Curcumin vs Magnesium for pain & inflammation
Short answer: For pain & inflammation, users rate them about the same: 88% report improvement with Curcumin (78 reports) and 91% with Magnesium (33 reports).
Curcumin has 538 meta-analyses and 553 randomized trials on PubMed; Magnesium has 82 and 210.
Based on 402 reports about Curcumin and 1,893 about Magnesium. Not medical advice.
| Curcumin Supplement | Magnesium Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| User score | 48 | 51 |
| Verdict | Mixed | Mostly positive |
| Positive of reports that state an outcome | 57% | 72% |
| Reports | 402 | 1,893 |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 538 / 553 | 82 / 210 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Appetite % reporting improvement | — | 100% (2) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 71% (7) | 77% (39) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 75% (4) | 75% (73) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 75% (4) | 87% (331) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 92% (12) | 89% (226) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 94% (33) | 80% (99) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (8) | 100% (7) |
| Performance % reporting improvement | 33% (3) | 87% (15) |
| Recovery % reporting improvement | 89% (9) | 96% (24) |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 88% (78) | 91% (33) |
| Digestion % reporting improvement | — | 83% (29) |
| Libido % reporting improvement | 20% (5) | 62% (13) |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | 33% (3) | 91% (22) |
| Blood sugar % reporting improvement | — | 100% (3) |
| Heart & lipids % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 95% (22) |
| Skin & hair % reporting improvement | 80% (5) | 100% (2) |
| Immunity % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | 86% (7) |
| Longevity % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 100% (3) |
| Common side effects | stomach issues, vivid dreams, headache, nausea | diarrhea, drowsiness, stomach issues, vivid dreams |
| Typical dose reported | 1000 mg / daily | daily |
Curcumin and Curcuma longa Extract may improve symptoms and inflammation levels in people with arthritis. However, due to the low quality and small quantity of RCTs, the conclusions need to be interpreted carefully.
Front Immunol, 2022 ↗“I recently stopped taking Curcumin because of its affect on DHT and I was looking for an alternative measure to deal with inflammation as I feel it really helped with anxiety/depression.”
This review confirms that the quality of literature is substandard for physicians to make well-informed recommendations on usage of oral magnesium for older adults with insomnia. However, given that oral magnesium is very cheap and widely available, RCT evidence may support oral magnesium supplements (less than 1 g quantities given up to three times a day) for insomnia symptoms.
BMC Complement Med Ther, 2021 ↗“after supplementing with 400mg of Magnesium daily. Winter blues hit me hard and my multivitamin wasn't doing any justice, but once I began supplementing Magnesium, everything changed.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate