Turmeric contains the powerful ingredient, curcumin, which helps fight off inflammation and improve your joint health.
It’s also good for your heart, and can decrease depressive symptoms. Turmeric has been long used as a herbal remedy in eastern medicine, and has shown to have very little side effects – which is one of the reasons it’s so popular today.
Below, you’ll find the best turmeric supplements, ranked and reviewed by our expert health panel.
Rankings
1. Nuzena
Nuzena’s pure turmeric supplement is made with 100% natural ingredients. It’s specifically designed to support immunity, inflammation, and joints.
What we like: This supplement helps regulate blood sugar to support glycemic control. Also, it reduces total cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins to lower your blood pressure.
Flaws: It may not absorb as fast as other supplements do. Regardless, it gets the job done and is our undisputed #1 pick of 2020.
2. CurcuminMD Plus
1MD’s turmeric supplement is absorbed up to 285x more efficiently than standard turmeric. It’s 100% vegan formula makes it perfect for any diet.
What we like: CurcuminMD Plus is formulated with an advanced form of curcumin, Boswellia Serrata, giving you a powerful cognitive boost. The high-potency formula also supports joint health and better well-being.
Flaws: This supplement doesn’t help with blood sugar management as well as some of the other options on the market.
3. Thorne’s Meriva SF
Thorne Meriva-SF is curated for optimal absorption and helps maintain a healthy inflammatory response. It also helps to get rid of any aches, joint stiffness, and muscle soreness.
What we like: Meriva-SF has more than 30 clinical studies, making it the most studied curcumin ingredient on the market. This product is made with the purest ingredients and contains no major allergens like gluten.
Flaws: This turmeric supplement doesn’t improve your digestion much.
4. Garden of Life mykind Turmeric
With 500mg of curcumin per serving, myKind Turmeric promotes joint health and healthy mobility. It comes with better bioavailability due to its inclusion of fermented turmeric and ginger.
What we like: Using water extraction and clean tablet technology, this supplement is made from nutrients from real food, allowing for better absorption. The black pepper and probiotics in this compound also help to enhance digestion.
Flaws: The absorption of this supplement is slower compared to other supplements on the market.
5. Source Naturals Turmeric with Meriva
An array of complex biochemical mechanisms makes Source Naturals a great choice for those looking to support their body’s natural inflammatory response. It’s derived from Meriva and other natural sources.
What we like: Turmeric is difficult to absorb, but this supplement uses a specialized extract combined with phosphatidylcholine to aid in generating a greater curcumin bioavailability.
Flaws: It’s not easily absorbed into your body.
6. Life Extension’s Super Bio-Curcumin Turmeric Extract
Life Extension’s turmeric extract promotes a healthy immune system and digestive function. It also provides your body with whole-body health benefits for nearly all your organs.
What we like: This turmeric has up to 7 times greater absorption than conventional curcumin supplements, making it extremely effective at inhibiting inflammatory factors such as NF-kappaB protein molecules.
Flaws: Life Extension’s Super Bio-Curcumin Turmeric Extract doesn’t have any strong evidence supporting enhanced cognitive functioning.
7. BioSchwartz Turmeric Curcumin with BioPerine
Formulated by professionals and crafted from the highest quality ingredients, BioSchwartz Turmeric includes BioPerine for better bioavailability and effectiveness.
What we like: It has the highest potency available for turmeric pills, with 1500mg of turmeric curcumin per serving.
Flaws: This supplement’s anti-inflammatory response is relatively weak.
8. Nature’s Nutrition Turmeric Highest Potency
Nature’s Nutrition Turmeric Highest Potency is crafted with BioPerine for maximum absorption. It supports the brain, heart, and brain function.
What we like: This turmeric’s BioPerine black pepper supplement provides as much as 2000x better absorption than turmeric capsules alone.
Flaws: The anti-inflammatory response could be better.
9. Qunol Turmeric Curcumin Softgels
If you’re a physically active person, Qunol turmeric provides anti-inflammatory benefits and promotes joint comfort.
What we like: It has water dispersion technology to deliver superior absorption. Also, it provides 1000 mg of enhanced turmeric complex.
Flaws: For your heart health, other turmeric supplements are more powerful.
10. Swanson’s Vitamins Curcumin Complex
This vegetarian supplement is standardized to a minimum of 95% curcuminoids, and helps support your body’s joint health and mobility.
