What Adding Turmeric Supplements Can Do for Your Health

Turmeric is a highly regarded culinary spice, prized for its brilliant yellow color, delicious flavor, and (most importantly) its health-promoting benefits for your body and brain. The majority of turmeric’s benefits are attributed to its primary active ingredient, curcumin.

Among the benefits attributed to turmeric include healing the gut, boosting memory, and reducing inflammation, but, what does research in humans actually have to say?

Furthermore, given the increasing number of turmeric and curcumin-based supplements on the market, you may have questions about what’s the best curcumin supplement or if you should even supplement with turmeric or curcumin. We’ll discuss exactly that as well as what adding turmeric supplements can do for your health.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is Turmeric?

Turmeric is a plant related to ginger. It has been used for centuries as a dye, a spice, and as a remedy in both Indian and Chinese medicine.

While curcumin is recognized as the primary bioactive agent in turmeric, it is just one of a family of four curcuminoids. The other curcuminoids found in turmeric are demethoxycurcumin, bis-demethoxycurcumin, and cyclo-curcumin.[1]

Research shows that these compounds offer a wide range of effects including[1]:

• Antioxidant
• Anti-inflammation
• Antidiabetic
• Hepatoprotective
• Anti-allergic
• Anti-dermatophyte
• Neuroprotective
• Cardiovascular health

Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin

Hundreds of supplements are sold on the basis of cell cultures and animal studies, curcumin is one of the few that has a robust body of research in humans. This is what elevates above many other dietary supplements on the market -- it’s backed by centuries of traditional practice as well as human randomized control trials!

So, what does turmeric and curcumin have to offer?

Joint Support

Perhaps the most well-known (and studied) use of curcumin is for its anti-inflammatory benefits, particularly as it relates to joint health.

Numerous studies indicate that curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties may help manage osteoarthritis and support healthy joints.[2,3]

Specifically, curcuminoids possess rather impressive anti-inflammatory activities and has been found in multiple studies to significantly decrease pain in osteoarthritis.[4,5,6] They’re also known to NF-κB signaling and proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin production and phospholipase A2, COX-2, and 5-LOX activities.

Increases BDNF

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a brain protein that aids the growth, survival, and maintenance of neurons. Decreased levels of it are associated with depression and Alzheimer’s disease.[7]

Curcumin has been found to increase BDNF as well as reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, all of which supports long-term cognitive function and brain health.[8,9]

Cardiometabolic Health

Curcumin has been shown to help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in human subjects (fyi, both inflammation and oxidative stress are known contributors to weight gain and cardiovascular disease).

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Immunology concluded that “cucumin can reduce BMI [body mass index], TG [triglycerides], TC [total cholesterol], liver enzymes, and insulin resistance.”[10]

Side Effects

Turmeric and curcumin have been extensively studied and, based on the existing body of evidence, appears to be relatively free of any serious side effects.

In fact, consuming doses as high as 8-10 grams (8,000-10,000mg daily for months) did not find any toxicity or serious side effects.[11]

The only minor symptom that has been mentioned in a handful of studies is minor gastrointestinal (GI) upset.

Best Way to Take Curcumin Supplements

Since curcumin can be found in turmeric, you might think you can get the benefits by simply adding a bit of the spice to your lunches or dinners during the week. However, the actual percentage by mass of curcuminoids found in turmeric powder is quite low

(between 1-6%).

Additionally, like many phytochemicals taken orally, curcumin has low bioavailability and is unstable (it easily changes into other substances). Fortunately, it is fat-soluble, which means consuming turmeric/curcumin with fats, such as olive oil, avocado, or fish oil may increase its absorption.[1,12]

Still, you’re still not getting all that much when adding a pinch to your food.

The Best Curcumin Supplement

The most reliable way to ensure you’re getting the right amount of curcumin is to use a curcumin supplement. But, bioavailability is still a concern.

Fortunately, researchers have investigated ways to enhance the bioavailability of curcumin.

Combining curcumin with piperine (the active ingredient in black pepper) has been shown to substantially increase its absorption (up to 2000%!).[13]

With so many turmeric and curcumin supplements to choose between, picking the right one can be confusing, but it doesn’t have to be…

1UP Joint Health Plus supplies a full 500mg curcumin per serving + 10mg BioPerine to increase absorption. Every serving of our best-selling joint supplement also includes research-backed doses of other proven joint support agents, including NEM (natural eggshell membrane), ParActin, Boswellia, Ginger Root, and Type II Collagen.

