Have a curry to improve your recovery?

Comment - I like a nice curry....here is an article which suggests that a certain spice could help to reduce the inflammatory effects of exercise!

Curcumin is contained in tumeric..which is in many curries. So if you are sore from too much eccentric exercise - then get that Bhuna!


INFLAMMATION AND CYTOKINES
Curcumin effects on inflammation and performance recovery following eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage
J. Mark Davis,1 E. Angela Murphy,1 Martin D. Carmichael,1 Mark R. Zielinski,1 Claire M. Groschwitz,1 Adrienne S. Brown,1 J. David Gangemi,3 Abdul Ghaffar,2 and Eugene P. Mayer2

1Division of Applied Physiology, Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health and the 2Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia; and 3Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina

Submitted 8 December 2006 ; accepted in final form 26 February 2007


Downhill running is associated with fiber damage, inflammation, delayed-onset muscle soreness, and various functional deficits. Curcumin, a constituent of the Indian spice turmeric has been investigated for its anti-inflammatory activity and may offset some of the damage and functional deficits associated with downhill running. This study examined the effects of curcumin on inflammation and recovery of running performance following downhill running in mice. Male mice were assigned to downhill placebo (Down-Plac), downhill curcumin (Down-Cur), uphill placebo (Up-Plac), or uphill curcumin (Up-Cur) groups and run on a treadmill at 22 m/min at –14% or +14% grade, for 150 min. At 48 h or 72 h after the up/downhill run, mice (experiment 1) underwent a treadmill performance run to fatigue. Another subset of mice was placed in voluntary activity wheel cages following the up/downhill run (experiment 2) and their voluntary activity (distance, time and peak speed) was recorded. Additional mice (experiment 3) were killed at 24 h and 48 h following the up/downhill run, and the soleus muscle was harvested for analysis of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-), and plasma was collected for creatine kinase analysis. Downhill running decreased both treadmill run time to fatigue (48 h and 72 h) and voluntary activity (24 h) (P < 0.05), and curcumin feedings offset these effects on running performance. Downhill running was also associated with an increase in inflammatory cytokines (24 h and 48 h) and creatine kinase (24 h) (P < 0.05) that were blunted by curcumin feedings. These results support the hypothesis that curcumin can reduce inflammation and offset some of the performance deficits associated with eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage.