We’ve read about the many health benefits of curcumin for dogs and humans. As discussed here, curcumin is the active ingredient that makes the common kitchen spiceturmeric (pictured at right) good for brain and joint health. It’s available in concentrated form, as a small, orange supplement that’s easy to hide in your dog’s food.

Now, here’s another reason to supplement your dog’s diet – and your own -with curcumin: It can help prevent cancer, according to the highly respected wellness guru Dr. Joseph Mercola. In fact, it’s known as an anti-cancer nutrient.

Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published a groundbreaking scientific review of curcumin, which is remarkable in that it can actually tell the difference between a healthy cell and a cancer cell.

Here’s how the researchers explained their interest in curcumin:

… Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) … is one of the most powerful and promising chemopreventive and anticancer agents … How curcumin exerts its powerful anticancer activities has been thoroughly investigated, and several mechanisms of action have been discovered … curcumin exerts its biological activities through epigenetic modulation.

In other words, curcumin changes the regulation of DNA to help kill cancer. In fact, curcumin not only influences epigenetic settings, it also manages the downstream consequences, helping to guide multiple steps in the way gene orders are implemented.

“Curcumin currently has the most evidence-based literature supporting its use against cancer than any other nutrient,” Dr. Mercola says. “Best of all, curcumin appears to be safe in the treatment of all cancers.”

The good doc continues: “Researchers have found that curcumin can affect more than 100 different pathways, once it gets into the cell. More specifically, curcumin has been found to inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells; inhibit the transformation of cells from normal to tumor; help your body destroy mutated cancer cells so they cannot spread throughout your body; decrease inflammation; inhibit the synthesis of a protein thought to be instrumental in tumor formation; and help prevent the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth (angiogenesis).”

All that is wonderful news for Dogsters whose best friends have experienced cancer, whether they are battling it now or are in remission.

To keep ourselves healthy, my dogs and I all eat food liberally spiced with turmeric, plus we take concentrated curcumin supplements; for one-stop-shopping, our favorite brand is Ayush, which makes a human version as well as one for dogs. Both contain 97% curcumin (whatever brand you choose, make sure it contains at least 95%).

Is there a supplement you wouldn’t miss a dose of? Please tell us about it in the comments!