Smarter Curcumin for dummer consumers?

This image caught my eye on facebook. It links to an article that makes a multitude of claims for a dietary supplement by the name of ‘smarter curcumin’:

Promotes Comfort & Flexibility

Studies have shown that curcumin may work by reducing certain key inflammation-promoting enzymes in the body. In some studies curcumin performed well in promoting comfort and flexibility without the side-effects; providing a natural supplement alternative. Athletes and weekend warriors alike are also using it for muscle and joint health recovery, too.

Supports Healthy Joints

Antioxidants play a role in keeping our joints healthy. Your body uses antioxidants to combat free radicals. Free radicals are unstable particles that are created as a result of millions of chemical reactions in the body. They can cause oxidative stress and damage on a cellular level. When scientists examine the blood and joint fluid of patients that are suffering with joint discomfort, often times there is an increased activity of free radicals and lower levels of antioxidants. Curcumin being rich in antioxidants, can give you a healthy supply.

Age-Reducing Beauty – Skin, Hair, and Body

Curcumin, being a very powerful natural antioxidant, helps reduce and neutralize free radicals, which damage and destroy your cells and DNA causing accelerated aging. Since most ageing disorders are driven by oxidative stress, this makes curcumin a very important daily supplement for aging adults.

Healthy Immune Balance

Your immune system is a network of various organs, tissues, and cells that work together to protect your body. Curcumin not only helps to enhance the responses of certain antibodies and cells within the immune system but may also help downregulate the expression of certain proinflammatory substances.

Promotes Cardio Health

A healthy heart consists of many factors, especially eating healthy and routine exercise. Adding curcumin as part of your healthy diet may have many benefits to protect your heart. Oxidized LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) particles (that have been disrupted by free radicals) may produce inflammation in the cardiovascular system. Studies suggest that the antioxidant effects of curcumin can help fight those free radicals.

Improves Digestion

Curcumin has been shown to calm the digestive system, helping to relieve gas, bloating, and other stomach and bowel issues. It works differently than probiotics or enzymes – naturally soothing the gut, and reducing the overproduction of acid.

Support Liver Health

Your liver plays an important role in stabilizing and balancing the maintenance of your body. The health of your liver can be directly related to oxidative stress and proinflammatory substances. Curcumin may help boost antioxidant defenses to help the liver detoxify and restore balance.

Supports Brain Health

The connection between inflammation and cognitive health cannot be overstated. Neurons are especially susceptible to inflammation and the release of inflammatory compounds in the body can be neurotoxic. Curcumin may help protect those precious brain cells.

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What fascinates me here is not so much the plethora of therapeutic claims. As far as I can see, most of them are not supported by what I would call good evidence. But I have grown so used to bogus claims in SCAM, that they rarely make me bat an eyelash.

What fascinates me most is the extraordinary picture evidently designed to attract our attention. Many people might have no idea what it depicts, other than a running leopard in a strange environment. Others will realise that the environment is an artery, and the chasing animal therefore seems to imply that the supplement enhances arterial blood flow.

But why? There is no evidence that curcumin has this effect, and the above therapeutic claims are largely unrelated to improvements of the blood circulation.

The artery is filled with red cells in their typical disc shape. It is, however, a shape red cells never have while submitted to flow in arteries. While circulating, they tend to attain a parachute-like shape:

Red cells form a disc shape only when they are motionless. Perhaps the picture really implies that curcumin generates a stagnation of blood flow? No, this is also not in line with reality; in stagnant blood, red cells aggregate and look like this:

So, you see why this image is puzzling. It seems to be aimed at people who are aware that it depicts something medical, yet too ignorant to realise that almost everything is wrong with it.

And why would anyone design an image like this? Could it be that only people naïve enough to think this picture makes any sense are likely to believe the tall tales offered in the text?