Turmeric / curcumin
The yellow pigment in turmeric root, taken above all for aching joints.
- Joint pain and stiffness
- Inflammation
- Muscle soreness
- Skin
- Weight and blood fats
- Blood sugar
A plain-English overview, not advice. Written from published reviews and trials and from what people say in public forums.
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On this page
What is turmeric / curcumin?
Turmeric is the root of Curcuma longa, the spice that turns a curry yellow, and curcumin is the pigment behind that colour. It was first pulled out of the root in 1815 and makes up at most about five per cent of it. Supplements sell it three ways: the dried root powder, an extract concentrated until curcuminoids are around 95 per cent of it, and formulations built round a carrier, because curcumin on its own is absorbed poorly. More than 120 clinical trials had been run on curcuminoids by 2017.
Why do people take turmeric / curcumin?
Joint pain and stiffness
The thinking. Stiff, aching knees, hips and hands are what most people in Britain reach for turmeric about, and it is the use the research has followed. Turmeric has long been a traditional medicine, and the thinking is that the chemistry behind the inflammation studies also reaches the lining of a joint.
What research has found. Three reviews have pooled randomised trials. The largest covered 29 trials in 2,396 adults across five kinds of arthritis and reported less pain and lower inflammation. One in 1,621 adults with knee osteoarthritis found pain, stiffness and movement better than on a dummy tablet and much the same as on standard anti-inflammatory tablets, with fewer unwanted effects. This is one of the best-studied uses, and several reviews of trials broadly agree.
Inflammation
The thinking. Plenty of people take turmeric for nothing in particular: a general sense of being inflamed, of recovering slowly, of aches that move around. The idea is that curcumin interferes with the switches that turn inflammation on, so the proteins the body sends out when tissue is irritated settle a little.
What research has found. This is measured in blood tests rather than in how anyone feels. A meta-analysis of 66 randomised trials found average falls in C-reactive protein and in two other markers the body raises when tissue is inflamed, alongside higher antioxidant activity. A smaller review found one of those markers unchanged. Falls were largest in people whose markers started high. Research here is still young: a few studies so far, mostly pointing the same way.
Muscle soreness after exercise
The thinking. Downhill running, heavy lifting and anything with a lot of braking in it leaves muscle sore for a day or two, and some people take turmeric around a session for that. The thinking follows the inflammation idea: soreness comes partly from the tidying-up response to torn muscle fibres.
What research has found. One review gathered 11 randomised trials in physically active people, each comparing curcumin taken before or after exercise against a dummy. Soreness was rated lower, and creatine kinase, a blood marker that rises when muscle is damaged, rose less. The doses ran from 150 mg to 1,500 mg a day. Only a few studies have measured this so far, though they mostly agree.
Skin
The thinking. Turmeric has been put on the skin as a paste for about as long as it has been eaten, and some people take it by mouth for spots, redness or a dull complexion instead. The thinking is the inflammation idea applied to skin.
What research has found. One review collected 18 clinical studies across nine skin conditions: nine took turmeric by mouth, eight put it on the skin and one did both. Ten reported a significant improvement in severity against a control group and eight did not, and the review called the published studies limited. Studies here point in different directions, so this one is still being worked out; the dose, how long people took it and who took part all seem to matter.
Weight and blood fats
The thinking. Turmeric turns up in general routines aimed at weight, cholesterol and blood pressure together, on the same inflammation and oxidation idea. Almost all of this research was done in adults who already had raised blood sugar or fat in the liver.
What research has found. A review of nine trials in 699 adults with type 2 diabetes found an average of 1.65 kg off body weight and about a centimetre off the waist, with larger falls above 1,000 mg a day. A review of 15 trials in 855 adults reported the upper blood-pressure number down by roughly 2.7 mmHg, with no clear change in the lower one. Trials in adults with fatty liver found cholesterol and triglycerides lower. A fair body of trials has looked at this, and most point the same way.
Blood sugar
The thinking. Some people take turmeric alongside the usual advice about food and walking when a blood test has shown their sugar creeping up. The idea is that oxidation and inflammation are part of how the body stops answering insulin properly.
What research has found. A review of sixteen studies reported lower fasting blood glucose and lower glycated haemoglobin, the three-month average. Two randomised trials point the same way: in 72 women with polycystic ovary syndrome fasting glucose fell a little, and in 80 adults with type 2 diabetes both measures came down over eight weeks. This is early work, a small number of studies, mostly pointing the same way.
What does turmeric / curcumin do in the body?
Curcumin is not a nutrient the body needs, and it has no job of its own to do. What it appears to do is interfere: it attaches loosely to a long list of proteins inside cells and nudges the signalling that switches inflammation on and off, including the master switch that sets inflammatory genes running.
The difficulty is getting it there. Swallowed on its own, curcumin is absorbed badly, broken down quickly and cleared quickly, so very little reaches the blood, which is why almost every product does something about that. Piperine, the active part of black pepper, has been reported to raise how much gets into the blood by around 2,000 per cent when the two are bound together.
What do people say about taking turmeric / curcumin?
These are anecdotes people have shared, not evidence.
What people like
- Easier joints is far and away the commonest report: knees, hips, hands and menopausal aches, and several call the change a surprise.
