Form Comparison

Colloidal Curcumin vs 95% Curcumin Extract

How colloidal curcumin and 95% curcumin extract differ in potency, absorption, tolerance, and cost.

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Quick verdict. Plain 95% extract is cheap and matches the osteoarthritis trials at 1,000-1,500 mg a day. Theracurmin's submicron particles produced about 27-fold higher plasma curcumin in a small study, so 90-180 mg replaces grams, at a high price. Choose plain extract on a budget, and colloidal curcumin if pill burden or GI upset from gram doses is the problem.

Side by Side

Colloidal Curcumin (Theracurmin) Curcumin Extract (95% Curcuminoids)
Absorption Moderate Low
How it is absorbed Submicron curcumin particles dispersed with gum ghatti. Plasma curcumin was about 27-fold higher than with curcumin powder in a small human study. Poorly soluble and rapidly conjugated in the gut wall and liver; plasma curcumin after gram doses is often near the detection limit.
Typical dose 90-180 mg curcumin daily 500-2,000 mg daily
Common uses osteoarthritis pain osteoarthritis pain
Side effects GI upset. GI upset, loose stools.
Cost High Low
Also called Theracurmin, nano-curcumin standardized curcuminoids, C3 Complex

When to Choose Colloidal Curcumin (Theracurmin)

Choose colloidal curcumin when you want the highest blood levels per milligram and accept the price. Fold-increase claims across brands come from different study designs and cannot be ranked against each other.

Colloidal Curcumin (Theracurmin)

High blood levels at small doses. The price reflects the technology.

What to look for: Theracurmin, 90-180 mg curcumin daily.

Find on iHerb Affiliate link

When to Choose Curcumin Extract (95% Curcuminoids)

Choose 95% curcumin extract when you want the form most trials used at the lowest cost. The form in most osteoarthritis trials, which used 1,000-1,500 mg daily. Low blood levels did not stop it from matching ibuprofen in one large trial.

Curcumin Extract (95% Curcuminoids)

The form most osteoarthritis trials used, and the least expensive per milligram of curcuminoids.

What to look for: 95% curcuminoids, 500 mg per capsule, taken two or three times daily with food.

Find on iHerb Affiliate link

Products on Titrate

5,316 of the 214,745 labels in the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database list turmeric and curcumin as an active ingredient (2,641 on market). 1,778 are sold as turmeric and curcumin products by name.

Open supplement search

Turmeric and Curcumin does not have its own search category yet. Each product above links to its full label in the NIH database.

Related

References

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Turmeric.

EFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS). Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of curcumin (E 100) as a food additive. EFSA J. 2010;8(9):1679.

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;64(4):353-356.

Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA, Aggarwal BB. Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Mol Pharm. 2007;4(6):807-818.

Antony B, Merina B, Iyer VS, Judy N, Lennertz K, Joyal S. A pilot cross-over study to evaluate human oral bioavailability of BCM-95CG (Biocurcumax), a novel bioenhanced preparation of curcumin. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2008;70(4):445-449.

Cuomo J, Appendino G, Dern AS, et al. Comparative absorption of a standardized curcuminoid mixture and its lecithin formulation. J Nat Prod. 2011;74(4):664-669.

Sasaki H, Sunagawa Y, Takahashi K, et al. Innovative preparation of curcumin for improved oral bioavailability. Biol Pharm Bull. 2011;34(5):660-665.

Kuptniratsaikul V, Dajpratham P, Taechaarpornkul W, et al. Efficacy and safety of Curcuma domestica extracts compared with ibuprofen in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter study. Clin Interv Aging. 2014;9:451-458.

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.

Nelson KM, Dahlin JL, Bisson J, Graham J, Pauli GF, Walters MA. The essential medicinal chemistry of curcumin. J Med Chem. 2017;60(5):1620-1637.

Halegoua-DeMarzio D, Navarro V, Ahmad J, et al. Liver injury associated with turmeric: a growing problem. Ten cases from the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network [DILIN]. Am J Med. 2023;136(2):200-206.