What we like: Swansons Vitamins turmeric complex has powerful antioxidant capabilities, helping to support your brain and heart health.
Flaws: It’s not as good at decreasing depressive symptoms as some other turmeric supplements are.
Who Should Buy Turmeric?
Turmeric can be used by anyone who wants to improve their overall health and is touted as one of the best nutritional supplements out there. It’s known for its powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, so it does wonders for your joint health and helps your body fight off various diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.
Turmeric can be taken as a powder or in capsules. It’s praised for its relaxing effects and improved quality of sleep when you add it to your favorite nighttime tea.
Both men and women of all ages can benefit from a quality turmeric supplement. You should never over-consume turmeric because it could lead to some unwanted side effects, including an upset stomach, nausea, dizziness, or diarrhea.
Pregnant and nursing women can safely take turmeric, but you should speak to your doctor to be sure. People taking blood clotting medication should avoid turmeric as it may negatively interact with these types of medications.
How We Ranked
One of the first requirements we had when ranking the best turmeric supplements, was the absorption speed. This is because, how quickly each turmeric powder or capsule absorbs, determines how effective it is. As such, we looked for products like CurcuminMD that included black pepper extract, which has been show too drastically improve the absorption. Thorne’s Meriva SF also showed up in our top three because its optimal absorption makes sure your inflammatory response is nothing short of stellar.
We also looked for products in high doses, since this help bolster the anti-inflammatory benefits, supporting joint health. This is why Life Extension’s Super Bio-Curcumin Turmeric Extract showed up toward the middle of our list because it inhibits inflammatory factors like NF-kappaB protein molecules.
Another component we looked at was how well each turmeric improved your brain health. CurcuminMDPlus earned a spot as our highest rank since Boswellia Serrata, an advanced form of curcumin, gives you a potent cognitive boost. Nuzema is extolled for its glycemic control, and although Swanson’s Vitamins Curcumin Complex showed up short on our list, it appeared for its potent antioxidants.
Benefits
Turmeric can help improve your oral health. Having bad oral health can increase your risks for serious cardiovascular health problems, such as a heart attack or stroke. Studies show that turmeric can be used as a natural alternative for better oral health (1).
Turmeric contains powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Anti-inflammatories are important for healing and repairing damaged tissues. With a good anti-inflammatory agent, you’ll have better joint health and reduced pain and swelling from any injuries or physical activity.
One 2009 study showed curcumin helped reduce inflammation in several diseases and even some cancers (2).
Moreover, another article discovered that curcumin could be more effective than ibuprofen and aspirin as an anti-inflammatory treatment (3).
Turmeric helps improve brain function and health. Brain function is important for your body to function as a whole because it controls all of its functions. Brain disease is commonly caused by infection, tumors, and strokes.
An article published in 2006 found that curcumin reversed the effects of chronic stress on behavior, the HPA axis, BDNF expression, and phosphorylation of CREB, leading to better brain health (4).
Other research has demonstrated that curcumin helps improvem cognitive function in humans (5).
Turmeric could lower your risk of heart disease. Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the United States, so it’s important to have as many preventative measures as possible. According to research, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of curcuminoids reduce your risk of a heart attack (6).
Blood pressure is responsible for circulating the blood through your body to get oxygen to vital organs. If you have better blood pressure, your heart health will improve. One study found that curcumin could help regulate blood pressure by improving your endothelial function, the health of the thin membrane that covers the inside of the heart and blood vessels (7).
Turmeric may play a role in deterring certain cancers. One study found that curcumin to have a natural anti-inflammatory effect on rats with colon cancer (8). Another study had similar findings with the research suggesting that curcumin may help slow the spread of tumor cells stop them from forming (9).
Furthermore, turmeric is shown to prevent colorectal neoplasia, colorectal cancer (10). Colorectal cancer is cancer that starts in the colon and is the third most common type of cancer in the U.S.
Turmeric could prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disorder of the brain causing brain cells to die. It’s the most common cause of dementia, leading to impaired cognitive function, behavioral skills, and social skills.
Many studies have shown turmeric to relieve dementia symptoms. Curcuminoids have been displayed to enhance amyloid-beta updates by macrophages of Alzheimer’s disease patients to treat Alzheimer’s disease (11).
