Now Foods Curcumin 120 softgels

• Reduces the extent of inflammation
• Exhibits strong antioxidant activity
• High content of curcumin
• Standardized turmeric extract
• Has chemopreventive and anti-cancer effects
• Supports the cardiovascular system
• Reduces neuronal degradation
• Improves the function of the digestive system
• Normalizes the function of the immune system
• Takes care of good condition of joints
• Supports liver function
• Increased bioavailability of curcumin
• Easy-to-take capsules

NOW Curcumin Softgels is a highly concentrated product containing highly standardized curcumin and curcumin derivatives extract from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, encapsulated in easy-release soft capsules. The product exhibits strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. Supporting the work of numerous systems and organs, it significantly improves the performance of the body, giving a better quality of life.

Curcuma longa extract - the essence extracted from the root of Curcuma longa, otherwise known as turmeric, long oyster, or Indian saffron, a plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family, a flowering perennial of tropical climates, widely cultivated in Southeast Asian countries, especially in India and China.

Traditional uses of turmeric
Known for thousands of years in Southeast Asian countries, turmeric still finds numerous forms of use today. It is an important ingredient in the cuisine of those regions. It improves the taste and aesthetic qualities of dishes, coloring them yellow through orange to almost brown, depending on the degree of acidity or alkalinity of the dish. Its value has also been recognized in traditional Hindu and Chinese medicine, where it has been used to reduce excessive cravings, reduce inflammation and pain and improve the functioning of the digestive tract and liver, topically also as a support for wound healing. Modern perceptions of turmeric focus on slightly different aspects, namely its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and anti-cancer effects. Regardless of the times, turmeric owes most of its specific properties primarily to the curcuminoids contained in its composition.

Curcuminoids - chemical compounds from the group of polyphenols, characterized by high chemical activity. They make up a significant part of the weight of turmeric, amounting to 3-5%. The most important curcuminoids include curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin and cyclocurcumin, of which the former, curcumin, is the most significant from a health-promoting point of view.

Curcumin - a phenolic compound from the curcuminoid group, first isolated in 1815 and structurally described by Polish researchers in 1910. Its higher amounts are recorded in dry, powdered turmeric root, at a level of 5-10%. Curcumin is a compound very soluble in fats, alcohols and acetone, less well in water. The health-promoting effects presented with its use are due both to its structural structure, which allows it to enter directly into the corresponding reaction, and through its influence on numerous intrinsic molecules, including receptors, growth factors, transcription factors, enzymes, or cytokines.

Properties of curcumin

Strengthens the antioxidant barrier of the body
Curcumin, both through its structure capable of reacting directly with aggressively reactive oxidative compounds, and by raising the activity of numerous antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione s-transferase, catalase and heme oxygenase, as well as raising the concentration of reduced glutathione, increases the efficiency of the antioxidant barrier of the body. The direct antioxidant properties of curcumin are compared to the potency of vitamins C and E. It is an effective scavenger of many reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, such as hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, and nitrogen dioxide. Effectively inhibits the overproduction of nitric oxide and reduces lipid peroxidation processes.

Reduces the extent of inflammation
Curcumin begins its anti-inflammatory action by leveling the excess of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which are responsible for triggering an avalanche of inflammation in the body. By lowering the amount of TNF-α and blocking the NF-кB factor, it reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including: IL-1, IL-6, IL-8. It also reduces inflammation by inhibiting the excitability of 5-lipoxygenase, an enzyme responsible for the production of leukotrienes, and cyclooxygenase COX-2, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of prostaglandins.

Exerts anticancer and anticancer effects
Curcumin counteracts tumorigenesis at multiple points in its development, from limiting undesirable transformations of normal cells, to blocking the proliferation of pathological cells, to reducing their activity and inducing death.

- By affecting the excitability of the NF-кB and STAT3 pathways relevant to the activity of COX-2, prostaglandins, cytokines and chemokines, it reduces inflammation that promotes tumor growth.
- By inhibiting the secretion by pathological cells of metalloproteinases, especially 2 and 9 (MMP-2 and MMP-9) that degrade collagen IV found in tissues of the circulatory system, among others, it reduces the formation of metastases due to the preservation of the stability of the barriers dividing normal tissues from altered cells.
- By blocking the factor VEGF, it inhibits angiogenesis that allows the nourishment and survival of pathological cells.
- By inducing post-apoptotic pathways of tumor cells through both extrinsic and intrinsic pro-apoptotic pathways and interfering with the activity of p53, Bcl-2 and Bax proteins, it induces death of the cells concerned. In combination with reducing the activity of anti-apoptotic mechanisms of cancer cells, it leads to their annihilation.
- By reducing the synthesis of cyclin D1 and enhancing the formation of inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases of the Kip family, including: p21 and p27, it reduces the rate of duplication of genetic material and potentiates the activity of p53, promoting the arrest of the development of cells abnormally altered in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. There is also a noticeable effect on the inhibition of development in the G2/M and G0/G1 phases of the cell cycle. The greatest effect on reducing the survival and development of pathological cells is seen in blocking the activity of the transcription factor NF-кB, whose high activity is essential for their existence.

