The visit to the dentist was just a gold mine for blog posts.
The dental assistant heard me joke about how Gary and I both can no longer sit down or stand up without grunting or moaning.
“Tumeric,” she said, authoritatively.
“Advil,” I thought, authoritatively.
But then later I thought, my little aches and pains don’t seem worthy of a heavy-hitter like Advil. And since the receptionist backed her up, and since it cost less than five bucks, I bought the Tumeric pills (since the thought of a mouthful of Tumeric right from the spice tin was very off-putting).
When I Googled “debunk Tumeric,” I found this article from Science-Based Medicine that suggests that a large percentage of Tumeric promises are bogus, but they are investigating if it has anti-inflammatory properties and if it might be helpful for skin cancer.
So, I will let you know if it is useless.
7 responses to “Another Thing That Happened at the Dentist: Tumeric”
Just a note that turmeric can lower blood pressure in some people (as can licorice, garlic, and also hibiscus tea)(I would have said “licorice, garlic, and hibiscus tea” – but that sounds like all three are in the tea and that would be well beyond disgusting…).
Anyway! The point is that if a little turmeric works for you, then don’t cavalierly upgrade to capsules that have 10X the bioavailable curcumin amount to see if *that* would work *better.* I mean, unless you have really high blood pressure to start out with? Or, I suppose, unless you like blacking out randomly. There’s always that option. (How do I know this? someone I know was recommended turmeric for blood pressure and, being nerdy and also male, did the research for the absolutely most potent supplement available and started with *that* and… yeah. Not a good plan, buddy.)
(I have to say: this was not my husband, although my husband is also male and nerdy. But my husband’s logic about supplements is that if they are pharmacologically active natural compounds, with actual *effects* (and also side-effects), then it is potentially about as important to get dosage right for them as it is to get dosage right for regular ol’ prescription or OTC medications, which is also where I perch. Husband: Male, nerdy, but able to grasp context and that it’s not always better to Maximize Everything That Can Be Maximized. My husband is excellent and surprisingly well-balanced, really.)
KC – hours after my latest dose I burped up a completely unexpected amount of tumeric. I can’t imagine what that would have been like with the maximum dose.
Honestly, I think burping up any turmeric would be a completely unexpected amount of turmeric for me! That sounds frankly quite unpleasant.
(usually the Big Shot Maximum Dose stuff is just a higher percent of the identified active compound, rather than a larger amount of stuff, though, so: probably would not have been very much different. But having burped neither, I do not actually know…)
(I would, of course, be curious as to whether there is any noticeable reduction to creaky-crankiness. I’ve known people who had effects from the name-brand version of glucosamine, like could-not-climb-stairs-before-and-can-now-climb-stairs effects, but that stuff is *expensive* and also doesn’t work on everybody/everything and for just minor creaky joints… eh.)
KC – familiar achy parts have shifted. Achy right shoulder blade is now achy left shoulder. Left hip hurts less. Power of the placebo.
Hm. I do occasionally want to try blind experiments on myself sometimes; one week of one supplement, one week of another, labeled on the bottom of the bottle so I don’t know which I take first, to try to counteract the placebo effect, but getting capsules identical would be a pain…
(I did already do a bit of a trial of turmeric, but added to food instead of as a supplement. Primary result: I quit wanting to eat the type of soup I was adding the turmeric to. Secondary result, after realizing I didn’t want to eat that soup anymore: I quit adding turmeric to it, and behold! I like that soup again. Ultimately, I think this means that turmeric supplements really are the way to go, if you want measurable amounts of turmeric in your life and you can’t have curry…)(probably-autoimmune cranky digestive system rejects so many delicious foods, sigh. But is apparently fine with some turmeric.)
KC – I don’t think there ever can be a blind scientific test, even on yourself with all the right protocols, just because they say that even taking a placebo affects you positively. You’re doing something, so that affects your attitude, so that affects your health. Plus, it makes you notice the times you don’t hurt, and that’s always good.