Piperine, the wonder alkaloid that has entered our food chain through some supplements, is perhaps one of the biggest hidden dangers in the wild west of the world of supplementation. Piperine has been added primarily to Turmeric Supplements in a cheap effort to counter the absorption problem of Curcuminoids. The alkaloid works by slowing down main hepatic channels such as CYP3A4 ( primarily ), CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP1A2, CYP2E1, and others. These channels, specifically CYP3A4, the one impacted most, are also responsible for the metabolism of many drugs, nutrients, and phytochemicals. In other words, it causes these to stay longer in the human body and therefore increase their concentration sometimes dramatically.
That means that for someone, for example, taking antidepressants or statins ( cholesterol medications ) one can increase the dosage considerably, sometimes even doubling it with a single, seemingly harmless addition of 5 mg of Piperine in their Turmeric Supplement. But in reality that slow down, which can essentially double the dose of the medication, not only can create a myriad of issues and problems depending on the medication or supplement, but effectively burden the liver considerably further and increase the toxicity of these compounds for the liver.
Piperine should therefore, in general, be avoided with supplementation unless it is a very specific and targeted reason it can complicate a person’s metabolism and can create chronic issues like hepatic damage and beyond.
