AOR guarantees that no ingredients not listed on the label have been added to the product. Contains no wheat, gluten, nuts, dairy, soy, eggs, fish or shellfish.

Suggested Use
Take three capsules per day, or as directed by a qualified health care practitioner. Consult a health care practitioner prior to use if you are pregnant, taking antiplatelet medication or blood thinners, have gallstones or a bile duct obstruction, have stomach ulcers or excess stomach acid. Consult a health care practitioner if symptoms persist or worsen.

Main Application
As reported by literature:
• Anti-oxidant.
• Anti-inflammatory.
• Gastro-intestinal effects.
• Cardiovascular effects.
• Lipid metabolism.
• Anti-bacterial/Anti-fungal.
• Anti-viral.
• Anti-tumor activity.

Source
Turmeric (Curcume Longa)

Cautions
None.

Pregnancy/Nursing
No studies, best avoid.

Chemistry

Curcuma longa rhizomes yield about 8% essential oils and 10% fatty oil. Three major constituents have been identified: 
(1.) Curcumin (diferuloyl methane)
(2.) Curcumin methane.
(3.) Di-hydroxy cinnamoyl methane.

The volatile oils contain cineol, camphor and linalool and are probably responsible for the antispasmodic activity. Borneol is present in the essential oil fraction and is largely responsible for the digestion-improving properties.

Pharmacological Properties
The benefits of Curcuma longa have been extensively researched, especially by Indian scientists.

1. Antioxidant
Numerous studies have shown that the various constituents of curcuma longa posses potent antioxidant properties. The ability of cucuminoids to reduce hydroxyl and peroxyl free radicals is well documented. Sharma reported curcumin to be an effective agent against lipid peroxidation.

2. Anti-inflammatory
The Central Drug Research Institute in India found curcumin to be the major constituent responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity. The classical model for studying acute effects of anti-inflammatory agents is to test their inhibitory action on the development of rat paw edema - the exudative phase of inflammation - induced, for instance, by the local injection of carrageenins. Thus inflammation is thought to be in part due to the action of prostaglandin derivative from arachidonic acid metabolism. A detailed evaluation of curcumin as a potential non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent by Srimal and Dhawan found curcumin to be highly effective after oral administration. Curcumin was effective in other models of inflammation including granuloma, pouch, cotton pellet, formalin-induced, and Freund's adjuvant.

The mechanism of anti-inflammatory action of curcumin is not yet known. Some researchers found curcumin to be less effective in adrenalectomized rats, suggesting a participation of corticoidal steroids, while others did not observe any effect of curcumin salts on steroid release from the adrenal cortex. Recently, another, more specific in-vitro method has been developed which allows the study of the inhibitory mechanism of potential drugs. By using rat peritoneal neutrophilis, curcumin was tested for the direct effect on the 5-lipooxygenase activities. Another study found that curcumin was able to inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory mediators in microglial cells that had been stimulated to mount an inflammatory response. Microglial cells are activated after brain injuries and produce proinflammatory mediators and neurotoxic compounds. Curcumin decreased the production of these compounds, apparently by blocking NF-kB, a protein signal in the pathway that leads to their production. The overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines contributes to diseases such as Alzheimer's, cerebral ischemia and multiple sclerosis. The ability of curcumin to decrease inflammation presents an approach to slow the progression of these diseases.

3. Gastro-intestinal effects 
Curcumin increases mucin content, thereby protecting the gastric mucosa against irritants. Controversial data exist regarding an anti-ulcerogenic activity of curcumin. Some researchers found a protective effect of curcumin against histamine-induced gastric ulceration, while others reported an ulcerogenic effect of curcumin.

Curcumin also possesses anti-spasmodic properties. Curcumin showed liver protective effects against carbon tetrachloride, D-Galactosamine and peroxide induced cytotoxicity. Curcumin increased bile acid production in dogs and rats.

4. Cardiovascular effects
A sharp and transient hypotensive effect of curcumin was reported in dogs. Curcumin also inhibited collagen and adrenaline-induced aggregation of platelets but did not affect prostacyclin (PGI2) synthesis.

5. Lipid metabolism
Rao and co-workers reported that rats fed with curcumin and cholesterol in their diet had only half to one-third of the serum and liver cholesterol levels compared to the controlled groups receiving cholesterol alone.

6. Anti-bacterial/Anti-fungal
Curcumin inhibited growth of most organisms including: Staph aureus, Streptococci, lactobacilli, corynebacterium, Baccilus aureus, and micrococcus pyogenes. The crude ether and chloroform extracts of curcuma longa showed fungistatic activity against several dermatophytes as well as anti-amoebic activity against Entamoeba histolytica.

7. Anti-viral
A 1993 study showed curcumin as an effective ally in the treatment against HIV. Curcumin was effective in inhibiting the replication of HIV in both acutely infected and chronically infected cells.

8. Anti-tumor activity
The anti-tumor activity of various extracts of curcuma longa has been remarked by several researchers. Topical application of curcumin inhibited the number of TPA-induced tumors by as much as 98%!! Curcumin was found to be a selective and non-competitive inhibitor of phosphorylase kinase.