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A paper just published in the Journal of Integrative Medicine has highlighted some preliminary research into the effectiveness of a Turmeric herbal formulation as a dietary supplement used to treat facial redness.
More specifically, the research found that “turmeric-containing polyherbal combination” did better than plain Turmeric and also placebo in reducing the red face of rosacea. If you have never heard of `turmeric polyherbal’ you have come to the right page, so read on.
What is Turmeric
Turmeric is a root that comes from the plant of the ginger family, is native to India and is used as a spice in cooking. Curcumin is a component of turmeric that has been most studied for its anti inflammatory effects. More than 200 active constituents have been identified from this plant.
What is Turmeric Polyherbal?
So this is the actual important question that arises from this study. Turmeric on its own was not significanly more effective than the placebo, but turmeric polyherbal was. So what exactly is turmeric polyherbal? The best clue we can get is from the Google snippet from the full study PDF
The turmeric polyherbal combination tablets contained 500 mg of a blend of certified organic herbs: C. longa (turmeric) root, H. indicus.
But there is another clue, a link in the Abstract to the Clinical Trial for what could be the basis of this paper (Trial NCT03065504: Turmeric and Turmeric-containing Tablets and Sebum Production). In the clinical trial description we find the following;
2,000 mg Healthy Skin Tablets, contains:
- Turmeric (Curcuma longa) – 50 mg/tablet
- Hemidesmus Indicus root (Anantamul)
- Indian Madder root
- Neem leaf
- Gotu Kola leaf
- Indian TInospora stem
- Amla fruit
- Licorice root
- Phyllanthus Amarus herb
Each tablet contains 500mg total of the above herbs.
There is 50 mg of Turmeric in each Healthy Skin tablet. Subjects will take 2 tablets twice per day, which will be a total daily dose of 200 mg of Turmeric. This is comparable to the daily amount of Turmeric in many commercially-available Turmeric supplements; therefore, it is valuable to compare this formulation to the turmeric-only tablets.
So the best guess I have is that the active arm of the trial used Healthy Skin tablets from Banyan Botanicals.
Healthy Skin from Banyan Botanicals
Indeed the full paper gives the following confirmation that they trial participants were taking Healthy Skin from Banyan Botanicals.
The turmeric polyherbal combination (marketed as Healthy Skin™) tablets, turmeric tablets, and placebo tablets were supplied by Banyan Botanicals (Albuquerque, New Mexico).
The turmeric polyherbal combination tablets contained 500 mg of a blend of certified organic herbs:
- C. longa (turmeric) root,
- H. indicus (anantamul) root,
- R. cordifola (manjistha) root,
- Azadirachta indica (neem) leaf,
- C. asiatica (brahmi/gotu kola) leaf,
- Tinospora cordifolia (guduchi) stem,
- P. amarus (bhumyamalaki) herb,
- P. emblica (amalaki) fruit and
- Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root.
The turmeric tablets contained 500 mg certified organic turmeric root.
The placebo tablets were nearly identical in size, shape, and color to the other two groups.
If you are looking for a natural supplement to treat your red face, this may be worth a go.
Turmeric precautions
Turmeric may cause nausea, diarrhea, heartburn, or kidney stones. Some evidence exists that it may increase the risk of bleeding secondary to antiplatelet activity.
Article Abstract
J Integr Med. 2018 Nov 22.
Vaughn AR, Pourang A, Clark AK, Burney W, Sivamani RK
BACKGROUND: Facial redness is multifactorial in nature and may be a sign of many different conditions, including rosacea, photo damage and flushing. Herbal medicines have been used for thousands of years to treat a variety of dermatological conditions. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) and its constituents have been shown to mediate dilation and constriction of peripheral arterioles and have demonstrated anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of turmeric and turmeric-containing polyherbal combination tablets versus placebo on facial redness.
DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTIONS: This was a prospective, double-blind, randomized pilot study.
Thirty-three healthy participants were recruited from the dermatology clinic at the University of California, Davis and nearby community from 2016 to 2017. Thirty participants were enrolled, and 28 participants completed the study. The enrolled participants were randomized to receive one of three interventions (placebo, turmeric or polyherbal combination tablets) and were told to take the intervention tablets by mouth twice daily for 4 weeks. Facial redness was assessed at baseline and 4 weeks after intervention by clinical grading and by image-based analysis.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measure was image-based facial quantification of redness using a research camera and software analysis system.
The investigators performed an intention-to-treat analysis by including all subjects who were enrolled in the trial and received any study intervention. Differences were considered statistically significant after accounting for multiple comparisons. Effect sizes for clinical grading were calculated with a Hedges’ g where indicated.
RESULTS: Twenty-eight participants completed the study and there were no reported adverse events.
Based on clinical grading, facial redness intensity and distribution down trended in the polyherbal combination group after 4 weeks (P = 0.1).
Under photographic image analysis, the polyherbal combination group had a significant decrease in redness of 40% compared to baseline (P = 0.03). The placebo and turmeric groups had no statistically significant changes in image analysis-based facial redness.
CONCLUSION: Polyherbal combination tablet supplementation improved facial redness compared to the turmeric or placebo.
Overall, our findings suggested further investigations into the effects of turmeric and polyherbal formulations in skin conditions associated with facial redness would be warranted.
Related Articles
- Amazon Link: Healthy Skin from Banyan Botanicals
- Forum: TRY TURMERIC (Circumin)
- Forum: Spontaneous near-remission–turmeric??
- Natural Anti-inflammatory Therapies for Rosacea
- Treating Rosacea with Herbs
- colloidal oatmeal: a dream ingredient for rosacea sufferers
- US Pharmacist: Anti-inflammatory Herbs discussed here.
Looks like Banyan Botanicals is already out of stock on Healthy Skin™ tablets, presumably due to this study having shown efficacy for rosacea. Hopefully they get more in as I would like to try them. Thanks David for the article.
It is curious that after all the hard yards to do the research and get it published that the actual product doesn’t seem to be easily available. Disappointing even. If stock does become available I’ll leave a note here.
“Can you buy this tumeric polyherbal already?”
“ules Hinschen theres a link to buy in the article. Keep in mind this is aiming to sell you something and the study was on 28 people”
“I just looked at the website and its sold out but looking at other products it is no way over priced and with all the other things that have claimed to help my redness but never have I am happy to give it a shot lol..”
“Hmmmm, I’ve taken tumeric for years but never heard about the polyherbal. Something new to check out. Thanks for the info.”
“I take high doses of it but not sure it helps type 2 rosacea. It helps however. My son does masks but I fear that would agitate .”
“Turmeric is good in general. But if I’m having a flare, it’s not going to help my face directly so I’d reach for something topical for that.”
” take high doses of it but not sure it helps type 2 rosacea. It helps however. My son does masks but I fear that would agitate .”
Comment via email.
“I had breast cancer this year. I heard about Turmeric from a friend. I bought some at Costco in pill format for bone and muscle pain not for Rosacea. I researched Turmeric online and I found that Turmeric’s effect on breast cancer is not known. I would not use Turmeric on the skin if you are a Breast Cancer survivor.”