at the links you supplied and in terms of the (pure prescriptions) link, the information and references they provide clearly fit their own objective (selling more C3 complex with BioPerine). Most studies in general are flawed so it is easy to point out issues with the ones that don’t fit your objective and show the ones that do. Anyone can argue the complete opposite and cherry pick data and studies to do so. In fact, life extension does just that by saying bcm-95 is better than curcumin with piperine. Life Extension BCM-95 Research

      Unfortunately, if you look deep enough you can find issues with any study. Some studies have conflicts of interest, some gather data specifically to highlight a certain focus but conveniently leave out other data that can negate those findings all together. I personally don’t think c3 complex with piperine is a bad choice. The question is, is it the best choice? Will we ever really know 100%? I think the only way to know is perform the study yourself. That’s the world we live in.

      At the time of writing this article, from my research bcm-95 was the best option as a curcumin formulation in my opinion. Obviously since then, more studies have been performed, more formulations have been made and more data has become available. I am planning to write a new article comparing all the new formulations but don’t have a timeline as of when that will happen.

      • Nelson 2 years ago

        I agree with you that most if not all the scientific studies out there cherry pick the good data, it’s a shame but it’s also dangerous and nefarious, but that’s the world we live, money is ethic, money is righteous… Please keep me posted, I would love to read your update on curcumin formulations, wish your new review were already out :-). Based on what I have been able to read and process I’m planning to start testing the Novasol formulation.

        Thanks for the kindness of answering my post, wish you success!

        • Author
          Cancermind 2 years ago

          Nelson,

          I have myself looked into NovaSOL and tried it as well. The data shows it is the highest absorbed formulation of curcumin as of right now. The only thing that stands out to me is the low value of total curcuminoids per capsule of Novasol vs other formulations. For example longvida is about 80 mg per capsule vs NovaSOL at 48 mg per capsule vs BCM-95 can be as high as 500 mg per capsule. Price and physical limitation of how many capsules a person is able to consume starts to become a point of resistance.

          The trend is starting to look like the higher the absorption the larger amount of space is needed inside the capsule in order to create that absorption increase. Therefore less room is being left in the capsule for the active ingredient. So comparing these products with one number becomes a form of trickery. While the absorption of novaSOL is superior it might not be as massive as one might think by just looking at the 185X number.

          • Sorin Zgimbau 2 years ago

            I don’t agree with your enthusiasm about Nova Sol and here is why:

            1. It seems absurd to me, being a man, to take for granted the bioavailability of 185. If for women it is 277 and for men 114 according to studies, who can convince me that my product has 185 biovalability? … It is absurd to make an average and put it on the label. In the specific case of men, sure of their kind, the biovalability is 114. Period.

            2. All research on Nova Sol is done with 410 mg of curcuminoids. These are about 9 capsules. It is well known that curcumin treatment lasts for months.
            Is there anyone who has ever taken 9 capsules in the long run? …
            I took 6 capsules / day of Nova Sol – Full Spectrum from Solgar and I didn’t last more than a week because I wasn’t feeling well.
            Do you have any idea what it means to take 9 cups / day for a few months? … How will you resist this? …
            It seems that you don’t take into account Polysorbate 80 a chemical used in this process and which, believe me, you don’t want in your body.
            Do you have any idea how much 9 capsules / day costs for a few months? …

            3. Now you will say that you can take fewer capsules, maybe 2-3 / day.
            OK, but the bioavailability will not be the same. I repeat the bioavailability will change.
            According to:

            https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464615000493

            You have to read this. I quote : “Thus, the fold-bioavailability of the micellar (but also the native) formulation is clearly affected by the administered dose and cannot be extrapolated to lower or higher doses of the formulation and not even from one curcuminoid to the other.”

