The Benefits of Curcumin for Canines.

Foreword

Tough physical exercise produces oxidation and inflammation, your body will deal with this with its own powerful anti-inflammatory response. This inflammation is also a signal to the body to start repairing and building stronger muscles, with this in mind using curcumin after exercise may hinder the benefits gained from the exercise itself.

Introduction

It’s likely that at some point in your dogs’ life they will suffer from aches and pains, whether it’s from a hard day of physical work, injuries, or just the physical deterioration that comes with an ageing body. During these times, it’s important to be able to help our pets deal with their pain, for us to be able to take some of their discomforts away.

Of course, there are options both natural and medical, if your dog is suffering your first instincts should be to get them to a vet to determine the source of their pain, here your vet will be able to offer medical advice and if necessary painkillers. Long-term, however, painkillers such as Common NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can have a negative impact on your dogs’ health, links have been made to issues such as an increased risk of heart failure and gastrointestinal damage among others.

With this in mind and when possible, you may want to look into more natural options that can be used more sustainably over the long-term without the need to worry about the negative consequences and curcumin is a great place to start.

If you’re a person who likes to cook then you will have likely come across the spice turmeric, used in many recipes and common in Indian cuisine, this powerful spice is likely to stain anything it touches bright yellow. Responsible for this vibrant colour is the anti-oxidant rich phytonutrient curcumin and it is also the reason that turmeric has been gaining popularity as a health-promoting and feel-good addition to any diet, as well as your dogs.

Used for centuries and possibly millennia by the practitioners of ancient medicines for its powerful properties, we have now been able to look at this through the eyes of modern-day science and shed light on its true potential.

What are the health benefits of consuming curcumin?

• Anti-inflammatory.

Inflammation can be both cause and effect of almost all diseased states, it can be the cause of pain with issues ranging from osteoarthritis, to muscle strains and has even been linked to depression.

Having a natural way to reduce this inflammation allows us to minimise negative effects that might be had from the long-term use of synthetic drugs, and strong evidence has shown that curcumin reduces inflammation in diseased states in an indiscriminate manner, this means that it can help regardless of the inflammatory source.

• Pain Relief.

Pain and inflammation go hand in hand in terms of injuries and diseased states, reducing inflammation, therefore, has a pain-reducing effect. At higher doses of curcumin, an effect comparable to that of Paracetamol or Acetaminophen at 2g has been shown effective against a broad range of pain.

• Anxiety and Depression.

It seems that these unpleasant mental states have their roots at least for some with inflammation, studies have shown that supplemental curcumin may have a positive effect in this area although more investigating needs to be done.

• Osteoarthritis.

This kind of condition screams inflammation, and it’s this kind of condition where curcumin has shown great promise in being able to alleviate symptoms and pain to a meaningful degree over months of supplementation, being able to reduce symptoms to more than half or around 40%.

• Anti-cancer.

Cancer can affect our dogs just as it can affect us. In human studies at least, curcumin has been shown to induce apoptosis (cell death) in many types of cancer; it further helps by inhibiting cell division and growth and of course, reducing inflammation.

• Gut-Friendly.

Studies have shown curcumin may be helpful in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders such as IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease) by reducing inflammation in the gut. Many of today’s pets suffer from gut issues relating to unhealthy diets or prolonged exposure to allergens and curcumin could help these pets massively with any pain or discomfort they are experiencing as well as reducing gut permeability.

As you can see, there are many health benefits when it comes to the addition of curcumin to anyone’s diet. However, don’t just trust this article, have a search online and look into the wealth of studies and anecdotal reports on the benefits people have gained from using curcumin.

I have put some links at the bottom of this post for more in-depth reading as you must form your own educated opinion before you decide for yourself, whether you should use curcumin for your dog and not just take my word for it.

This list is just a small amount of the potential benefits that curcumin has to offer us and our pets. Controlling inflammation is an important step towards mitigating the effects of disease and minimising the effects of this silent killer. Fortunately, the studies into this chemical will continue, and clarity of its benefits will grow.

One thing is for certain though; if you’re looking for a safe and effective way to ease your dog’s pains and discomforts without the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs, then this is where you will find some answers and some relief.

For more in-depth reading regarding curcumin, then head over to one of my favourite websites examine to learn more. Also, If you haven’t got yourself a copy of Canine Nutrigenomics yet, then simply follow the link below as it briefly mentions the many health benefits of curcumin in relation to fighting cancer for our canine friends.

Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health

*By purchasing through these links you are supporting epoch.pet as we get a small amount of commission, with no extra cost to you. This money helps keep the blog up and running and allows us to purchase pet products to review on our site. I only ever review products that are tried and tested by my girls and I think are great!

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I hope you all liked today’s short yet interesting post and stick around for Saturday’s post which is going to be a golden paste recipe, which is full of the amazing spice turmeric and phytonutrient curcumin.

If you enjoyed today’s post then let me know by hitting that like button and giving it a share so other pet owners can learn about the amazing health benefits of curcumin for our canine friends.

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