- A good number describe something large rather than small: most of the ache gone, or sleeping through for the first time in months.
- Several were pointed towards it by a GP, a surgeon or a rheumatologist, and those posts describe the most convincing change of all.
Common complaints
- Plainly no difference is the commonest complaint; on one thread about blood pressure nobody could point to a change they had measured.
- Stomach upset turns up in a handful of posts, occasionally bad enough to stop, and a couple mention the taste or the smell.
- It is slow, six to eight weeks being the usual expectation, and several posts warn about checking it against prescription medicines first.
How people take it
- Nearly every practical post mentions black pepper alongside it, often ginger as well, on the understanding that it helps absorption.
- Capsules once or twice a day are the norm, though a few use a liquid, a juice shot or simply the cooking spice.
- Most take it beside other things for joints, such as omega-3, vitamin D, glucosamine or collagen, which makes any single effect hard to separate.
Read from these public discussions:
- Turmeric? (Mumsnet, 2021)
- Taking turmeric for aches and pains? (Mumsnet, 2020)
- Supplements for joint pain? What works? (Mumsnet, 2021)
- Vitamins for joints after early menopause (Mumsnet, 2024)
- To ask about high blood pressure meds vs turmeric (Mumsnet, 2023)
- What supplements do you take, and why? (Mumsnet, 2023)
What forms of turmeric / curcumin are there?
| Form | What’s different | Per serving, on products we list |
|---|---|---|
| Curcumin extract (95% curcuminoids) | Turmeric root concentrated until curcuminoids, the yellow compounds, are about 95 per cent of the powder. | 142.5 mg to 190 mg |
| Branded bioavailable forms | Curcumin carried in a phospholipid, an oil or fine particles, and sold by the whole formulation’s weight. | 50 mg |
| Turmeric root powder | The dried, ground root itself; curcuminoids are a few per cent of it, so servings are larger. | not in our price tables yet |
What else is worth knowing about turmeric / curcumin?
- The trials describe curcumin as safe and well tolerated, with unwanted effects in the osteoarthritis review no more common than on a dummy tablet. Dose-escalating studies have gone as high as 12 g a day.
- Labels give the amount per serving, and a serving may be more than one capsule. A gram of root powder holds a small fraction of the curcuminoids a gram of extract does.
- Chemists reviewing curcumin’s make-up call it unstable, awkward to absorb and prone to interfering with laboratory tests, which is partly why so many trials use a formulation designed to absorb better.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
The research behind this page (26 studies)
- Effect of curcumin on rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2023, meta-analysis)
- Efficacy and Safety of Curcumin and Curcuma longa Extract in the Treatment of Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial. (2022, meta-analysis)
- The efficacy and safety of Curcuma longa extract and curcumin supplements on osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2021, meta-analysis)
- Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin/turmeric supplementation in adults: A GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2023, meta-analysis)
- Effectiveness of Curcumin on Outcomes of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials. (2022, meta-analysis)
- The effects of curcumin-containing supplements on biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2019, meta-analysis)
- Curcumin downregulates human tumor necrosis factor-α levels: A systematic review and meta-analysis ofrandomized controlled trials. (2016, systematic review)
- Effect of curcumin on circulating interleukin-6 concentrations: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2016, meta-analysis)
- Effects of curcumin on serum cytokine concentrations in subjects with metabolic syndrome: A post-hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial. (2016, randomised trial)
- Modulation of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage, Inflammation, and Oxidative Markers by Curcumin Supplementation in a Physically Active Population: A Systematic Review. (2020, systematic review)
- Effects of Turmeric (Curcuma longa) on Skin Health: A Systematic Review of the Clinical Evidence. (2016, systematic review)
- The Effects of Curcumin Supplementation on Body Weight, Body Mass Index, and Waist Circumference in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. (2026, meta-analysis)
- Antihypertensive Effects of Curcumin/Turmeric Supplementation in Prediabetes and Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. (2026, meta-analysis)
- The Role of Anthocyanins, Curcumin, and Resveratrol in the Prevention and Management of Metabolic Disorders: A Systematic Review. (2026, systematic review)
- Efficacy and Safety of Phytosomal Curcumin in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. (2017, randomised trial)
- Curcumin Lowers Serum Lipids and Uric Acid in Subjects With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. (2016, randomised trial)
- Treatment of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease with Curcumin: A Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial. (2016, randomised trial)
- The Effects of Curcumin on Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review. (2021, systematic review)
- Effects of curcumin supplementation on blood glucose, insulin resistance and androgens in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. (2021, randomised trial)
- Nano curcumin supplementation reduced the severity of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A randomized double-blind placebo- controlled clinical trial. (2019, randomised trial)
- Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. (2017, review)
- The Essential Medicinal Chemistry of Curcumin. (2017, review)
- Therapeutic roles of curcumin: lessons learned from clinical trials. (2013, review)
- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Curcumin in the Inflammatory Diseases: Status, Limitations and Countermeasures. (2021, review)
- Curcumin and Cancer. (2019, review)
- Curcumin: Biological, Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical, and Analytical Aspects. (2019, review)
How much does turmeric / curcumin cost?
That depends on the form and the pack, so we work out the price of the same dose of every turmeric / curcumin product we can find and rank them.