BDNF mRNA lowers in the hippocampus of patients with Alzheimer’s (12). The buildup of protein tangles called amyloid is one of the major culprits in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, so if you can clear these plaques, you’ll be able to protect yourself from this horrendous disease.
Turmeric can help patients with arthritis. Arthritis is the swelling, pain, and stiffness in your joints. Since curcumin possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic properties, it’s proven to be effective in treating arthritis (13).
Your joints are important for your body to move properly, and they support your skeleton system, so a quality turmeric supplement is beneficial for you if you’re having joint problems.
In one 2016 study, just 50 mg of oral curcumin per kilogram (kg) bodyweight substantially slowed the progression of osteoarthritis (14). Another study saw significant improvements in joint tenderness and swelling after taking curcumin for eight weeks (15).
Turmeric can decrease your symptoms of depression. Depression is a daunting disease that impacts many lives, and can alter many aspects of your life, including your sleep, career, and relationships. Animal studies have exhibited curcumin to have antidepressant capabilities (16).
One study found that injecting rats with 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg of curcumin had antidepressant effects after 10 days (17).
Turmeric could reverse the effects of aging. Of course, as you get older your body will age and have some not so desirable side effects that come along for the ride. Fortunately, turmeric has shown some promising benefits to reverse this.
In 2010, an article published showed that blocking the NF-kappaB-dependent inflammation is key to slowing down aging and postponing the onset of age-related diseases (18).
Turmeric may help or prevent diabetes. Turmeric can be an excellent source for controlling your blood glucose levels, making it an excellent source for treating diabetes. In fact, turmeric has been used to treat diabetes in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine (19).
Controlling your blood glucose levels will not only prevent you from developing diabetes, but it will give you more energy since it’s your body’s primary source of energy. One study published by Nutrition & Metabolism unfolded that after just 16 weeks of supplementing with curcumin, blood insulin levels lowered (20).
Turmeric could improve your skin health. Having good skin health does more than make you look good on the outside. In fact, your skin is your body’s first layer of defense to fight off infection.
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences published an article in 2018 suggesting oral curcumin can treat psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disorder (21).
Turmeric can also treat acne and eczema because of its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant properties. With that being said, it will make your skin more vibrant.
Turmeric can protect you from free radicals. Free radicals damage your cells that can lead to aging, illness, and a host of diseases. Turmeric is rich in antioxidants, and antioxidants ward off damage caused by free radicals. According to Foods, curcumin is a powerful antioxidant that can be utilized to protect you against free radicals (22).
Turmeric could be good for your eye health. Improving your eye health will reduce your chances of blindness and vision loss while simultaneously preventing any eye diseases like cataracts or glaucoma. Research conducted on rats shows a 23 percent reduction in retinal cells with curcumin treatment (23).
FAQ
Q: What are the negative side effects of turmeric?
A: Turmeric is safe to take and doesn’t cause any serious side effects. However, an upset stomach, nausea, dizziness, or diarrhea is possible. Consuming a very high amount of turmeric could cause an abnormal heart rhythm. It’s recommended that you don’t take any more than 1,000 milligrams per day.
Q: Is it safe to take turmeric every day?
A: Turmeric is safe to take every day in small doses, but it can have side effects if taken in large doses. If you take the recommended amount, it will give you abundant health benefits, such as improved heart, brain, and mental health. However, if you over-consume turmeric, it may be damaging for your cardiovascular health.
Q: What medications should not be taken while consuming turmeric?
A: If you’re on blood-thinning medication, such as warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix), and aspirin, it’s recommended to avoid taking curcumin since it can raise your blood-thinning levels to dangerous amounts. This can cause bleeding related issues, nausea, and low count of cells in your blood, which can cause fatigue, weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
Q: How does turmeric benefit the body?
A: Turmeric can be used for healthy digestion because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It can also provide your body with numerous other benefits, such as preventing arthritis and protecting your body from heart disease and brain disease.
Q: Who should not use turmeric?
A: People with iron deficiency shouldn’t take turmeric because it can reduce iron availability in your body. It should also not be taken from people undergoing surgery since turmeric could slow blood clotting.
Q: Is turmeric bad for your kidneys?
