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How a new blend of curcuma longa and boswellia serrata is a smart ally for gut health
The highly evolved and complex microbiota play a crucial role in overall health: some go as far as calling the gut a ‘second brain’. Its optimal functionality relies on delicate balances threatened by stress, poor diet, illnesses and other factors. That’s why solving common issues like abdominal bloating can be so tricky.
Curcuma longa and boswellia have both been used for centuries in traditional Ayurvedic and Chinese medicines. They play an important and scientifically proven role in modulating the body’s natural protecting responses, helping people to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.
Recently, clinical evidence has demonstrated the efficacious support given to gut health by the two-Phytosome® coalition, which has been proven to provide multiple health benefits for easy gut transit, controlling bloating, abdominal discomfort and balancing intestinal microbiota.
Indena’s curcumin Phytosome® offers the synergic power of the three major curcuminoids, naturally present in turmeric. Overall, it gives lifelong antioxidant support so that body's natural defenses do not turn into low-level chronic inflammation. Standardized to contain 18-22% of total curcuminoids by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), its efficacy has been demonstrated by 35 scientific studies involving more than 2,000 subjects.
The Boswellia serrata extract from Indena is whole, natural, tested and standardized, enriched in the whole bouquet of terpenoic acids. The resin of the boswellia serrata species contains a variety of compounds endowed with anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. The triterpenoid composition of Indena’s extract includes 11 relevant boswellic acids, and closely matches the profile of the natural resin.
The ingredient is a unique and tested Phytosome® formulation, capable of enhancing and optimizing the delivery of terpenoic acids compared to an unformulated extract. It is also currently the only ingredient on the market documented with a pharmacokinetic study in healthy volunteers on 6 boswellic acids.’
Both Indena’s curcumin and boswellia are formulated with Phytosome®, the proprietary 100% food-grade delivery system which leverages the power of botanicals, enhancing their physiological functions.
Boswellia and curcuma longa may help to control the body’s defence mechanisms differing for the mode of action, that is mainly targeted at NF-κB transcription factors for curcumin and COX/LOX enzymes for boswellia: this is why they pair well to modulate the body’s response, over and above the individual ingredients.
Indena developed a combined strategy compounding the benefits of curcumin and boswellia, two ingredients supported by solid scientific evidence: both in Phytosome® formulation and processed with a strong commitment to sustainability, they combine to control oxidation, bacterial balance and muscle cramps, for optimal gut health and an overall better quality of life.
The result is a new product, CUBO™, a combination of curcumin and boswellia both formulated with proprietary delivery system Phytosome®, aimed to relieve abdominal bloating as demonstrated by recent clinical evidence.
The first study investigated the beneficial effects on abdominal bloating with the food-grade formulation of curcuma longa and boswellia serrata extracts in subjects experiencing irritable bowel condition and small bowel microbiota unbalance.1
Bloating is a symptom frequently reported by subjects with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and small bowel dysbiosis. Abdominal bloating is defined as trapped gas, abdominal pressure, fullness, and tightness, with frequent evidence of abdominal distension. Bloating has a negative effect on quality of life and can present psychological distress. Extracts of curcuma longa and boswellia serrata share anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects that could be useful in the management of these clinical conditions.
The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of supplementation of Curcumin Boswellia Phytosome® (CBP) and Low FODMAP’s diet (LFD) which can be used to manage IBS symptoms, and looked at the relief of abdominal bloating in IBS subjects with small bowel microbiota unbalance, compared with LFD alone, in a 30-day randomized trial. Small bowel dysbiosis has been defined by an increase of urinary indican with normal urinary skatole.
A total of 67 subjects were randomized to the intervention (500 mg bid of CBP and LFD) or the control arm (LFD). At the end of the study, the supplemented group (33 subjects) showed significant improvements (p <0.0001) in terms of bloating, abdominal discomfort and indican values compared with the control group (34 subjects). Moreover, those in the supplementation group showed a notably favourable (p <0.0001) global assessment of efficacy (GAE) compared with the controls.
The study demonstrates that supplementation with CBP and LFD is associated with the ability to control bloating in subjects with IBS and small bowel dysbiosis when compared with controls treated with LFD alone. At the end of the study, the 33 subjects in the CBP group reported no or a mild degree of bloating compared with only 10 subjects in the control group, highlighting CBP’s crucial and positive role.
A second human study of 27 subjects focused on a condition mostly characterized by intermittent or persistent episodes of abdominal discomfort and by the concomitant presence of diverticula and of abdominal bloating.2 The one-group longitudinal explanatory study showed that supplementation for 30 days with CBP is followed by a significant decrease in abdominal discomfort.
In 18% of subjects, the full control of conditions (pain score ≤1) was observed before Day 7, whereas discomforts disappeared in 52% of subjects between Days 7 and 10, and in 18% of subjects after day 10; a discomfort score ≤1 was not observed in 12% of subjects. The median time to complete pain relief was 9.5 days. This result is important because abdominal discomfort is the most relevant one when diverticula are present and, to date, an optimal treatment for these conditions has yet to be identified.
Indena carried out a third clinical study in IBS subjects with a smart, flexible and optimized ratio combination of curcuma longa and boswellia formulated with Indena’s Phytosome®.3 CUBO™ has been shown to exercise multiple actions favouring gut health and can be termed the ‘winning duo’ to relieve intestinal bloating.
Another important value of CUBO™ is sustainability. Thanks to continuous investments in efficient production systems, Indena has reduced its energy consumption and currently 75% of the energy for the main plant in Italy is auto-produced due to cogeneration and the use of steam turbines and solar panels.
References
1. Giacosa, A.; Riva, A.; Petrangolini, G.; Allegrini, P.; Fazia, T.; Bernardinelli, L.; Peroni, G.; Rondanelli, M.. Nutrients 2022, 14, 416. https://doi.org/10.3390/ nu14030416
2. Giacosa A, Riva A, Petrangolini G, Allegrini P, Fazia T, Bernardinelli L, Gasparri C, Faliva MA, Peroni G, Perna S, Rondanelli M. Drugs in Context 2020; 9: 2020-9-2. DOI: 10.7573/dic.2020-9-2
3. Giacosa, A. et al, under submission.
