What type of turmeric supplement should I take?

[mikejdrake]

The tablets seem to vary so much in price, so is all turmeric the same or does it differ in quality and effectiveness?

[PandQs]

I take turmeric but I buy it as a jar of spice, and add it to gravies, soups, chilli, or even omelettes - but always with black pepper as well because I read that the pepper in some way assists the turmeric to be absorbed into the body. So the only thing I would suggest it to look for a tablet that includes black pepper.

[slipstick in reply to PandQs]

Likewise. I use a load of turmeric anyway, enough that I buy it in 100g packs rather than the little spice jars. I think of it as food not a supplement.

[Subtle_badger]

I was going to reply with this picture (fresh turmeric root seems readily available at greengrocers in London) but then I googled it, and turmeric supplements are usually extracts that are much more concentrated. You would need 3 to 6 teaspoons of fresh or ground turmeric to get the anti-inflammatory effect. I think that would make for a fairly same-y diet after a while.

Note: do not munch on fresh turmeric root; it will make your mouth, teeth, tongue and hands yellow. DAMHIKT.

[luthien]

The active ingredient in Tumeric is Circumin, which is only about 3% in fresh tumeric root.

The Circumin is what gives us the health benefits of:

Natural anti-inflammatoryIncreases the anti-oxidant capacity

May Improve brain function

Circumin however is poorly absorbed into our bloodstream on it's own so it's best to combine with black pepper.

Black pepper has the active ingredient of piperine which on it's own has the following heath benefits:

High in antioxidants

Has anti-inflammatory properties

May benefit your brain

May improve blood sugar control

May lower cholesterol levels

In summary it's best to combine both tumeric and black pepper together daily in capsule form. The dosage from websites says about 500–2,500 mg of tumeric which is up to 100mg of the active ingredient circumin.

I think you'd have to take it for about 6 weeks to start seeing any benefit, much like any diet / supplement change.

I've not taken circumin myself so cannot say about any benefits, but I am looking into it.

[Hidden]

It differs in how much courcoumin (spelling probably wrong) curcummin?/) is in it. Which is the active compound in it. So look for that aspect. Some also contain black pepper which is supposed to help you absorb it better as you absorb so little of it. And then others have oil which it's an oil soluble compound so if its in oil its supposed to absorb better. I never found it did much for me compared to other things like cayene and cabbage juice which helped my joint pains noticeably ...and avoiding inflammatory foods had a big effect too. But I may not have taken enough of it to sense a difference.

[mikejdrake]

Thanks for you reply.

[NutritionUK]

Hi there,

Great question!

Like all foods the quality can vary massively depending on harvest, where/when it was grown, organic status, processing, storage and then cooking.

As others have mentioned curcumin is the active component and you need at least a teaspoon of turmeric a day to get the benefits.

It needs to be high quality turmeric root from fresh or dried and you can't heat it too much otherwise it will damage the curcumin.

I suppose this is why so many people choose curcumin capsules.

There's a few good brands, don't bother with the cheap Amazon turmeric products, they're a con and loads of fake reviews.

Take care