How Much Curcumin Should I Take a Day? About 1,000 mg
Take about 1,000 mg of curcuminoids a day, the amount most joint trials used. Most turmeric pills are mostly ground root, so check the label for curcuminoids, not the big number on the front.
By Erin Rose Updated October 18, 2026 How we score
Ready to buy? Our pick for most people
Youtheory Turmeric Extra Strength
950 mg in 2 capsules · $0.83 a day
On USP Verified and NSF/ANSI 173, with black pepper extract to help absorption. Costs are each brand’s own price, checked October 18, 2026. How we picked.
How much curcumin a day, by form
| Form | A day | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 95% curcumin extract | About 1,000 to 1,500 mg of curcuminoids | What most joint trials used |
| Meriva (curcumin phytosome) | About 200 mg of curcumin | What a Meriva study used |
| Turmeric root powder | No set dose | Mostly not curcumin |
| More than 1,500 mg | No added benefit shown | More cost, more stomach upset |
A review of the joint trials put the dose at about 1,000 mg of curcumin a day (Daily 2016), and a 367-person trial used 1,500 mg of extract (Kuptniratsaikul 2014). We checked 11 labels of top turmeric supplements, and 4 give under 500 mg of curcuminoids a day or do not say.
Which curcumin is right for you?
A dose only counts if the bottle delivers it. These are the common mix-ups.
Taking a “2,250 mg” turmeric capsule? Most of it is ground root.
The front number is mostly root. NatureWise 2250 holds 1,750 mg of root and gives 475 mg of curcuminoids a day. A real 95% extract gets you the full amount for less: NOW’s gives 630 mg of curcuminoids a capsule. It is not on a testing list.
NOW Turmeric Curcumin 95%
1,260 mg in 2 capsules · $0.56 a day
Take other medicines? Pick one without black pepper extract.
Black pepper extract raises curcumin in the blood, but in lab studies it also slows how the body clears many drugs (Bhardwaj 2002). Thorne Curcumin Phytosome has none: it uses Meriva, curcumin bound to lecithin, and it is on NSF/ANSI 173 and NSF Certified for Sport.
Thorne Curcumin Phytosome
About 200 mg of curcumin from Meriva · $1.20 a day
Already have a bottle? Find the curcuminoids line.
On the Supplement Facts panel, look for “curcuminoids” and the mg next to it. If the label lists only turmeric root or a blend total, you cannot tell how much curcumin you get.
How to take curcumin
Take the same amount every day; the trials gave it daily. Tell your doctor you take it, and your surgeon before an operation. Rare liver injury has been reported, usually 1 to 4 months after people started (Halegoua-DeMarzio 2023). If your skin or eyes turn yellow, stop and call your doctor. Who should skip it is in our curcumin guide.
Why the form matters
Plain curcumin barely reaches the blood: people took single doses up to 8,000 mg and none showed up in blood tests (Lao 2006). Black pepper extract and forms like Meriva raise blood levels; curcumin absorption compares them.
Questions people ask
Is 1,000 mg of turmeric the same as 1,000 mg of curcumin?
No. Turmeric root is only a few percent curcumin. A 95% extract is almost all curcuminoids, so 1,000 mg of it gives about 950 mg.
How long does curcumin take to work?
No trial set a time. Joint trials measured results after 4 to 16 weeks (Wang 2021), so judge it over weeks, not days.
Is it better to take it once or twice a day?
Either is fine. Take the daily amount the way you will remember it. If it upsets your stomach, split it into two doses.
Sources
- Daily JW, et al. “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. PubMed 27533649
- Kuptniratsaikul V, et al. “Efficacy and safety of Curcuma domestica extracts compared with ibuprofen in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter study.” Clin Interv Aging. 2014. PubMed 24672232
- Wang Z, et al. “Efficacy and Safety of Turmeric Extracts for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.” Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2021. PubMed 33511486
- Belcaro G, et al. “Product-evaluation registry of Meriva, a curcumin-phosphatidylcholine complex, for the complementary management of osteoarthritis.” Panminerva Med. 2010. PubMed 20657536
- Lao CD, et al. “Dose escalation of a curcuminoid formulation.” BMC Complement Altern Med. 2006. PubMed 16545122
- Bhardwaj RK, et al. “Piperine, a major constituent of black pepper, inhibits human P-glycoprotein and CYP3A4.” J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2002. PubMed 12130727
- Halegoua-DeMarzio D, et al. “Liver Injury Associated with Turmeric: A Growing Problem. Ten Cases from the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network [DILIN].” Am J Med. 2023. PubMed 36252717
- Labels and brand prices, read October 18, 2026 (the brand’s store, or Vitacost where it blocked reads). Testing lists: NSF/ANSI 173, NSF Certified for Sport, USP Verified.