Resvaratrol and Curcumin reverse some of the lung damage caused by smoking
01.12.2010 15:12
Substances called benzopyrenes are formed when organic
materials are
burned. They are highly carcinogenic and are considered major causes of
the lung cancers that result from tobacco smoking. They are also
suspected causes of other cancers resulting from the consumption of
barbecued, roasted, or toasted food.
It
has now been shown that resveratrol (the new “wonder supplement”) and
curcumin (the main ingredient in turmeric spice) can reverse some of
the lung damage caused by inhaling benzopyrenes. This means that people
whose lungs are already damaged from years of tobacco addiction do not
need to feel that they are doomed to live the rest of their lives with
malfunctioning lungs.
Both of these substances, resveratrol and curcumin, can improve the structure of damaged lung tissue when used separately.
And when used in combination, the benefit is significantly better.
The
research that established these exciting conclusions was done at Panjab
University. Five groups of mice served as experimental subjects:
Group 1 was left unexposed to benzopyrenes and untreated;
Group 2 was exposed to BP but left untreated;
Group 3 was exposed to BP and then treated with resveratrol;
Group 4 was exposed to BP and treated with curcumin; and
Group 5 was exposed to BP and treated with a combination of resveratrol and curcumin.
The
researchers reported that “treatments with resveratrol and curcumin
given separately to BP-treated mice showed appreciable improvement in
the histo-architecture of the lung, combined treatment resulted in a
noticeable improvement in the lung histo-architecture.”2
Both curcumin and resveratrol are available as dietary supplements. LifeLink sells curcumin under the brand name PriMeric™, and resveratrol under the brand name ilLuminol™.
On a related subject, it was recently shown that resveratrol is able to kill cancer cells that are resistant to ordinary cancer
drugs.3 This is good news for cancer patients who have already been treated with anti-cancer drugs and have then seen the cancer
return in a drug-resistant form.
