Very interesting.. I have been using a good amount of curcumin via turmeric and my liver supplement. Note my last couple blood tests showed low Ferritin.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curcumin
Clinical studies in humans with high doses (2–12 grams) of curcumin have shown few side-effects,[19] with some subjects reporting mild nausea or diarrhea.[20] More recently, curcumin was found to alter iron metabolism by chelating iron and suppressing the protein hepcidin, potentially causing iron deficiency in susceptible patients.[21]
Great article Sam - thx. You should read the study: it notes dose dependency.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18815282"Against this backdrop of subclinical iron deficiency, curcumin exerted profound 2 effects on systemic iron, inducing a dose-dependent decline in hematocrit, hemoglobin, serum iron, and transferrin saturation, the appearance of microcytic anisocytotic red blood cells, and decreases in spleen and liver iron content."
Again, I think the most sane approach is to eat a well-rounded diet with lots of anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory whole foods rather than megadosing one supplement. The piperine that some of the supplement manufacturers use has always made me nervous for example.
I'll update a couple of my articles with this info as well.
The one thing I would add, though, is that curry/turmeric/curcumin has a rich research and epidemiological history and I think it is a "superfood" that should not be thrown out due to megadosing issues...