Curcumin vs Turmeric for pain & inflammation
Short answer: For pain & inflammation, more users report improvement with Curcumin — 91% of 104 reports, versus 86% of 70 for Turmeric.
Curcumin has 538 meta-analyses and 553 randomized trials on PubMed; Turmeric has 538 and 553.
Based on 544 reports about Curcumin and 332 about Turmeric. Not medical advice.
| Curcumin Supplement | Turmeric Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 61%helped180 reports · high confidence | 51%helped123 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mixed |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 538 / 553 | 538 / 553 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 91% (104) | 86% (70) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 96% (45) | 100% (22) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 93% (15) | 69% (13) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 78% (9) | 78% (9) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (12) | 100% (4) |
| Common side effects | vivid dreams, headache, nausea, dht suppression | fatigue, lead contamination, anxiety, heavy metal |
| Typical dose reported | 1000 mg / daily | 1.5 tsp / daily for 18 months |
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.”
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 have an autoimmune condition that causes chronic pain and while it doesn’t eliminate the pain, I noticed an overall reduction in the intensity day to day.”
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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