In the United States, a practitioner would require a license in another stream of healthcare; massage therapy, perhaps. In Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, Argentina, Germany, Russia and India, there are accredited universities that teach the practice. So, it might be easier to find a practitioner in those countries.



You see, curcumin is an antioxidant found in a spice plant called turmeric. Turmeric has been used for thousands of years for its medicinal value. Extracts have been standardized and strengthened, as time has gone by. I am sure that an Ayurvedic practitioner could tell you exactly how much of a standardized concentrated extract would be correct for your health problem.

If you are relatively healthy, you may be interested in the appropriate curcumin dosage to use for preventative purposes. If you have read some of the news reports about ongoing research or have seen the supplements advertised over the internet, you probably know that it may help reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's and liver dysfunction. But, the amount that is in a supplement can vary from 50mg to 1000mg or more. How much is enough? How much is too much?

First, turmeric supplements vary in their concentration. You wouldn't need as much of a 98% concentrate, as you would of a 30% concentrate. Some manufactures do not even list that percentage, which indicates that it, is a very low quality supplement; probably no better than buying curry-powder in the grocery store.

Second, there is a problem with bioavailability and supplement manufacturers are aware of this. The bioavailability of a drug, nutrient or compound has to do with the amount that ends up in the bloodstream when it is taken by mouth. Researchers have shown that taking a very large curcumin dosage by mouth causes little, if any, increase in blood serum levels. Why?

The reason is difficult for some people to understand, but, simply put, the antioxidant is “changed” by stomach acid into a different compound. If we want the long-term health benefits of this antioxidant, it must be able to enter the bloodstream. A knowledgeable manufacture would use a tablet with an enteric coating to insure that stomach acid does not change it. The coating deteriorates by the time the nutrient reaches the upper intestine and it can pass directly into the bloodstream, through the intestinal wall.

The coating allows for the use of a small curcumin dosage; 50-100mg per day. That's important because large doses can actually “cause” health problems, including diarrhea and anemia.

As you may or may not be aware, this is not the only antioxidant out there. It is not the only nutrient that will help reduce your risk of various life-threatening diseases. Single-ingredient supplement, regardless of how good they are, will never provide the benefits of a multi-nutritional supplement. The best ones include a safe curcumin dosage and over 70 other bioactive ingredients.