A: Turmeric is generally safe for your kidneys, however, consuming too much of it can cause kidney stones. That’s because turmeric is high in soluble oxalates that can bind to calcium and form insoluble oxalate, which can play a huge role in kidney stones.
Q: What time of day should you take turmeric?
A: There is no specific time of day that is best to take turmeric, but it’s recommended you consume it 30 minutes before a meal or two hours after one. Taking it with food or shortly after can help with digestion.
Q: Can turmeric raise blood pressure?
A: Taking low doses of turmeric shouldn’t have any effect on your blood pressure. However, taking too much of it can lower it. Low blood pressure can cause dizziness or lightheadedness, fainting, blurred or fading vision, nausea, fatigue, and a lack of concentration.
Q: Can turmeric help you lose weight?
A: Turmeric won’t directly help you lose weight, but it does reduce the inflammation associated with obesity, which could help you get a boost in your weight loss journey. The best way to lose weight is to exercise and control your calories. That being said, turmeric may give you an edge.
Q: Which drugs does turmeric interfere with?
A: Turmeric may interfere with blood-thinning drugs, like warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix), and aspirin. Blood-thinning drugs can cause bleeding related issues, such as passing blood in your urine, passing blood when you defecate or give you black defecate, severe bruising, prolonged nosebleeds, bleeding gums, vomiting blood or coughing up blood, and heavy periods in women.
Q: Is turmeric safe?
A: Turmeric is safe to take in small doses but large doses should be avoided. When you take the recommended dose of turmeric, you’ll decrease the risk of arthritis and inflammation and numerous other benefits. However, if you take too much of it, it could lead to abnormal heart rhythms (although this is very rare).
Q: Does turmeric help you sleep?
A: Turmeric isn’t specifically used for sleep, but it may aid in sleep quality. Since turmeric can help you relax and improve your mental health, it may help you fall asleep and improve the quality of your sleep. The best way to use turmeric to help you sleep is to add it into a nighttime tea.
Q: Is turmeric an aphrodisiac?
A: Yes, turmeric has been used as an aphrodisiac in ancient Indian culture. It can help raise the sex drive of postpartum women. In fact, populations that practice tantric sex often recommend taking turmeric before sex.
Q: Which populations should not take turmeric?
A: Breastfeeding mothers, those taking antidiabetic drugs, and people who are taking iron supplements should avoid taking turmeric. Turmeric can stimulate the male sex hormone androgen, lower blood sugar, and delay the absorption of iron.
Q: Can I drink turmeric tea at night?
A: Yes, turmeric is a great option to take before bed, and supply your body with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Taking turmeric at night with tea will also help you sleep.
Q: What are the pros and cons of turmeric?
A: Turmeric provides your body with numerous benefits including, preventing cancer, heart disease, and brain disease. However, if you consume too much turmeric or take it on certain medications, it can increase the risk of bleeding, worsen gallbladder problems, and decrease blood sugar levels.
Q: Does turmeric help you lose belly fat?
A: Turmeric can reduce the inflammation associated with obesity, thus aiding in weight loss. Losing belly fat is mainly the result of a good diet and exercise plan, but it doesn’t hurt to combine that with turmeric.
Q: Can turmeric keep you awake at night?
A: Turmeric is unlikely to keep you awake at night. In fact, taking some turmeric before bed can help you relax, improve your mood, and lower any depression and anxiety symptoms.
Q: Is turmeric bad for your liver?
A: No, turmeric is safe for your liver. In fact, turmeric is beneficial in many ways for your health, like preventing diabetes.
Q: Can you overdose on turmeric?
A: Turmeric doesn’t typically have any negative side effects. However, taking too much of it can cause an upset stomach, nausea, and dizziness.
Q: How quickly does turmeric work?
A: Turmeric has been shown to have positive effects on your body in as little as six weeks. However, the speed at which it works can also depend on what part of your health you’re looking to improve. Turmeric can help with inflammation, diabetes, brain health, and provides you with several other benefits.
Q: Can I take turmeric before bed?
A: Yes, taking turmeric before bed could improve your sleep quality. It’s best taken with night time tea if you want to improve your sleep quality.
Q: What is the best way to consume turmeric?
A: You can buy turmeric powder or you can take it in the form of capsules. Brewing turmeric in tea is considered one of the most effective ways to consume it. To do this, first, boil 4 cups of water. Next, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of ground grated or powdered turmeric. Then, allow the mixture to simmer for approximately 10 minutes. Finally, strain the tea into a container and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
Q: Can turmeric affect your heart?
