Study Shows Curcumin Boosts Physical Performance

Curcumin, a component of turmeric, can decrease exercise fatigue in mice – with similar effects to caffeine – through its effects on a major metabolic pathway.

Key Points:

Curcumin leads to decreased exercise fatigue and increased muscle endurance and strength in mice.
Mice treated with curcumin have altered muscle energy storage and utilization of proteins.
A major age-linked metabolic pathway, the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, was increased in mice treated with curcumin.

Aging leads to increased exercise fatigue, and despite numerous therapies used to treat exercise fatigue, they all come with side effects. A recent study shows that curcumin, a component of turmeric used for centuries in Chinese medicine, may be able to treat exercise fatigue with minimal side effects through its effects on energy metabolism.

The study, out of China and published in Aging, focused on mice treated with either nothing, caffeine, or curcumin. They found that the mice treated with curcumin had decreased exercise fatigue and increased muscle endurance based on leg muscle measurements. Additionally, Hu and colleagues found that the mice treated with curcumin had increased muscle storage proteins. Ultimately, the researchers found that increased proteins in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in mice treated with curcumin may be responsible for decreased exercise fatigue and increased muscle endurance.

“In the present study, we found that curcumin can exert a similar anti-fatigue effect to caffeine and may act by regulating energy metabolism,” the scientists wrote.

Curcumin Decreases Exercise Fatigue

The scientists divided the mice into three groups: control group, caffeine group, and curcumin group, using caffeine as a known way of mitigating fatigue. When mice were given curcumin, they exhibited increased time to exhaustion – indicating less exercise fatigue – during multiple days of treadmill running as compared to control mice, similar to those mice treated with caffeine. Additionally, based on leg muscle measurements, those mice treated with curcumin or caffeine had increased muscle growth and endurance strength.

Having seen the effects that curcumin has on exercise fatigue, Hu and colleagues investigated how curcumin affects these changes. They found that curcumin decreases exercise fatigue by improving muscle energy metabolism. Curcumin was shown to affect multiple proteins involved in producing and maintaining energy within the muscle. Muscle glycogen – a source of energy for working muscles – was increased, while lactic acid – a byproduct of carbohydrate breakdown – was decreased in those mice treated with curcumin. Additionally, ATP – the main energy molecule – was increased, suggesting that curcumin works to prevent exercise fatigue by affecting energy production and consumption.

(Hu et al., 2023 | *Aging***) Curcumin Decreases Lactic Muscle and Increases Muscle Glycogen** Mice treated with curcumin (orange) had B) decreased lactic acid and F) increased muscle glycogen, indicating improved muscle metabolism.

In determining curcumin’s effects on energy metabolism, the researchers found that curcumin increases the protein levels of multiple proteins involved in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is known to be essential to cell growth, cell survival, metabolism, and protein production. Curcumin increased PI3K, Akt, and mTOR proteins in the leg muscles, suggesting that its effects on exercise fatigue are due to its effects on these essential signaling proteins. Previous research has shown that exercise itself can increase these proteins, further supporting the idea that increasing one’s exercise increases one’s endurance and decreases exercise fatigue.

(Hu et al., 2023 | *Aging***) Curcumin Increases Proteins Involved in Energy Metabolism** Curcumin-treated mice had increased B) PI3K, C) Akt, and E) mTOR proteins as compared to control mice and caffeine-treated mice, suggesting that its effects on these metabolic proteins lead to decreased exercise fatigue.

Curcumin and Aging

Research has previously shown that curcumin can increase endurance and muscle strength, but here Hu and colleagues show how curcumin positively affects exercise fatigue and muscle endurance through a significant metabolic pathway. The use of curcumin for energy could be beneficial for older individuals who generally have fatigue concerns.

Previous research has shown that curcumin has benefits beyond energy needs, including improving memory and learning in mice and improved motor cognition in humans. Research is still ongoing into other effects, including the vascular effects of curcumin in the elderly. However, more research is needed before curcumin can be utilized for energy needs in older populations, with studies looking at curcumin use in older humans over a long period of time.