Turmeric / Curcumin

Galaxyshock

Curcumin hits the cannabinoid receptors too:

The dietary polyphenols trans-resveratrol and curcumin selectively bind human CB1 cannabinoid receptors with nanomolar affinities and function as antagonists/inverse agonists.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19359525

The CB1 Receptor-Mediated Endocannabinoid Signaling and NGF: The Novel Targets of Curcumin
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11064-012-0716-2#page-1

I take a tablespoon of turmeric + half a teaspoon black pepper 1-2 times a day. I find it antidepressive / potentiating other antidepressive substances and hope it to decrease inflammation on my skin - not convinced it's helpful there though. Enhancement in NGF is a plus.

Neuro

Wow, turmeric keeps getting better and better. My only problem with it is the poor bioavailability. Black pepper increases it, but is it enough to have an effect on the body? This study found piperine increased curcumin bioavailability by 2000%!

The medicinal properties of curcumin obtained from Curcuma longa L. cannot be utilised because of poor bioavailability due to its rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall. In this study, the effect of combining piperine, a known inhibitor of hepatic and intestinal glucuronidation, was evaluated on the bioavailability of curcumin in rats and healthy human volunteers. When curcumin was given alone, in the dose 2 g/kg to rats, moderate serum concentrations were achieved over a period of 4 h. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg/kg increased the serum concentration of curcumin for a short period of 1-2 h post drug. Time to maximum was significantly increased (P < 0.02) while elimination half life and clearance significantly decreased (P < 0.02), and the bioavailability was increased by 154%. On the other hand in humans after a dose of 2 g curcumin alone, serum levels were either undetectable or very low. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg produced much higher concentrations from 0.25 to 1 h post drug (P < 0.01 at 0.25 and 0.5 h; P < 0.001 at 1 h), the increase in bioavailability was 2000%. The study shows that in the dosages used, piperine enhances the serum concentration, extent of absorption and bioavailability of curcumin in both rats and humans with no adverse effects.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120

It says in the study that curcumin alone produced serum levels that were either undetectable or very low. A 2000% increase sounds like a lot, but is it enough to produce a biologically active serum level?

Galaxyshock

I don't like when they isolate a compound, I bet there is more to turmeric than curcumin, and that curcumin is bioactive with the other compounds. Are there studies of curcumin serum levels when whole turmeric is fed? The medical industry always wants to isolate a compound then make some synthetic "superior" analog of it to patent and make money of, only to realize they've lost the benefits of the herb and created something probably damaging instead. Well medical science works on "selective and effective" so it's understandable, but they tend to fail when it comes to natural substances.

Neuro

Yeah, you're probably right. Tea and coffee contain many substances and all probably have an effect in one way or another.

For whatever reason, dopaminergic herbs work better than potent dopaminergic medications for me. Maca, Rhodiola, and Cordyceps all have a noticable beneficial effect with little to no side effects, aside from that annoying puffy nipple problem. Methylphenidate, on the other hand, just doesn't feel right, it feels like I'm on a drug when I take it, but with the herbs I feel normal. It also doesn't work nearly as well as the herbs and has lots of side effects.

The only good drug that doesn't have any side effects for me is Modafinil.

Neuro

Found this study on curcumin that I thought you might find interesting:

Curcumin, a yellow-pigment compound found in the popular Indian spice turmeric (Curcuma longa), has been extensively investigated for its anti-inflammatory, chemopreventative and antidepressant properties.Here, we examined the efficacy of dietary curcumin at impairing the consolidation and reconsolidation of a Pavlovian fear memory, a widely studied animal model of traumatic memory formation in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).We show that a diet enriched with 1.5% curcumin preventsthe training-related elevation in the expression of the immediate early genes (IEGs) Arc/Arg3.1 and Egr-1 in the lateral amygdala (LA)and impairs the'consolidation' of an auditory Pavlovian fear memory; short-term memory (STM) is intact, while long-term memory (LTM) is significantly impaired. Next, we show that dietary curcuminimpairs the 'reconsolidation' of a recently formed auditory Pavlovian fear memory; fear memory retrieval (reactivation)and post-reactivation (PR)-STM are intact, while PR-LTM is significantly impaired. Additional experiments revealed that dietary curcumin is also effective at impairing the reconsolidation of an older, well-consolidated fear memory. Further, we observed that fear memories that fail to reconsolidate under the influence of dietary curcumin are impaired in an enduring manner; unlike extinguished fear memories they are not subject to reinstatement or renewal. Collectively, our findings indicate that a diet enriched with curcumin is capable of impairing fear memory consolidation and reconsolidation processes, findings which may have important clinical implications for the treatment of disorders such as PTSD that are characterized by unusually strong and persistently reactivated fear memories.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25430781

Galaxyshock

Nice finding. My PAWS has been PTSD-like, the acute WD from phenibut was quite horrible and probably reason why this symptomology has been so persistant. But there's of course other things at play here too. Anyway, I should buy another bottle of turmeric, it's cheap and seems to have a broad range of benefits, even though I may not feel it working that noticeably.

Neuro

Did you cut phenibut cold-turkey or did you gradually taper off? You don't have bulk turmeric where you live? Here in Canada I can buy a bag of bulk turmeric from any spice shop.

Galaxyshock

Yeah by "bottle" I meant bulk powdered turmeric they sell not sure what word to use there lol. But it is in this plastic container, 400 grams. They don't sell the whole turmeric roots though, at least I haven't noticed.

I did quit phenibut cold-turkey, I tried to taper off before but always felt very bad. Eventually I could no longer sleep under its influence and was up for three days straight, so I took quetiapine to get some sleep and just push through it. It was quite nightmarish regardless, but worst was actually over after a few days. I probably should have gone to ER or something and get benzos to protect from the glutamate storm. But oh well.. what happened, happened. The thing is, I now only get subtle effects from Phenibut and can quit rather painlessly even if taking it daily. But of course I must be careful with the stuff.

Neuro

Yeah, you should be careful with phenibut, especially since it was the cause of your anhedonia. Where did you get quetiapine from?

Galaxyshock

Yeah I'm off Phenibut for good. Maybe one day I'll take it let's say before doing a presentation to ease off anxiety, maybe not. Stuff is really not good to mess with continously. Had pretty bad withdrawals again, taught me a hard lesson.