Posted by bobman on June 19, 2010, at 22:40:10
In reply to Re: Turmeric, posted by morganator on June 14, 2010, at 17:53:47
I've been taking turmeric for close to a year, and I notice as much of an improvement from it as I ever have from aed's & ad's. Better, because it isn't so much that I have some sort of relief from depression, and with it all the mood flattening and feeling like the drug is causing my mood, I simply feel healthier, and looking back, I realize I've been remarkably mentally strong, and experienced no depression, despite having quit cymbalta + lamictal in that period.
I've been taking gotu kola as well, so it has difficult to separate the effect, but I can now notice an effect when I take turmeric. Both affect the mind in very positive ways.
FYI, I wouldn't take curcumin extracts. They are <5% bio-available, unless taken with black pepper, but for maximal absorption they really need fats. Turmeric provides what logically seems the perfect carrier for bio-available curcumin, and this is supported by studies on absorption. Furthermore, the "ideal" curcumin dose is very low. In the only study on curcumin neurogenesis, 1mg/kg is the only dose which promoted neural progenitor proliferation (.5mg/kg and 10mg/kg were innefective). Furthermore, higher doses of curcumin, like 10mg/kg, are apoptotic to stem cells, so I would definitely avoid high doses.
You can pick up Frontier Coop's high quality turmeric with 5% minimum curcumin content, and take what a normal Indian would, about 1 teaspoon a day. That gives you roughly the right amount of curcumin for neurogenesis, a notion supported by at least 1 cadaever study on long term effects of Indian diet (of which turmeric is one of the few regular neuroprotective/regenerative substances).
poster:bobman
thread:950674
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20100516/msgs/951534.html