            It took me a long time to understand a fundamental aspect about curcumin, but in the end I understood it:

            Is dose impacting the relative bioavailability ? Look :

            a. In 2011, Cuomo study (cross over, N=9, 9 metabolites quantified, 24h) shows that
            – 1890mg of PHYT formulation improve 31x relative bioavailability vs Standard Turmeric Extract (STE)
            – 1050mg of PHYT formulation improve 29x relative bioavailability vs STE
            ( Meriva )

            b. In 2015, Krishnakumar study (cross over, N=15, 3 metabolites (unconjugated curcuminoids) quantified, 12h)
            shows that
            – 1000mg of CCF formulation improve 46x relative bioavailability vs STE
            – 250mg of CCF formulation improve 35x relative bioavailability vs STE
            ○ 100mg of CCF formulation improve 26x relative bioavailability vs STE

            c. Comparison of studies with same parameters (cross over, 9 metabolites quantified, 24h, N>23 ) shows that for Nova Sol :
            – 7142mg of NOV formulation improve 185x relative bioavailability vs STE (Shiborr 2014)
            – 1000mg of NOV formulation improve 36x relative bioavailability vs STE (Fança-Berthon 2019)

            Attention , be careful:

            Bioavailability of curcuminoids is dose dependent (not linear)
            x factor lower < x factor higher dose

            You gain nothing by taking Nova Sol. I took it and I know what I'm talking about.
            The same aspect related to bioavailability is valid, of course, for Theracurmin, a formulation that I use (among others …) daily and I am satisfied with it, but at high doses.
            Taking 30 mg or even 60 mg Theracurmin / day is ridiculous.

            I consider firmly that there are other forms of curcumin better than Nova Sol on the market and I don't advise you to use this one , especially since it also has chemical components that are not exactly clean and safe in this formulations.

            Maybe you want to read this :

            18 studies ( or maybe more and I don't know about …) on curcumin formulations vs standard turmeric extract have been published

            1998 Shoba G, Planta Medica
            2008 Antony B, Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
            2010 Gota S, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
            2011 Cuomo J, Journal of Natural Products
            2011 Sasaki H, Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin
            2012 Krishnakumar IM, Journal of Functional Foods
            2014 Madhavi D, Integrative Medicine
            2014 Jager R, Nutrition Journal
            2014 Schiborr C, Molecular Nutrition & Food Research
            2015 Sunagawa Y. Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology
            2015 Krishnakumar IM, Journal of Functional Foods
            2016 Kumar D, Journal of Functional Foods
            2017 Gopi S, Phytotherapy Research
            2017 Purpura M., European Journal of Nutrition
            2017 Stohs SJ, Journal of the American College of Nutrition
            2018 Briskey D, European Journal of Nutrition
            2019 Panda SK, Functional Foods in Health and Disease
            2019 Fanca-Berthon P, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

          • Author
            Cancermind 2 years ago

            Sorin,

            I haven’t been a big supporter of NovaSOL and agree mostly with what you said. I only acknowledged that the studies so far ( which are very few ) show novaSOL to have better bioavailability than some other forms of curcumin. I have stated plenty of times that companies using one attention grabbing number like 185X is misleading and wrong. What’s more, alot of these curcumin studies are funded by the patent holding company itself. Time will only tell if the original studies showing such great results hold up to ongoing research.

  14. Sorin Zgimbau 2 years ago

    I think we neglect something here .
    We don’t have to leave curcumin “alone” .
    I mean:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3657948/

    https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/11/1/33/htm

    http://www.phytojournal.com/archives/2013/vol2issue3/PartA/15.1.pdf

    I take curcumin 4 times a day.
    In the morning: 2 capsules of BCM 95, in the afternoon 2 capsules of Meriva, in the afternoon 2 capsules of Cureit (Acumin) and at bedtime 3 capsules x 60 grams of Theracurmin.
    Generally speaking, I do not trust the material from which the capsules are made.
    For Theracurmin I open the capsules and mix them in water. It is perfectly soluble.
    For the other formulations, I also open the capsules and put them in a small amount of olive oil and take them with Quercetin and a little black pepper powder.
    This increases biovalidity.
    I also used it in different combinations: EGCG and Resveratrol.
    See these:

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0944711318305075

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272272344_Combination_Effects_of_Quercetin_Resveratrol_and_Curcumin_on_In_Vitro_Intestinal_Absorption

    https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2017/1459497/

    https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/1/63/htm

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19927272/

    and especially :

    https://restorativemedicine.org/journal/combination-effects-of-quercetin-resveratrol-and-curcumin-on-in-vitro-intestinal-absorption/

    All these natural substances have many other positive medical effects that we can find in a simple search on Google and that’s why it’s good to take them together if our state of health allows us to do so.

