Reduce muscle soreness using Turmeric shots

Unfamiliar, high intensity exercise, especially involving eccentric contractions* will likely result in exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD) (Campbell et al., 2021). This incites an inflammatory response (IR) that leads to delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) (Miles et al., 2008). DOMS is the dull aching sensation in your muscles, usually felt around 24-48hours post intensive exercise (Chueng, Hume and Maxwell, 2003) and results in decreased muscle function, that is most notably a reduced ability to generate force (Byrne et al., 2004). Reducing the negative effects of DOMS can maximise performance gains due to an increased training frequency and prevention of injury (Carfagno and Hendrix 2014).

The IR is created through an influx of leucocytes and cytokines which is mediated by cyclooxygenase pathways (COX-2) (Davis et al., 2007). Therefore, successful methods of reducing muscle soreness must attenuate the IR in order to accelerate muscle recovery. One of these methods is through the supplementation of Curcumin (Davis et al., 2007), which is abundant in Turmeric spice.

Non-steroidal drugs are normally used to reduce the effects of DOMS (Lewis et al., 2012), however long-term use reduces muscle growth and leads to other harmful side effects (Mallard et al., 2021). This gives strength to the alternative recovery aids with anti-inflammatory properties, that are growing in popularity. For example, Kuehl et al. (2010) found reduced soreness in runners with the supplementation of cherry juice. Ammar et al. (2016) found reduced muscle soreness in weight training whilst ingesting pomegranate juice, and Daab et al. (2021) showed an improved recovery of soccer players with beetroot juice supplementation. However, in this blog post we will discuss the effects of Tumeric spice on muscle soreness.

Curcumin is a natural polyphenolic substance abundant in Tumeric (Tanabe et al., 2018) and is well known for medical uses. It is used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (Li et al., 2020), gastrointestinal diseases (Gosh et al., 2018) and cancer (Kunnumakkara et al., 2017) due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Curcumin controls inflammation through the inhibition of COX-2 (McFarlin et al., 2016) which, when successful, has shown to alleviate muscle soreness (Paulsen et al., 2010). As mentioned above, this has potential in reducing the IR through attenuating the leucocyte influx. Furthermore, it also desensitizes ion channel receptors responsible for muscle pain sensitivity (Marchesi et al., 2021) thus reducing the apparent pain sensation felt during DOMS.

So let's digest some scientific studies that have seen an improved muscle recovery following turmeric supplementation. Davis et al. (2007) saw reduced markers of inflammation in downhill running (reduced inflammatory cytokines) in mice. Both Drobnic et al. (2014) and Jäger et al. (2017) reported less soreness from the quadricep muscles after downhill running from ingesting 0.2g of curcumin per day. Nicol et al. (2015) showed reduced soreness in lower limb resistance training with the supplementation of 5g per day. Waldman et al. (2019) found reduced muscle soreness in resistance training following 1.5 g of daily curcumin ingestion. Lastly, Tanabe et al. (2015) added curcumin also has an effect in the upper limbs, reducing elbow flexor soreness with 0.18g of curcumin per day.

As stated earlier, Turmeric has a wide range of benefits as-well outside of the gym, from detoxifying the body, to preventing of cancer and aiding arthritis. Han et al (2018) demonstrated with oral supplementation 100mg/kg reduced the risk of the flu virus and lung injury, and improved the body's ability to cope with wound infections. I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see Turmeric containing antibiotics for medical treatments. Haroyan et al. (2018) found an improvement in Osteoarthritis with 3 daily doses of 500mg Curcumin, and most notably there has been evidence linking Curcumin in reducing the risk of cancer (Park et al., 2013; Kunnumakkara et al., 2017).

Now with regards to the optimum dosage and timing of Turmeric supplementation, it seems to be unclear at this point in the research. Delecroix et al. (2017) stated that Turmeric had minimal effect of trained athletes, attenuating DOMS more in the general population. This is lily because of the athletes muscles already being highly resistant to DOMS meaning most supplements won't have much effect anyway - further research in this topic is definitely needed. The general agreed upon dosage is around 150-1500mg (Yoon et al. 2020), and there has been some argument to say these should be split in 2-3 doses throughout the day (Waldman et al., 2020). Tanabe has reported in two separate studies that muscle soreness is reduced more effectively when taken after exercise, than before (2019; 2019) - however these are the current only studies that report this same finding, so further research is needed to confirm. Lastly, there is some new evidence saying Turmeric is better absorbed in the body when consumed alongside black pepper (Delecroix et al., 2017)

Now I personally don't really cook with a lot of Turmeric, I am more of Ginger fan for flavour. Therefore in order to still seek the health benefits I supplement my diet with TumericCo.'s shots, which you can see below.

Buy Turmeric on Amazon here -> https://amzn.to/3zoW702

Turmeric.Co's products contain 35g of pure Turmeric in each shot, and aren't coated with apple juice like other brands, and I genuinely love the taste of them every morning. Their product also contains black pepper and flax oil that enhance Curcumin absorption in the body (Delecroix et al., 2017).

One of the most important findings of all the research however, is that there has been no reported toxicity side effects from any doses (Fernandez et al., 2020).

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, I hope you enjoyed. Please see my website if you're interested in more blogs like this, where I am also selling my own training plans. You can find me on instagram @hb.fitt_

hbfit 💪🏼🖤

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Dictionary*

Eccentric Contractions: Lengthening of a muscle actively under tension. E.g the lowering of the arm during a bicep curl, or the downward phase of a leg extension.

References

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Byrne, C., Twist, C., & Eston, R. (2004). Neuromuscular function after exercise-induced muscle damage. Sports medicine, 34(1), 49-69.

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Daab, W., Bouzid, M. A., Lajri, M., Bouchiba, M., Saafi, M. A., & Rebai, H. (2021). Chronic beetroot juice supplementation accelerates recovery kinetics following simulated match play in soccer players. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 40(1), 61-69.

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