Nutraceuticals and nootropics for anti-aging

Resveratrol and curcumin can reverse lung damage caused by substances found in tobacco smoke

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.¹

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™.

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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.

References

[1] Benzo(a)pyrene Wikipedia website

[2] Modulatory effects of curcumin and resveratrol on lung carcinogenesis in mice. Phytother Res. 2009 Dec 29;

[3] Resveratrol down-regulates survivin and induces apoptosis in human multidrug-resistant SPC-A-1/CDDP cells. Oncol Rep. 2010 Jan; 23(1):279-86