Curcumin vs Omega-3 for pain & inflammation
Short answer: For pain & inflammation, users rate them about the same: 88% report improvement with Curcumin (78 reports) and 91% with Omega-3 (82 reports).
Curcumin has 538 meta-analyses and 553 randomized trials on PubMed; Omega-3 has 1,341 and 3,093.
Based on 402 reports about Curcumin and 1,959 about Omega-3. Not medical advice.
| Curcumin Supplement | Omega-3 Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| User score | 48 | 47 |
| Verdict | Mixed | Mostly positive |
| Positive of reports that state an outcome | 57% | 66% |
| Reports | 402 | 1,959 |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 538 / 553 | 1,341 / 3,093 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Weight loss % reporting improvement | — | 100% (2) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 71% (7) | 82% (129) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 75% (4) | 74% (42) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 75% (4) | 79% (24) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 92% (12) | 75% (69) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 94% (33) | 82% (201) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (8) | 78% (50) |
| Performance % reporting improvement | 33% (3) | 88% (16) |
| Recovery % reporting improvement | 89% (9) | 90% (20) |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 88% (78) | 91% (82) |
| Digestion % reporting improvement | — | 22% (9) |
| Libido % reporting improvement | 20% (5) | 71% (14) |
| Hormones % reporting improvement | 33% (3) | 100% (2) |
| Blood sugar % reporting improvement | — | 50% (2) |
| Heart & lipids % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 76% (58) |
| Skin & hair % reporting improvement | 80% (5) | 89% (38) |
| Immunity % reporting improvement | 100% (3) | 60% (10) |
| Longevity % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 86% (7) |
| Common side effects | stomach issues, vivid dreams, headache, nausea | brain fog, anxiety, depression, fatigue |
| Typical dose reported | 1000 mg / daily | sparingly |
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.”
For glycated hemoglobin, there was no significant effect in the meta-analysis. This systematic review with meta-analysis demonstrated that supplementation with omega-3 has protective effects on diabetes parameters.
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2022 ↗“I do supplement a lot of fish oil and vitamin A as retinyl palmitate though. It has really helped my depression, anxiety and ADHD and has enabled me to stop using more serious psychiatric drugs for those things.”
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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