Tom & Jerry's Chococlate Tumeries - FAQ
Who should NOT consume Turmeric?
Tom & Jerry's Chocolate Tumeries provide consumers with roughly 1 teaspoon (2.5 grams) of Turmeric in powder form a day.
- Bleeding problems:Taking turmeric might slow blood clotting. This might increase the risk of bruising and bleeding in people with bleeding disorders. Do not take within one week of a medical procedure or if you are on blood thinners.
- Diabetes: Curcumin, a chemical in turmeric, might decrease blood sugar in people with diabetes. Use with caution in people with diabetes as it might make blood sugar too low.
- Gallbladder problems: Turmeric can make gallbladder problems worse. Do not use turmeric if you have gallstones or a bile duct obstruction.
- Kidney Stones: Those with a tendency to form Kidney Stones should avoid Turmeric as their formation may increase in frequency., Curcumin supplements may be a better choice in this situation.
- You have bile duct obstruction, gallstones, predisposition to kidney stones, or gastrointestinal disorders such as stomach ulcers and hyperacidity disorders.
- You are taking reserpine: Turmeric may lessen its effects.
- You are taking indomethacin: Turmeric may lessen its effects.
- You are taking warfarin or other blood thinners: Turmeric may increase your risk of bleeding.
- You are taking chemotherapy drugs such as camptothecin, mechlorethamine, doxorubicin, or cyclophosphamide: Turmeric inhibits the action of these drugs against breast cancer cells in lab experiments.
- You are taking norfloxacin: Curcumin makes this stay in the blood for a longer time, thereby reducing the need for taking higher amounts of the drug.
- You are taking drugs metabolized by CYP3A4 enzyme: Curcumin inhibits cytochrome 3A4 enzyme, altering the metabolism of certain prescription drugs.
- You are taking drugs metabolized by CYP1A2 enzyme: Curcumin inhibits cytochrome 1A2 enzyme, altering the metabolism of certain prescription drugs.
- You are taking drugs metabolized by CYP2A6 enzyme: Curcumin enhances cytochrome 2A6 enzyme, altering the metabolism of certain prescription drugs.
- You are taking drugs transported by P-Glycoprotein: Curcumin affects intestinal P-glycoprotein levels and function, thereby increasing the concentrations of prescription drugs such as celiprolol, midazolam and verapamil.
- You are undergoing certain laboratory tests that use dyes: Curcumin may interfere with some laboratory tests due to its strong absorptive and fluorescent properties.
- You are taking tacrolimus: Curumin supplements increase the plasma level of tacrolimus and may increase the side effects.
What is the recommended daily dosage of Turmeric?
According to the medical community, about 2,000 mg is the maximum amount of standardized turmeric curcumin you should take per day. When cooking with ground turmeric powder, the University of Maryland recommends 1 to 3 grams per day. One gram of ground turmeric powder is about ½ teaspoon. Tom & Jerry's Chocolate Tumeries contain 1 teaspoon (~2 grams) per serving.
Why is "bioavailability" such a big issue when using Turmeric?
Turmeric bioavailability is a key factor that’s almost always ignored when consuming this popular spice for its health benefits. When people eat large amounts of Turmeric, very little of it (in the 1% range) ends up being absorbed into their bloodstream and thus has very little therapeutic effect. This is why simply adding Turmeric to your diet will probably result in marginal benefit at best.
Curcumin and other curcuminoids (key which are chemical compounds in turmeric) that are ingested get metabolized before they can get absorbed thus limiting their availability to produce biological affect. Hence we often he the term 'low bioavailabiity' used in conjunction with Turmeric and one of the main reasons an herb with such efficacy is not officially recognized as a 'therapeutic agent'. In short, the liver does a very good job at removing Curcumin from the bloodstream.
What strategies can be used to overcome low bioavailability of Turmeric ?
Using whole Turmeric powder, even of the highest quality, will encounter low bioavailability as a constraint to reaping its health benefits.
Much research has focused on this topic to fully understand some known methods to 'supercharge' the absorption of Turmeric. Highlighted and summarized below are several techniques supported by extensive research that can dramatically magnify the 'bio-availability' of Turmeric.
Black Pepper: Adding a quarter teaspoon of Black Pepper to a teaspoon of Turmeric has been shown to increase the absorption of Turmeric into the blood stream by 2000% ! Studies have demonstrated that even 1/20'th of a teaspoon can have a dramatic effect on the bioavailability of Turmeric. It is believed that the Piperine compound which makes up approximately 5% of Black Pepper inhibits certain intestinal digestive enzymes.
Yes - Tom & Jerry's Chocolate Tumeries includes a 1/4 teaspoon of Balck pepper in every bite.
Healthy Fats: Turmeric needs to be combined with a fat in order for your body to fully absorb it and experience its amazing health benefits.
When eaten with healthy fats, such as coconut oil, curcumin can be directly absorbed into the bloodstream through the lymphatic system thereby in part bypassing the liver.
This is very important because less curcumin is exposed to metabolic enzymes and remains in a free form allowing it to stay in the body longer.
Yes - Tom & Jerry's Chocolate Tumeries includes a healthy amount of coconut oil in every bite!
Quercetin: Curcumin can be taken as a mixture of curcumin and quercetin. Quercetin is flavonoid and is found in many plants and foods such as apple, red grapes, onion, citrus fruit etc.
Quercetin inhibits the sulfotransferase enzyme that inactivates curcumin.
Yes - Tom & Jerry's Chocolate Tumeries includs a healthy amount of Quercetin in every bite!
Takeaway: Tom & Jerry's Chocolate Tumeries incorporate optimal amounts of Black Pepper, Quercetin and Coconut oil to provide you with a formulated solution designed to supercharge the health benefits you get from Turmeric and maximize its ability to help you combat Alzheimer's, Arthritis and Cancer.
What resources do you recommend for more detailed information?
Here are some of the best 'go to' sources of insight that we've come across; some are more benefit focused, the NCBI {NCBI is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)} is a must read academic source, here you get an idea of just how much research is going into the medicinal qualities of Turmeric.
National Center for Biological Information (NCBI)
Are there drawback to using Curcumin supplements?
Many supplements that you find in the Turmeric section of the health food store are not FDA approved and there is little certainty that what you think is in the bottle is actually what is in the bottle. Here is an example published on the www.CancerresearchUK.org website discussing the risks of Turmeric Supplements;
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a warning about the turmeric based food supplement Fortodol (also sold as Miradin). Fortodol has been found to contain the strong anti inflammatory drug nimesulide. Nimesulide can cause serious damage to the liver and is not licensed as a medicine in the UK. The Food Standards Agency in the USA states that taking products that contain unknown amounts of nimesulide could be very harmful.
Fortodol and Miradin are sold in the UK and on the internet as food supplements. The FSA advises anyone taking these products to stop doing so immediately, and contact their doctor if they have any signs of liver disease. The signs include jaundice, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, unusual tiredness, stomach or abdominal pain, or loss of appetite.
Our strong bias is to use the organic whole food approach to incorporating Turmeric into your diet; keep it simple and safe and over time the habit of wisely incorporating Turmeric into your daily dietary regimen (i.e. take one Chocolate Tumerie with your coffee in the morning) can change your life.