I am not advocating this, just posting links to published research. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory. I have controlled Flowerbelle's asthma with standardized curcumin with BioPerine (needed to increase bioavailability, otherwise bioavailability is very poor. Some supplements use phosphatidylcholine instead).
2009 article about research by Steele Children's Research Center at The University of Arizona http://phys.org/news167932895.html
"Basically, they have shown that curcumin decreases the severe inflammation and resultant intestinal damage caused by IBD."
Hanai H, Sugimoto K 2009 Curcumin has bright prospects for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19519446
"Therefore, in recent years, the efficacy of curcumin has been investigated in several experimental models of IBD. The results indicate striking suppression of induced IBD colitis and changes in cytokine profiles, from the pro-inflammatory Th1 to the anti-inflammatory Th2 type. In human IBD, up to now, only one open study has achieved encouraging results. In this study, patients were given curcumin (360 mg/dose) 3 or 4 times/day for three months. Further, curcumin significantly reduced clinical relapse in patients with quiescent IBD. The inhibitory effects of curcumin on major inflammatory mechanisms like COX-2, LOX, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, NF-kappaB and its unrivalled safety profile suggest that it has bright prospects in the treatment of IBD. However, randomized controlled clinical investigations in large cohorts of patients are needed to fully evaluate the clinical potential of curcumin."
Taylor RA, Leonard MC 2011. Curcumin for inflammatory bowel disease: a review of human studies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21649456
"Although two small studies have shown promising results, all authors conclude that larger-scale, double-blind trials need to be conducted to establish a role for curcumin in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. In addition to improving results when used in conjunction with conventional medications for UC, curcumin may pose a less-expensive alternative."
Baliga et al. 2012. Curcumin, an active component of turmeric in the prevention and treatment of ulcerative colitis: preclinical and clinical observations. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22833299
"Clinical studies have also shown that co-administration of curcumin with conventional drugs was effective, to be well-tolerated and treated as a safe medication for maintaining remission, to prevent relapse and improve clinical activity index. Large randomized controlled clinical investigations are required to fully understand the potential of oral curcumin for treating IBD."
Sigrid A Rajasekaran 2011. Therapeutic potential of curcumin in gastrointestinal diseases. http://www.wjgnet.com/2150-5330/pdf/v2/i1/1.pdf
"Curcumin, also known as diferuloylmethane, is derived from the plant Curcuma longa and is the active ingredient of the spice turmeric. The therapeutic activities of curcumin for a wide variety of diseases such as diabetes, allergies, arthritis and other chronic and inflammatory diseases have been known for a long time. More recently, curcumin’s therapeutic potential for preventing and treating various cancers is being recognized. As curcumin’s therapeutic promise is being explored more systematically in various diseases, it has become clear that, due to its increased bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract, curcumin may be particularly suited to be developed to treat gastrointestinal diseases. This review summarizes some of the current literature of curcumin’s anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anticancer potential in inflammatory bowel diseases, hepatic fibrosis and gastrointestinal cancers."
2009 article about research by Steele Children's Research Center at The University of Arizona http://phys.org/news167932895.html
"Basically, they have shown that curcumin decreases the severe inflammation and resultant intestinal damage caused by IBD."
Hanai H, Sugimoto K 2009 Curcumin has bright prospects for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19519446
"Therefore, in recent years, the efficacy of curcumin has been investigated in several experimental models of IBD. The results indicate striking suppression of induced IBD colitis and changes in cytokine profiles, from the pro-inflammatory Th1 to the anti-inflammatory Th2 type. In human IBD, up to now, only one open study has achieved encouraging results. In this study, patients were given curcumin (360 mg/dose) 3 or 4 times/day for three months. Further, curcumin significantly reduced clinical relapse in patients with quiescent IBD. The inhibitory effects of curcumin on major inflammatory mechanisms like COX-2, LOX, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, NF-kappaB and its unrivalled safety profile suggest that it has bright prospects in the treatment of IBD. However, randomized controlled clinical investigations in large cohorts of patients are needed to fully evaluate the clinical potential of curcumin."
Taylor RA, Leonard MC 2011. Curcumin for inflammatory bowel disease: a review of human studies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21649456
"Although two small studies have shown promising results, all authors conclude that larger-scale, double-blind trials need to be conducted to establish a role for curcumin in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. In addition to improving results when used in conjunction with conventional medications for UC, curcumin may pose a less-expensive alternative."
Baliga et al. 2012. Curcumin, an active component of turmeric in the prevention and treatment of ulcerative colitis: preclinical and clinical observations. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22833299
"Clinical studies have also shown that co-administration of curcumin with conventional drugs was effective, to be well-tolerated and treated as a safe medication for maintaining remission, to prevent relapse and improve clinical activity index. Large randomized controlled clinical investigations are required to fully understand the potential of oral curcumin for treating IBD."
Sigrid A Rajasekaran 2011. Therapeutic potential of curcumin in gastrointestinal diseases. http://www.wjgnet.com/2150-5330/pdf/v2/i1/1.pdf
"Curcumin, also known as diferuloylmethane, is derived from the plant Curcuma longa and is the active ingredient of the spice turmeric. The therapeutic activities of curcumin for a wide variety of diseases such as diabetes, allergies, arthritis and other chronic and inflammatory diseases have been known for a long time. More recently, curcumin’s therapeutic potential for preventing and treating various cancers is being recognized. As curcumin’s therapeutic promise is being explored more systematically in various diseases, it has become clear that, due to its increased bioavailability in the gastrointestinal tract, curcumin may be particularly suited to be developed to treat gastrointestinal diseases. This review summarizes some of the current literature of curcumin’s anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anticancer potential in inflammatory bowel diseases, hepatic fibrosis and gastrointestinal cancers."
