Table of Contents hide 1 Natural Curcumin Extract Outperforms Medications for Parkinson's 2 Curcumin is a Powerful Ally for Your Brain Health 3 Two Other Important Tools to Combat Parkinson's: Vitamin D and Omega-3 4 Changes in Lifestyle that will help avoid Parkinson's 5 The spice that can help you improve your health in 150 different ways
Most spices have powerful medicinal properties, which is precisely the reason why they have been used to promote healing for thousands of years, long before the arrival of modern medicine based on synthetic medicines.
One of those spices is turmeric, which is a curry spice with yellow pigmentation, frequently used in Indian cuisine, contains curcumin, the polyphenol identified as its main active component and exhibiting more than 150 therapeutic activities, which include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties
Curcumin is able to cross the blood brain barrier, which is one of the reasons why it is very promising as a neuroprotective agent in a wide variety of neurological disorders. Researchers have studied curcumin for its important role in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Preliminary results indicate that it could be even more promising than the medications currently used to treat this disorder, many of which (ironically) have serious neurotoxic effects, including dyskinesia - a movement disorder identical to the symptoms of the disease. Parkinson's
Natural Curcumin Extract Outperforms Medications for Parkinson's
Parkinson's is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a steady decrease in nerve cells that produce dopamine, particularly in the area of your brain known as the black substance. Most modern medications to treat Parkinson's disease, known as dopamine agonists, focus on replenishing dopamine.
Although these treatments provide symptomatic relief during the onset of Parkinson's disease, they are ineffective for a long-term period in which symptoms such as tremor, postural instability and cognitive deficits that are common in this disease could increase. They are also related to motor complications and a long list of other rare and disturbing side effects, including:
| Euphoria | Nausea |
| Hallucinations | Insomnia |
| Causes or worsens psychosis | Weakness and unusual tiredness |
| Orthostatic hypotension (dizziness caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure) | Dizziness, drowsiness or fainting |
| Increase in orgasmic intensity | Contractions, torsions or other body movements |
| Weightloss | Pathological addictions (gambling, shopping, child pornography, hypersexuality) |
As the researchers pointed out in the journal Current Pharmaceutical Design
“Most of the current pharmacotherapeutic approaches in PD (Parkinson's disease) are aimed at the replacement of dopamine in the striatum. Although these medications provide symptomatic relief during the beginning of PD, many patients develop motor complications in a long-term treatment. In addition, medications for PD do not effectively address tremors, postural instability and cognitive disorders.
Most importantly, most of these medications do not exhibit neuroprotective effects in patients. Consequently, new therapies, which involve natural antioxidants and plant products / molecules with neuroprotective properties, are being exploited for adjuvant therapy. ”
Unlike medications for Parkinson's, curcumin is neuroprotective and many studies support it for use in the treatment of Parkinson's. For example:
- Curcumin showed neuroprotective properties in an animal model of Parkinson's disease, it was thought that the beneficial effect was related, in part, to its antioxidant capacity and its ability to penetrate the brain.
- Curcumin alleviated the effects of glutathione depletion, which causes oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death - and is one of the first characteristics of Parkinson's disease.
- The N-terminal kinase signaling pathway (JNK) is involved with dopaminergic neuronal degeneration, which in turn is related to Parkinson's. Curcumin prevents dopamine neuronal death by inhibiting the JNK pathway and therefore offers a neuroprotective effect that could be beneficial for Parkinson's disease.
- Slow alpha-synuclein proteins can cause stacking, which is the first step of Parkinson's disease. Curcumin helps prevent protein stacking.
Curcumin is a powerful ally for your brain health
For years, turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin have been shown to provide powerful benefits to brain health. One of the ways in which it works, similar to vitamin D, is by modulating a large number of its genes, in fact, it has been shown that curcumin influences more than 700 genes.
The potential healing power of this spice, which is an important part of the cultural traditions of the East including traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, stood out for the first time when they realized that the prevalence of Alzheimer's among older adults in India is four times lower than the rate in the United States.
Why such a significant difference?
Some researchers believe that the answer to this great difference lies in curcumin. Research has shown that curcumin could help to inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, as well as to break up existing plaques. People with Alzheimer's tend to have higher levels of inflammation in their brains and curcumin is known primarily for its anti-inflammatory properties. The compound can inhibit both the activity and the inflammatory metabolic bioproducts of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the enzymes lipoxygenase-5 (5-LOX), as well as other enzymes and hormones that modulate inflammation n.
And that's not all. The growing interest in curcumin over the past 50 years is understandable if we take into account the many health benefits that have been discovered by researchers when studying this spice. According to a body of clinical studies, curcumin may help to:
| Promote healthy cholesterol levels | Avoid oxidation of low density lipoproteins | Inhibit platelet aggregation |
| Suppress thrombosis and myocardial infarction | Suppress symptoms related to type 2 diabetes | Suppress the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis |
| Suppress the symptoms of multiple sclerosis | Suppress Alzheimer's symptoms | Inhibit HIV replication |
| Suppress tumor formation | Improve wound healing | Protect against liver damage |
| Increase bile secretion | Protect against cataracts | Protect against lung toxicity and fibrosis |
Two Other Important Tools to Combat Parkinson's: Vitamin D and Omega-3
There is a correlation between low levels of vitamin D and the development of Parkinson's disease and researchers have suggested that long-term deficiency could play a very important role in pathogenesis. of the illness. There are three main points to remember about vitamin D:
- The best source of vitamin D is exposure to the sun, without the use of sunscreens, until your skin grabs a slightly pink color. Although this is not always possible due to the change of seasons and its geographical location (as well as the color of your skin), this would be ideal. A safe tanning bed is your second best option, followed by oral vitamin D3 supplementation.
