Curcumin’s liver-protective effect is due in large part to its ability to scavenge free radicals. But curcumin also enhances the animal’s natural antioxidant system by increasing the level of glutathione, thereby aiding liver detoxification and inhibiting nitrosamine formation. In numerous animal studies, curcumin has shown the ability to help maintain healthy intestinal mucosa under various adverse conditions. Among the effects noted in the various trials have been decreased nuclear factor-kappaB, nitric oxide, and free radicals in the colonic mucosa.