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Curcumin and High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is common in the United States, affecting approximately 60 million people 6. Hypertension is usually defined as a systolic pressure reading greater than 140 and/or diastolic pressure greater than 85, although other factors are important too. Hypertension is linked to high cholesterol levels, atherosclerosis and stress, among other factors, and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Curcumin’s affect on hypertension has not been studied in people, although it does affect the properties and constituents of blood. Consult with your doctor if your blood pressure is high 6.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Curcumin
Curcumin is the biologically active component in turmeric root, which is often dried and ground into a yellow powder and used either medicinally or as a spice. Curcumin is a widely used herbal remedy in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, and to a lesser extent in traditional Chinese medicine. Curcumin displays a number of medicinal properties and is sometimes recommended to promote digestion, reduce the symptoms of arthritis and to protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease, as cited in “The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs.” Curcumin’s effect on blood pressure has not been directly studied, although its ability to lower blood cholesterol, reduce inflammatory reactions and slow down blood clotting may contribute to preventing or combating high blood pressure 6.
Cholesterol
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According to “Medical Herbalism,” research has shown that curcumin lowers circulating levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood and works as well as the drug Clofibrate, but without the side effects. Lowering blood cholesterol, especially the harmful LDL type, is assumed by the medical community to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, which is clogging and hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is a known cause of high blood pressure 6.
Inflammation
Curcumin displays strong anti-inflammatory properties, primarily because it is a powerful antioxidant that scavenges nitric oxide and free radicals in your bloodstream and inhibits the pro-inflammatory substance COX-2, as cited in the book "Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition." As such, curcumin can be of benefit for arthritis symptoms, but also for reducing the inflammatory reactions that occur within your blood vessels in response to damage 4. The formation of atherosclerotic plaques with cholesterol is essentially an inflammatory response in reaction to fissures in blood vessels or damage caused by free radicals. Unlike other COX-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex, curcumin is nontoxic and produces no serious side effects.
- Curcumin displays strong anti-inflammatory properties, primarily because it is a powerful antioxidant that scavenges nitric oxide and free radicals in your bloodstream and inhibits the pro-inflammatory substance COX-2, as cited in the book "Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition."
- As such, curcumin can be of benefit for arthritis symptoms, but also for reducing the inflammatory reactions that occur within your blood vessels in response to damage 4.
Blood Thinning
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Curcumin has a tendency to “thin” your blood, which means it reduces the ability of your blood platelet cells to aggregate and form clots, similar to the effects of vitamin E. Blood thinning is of benefit in reducing the risk of atherosclerosis and preventing many cardiovascular diseases, but it also increases blood-coagulation time and is not recommended if you have a bleeding disorder or are on anticoagulant medication, according to the book “Human Biochemistry and Disease.” Although curcumin seems to affect the blood in many positive ways, high blood pressure is a serious condition that should be supervised by your primary-care physican 56.
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References
- “Professional Guide to Diseases: Ninth Edition”; Springhouse Publishing; 2009
- “The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs: A Contemporary Introduction and Useful Manual for the World's Oldest Healing System”; Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa; 2009
- “Medical Herbalism: The Science Principles and Practices of Herbal Medicine”; David Hoffmann; 2003
- “Biochemical, Physiological and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition”; Martha Stipanuk; 2006
- “Human Biochemistry and Disease”; Gerald Litwack; 2008
- MedlinePlus: High Blood Pressure
- Gupta SC, Sung B, Kim JH, Prasad S, Li S, Aggarwal BB. Multitargeting by turmeric, the golden spice: From kitchen to clinic. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2013 Sep;57(9):1510-28. doi:10.1002/mnfr.201100741
- Metzler M, Pfeiffer E, Schulz SI, Dempe JS. Curcumin uptake and metabolism. Biofactors. 2013;39(1):14-20. doi:10.1002/biof.1042
- Kim YS, Young MR, Bobe G, Colburn NH, Milner JA. Bioactive food components, inflammatory targets, and cancer prevention. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2009;2(3):200-208. doi:10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-08-0141
- Vounotrypidis P, Kouklakis G, Anagnostopoulos K, et al. Interleukin-1 associations in inflammatory bowel disease and the enteropathic seronegative spondylarthritis. Auto Immun Highlights. 2013;4(3):87–94. doi:10.1007/s13317-013-0049-4
- Sandborn WJ. Strategies for targeting tumour necrosis factor in IBD. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2003;17(1):105-117.
- Vecchi Brumatti L, Marcuzzi A, Tricarico PM, Zanin V, Girardelli M, Bianco AM. Curcumin and inflammatory bowel disease: potential and limits of innovative treatments. Molecules. 2014;19(12):21127–21153. doi:10.3390/molecules191221127
- Schneider A, Hossain I, VanderMolen J, Nicol K. Comparison of remicade to curcumin for the treatment of Crohn's disease: A systematic review. Complement Ther Med. 2017 Aug;33:32-38. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2017.06.002
- Hanai H, Iida T, Takeuchi K, et al. Curcumin maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis: randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006 Dec;4(12):1502-1506. doi:10.1016/j.cgh.2006.08.008
- Suskind DL, Wahbeh G, Burpee T, Cohen M, Christie D, Weber W. Tolerability of curcumin in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: a forced-dose titration study. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2013 Mar;56(3):277-9. doi:10.1097/MPG.0b013e318276977d
- Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA, Aggarwal BB. Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Mol Pharm. 2007;4(6):807-818. doi:10.1021/mp700113r
- Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, Majeed M, Rajendran R, Srinivas PS. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Med. 1998;64(4):353-356. doi:10.1055/s-2006-957450
- News 10 San Diego. San Diego woman dead after turmeric IV infusion. 21 March 2017.
- Gupta SC, Patchva S, Aggarwal BB. Therapeutic roles of curcumin: lessons learned from clinical trials. AAPS J. 2013;15(1):195–218. doi:10.1208/s12248-012-9432-8
- Kumar S, Ahuja V, Sankar MJ, Kumar A, Moss AC. Curcumin for maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;10:CD008424. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD008424.pub2.
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Turmeric. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Updated September, 2016.
Writer Bio
Owen Bond began writing professionally in 1997. Bond wrote and published a monthly nutritional newsletter for six years while working in Brisbane, Australia as an accredited nutritionalist. Some of his articles were published in the "Brisbane Courier-Mail" newspaper. He received a Master of Science in nutrition from the University of Saskatchewan.