Does turmeric help against inflammation?

Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, demonstrably lowers several inflammatory markers in the blood. This is shown by a meta-analysis of 66 controlled human studies. CRP dropped by an average of 0.58 mg/l, TNF-alpha by 3.48 pg/ml, and IL-6 by 1.31 pg/ml. For a fourth marker (IL-1beta) no significant effect was found. The effects are statistically reliable, but modest¹.

The same meta-analysis also found reduced oxidative damage and higher antioxidant capacity in the blood. This aligns with what laboratory and animal research had already suggested for some time: curcumin can inhibit pro-inflammatory enzymes, including the same target as ibuprofen. Whether that inhibition plays out as strongly in humans as it does in the laboratory has not yet been directly demonstrated^2,3.

For specific conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or psoriasis the picture is less clear. Curcumin is considered an interesting candidate there, but proven treatment effects are lacking. Researchers are explicit about this: it is a candidate, not a therapy⁴.

A major practical problem is poor bioavailability. Your body breaks curcumin down quickly and excretes it. Ordinary turmeric powder or standard capsules therefore deliver only a fraction of the active compound to your blood. Formulations containing, for example, black pepper are being investigated, but have not yet been proven as a standard solution^4,5. This makes it difficult to say which supplement achieves the blood levels used in studies.

Life-span extension by curcumin has been described in worms, fruit flies and mice. Whether this has any relevance for humans is completely unknown and has not been investigated in the available studies⁶.