Safety

Research shows not all curcumin we take orally is absorbed. This has led to the use of other things such as lipids (fats) and piperine (found in black pepper), to help it absorb into our system.

High intakes (up to 12 grams a day) of curcumin can cause diarrhoea, skin rash, headaches and yellow-coloured faeces. Looking at the Indian population, they consume about 100mg of curcumin a day, which corresponds to 2 to 2.5 grams of turmeric per day.

But they also consume these amounts over relatively long periods of time (typically their lifespan). There are reports of lower cancer rates in the Indian population and this has been linked to turmeric consumption, but there are no longer term trials proving this link.

It appears that in order to receive benefits from high doses over a short period of time, people are now resorting to injecting turmeric intravenously. There is no evidence to support the benefits of high doses of turmeric or IV injections of turmeric at all.

In fact, at very high doses, curcumin’s predominant activity switches from antioxidant to pro-oxidant, which means rather than preventing cells from damage, it promotes cell damage and has also been reported to cause tumours in rodents.

Although curcumin is showing some encouraging effects in reducing markers of inflammation in humans, the majority of the pharmacological effects of curcumin are in lab studies or animal experiments. Until there are more high quality randomised controlled trials conducted to confirm the benefits of curcumin or turmeric, it’s best to consume turmeric orally as a spice as part of a healthy, nutritious diet.