What Can you Take for Inflammation Instead of Tylenol or Ibuprofen?
Please consult with your doctor for any drug/supplement interactions. I am not a medical doctor, and this is not medical advice. Please see the full disclaimer at the bottom.
Per patient’s request, I am going to write a short article on natural alternatives to taking Tylenol or Ibuprofen. In my last newsletter, I discussed how taking Tylenol long-term can disrupt or use up your glutathione stores, which can lead to asthma and other breathing issues.
Please share this post far and wide to help others.
Over the last few decades, many well-done studies have been done on natural anti-inflammatory supplements that reduce inflammation and pain in similar mechanisms without the bad side effects. Below I will briefly discuss the options that have the best efficacy and research behind them.
Curcumin Helps with More than Inflammation
Supplementation with curcumin reliably reduces inflammation in the human body along with improving antioxidant status. I call this the “natural Ibuprofen” of all of the supplements available out there. Curcumin works through many different pathways in the body for reducing inflammation, and it also modulates or causes changes in the gut microbiome, leading to other good changes for other health conditions. Curcumin benefits the following issues:
Osteoarthritis: It shows moderate to large improvements in pain and function in patients with osteoarthritis. The proper form and dose needs to be used to see results (which I’ll discuss below).
Depression: a recent meta-analysis shows mild to moderate improvements in anxiety and depression (Curcumin for depression: a meta-analysis - PubMed (nih.gov)). This is promising research, and I believe that some depression and anxiety is related to inflammation and metabolic syndrome. The unhealthier you are (poor diet and no exercise), the worse you feel. I think that’s one reason exercise and a better diet improves people's mood and sleep. Healthy diet and exercises reduce the over-inflammatory load on the body.
(Depression Study: A total of 56 individuals with MDD were treated with 500 mg of BCM-95 curcumin (twice daily) or placebo for eight weeks. The primary measure was the IDS-SR30. Secondary outcomes included IDS-SR30 factor scores and the STAI. After eight weeks, the curcumin group experienced a 33.1% decrease in IDS-SR30 scores, a 19% decrease in STAI-S scores and a 14.8% decrease in STAI-T scores.)
Inflammatory bowel disease: curcumin has demonstrated reduction of IBD symptoms and may keep some patients in remission, without needing to take any pharmaceutical drugs. Review of the Effects and Mechanism of Curcumin in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease - PMC (nih.gov)
Diabetes: A1C levels were significantly decreased in participants taking curcumin compared to controls. The effect of nano-curcumin on HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profile in diabetic subjects: a randomized clinical trial - PubMed (nih.gov)
Alzheimer's: Biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s were reduced by curcumin.
How to Take Curcumin
Curcumin comes in many different forms and brands. Curcumin is hard to absorb on its own, so it either needs a carrier (like a lipid or fat molecule) or taken with piperine (which is a form of pepper) to open up the junctions in the GI tract. The following forms work best and can be found in many reputable companies:
Meriva: This is my personal favorite form, and it is patented. It is a lipid bound curcumin that is absorbed very well by the GI tract. The dosage to take is 500mg-1000mg per day with a meal.
BCM-95: This is another lipid-bound form that works well. The best dosage to take is 600 mg-1200 mg per day with a meal.
Curcumin with piperine: This is typically your least expensive supplement form of curcumin that uses a form of pepper or piperine to get the curcumin to by-pass the GI tract for better absorption. This form you need to take up to 1500 mg per day to see effects.
When you take curcumin, start off with the lower dose (500mg per day) and work up to a therapeutic dose of 1000-1500 mg per day. Give it time to take effect over weeks because it works through many different anti-inflammatory mechanisms, compared to a drug like ibuprofen.
In my next installment of anti-inflammatory supplements, I will discuss the best forms of collagen peptides (best brands as well), best forms of chondroitin/glucosamine, and other anti-inflammatory supplements such as systemic enzymes and Boswellia serrata.
In a future substack (paid), I will be going into detail about the best quality supplements you can take for the price. The supplement industry does not have a lot of regulations, so testing of brands needs to be done to make sure they contain what it says on the label. Being subscribed to a couple different advisory services, I can give my readers details on what supplements pass the purity tests (no heavy metals) and contain what the label says.
Disclaimer
I am not a medical doctor, and this is not medical advice. My goal is to empower you with information. Please make all health decisions yourself, consulting sources you trust, including a caring health care professional.