A: Turmeric can prevent you from developing any heart diseases. However, if you take too much of it, it could lead to abnormal heart rhythms.
Q: Does turmeric help with constipation?
A: Turmeric can be used as a natural laxative. This can help with constipation and improve your bowel movement.
Q: How does turmeric lower blood pressure?
A: Turmeric expands and relaxes your blood vessels to lower your blood pressure. Lower blood pressure will improve your heart health and can decrease your risk for a heart attack or stroke.
Q: Can turmeric reduce belly fat?
A: Since turmeric has anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity properties, it may help you reduce belly fat. Losing belly fat is going to mainly come from a result of building muscle from resistance training and eating a proper diet, however, turmeric can give you the helping hand you need.
Q: How do you use turmeric to flatten your stomach?
A: Consuming turmeric with tea could help flatten your stomach. Also, combining turmeric with a proper exercise regimen and diet will exponentially increase your body’s ability to burn fat to flatten your stomach.
Q: Does turmeric work for joint pain?
A: Yes, turmeric contains the component, curcumin, which has anti-inflammatory properties to reduce joint pain.
Q: Does turmeric give you gas?
A: Turmeric isn’t known to give you gas, but you could experience bloating, acid reflux, flatulence, and diarrhea if the dosage you consume is too high.
Q: Is turmeric a blood thinner?
A: Turmeric isn’t a blood thinner, but it contains blood-thinning properties. Blood thinners can cause bleeding-related issues, nausea, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath. As such, it’s recommended that you avoid taking turmeric with blood-thinning medication, such as warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix), and aspirin.
Q: Does turmeric help inflammation?
A: Yes. Turmeric contains the anti-inflammatory ingredient, curcumin, to reduce pain and swelling.
Q: Can turmeric cause irregular heartbeat?
A: Turmeric is safe for your heart unless consumed in extremely high doses. Some medical reports have found people taking higher amounts to have an altered heartbeat.
Q: What is turmeric good for?
A: Turmeric has a multitude of proven health benefits. It can help prevent heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. Since it’s an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, it could help improve depression and arthritis.
Furthermore, turmeric could be good for your skin health, eye health, prevent diabetes, reverse the effects of aging, improve your brain health, and improve your oral health.
Q: How much turmeric should you take a day?
A: It will depend on the source and origin of the turmeric you’re taking, but generally speaking, you want to take about 500 to 1,000 milligrams of curcuminoids per day. Any more than that could cause stomach nausea, dizziness, or diarrhea, or abnormal heart rhythms.
Q: How long does it take for turmeric to reduce inflammation?
A: Since turmeric contains anti-inflammatory properties, it can reduce swelling and pain. Curcumin needs to build up in your system first. It will take about four to eight weeks for you to see visible results of reduced inflammation.
Q: How much turmeric should I take to reduce inflammation?
A: To reduce inflammation, you’ll need to consume 500 to 1,000 milligrams of curcuminoids per day.
Q: What brand of turmeric is the best?
A: Our overall number ranked turmeric is Nuzena. This turmeric supplement is great at regulating blood sugar and supporting your heart and joints.
Q: What is the best turmeric to take for inflammation?
A: For inflammation, we recommend you take Nuzena. This one is specifically formulated for anti-inflammatory joint care. Other ones like Thorne’s Meriva 500-SF and Source Naturals Turmeric with Meriva are quality anti-inflammatory turmeric to take as well.
Thorne’s Meriva 500-SF is made for fast absorption and aids your body’s inflammatory response to heal any aches, joint stiffness, or muscle soreness.
Q: Is it better to take turmeric or curcumin?
A: There’s no evidence pointing to which one is better to take out of turmeric and curcumin, but turmeric does contain a high amount of curcumin, so that’s what we recommend you take. They both may reduce joint inflammation, cholesterol, blood sugar, and tumor, fungal, and bacterial growth.
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Recap
Turmeric is a powerful supplement you can utilize to improve your health, especially if you have joint pain and inflammation. It floods your body with antioxidants and helps protect your body from various chronic diseases, including diabetes and cancer.
For CPOE.org’s #1 recommended turmeric, click here.