The Problem:
High intensity sports like jujitsu really take a toll on the body’s joints. Especially in older men and women joint pain seems like it one of the top reasons that people get taken out of the game before their time. Sports like Brazilian Jujitsu are especially rigorous on the joints due to the grappling, pulling, rolling and flipping. I was taking classes at a local gym last spring and could really tell how the sport taxed my fingers, shoulders, and everything else. I asked my instructor what he suggested for recovery and one of the things he suggested were magnesium (epsom salt baths) and a ZMA supplement. Both of these were great suggestions and I took his advice immediately. However, I was finding that even though I was doing once a week sessions, I wasn’t able to get nearly what I thought was enough recovery for the next session a week later….so I did some digging.
After hearing Dr. Rhonda Patrick sing the praises of Tumeric on the Joe Rogan podcast, I decided to look into it a little further. For as long as I have been taking supplements and trying different things, I know that some are better than others and I know for a fact that some absorb better in your gut than others. Supplement makers combine supplements with other additives to preserve them through digestion so you actually get what you pay for (at least the manufacturers that make good products do). Other manufacturers seem to not care as much and just add the standard things to preserve the product in the bottle and nothing else. Knowing this I was looking for the most for my money and wanted a Tumeric supplement that would actually absorb into my body so I could reap the benefits of the anti-inflammation properties of the herb.
The Product:
Enter Source Naturals Tumeric with Meriva. According to an article I read on examine.com Tumeric has to be coupled with one of a few other substances to make it worth taking. One of these choices is Meriva (or BCM-95). According to the article on examine.com: “Complexing curcumin with phospholipids (a phosphatidylcholine-curcumin complex known as Meriva) can increase its incorporation into lipophilic membranes, increasing Cmax and AUC five-fold in rats[17] and making 450mg Meriva as effective as 4g curcumin in humans (unpublished trial).[18] Other trials suggest a factor of 29-fold higher absorption in humans, although said enhanced absorption favors demethoxycurcumin rather than curcumin.” You can find that link here: https://examine.com/supplements/curcumin/. Pepperine (black pepper extract) is another option they list in the article. Simplifying the terms here means that if you take a Tumeric supplement without one of the ingredients included in the examine.com article you’re not getting any of the desired effects.
How it Helped Me:
So back to jujitsu ?. My fingers and hands were taking the brunt of the abuse from the rolling every Wednesday night for 2 hours. As the pain got worse I needed to take something for it besides the ice baths, epsom salt baths and the magnesium. I refuse to take Ibuprofen due to it basically being a poison for your gut. I found a product by the company Source Naturals (http://www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP2369) and tried a bottle. To date this is the highest quality source that has the best absorption because of the Meriva. I also find it to be the most reasonably priced as well. Taking one of these a day for a week was better than acetaminophen or Ibuprofen. While it didn’t work right away, it did kick in after about a week worth of dosing one pill a day. I noticed a decrease in pain while at work and the morning after a mat session. Besides the many other benefits of Tumeric that you may already know about due to it being used in Eastern Medicine for likely the last 4 thousand years, I didn’t know that it had to be “piggybacked” on something to actually get it through your gut and into your body. When taking supplements I always try to remember one important principal: Anything in your gut it still outside of your body.
Conclusion:
This Source Naturals brand is the best I have found so far for this supplement. I mix and match the companies that I buy from because they don’t all make the same products equal and if they do, there is usually enough difference in price to look at other companies for certain ones.
My jujitsu joint healing protocol was:
- Ice Bath for 15 minutes immediately after a roll session (up to waist with elbows and hands in water)
- Epsom salt bath the next night
- Tumeric with Meriva pill every morning (including weekends while enrolled in classes.
Stay strong and limber!
J
Sources for this article:
Source Naturals: http://www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP2369
Pub Med: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23526055/
Examine.com article: https://examine.com/supplements/curcumin/
Dr. Rhonda Patrick: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/news/s/aqotbz/people_taking_2_grams_of_a_curcumin_lecithin_formulation_experienced_pain_relief_greater_than_that_associated_with_taking_500_mg_of_acetaminophen