How to Use Turmeric to Fight the Current Wave of Norovirus
How Curcumin’s Antiviral Properties Could Reduce the Duration and Intensity of Stomach Viruses
A new viral outbreak is occurring in the United States.
According to the CDC, norovirus –also known as the stomach flu — rates have been increasing. As of February 11th, 2023, the CDC estimated the average positivity rate of norovirus in the U.S. was nearly 17%.
Noroviruses are not typically deadly, but their symptoms might make you wish they were. And because they’re highly contagious, you or a family member will likely catch them this winter.
Luckily, noroviruses are short-lived –though if vomiting persists past 24 hours, such that you can’t even hold down water, see a doctor.
There are supplements available with compounds proven by science to reduce the odds of catching noroviruses and their duration if you’ve already caught one.
The compound in question can be found in turmeric plants. The inner orange pigment of turmeric is known as curcumin, whose health benefits extend far beyond aiding with noroviruses.
What is Norovirus?
Noroviruses in late winter are normal, so there’s no need to panic as we did in 2020. But, yes, that’s right –we have seasonal bouts of a bug that can make you poop and puke simultaneously!
The reason stomach bugs are prevalent during January and February is at least partially because we spend more time indoors –if you live with others or commute within a city, that means you are spending more time in closed spaces where germs can be spread.
The most characteristic stomach flu symptoms include nausea, body aches, weakness, and (worst of all) profuse vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration if not properly handled.
To “properly handle” a norovirus, if you are still vomiting and excreting, you should consume no fluids or food until it stops. If you haven’t caught it yet, but you live with someone who has, everyone involved should be washing their hands repeatedly when touching surfaces.
Once you’ve stopped exploding, take light sips of water throughout the rest of the day. At most, Pedialyte –the drink one should opt for over Gatorade in all cases — will be an additional fluid to experiment with toward the end of the day, so you can prevent the loss of essential electrolytes and minerals.
After some time has passed and you can drink water without chucking it back up, keep replenishing electrolytes and start adding back food slowly. Bland food like bananas, apple sauce, crackers, and bread is a staple at this stage, as they lack acidity and fat, which could re-irritate the stomach.
What is Curcumin?
Turmeric –the main ingredient in curry — is among many “superfoods” conventionally gravitated towards because they’re associated with “health.” While in this case, turmeric actually fits the bill, very often, convention alone isn’t a great guide when it comes to health.
Understanding underlying mechanisms –or, at the very least, what is or isn’t supported by science and why — goes a long way to improving one’s health and fitness.
That said, a salient reason turmeric is a genuinely healthy food is because of its inner orange pigment called curcumin, which has been used for several thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties and its scientifically proven ability to alleviate pain.
The specific mechanism that promotes the diminishment of pain is the inhibition of the enzyme called cyclooxygenase, which is pro-inflammatory.
The same process occurs in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications, such as aspirin and ibuprofen.
A good reason –in general and concerning the current norovirus outbreak — to opt for curcumin instead is because it is a common side-effect of NSAIDs to feel stomach discomfort –whereas curcumin does quite the opposite.
The anti-pain effects of curcumin are potent enough to show improvements for patients with arthritis and rheumatism and are a commonly used sports supplement for joint and muscle pain.
To get the full spectrum of curcumin’s benefits, it is important to get the dosage right.
Five hundred milligrams of curcumin with piperine –also known as “black pepper extract” — — is the effective dosage. The added ingredient is needed because curcumin has poor bioavailability without it.
Some patented versions of curcumin exist which take care of the bioavailability problem by pre-adding black pepper extracts, such as BCM-95® and Meriva®.
How to Use Curcumin to Fight Norovirus
In a study published in the journal Molecules in 2016, researchers evaluated the anti-noroviral properties of curcumin.
Researchers found that curcumin had markedly reduced norovirus replication in human cells, suggesting that it has “antiviral properties.”
Researchers were interested in studying curcumin for this purpose because previous research had demonstrated that it possessed antiviral properties against hepatitis C –which doesn’t make it a “cure,” but a precautionary preventative.
In the case of curcumin fighting norovirus, the process which occurs is known as “photodynamic inactivation,” which is the overproduction of light and oxygen in a targeted fashion that kills pathogens.
According to the journal Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy in 2015, the result of photodynamic inactivation of noroviruses from curcumin is the complete alteration of the viruses’ morphology –quite literally, the shape of their structures!
Despite their acutely potent symptoms, these viruses are quite weak already, so one can look at curcumin as akin to a giant kill-laser to norovirus germs, as it deteriorates their physical structures –i.e., proteins and nucleic acids — to inactivation and death!
