Bioavailability Saga

I have ended my quick expedition into the realm of bioavailability, at least for now (little dance of joy!). Not the most exciting topic I have ever researched and discussed (I mean, even molecular science had much more appeal for me!), that’s for sure, but an important one right at the moment. Based on what we have learned and in spite of a bit of residual uncertainty, Sherlock and I have decided to go ahead and take the full eight grams of Biocurcumax. Right now, we are both on eight grams of C3 Complex—I am taking it via a cocoa mass/curcumin powder mixture and she is taking capsules with bioperine dissolved in hot milk, more or less.

The pharmacist in the town of Calenzano, near Florence, has made one-gram BioCurcumax capsules for us, which will make this experiment a lot easier. I mean, fewer capsules to swallow.

Interesting note: from what I have been reading lately and what a blog reader wrote to me in a recent exchange, if for instance you double the dose of a particular substance, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will double its bioavailability. That is the reasoning that convinced us, or me at least, not to halve the dose of BioCurcumax in our upcoming experiment. I’m afraid that the chapter on bioavailability is only temporarily shut. I will have to come back to it. But for now, basta, enough, I’ve had it!

Anyway, tomorrow morning (early early early, in a vain attempt to beat the crowds now that we are right smack in the middle of the flu season!) Sherlock and I are meeting up at the hospital lab to have our tests done. Even though, unfortunately, there are so many factors involved in how our tests turn out, these tests should give me some preliminary results on the cocoa mass/curcumin concoction and Scutellaria baicalensis/Zyflamend. We shall see.

One of the classical music radio stations is broadcasting Bach’s Goldberg Variations, one of my favourite pieces of music. I am in music heaven right now! Ahhhh, che bellezza…

Marvellous Pharmacy In Calenzano

This post is mainly for my Italian readers so I will (more or less) translate the relevant info into Italian for those who aren’t very familiar with English. First, in English. Thanks to a tip from a curcumin-taking doctor friend, I recently discovered a pharmacist in Calenzano (a small town near Florence) who orders curcumin C3 Complex powder directly from the Italian Sabinsa distributor in Milan. He then makes curcumin capsules (as well as other herbal preparations) in his own little Galenic laboratory. Brilliant! By the way, I asked Dr. Balducci if I could post about his pharmacy because I felt it would be helpful to let others know about this amazing resource. He agreed immediately. I would like to add that he is a very friendly and helpful doctor, ready and willing to answer any questions.

Upon request, Dr. Balducci will mail supplements to any location in Italy. If you are live in Tuscany, within a certain range (Florence and Siena, e.g.), he will even have your order delivered right to your doorstep. How about that for service! The pharmacy’s phone number is (055) 882 4687, by the way.

Ok, now for my "shocker" of the day. I just ordered and picked up (yesterday!) a huge bottle of BioCurcumax capsules. Dr. Balducci ordered the raw material directly from Arjuna in India, and made the one-gram capsules that I had requested. He has had so many requests for BioCurcumax that he has finished his current supply, but he has reordered it and should have it in stock again by mid January.

You see, my friend Sherlock and I are going to start testing BioCurcumax in January. After having blood tests done in early January, we will begin taking these capsules, the exact same amount etc. After two months, we will go have our second set of blood tests. We have planned to do this together. Our own teeny tiny “clinical test”! I will have more details as we get closer to January.

In italiano: ho scoperto un meraviglioso farmacista a Calenzano, il Dr. Balducci. Nella sua farmacia ha un laboratorio galenico dove realizza ogni sorta di preparato. Ad esempio, è possibile trovare la curcumina C3 Complex che arriva direttamente dal distributore italiano della Sabinsa. Su richiesta, il Dr. Balducci spedisce in tutta Italia. Quelli che abitano in Toscana (tipo, a Firenze o a Siena) hanno inoltre la possibilità di farsi recapitare la “spesa” direttamente a casa.

Ma la notizia forse più sensazionale è che il Dr. Balducci ha ordinato la BioCurcumax direttamente dalla ditta produttrice, la Arjuna, in India. Io e Sherlock abbiamo deciso di fare un nostro piccolissimo test “clinico,” nel senso che prenderemo insieme le capsule di BioCurcumax a partire da gennaio. Faremo insieme le analisi del sangue, sia prima sia dopo. Ovviamente prenderemo la stessa quantità di BioCurcumax che, a proposito, dovrebbe essere sette volte più assorbibile della curcumina “normale.” Beh, vedremo cosa succederà!

Per ordinare la C3 Complex o la BioCurcumax (o altro), telefonate direttamente al Dr. Balducci: (055) 882 4687. In bocca al lupo!