curcumin dreams

Wikipedia says it best: Curcumin is known for its antitumor, antioxidant, antiarthritic, anti-amyloid and anti-inflammatory properties. , which pretty well takes care of everything. In India there are bandaids with curcumin on them to speed healing, and I've read of curcumin's use in helping rashes and acne. In cancer, it works primarily, as far as anyone knows for sure, by slowing inflammation and speeding apoptosis. The latter is programmed cell death, which is what you want for cancer cells; I always imagine bubble wrap with giant fingers popping it. (What does apoptosis make you think of?)
There are a few problems with curcumin. It isn't absorbed well by the body, so that even with people taking 8 grams/day (and they have my admiration) the amounts showing up in the body aren't large. There's some slight evidence that mixing it with liquid, especially fats, helps the bioabsorption. I think of hundreds of generations of East Asian women frying up the spices in ghee as they cook dinner and sigh at modern science, which wants everything encapsulated and measurable.
The other slight problem is that even when it's absorbed it doesn't necessarily work, which puts it in with most other pancreatic cancer treatments. But it's worth a try, and it's fun to play with.
On the other hand, both the hundreds of generations of East Asians (and Moroccans, and Catalans) who've eaten turmeric regularly with no problems as well as those volunteers who ate the 8 grams a day have shown that it has as few side effects as anything else.
What this means for me is that I went to the Vitality Shop, our most knowledgeable source for alternative and complementary supplements. Susan suggested a two-pronged approach: supplements of almost pure curcumin plus adding turmeric to everything possible, on the basis that the other stuff in turmeric might either be what works or help what works do better. Luckily we like Indian food. Recipes will follow as I find some good ones.
In the mean time, I can tell you that you can sneak 1/2 t of turmeric into a smoothie, but any more than that and you'll understand just why there aren't any recipes for strawberries in turmeric sauce out there.