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Healing Spice Speeds Weight Loss – Significantly

curcumin, spices, weight loss

Dr. Al SearsIn the past, I’ve called curcumin the “one-dollar cure” for almost every disease.

And I stand by that statement.

I’ve used this Ayurvedic spice to treat patients for more than 20 years. Numerous clinical studies prove that curcumin is a safe and effective way to prevent and care for a wide range of chronic diseases, including heart disease… diabetes… dementia… joint pain… depression… and even cancer.

But I also recommend it as a natural antidote for obesity.

In fact, when I was studying Ayurvedic medicine at the AyurMana in Kerala, India, the traditional master healers I worked with referred to curcumin as mehagni, which translates to “killer of fat.”

And now, a brand new, large-scale study confirmS that this orange elixir plays an important role when it comes to weight loss.

It’s more important than ever that we get our obesity epidemic under control. Today, 31% of American adults are overweight, and 42% are obese.

Obesity and Inflammation

And 20% of U.S. kids are officially obese.1,2

Take a look at the diseases I mentioned at the start of this letter. Every single one of them is closely linked to obesity and being overweight. The common connection between them all is inflammation.

Research shows that obesity is associated with the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines.3 This leads to a chronic state of inflammation in your gut, wreaking havoc on your metabolism and jeopardizing your health.

Fortunately, curcumin can improve the inflammatory markers associated with obesity. These markers are typically elevated in people with excess weight or obesity.

In a new meta-analysis, researchers reviewed 21 studies clinical studies involving 1,600 participants.4 The results revealed that supPlementing with curcumin drastically reduced:

  • Body weight
  • Body mass index
  • Waist circumference

The study also noted that all study subjects suffered from metabolic syndrome, which makes weight loss even more difficult.

This analysis backs up earlier research published in the journal European Review for Medical Sciences.

In this study, 44 people who were unsuccessful in losing weight were given 800 mg of curcumin twice per day. After one month, all of them had a significant reduction in weight, BMI, and waist and hip circumference.5

I recommend curcumin to almost all my patients. Yet many of them have told me that…while they believe in the science, they’ve stopped taking it because it just wasn’t effective.

Unfortunately, the majority of curcumin supplements you find on drug store shelves won’t work. I did a quick search of the labels of a handful of popular brands. Most had a paltry dosage of around 450 mg.

I recommend a daily dose of at least 2,000 mg.

But that’s not the only issue with drugstore supplements…

It turns out curcumin has limited bioavailability. That means most of it gets metabolized before it can be absorbed due to the digestive enzymes in the stomach, intestines, and liver.

Look for a supplement that also contains piperine. This black pepper compound has been shown to make curcumin more bioavailable. Piperine is a potent inhibitor of drug metabolism and works by protecting curcumin from the digestive enzymes that are working to remove it from your blood.

One study found that piperine inCreases the bioavailability of curcumin by 2,000%.

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3 more ways to increase curcumin’s bioavailability

Here are a few more ways to increase the amount of curcumin your body can absorb:

1. Take it with a healthy fat.

The curcuminoids in turmeric are lipophilic, which means they attach to fat. This allows your gut to absorb it more easily. Cook your curcumin with coconut or avocado oil or supplement after a meal that includes healthy fats.

2. Heat it.

If you’re cooking with the root, the heat will enhance its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Turmeric is moderately sensitive to heat, so there is no nEed to boil it for an extended period. Short cooking times (under 15 minutes) won’t destroy turmeric, but they will increase the bioavailability of curcumin.

3. Use the whole root.

There are more than a hundred compounds in turmeric root that have powerful properties. Traditional healers have always used the entire root and new research shows that many of these compounds work even better when used in combination. To use the entire root, I recommend peeling it, then finely shredding or zesting it and adding it to your favorite recipes. I like to mix it into scrambled eggs or sprinkle it over a lamb chop.

Dr Al Sears, MD

To Your Good Health,

Dr. Al Sears

Al Sears, MD, CNS

Did You Find The Red Letters?: SPICE

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References:

  1. “Adult Obesity Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html). Accessed on April 15, 2023.
  2. “Rate of children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes rises over 50% over last 10 years, MCHP study finds.” University of Manitoba News (https://news.umanitoba.ca/rate-of-children-diagnosed-with-type-2-diabetes-rises-over-50-over-last-10-years-mchp-study-finds). Accessed on April 15, 2023.
  3. Schmidt F, et al. “Inflammatory cytokines in general and central obesity and modulating effects of physical activity.” PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0121971.
  4. Akbari M, et al. “The effects of curcumin on weight loss among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.” Front Pharmacol. 2019;10:649.
  5. Di Pierro F, et al. “Potential role of bioavailable curcumin in weight loss and omental adipose tissue decrease: preliminary data of a randomized, controlled trial in overweight people with metabolic syndrome. Preliminary study.” Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2015 Nov;19(21):4195-202.