Improves cardiovascular function
By acting as an antioxidant, inhibiting the activity of the transcription factor NF-кB and reducing the peroxidation of lipids moving in the vessels, it protects the heart structures and reduces the progression of degenerative processes in the blood vessels. It also contributes to improving the condition of the circulatory system through its antiplatelet action resulting from its ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase.

Protects the nervous system from degeneration
By exerting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, both in the nervous system itself and within peripheral tissues, it helps reduce the formation of markers of nervous system aging, such as products of glycooxidation, or altered proteins, lipids and nucleic acids in the process of oxidation. By promoting the formation of chaperonins, it reduces the formation of abnormally folded proteins and their aggregation, showing additional neuroprotective effects. It is noted to reduce the accumulation of intracellular fibrillar fibrils and extracellular deposits of beta-amyloids. As a result, it helps improve cognitive function and maintain high nervous system performance for longer.

Helps maintain good mood
By protecting dopaminergic neurons from degradation caused by, among other things, excessive oxidative stress, it ensures the ability to maintain a good mood and a positive attitude toward life.

Improves the condition and function of the digestive system
By stimulating the secretion of mucin lining the stomach, it promotes the maintenance of good condition of a particular section of the digestive system. By supporting the function of the liver and exerting a cholagogic and cholepoietic effect, it improves the digestive processes and improves the overall functioning of the given system. Through its properties, it reduces heaviness on the stomach, reduces belching and bloating.

Supports the maintenance of joint health
By blocking the expression of NF-кB factor and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α, curcumin reduces the severity of chronic inflammation in the joint area. By inhibiting the excitability of metalloproteases, especially MMP-13, it reduces the breakdown of joint structures.

Takes care of good liver health
By increasing the efficiency of the liver's antioxidant barrier that protects its structures from destruction, as well as by leveling the toxicity of harmful substances, especially by increasing the amount of reduced glutathione, and by influencing bile-forming processes, it ensures the good condition of the organ in question.

Supports the functioning of insulin and carbohydrate metabolism.
Mainly due to the inhibition of the activity of the NF-кB factor and the lowering of overstimulated levels of NO and TNF-α, it improves the oxidative balance of the body, which directly translates into the functioning of the insulin-carbohydrate economy. This affects the improvement of glycemia, the correctness of insulin utilization and the maintenance of the required pancreatic efficiency.

Improves the functioning of the immune system
By blocking the proliferation of B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, NK lymphocytes and dendrocytes, as well as the associated synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines, it manifests immunosuppressive properties important during periods of overly aggressive activity of the immune system, normalizing the work of the system in question

Has antibacterial and antifungal effects
Due to its ability to limit the development of yeast fungi and the growth of Bacillusis and Clostridium bacteria, it has antifungal and antibacterial abilities.

Restricts the growth of protozoa
By inhibiting the growth of Trypanosoma, Plasmodium and Leishmania, it counteracts protozoa.

Facilitates the attainment of an erection
By inducing hemooxygenase 1, it promotes the induction of erections.

Important for the bioavailability of curcumin
Curcumin, due to its presented hydrophobic nature, is relatively poorly bioavailable when administered orally. A definite improvement in bioavailability is observed when it is combined with phospholipids. Hence, it is important to provide curcumin in dissolved form in vegetable oils rich in the compounds in question, such as sunflower oil.

NOW Curcumin Softgels is an extremely concentrated product based on Curcuma longa rhizome extract standardized for its high content of curcumin and its derivatives. The product's active ingredients present numerous health-promoting properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive, anti-cancer, and bactericidal, larvicidal and fungicidal properties. By increasing the efficiency of the antioxidant barrier, reducing inflammation, ensuring the proper development of cells, and optimizing the activity of numerous factors, receptors, or enzymes, it improves the functioning of many systems and organs, including the cardiovascular, nervous, joint, immune, and digestive systems. It supports the proper functioning of insulin and carbohydrate metabolism, and takes care of mental well-being. Particularly noteworthy are its strong anti-cancer properties. Due to the multidirectionality of its actions, it significantly supports the maintenance of the required efficiency of the body, ensuring a better quality of life. The product, appearing in the form of soft capsules, allows an easy form of administration. The encapsulation of the extract dissolved in vegetable oil rich in phospholipids ensures better utilization of the active substances extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma longa.