CALENDAR of Events

May 1-5, 2023

NIHB 2023 National Tribal Health Conference

Anchorage, AK https://www.nihb.org

June 26-29, 2023

2023 Tribal Self-Governance Conference

Tulsa, OK https://www.tribalselfgov.org/ event/2023sgconference/

September 10-13, 2023

6th Annual Conference on Native American Nutrition St. Paul, MN https://nativenutrition.umn.edu

June 5-9, 2023

NCAI 2023 Mid Year Convention & Marketplace

Prior Lake, MN https://www.ncai.org/ events/2023/06/04/ 2023-mid-year-convention-marketplace

Advancing Native Students in Aging Research is designed for undergraduate students, especially those from American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. This culturally grounded course combines short-term, intensive laboratory and didactic courses and mentored pilot research in fundamental, translational, clinical, and behavioral aspects of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and the mechanisms of aging with ongoing mentoring to ensure both the launching and the retention of these promising candidates in research careers.

Additionally, this NIH/NIA sponsored course will educate undergraduate students on both the federal government’s policies and community best practices with respect to aging programs and their implementation. Additionally, the course will cover the implications of mechanistic discoveries on biological aging and on improved strategies for understanding and treating ADRD. Through ongoing interactions, the course helps to expand and sustain their independent research careers on the clinical, translational, behavioral, and fundamental aspects of Alzheimer’s and aging.

Advancing Native American Diversity in Aging Research offers dynamic training courses and career advancement strategies that provide a fresh series of daily lectures by Native professional on emerging concepts, followed by extended discussions, laboratory research, technologically intense workshops, and informal seminars over week-long periods.

Location: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Dates: August 6-11, 2023

Please download the application at http://pdc.magee.edu or email at frontiers@mwri.magee.edu with any questions.

Any student who is accepted will receive a full scholarship which covers room and board and travel.

For centuries, American Indian and Inuit communities have relied on their intimate knowledge of local plants, animals, and minerals to treat various ailments and maintain the well-being of their people. Each tribe developed unique healing practices based on the resources available in their region, leading to a vast array of traditional medicines and techniques. Most commonly used natural remedies include herbs, roots, bark, and animal products such as bones, organs, and fats.

In addition to utilizing plants and animals for healing, American Indian and Inuit healers also acknowledged the medicinal properties of certain minerals, such as clay. Various types of clay were employed for diverse purposes, including wound healing, digestive support, and detoxification.

While many medicinal plants, including sage, echinacea, and black cohash, among others, have been used successful by North American Indians and Inuits for centuries, other herbal remedies are now available. One of the most beneficial is curcumin.

Curcumin, a naturally occurring compound found in the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa), is responsible for the plant’s characteristic yellow color. A member of the ginger family, turmeric has been used for centuries in traditional Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine to address various health conditions, including inflammation, digestive issues, skin wounds, and infections.

The extensive health benefits of curcumin stem from its powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which may help

• Reduce inflammation and alleviate inflammatory conditions such as arthritis

• Improve cognitive function and protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

• Reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including cancer and heart disease

• Enhance mood and alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety

• Promote wound healing and skin health

However, curcumin’s therapeutic potential has been limited by its low bioavailability, referring to how much the compound can enter the bloodstream and reach its target site within the body. Consequently, companies have developed a variety of “delivery systems” designed to get more curcumin into the body.

The delivery system seen most often is the use of black pepper extract, also called Piperine®. Black pepper extract, which is very different from the black pepper used as an everyday spice, is added to curcumin for two primary purposes. 1) Piperine is an irritant, and the reason it’s added to curcumin is to create microscope holes in your digestive tract to allow more curcumin to get through. So while you might - technically speaking - get more curcumin into the body by using Piperine, you are giving yourself symptoms of “leaky gut” in the process. 2) Piperine will block two enzymes in your liver. These liver enzymes are designed to block toxins from getting through your liver. The Piperine, however, neutralizes the enzymes’ ability to block toxins, giving toxins a free ride through your liver and into your body.

At CurcuminPro®, rather than using black pepper extract, we use unique patented and patent-pending delivery systems. We wrap the curcumin inside either a protein or a cyclodextrin, which is a low-glycemic sugar molecule. This delivery system has two benefits: 1) When you take our CurcuminPro® products, the body sees “protein” or “sugar” - and our bodies like both - and they get a fast pass through the stomach or duodenum (at the top of the small intestine) into the bloodstream, and completely bypass the entire GI system. 2) wrapping a protein or sugar molecule around the curcumin creates a curcumin that is up to 42X more soluble in water (very important, since our bodies are 60-70% water!) and also makes the curcumin taste neutral (many people find curcumin/ turmeric bitter and unpleasant), but since our curcumin has no bitter flavor, we can create fun products like chocolates, drink mixes, and pet products, and are not limited to only having capsules. You can add our products to shakes, smoothies, ice cream, oatmeal, cereal, cookies….and the list goes on and on! Check out some of our recipes on the following pages.