  15. James 2 years ago

    Life extension has replace their popular BCM95 with their Curcumin Elite(fenugreek mix). I found this one fluffy review, however in the comments section he does prefer Longvida.

    The reviewer doesnt seem to understand the idea of free curcumin, although he does link to a study which discusses free curcumins.
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756464616000426

    BBB study
    https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-e4af2c63-3b81-3c46-a759-3118d11b7662

    What do you think about this new formulation by LEF?
    They also have an Advanced Curcumin elite

    • Author
      Cancermind 2 years ago

      James,

      Looks like life extensions new curcumin (Curcumin Elite) uses a Fenugreek fiber with curcumin which i’m guessing is CURQFEN. They don’t specify it by name so can’t be sure if it’s indeed CURQFEN or just something similar. CurQfen is fairly new and doesn’t have many studies to compare and verify results. CurQfen has a white paper available that does show some really impressive numbers. A CurQfen Occupational stress study with 60 subjects showed a slightly less absorption than white paper outlines. Another CURQFEN study showed improvements in hepatic function markers in chronic alcoholics however the authors disclose a conflict of interest.

  16. Joel 2 years ago

    You mention Theracurcumin doesn’t raise free curcumin levels, but according to this study, mean free curcumin level was 26.2 ng/mL after 18 months on 90mg Theracurcumin twice daily:

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1064748117305110

    “Baseline levels of free curcumin were 0 ng/mL for both groups; at 18 months the free curcumin mean (SD) level (measured randomly throughout the day) was 26.2 (20.1) ng/mL (range, 3.0 to 67.3), and the mean (SD) placebo group level was 0.1 (0.3) ng/ml (range, 0 to 1.2), confirming that subjects were compliant in taking either curcumin or placebo and not consuming additional curcumin outside of the study”

    What are your thoughts on this study?

    • Author
      Cancermind 2 years ago

      Took a quick look at this study and since this study is a long term 18 month study it would be impossible to compare it to a simple one day or short term study. It might very well be that 18 months of consistent consumption of theracurmin might be the reason free curcumin levels where detected. Just about all theracurmin studies available at the time i was doing my comparisons measured total curcumin levels and seemed like they purposefully omitted to measure free curcumin alone. Maybe more studies in the future will be able to support the findings in this study.

  17. Sorin 2 years ago

    I bought Curcumin Elite from Life Extension and since I couldn’t find anywhere a clear answer , I have a question for you : for better bioavailability Curqufen must be taken with food or on an empty stomach?…

    • Author
      Cancermind 2 years ago

      Sorin, I myself couldn’t find any data on when is best to take CurQfen. I did email the maker of CurQfen and after a few attempts going unanswered I finally received a response. To sum it up, they said they don’t have compiled data to share at this moment on this topic. However, they said before food, less than 10% variation depending on the individual. They went on to say no significant results have been seen in some of the unpublished works. In PK studies first blood withdraw for up to 30 min to 1 hr after administration usually takes place without food. Finally, they specified they generally recommend taking curcumin before breakfast and dinner, if permits. So my take away is without food.

      • Sorin 2 years ago

        Thanks a lot !

  18. Sorin 2 years ago

    Let me present to you the last article appeared about the bioavailability of curcumin.
    It’s VERY interesting and, in some places, myth-buster.
    Buckle up ! :

    https://academic.oup.com/jn/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jn/nxab087/6240167

    Please comment after reading this.

  19. Sorin 6 months ago

    I found this very surprising study about Meriva:

    -https://academic.oup.com/jnen/article/81/7/545/6585246

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