Curcumin: Lean Mass Protector

by Tim Ziegenfuss – 11/01/12

Want to start a hardcore fat-loss diet and not lose an ounce of muscle? Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) may be your new secret weapon.

Here's the scoop: A key player in muscle atrophy is a protein complex called NF-KB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells). When activated, NF-KB moves to the nucleus of your muscle cells, binds to the DNA, and initiates its muscle degradation dirty work. Not good.

Enter Curcumin

Curcumin has been shown in animal and cell studies to prevent NF-KB activation and muscle degradation.

As an added bonus curcumin also scavenges free radicals and induces heat shock proteins, both of which may enhance the anti-catabolic effects of curcumin.

The bioavailability of curcumin isn't great, but combining it with piperine, as Biotest does, increases uptake in humans by 2000%. Flameout™ contains the "right stuff" type of CLA and in an amount that's intended to help hardcore athletes prevent deficiencies in this important fatty acid.

Combine that with curcumin's benefits as an inflammation fighter (it rivals fish oil) and cancer foe, and you'll understand why the big pharmaceutical companies are hard at work developing drugs based on its synthetic analogs.

Given curcumin's health benefits and its direct impact on physique development, curcumin might just become a staple for all hardcore bodybuilders and athletes.

Source

"Curcumin and Muscle Wasting: A new role for an old drug?"

Alamdari N, O'Neal P, Hasselgren PO
Nutrition. 2009 Feb;25(2):125-9. Epub 2008 Nov 22. Review.