- If you take the vitamin D supplement, you should only consume a supplement with natural vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). DO NOT use the synthetic version that is much lower and is what most doctors prescribe unless you ask for vitamin D3 specifically.
- Check your vitamin D levels. The only way to determine the correct dose is through a blood test, since there are many variables that influence your vitamin D status. I recommend using the Lab Corp in the U.S. Getting the correct tests is the first step in this process, since there are TWO types of tests for vitamin D currently: 1.25 (OH) D and 25 (OH) D.
From my point of view, the best analysis and the one that should be ordered by your doctor is 25 (OH) D, also known as 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the best marker of your overall vitamin D status. This is the marker that is closely related to overall health. You should optimize your levels according to the table below. If you currently have Parkinson's, you should maintain your levels above 70-100 ng / ml to help fight the disease.
Omega-3 fats of animal origin are also a powerful defense against Parkinson's, as they contain two fatty acids that are crucial for human health, DHA and EPA. Most of the neurological benefits of omega-3 oils are derived from the DHA component instead of the EPA component.
In fact, DHA is one of the main building blocks of your brain. Nearly half of his brain and eyes are made up of fat, of which a large part is DHA - making it an essential nutrient for optimal brain and visual functioning. Your brain activity actually depends largely on the functions provided by your outer membrane, to act as an electrical nerve conduction cable. Only in his brain, DHA could help protect him from Parkinson's by:
- The reduction of brain inflammation
- Stimulation of neuronal growth and development and repair of the synapse. (Your brain is a large complex system of nerve cells that send and receive electrical impulses through all joints called synapses. The small space between the two cells is where the action occurs. A neuron could synapse with up to 1, 000 different neurons.)
- DHA protects your brain function by strengthening the optimal functioning of glutamate. Glutamate and GABA are considered the "workhorses" of the neurotransmitters in your brain. They work together to control the level of excitability of your brain, which in turn controls many body processes.
I believe that krill oil is your best option to obtain omega-3 fats of animal origin because of the fact that mega-3 fats are bound to phospholipids, dramatically increases their absorption, especially in brain tissue.
turmeric plant
Lifestyle Changes That Will Help Avoid Parkinson's
Parkinson's disease is related to lifestyle factors, including the following:
| Environmental toxins and pesticides | Aspartame consumption |
| Petroleum based hydrocarbon solvents, such as paint and glue | Vitamin D deficiency and vitamin B folate |
| Excess iron in your body | Pasteurized milk |
In addition to avoiding these toxic exposures, some lifestyle adjustments that I recommend include:
- Exercise regularly, including high intensity exercises such as Peak Fitness. It is one of the best ways to protect against the appearance of symptoms of Parkinson's disease
- Sunning to optimize your vitamin D levels
- Avoid exposure to pesticides and insecticides (as well as exposure to other environmental toxins such as solvents)
- Eat organic vegetables, which are rich in folate, the natural form of folic acid (after all folate comes from foliage)
- Make sure your body has healthy levels of iron and magnesium (neither too much nor too little)
- Consider taking a coenzyme Q10 supplement, this could help fight the disease. But remember, the oxidized form of coenzyme Q10 called ubiquinone or whole CoQ10 actually raises levels in neurodegenerative diseases involved with oxidative stress, since it is a residual marker of lipid peroxidation (cerebral rancidity). This is why ubiquinol, the reduced form that is able to give electrons to end free radicals that cause brain damage, while at the same time improving mitochondrial function, is the only logical option in Parkinson's disease. and in related neurodegenerative diseases.
To get all the benefits that curcumin offers, look for a turmeric extract that contains ingredients certified as 100 percent organic, with at least 95 percent curcuminoids. The formula must be free of filters, additives and excipients (a substance that is added to the supplements to aid processing or stability) and the manufacturer must rely on safe practices at all stages: sowing, cultivation, selective collection, production and final product packaging.
Unfortunately, there are currently no formulations available for use against cancer. This is because too high doses are needed and curcumin is not absorbed very well. Hard work is being done to provide bioavailable formulations in the near future.
In case you need higher doses (as in the case of cancer treatment) use turmeric powder and make a microemulsion, combining a tablespoon of powder in a mixture with 1-2 egg yolks and one or two teaspoons of oil of melted coconut. Then use a blender to emulsify the powder (be careful when doing so because curcumin has a strong yellow pigmentation and can permanently discolor surfaces).
Another strategy that can help increase absorption is to put a tablespoon of curcumin powder in a quarter of boiling water. It should be boiling when you add the powder, it will not work properly if you add the powder in water at room temperature and heat the water and curcumin. After boiling for 10 minutes it will create a 12 percent solution that you can take once it cools. It will have a wood flavor. Curcumin will gradually reduce when you have the solution. In about six hours there will only be a 6 percent solution, so it is better to take it within the next four hours. Dr. Mercola
The spice that can help you improve your health in 150 different ways
