Our flagship product, NUTMERIC, is the result of hundreds of hours of home-based formulations research; it is a taste and health-benefit perfected patent-pending Turmeric/Curcumin spread and dip. Turmeric (Curcuma longa, Ginger family) is combined with almonds to produce a delectable and nutritious spread and dip.
Our Mission & the Scientific Foundation
The mission of Spread Health Foods is to reduce the inflammatory disease burden of our planet through irresistible scientific superfoods.
Turmeric is the dried rhizome (root) of the plant curcuma longa, belonging to the ginger family. Turmeric has been an integral part of the diet in many East Asian countries for millenniums. Epidemiological studies show that populations that consume turmeric as part of the diet have reduced chance of developing several inflammatory diseases such as colon cancer and Alzheimer's disease [1,2,3]. In turmeric mother nature has provided a formidable army of bioactive molecules: curcumin, other curminoids and turmeric oil (turmerones) which work on many biochemical pathways that are beneficial for promoting optimum health ( Fig 1).
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| Fig. 1. Biological activities of turmeric and curcumin: Diverse activities of biologic relevance demonstrated in preclinical models and in human studies are shown to illustrate the potential of curcumin to treat human diseases. Cellular mechanisms associated with the effects observed are shown inside the arrows. AP-1, activator protein-1; COX, cyclooxygenase; GSH, glutathione; HO-1, heme oxygenase-1; iNOS, inducible nitric oxide synthase; JAK, janus kinase; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinases; MMP,matrix metalloproteinase; NF-??, nuclear factor-kappa B; NOS, nitric oxide synthase; ODC, ornithine decarboxylase; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SERCA, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase; SOD, superoxide dismutase; TGF, transforming growth factor; TNF, tumor necrosis factor [1]. Adapted from Strimpakos and Sharma, 2008 [5]. |
What are the advantages of NUTMERIC?
When turmeric/curcumin is consumed in a tablet form, only a very small fraction (less than one in 10,000) is absorbed [4]. A major reason for the poor bioabsorption of turmeric and its primary active ingredient curcumin in the form of tablets is their poor water solubility. In our NUTMERIC ® series of products, turmeric and curcumin is perfectly solubilized for bioabsorption in the nut butter medium. This work has been presented at the National Cancer institute [2].
| Fig 2. On the left is the oil from a NUTMERIC jar, it is intense yellow because of dissolved bioavailable turmeric and curcumin. The second vial is the solution of a turmeric extract tablet in water, after filtration. The transparent solution indicates very poor solubility. |
In addition in our Nutmeric series we have incorporated black pepper as an ingredient because it has been shown to act as an adjuvant to improve the bioavailability of curcumin. NUTMERIC is a holistically designed functional food deliberately designed to promote optimum health and prevent disease. It has anti-aging properties and works at the cellular level: It has potent antioxidant properties (Fig 3.). Almonds are used in Nutmeric because of the heart healthy properties of the nuts. We also have garlic as one of the ingredients because of its anti viral and heart healthy properties. It is the healthiest and tastiest spread invented. It is our goal to both protect and steal your heart!!
| Fig 3. The antioxidant potential (ORAC) value of NUTMERIC, is 300% more than control almond butter. |
Over 7,500 Scientific publications eg. Scientific American (2007), 296(2), 66-69; Molecular Nutrition & Food Research (2008), 52(9) and media reports (MSN health, Readers Digest ) support the numerous health benefits of Turmeric/Curcumin intake. Turmeric/Curcumin has potential anti-cancer properties; it is neuroprotective and is currently in a clinical trial at UCLA to treat Alzheimer's disease. Both Turmeric and almonds are employed in NUTMERIC to protect the heart. The above three diseases affect millions of people all over the world and cost US health care ~$1.4 trillion a year. Taste and formulation-perfected NUTMERIC BUTTER spread and dip is designed to make Turmeric intake an integral part of the American breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner meals.
Our approach is based on our understanding of human nature: a healthy food can only have a positive impact on human health if it is very tasty; otherwise only a small fraction of humanity would eat it and not on a consistent basis. In a nut shell, our mission is to prevent disease by inventing and producing irresistible SCRUMPTIOUS SCIENTIFIC SUPER FOODS.
References
1) "Curcumin: preventive and therapeutic properties in laboratory studies and clinical trials" Antioxidants & Redox Signal. (2008) 10(3):511-45
2)"TURMERIC/ CURCUMIN as potential chemo-preventive agents and their incorporation into the western diet via a novel dietary composition NUTMERIC ®" Poster 33; National Cancer Institute CTC Conference Sept 10-11 (2009), NIH Bethesda.
3) The concept of a green drug, MROC , 2009, Volume 6, No.2., 152-158. 4) Bioavailability of Curcumin: Problems and Promises Mol. Pharmaceutics, (2007),
4 (6), 807-818.