If you’re looking for even more ways to get the benefits of turmeric, check out 1UP Kickstart, which contains 500mg organic turmeric root along with ginger, cayenne, and lemon to support healthy digestion, aid metabolism, and promote a healthy immune response.

References

1. Dei Cas M, Ghidoni R. Dietary Curcumin: Correlation between Bioavailability and Health Potential. Nutrients. 2019 Sep 8;11(9):2147. doi: 10.3390/nu11092147. PMID: 31500361; PMCID: PMC6770259.
2. Paultre K, Cade W, Hernandez D, Reynolds J, Greif D, Best TM. Therapeutic effects of turmeric or curcumin extract on pain and function for individuals with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 2021;7(1):e000935. doi:10.1136/bmjsem-2020-000935
3. Cox FF, Misiou A, Vierkant A, et al. Protective effects of curcumin in cardiovascular diseases—impact on oxidative stress and mitochondria. Cells. 2022;11(3):342. doi:10.3390/cells11030342
4. Calderón-Pérez L, Llauradó E, Companys J, et al. Acute Effects of Turmeric Extracts on Knee Joint Pain: A Pilot, Randomized Controlled Trial. J Med Food. 2021;24(4):436-440. doi:10.1089/jmf.2020.0074
5. Henrotin Y, Malaise M, Wittoek R, de Vlam K, Brasseur JP, Luyten FP, Jiangang Q, Van den Berghe M, Uhoda R, Bentin J, De Vroey T, Erpicum L, Donneau AF, Dierckxsens Y. Bio-optimized Curcuma longa extract is efficient on knee osteoarthritis pain: a double-blind multicenter randomized placebo controlled three-arm study. Arthritis Res Ther. 2019 Jul 27;21(1):179. doi: 10.1186/s13075-019-1960-5. PMID: 31351488; PMCID: PMC6661105.
6. Daily JW, Yang M, Park S. Efficacy of Turmeric Extracts and Curcumin for Alleviating the Symptoms of Joint Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. J Med Food. 2016;19(8):717-729. doi:10.1089/jmf.2016.3705
7. Mizoguchi, Y., Yao, H., Imamura, Y. et al. Lower brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels are associated with age-related memory impairment in community-dwelling older adults: the Sefuri study. Sci Rep 10, 16442 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73576-1
8. Sarraf P, Parohan M, Javanbakht MH, Ranji-Burachaloo S, Djalali M. Short-term curcumin supplementation enhances serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor in adult men and women: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutr Res. 2019 Sep;69:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2019.05.001. Epub 2019 May 9. PMID: 31279955.
9. Small GW, Siddarth P, Li Z, Miller KJ, Ercoli L, Emerson ND, Martinez J, Wong KP, Liu J, Merrill DA, Chen ST, Henning SM, Satyamurthy N, Huang SC, Heber D, Barrio JR. Memory and Brain Amyloid and Tau Effects of a Bioavailable Form of Curcumin in Non-Demented Adults: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled 18-Month Trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018 Mar;26(3):266-277. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2017.10.010. Epub 2017 Oct 27. PMID: 29246725.
10. Yang K, Chen J, Zhang T, Yuan X, Ge A, Wang S, Xu H, Zeng L, Ge J. Efficacy and safety of dietary polyphenol supplementation in the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Immunol. 2022 Sep 9;13:949746. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.949746. PMID: 36159792; PMCID: PMC9500378.
11. Cheng AL, Hsu CH, Lin JK, Hsu MM, Ho YF, Shen TS, et al. Phase I clinical trial of curcumin, A chemopreventive agent, in patients with high-risk or pre-malignant lesions. Anticancer Res (2001) 21(4B):2895–900; Aggarwal BB, Kumar A, Bharti AC. Anticancer potential of curcumin: preclinical and clinical studies. Anticancer Res. 2003;23(1A):363-398.
12. Stohs SJ, Chen O, Ray SD, Ji J, Bucci LR, Preuss HG. Highly bioavailable forms of curcumin and promising avenues for curcumin-based research and application: A review. Molecules. 2020;25(6):1397. doi:10.3390%2Fmolecules25061397
13. Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, Majeed M, Rajendran R, Srinivas PS. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Med. 1998 May;64(4):353-6. doi: 10.1055/s-2006-957450. PMID: 9619120.