The Best Curcumin Supplement

I'm wrapping up my first bottle of Turmeric Force and wanted to see if there's any consensus on which is the best brand of curcumin yet. My experience with Turmeric Force has been relatively good (no adverse effects, some nice digestive results, but no noticeable difference with my hair). From previous discussions, it seems that we ideally want a supplement that's close to the whole herb as possible. However, as you know, most of the things available are extracts -- which could be a good thing due to their high concentration, or a bad thing due to a correct ratio of characteristics. I started to compile a list of competitive products to see which stacked up best (on paper), but as I did so, I found it hard to compare 'apples to apples'. Here's what I mean:

New Chapter Turmeric Force
Form: Softgel
Turmeric (rhizome) 400 mg
- 80 mg Supercritical extract (45% turmerones - 36 mg)
- 320 mg ethanolic extract (11% curcuminoids - 35.2 mg)

Jarrow Curcumin 95
Form: Capsule
Turmeric concentrate (Curcuma longa) (18:1 extract) (rhizome) 500 mg
- 380 mg Curcumin
- 90 mg Demethoxycurcumin
- 15 mg Bisdemethoxycurcumin

Life Extension Super BIO-Curcumin
Form: Capsule
Bio-Curcumin (Curcuma longa) (25:1 extract) (root) 400 mg
- Std. to 95 % Total Curcuminoids Complex by HPLC (380 mg)

Life Extension Super Curcumin
Form: Capsule
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) root extract 800 mg
- 760 mg Curcuminoids (Curcumin, Demethoxycurcumin and Bisdemethoxycurcumin)
- 5 mg Bioperine piperine (from black pepper) 5 mg

Swanson Premium Turmeric
Form: Capsule
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) (rhizome) 1.44 g

Does anyone know if the Swanson is the whole herb or extracts? It's dirt cheap...

NewReg - Loosely based on one thread, Gibson mentioned that Life Extension Super BIO-Curcumin BCM-95 had a positive effect on sleep. I already tested this on myself and one other person and we concur, this is great stuff. So far, I think LEF BCM-95 is the most effective as I've been alternating with Turmeric Force to compare.

This is immortal hair, not immortal sleep....

never had problem with sleep. like a baby.

europe - LOL! Curcumin prevents stress induced lowering of 5-hydroxytryptamine, which means it keeps the serotonin firing when you need it the most (at night).

So this effect in one curcumin product over the other is evidence of its potency.

IH I just started taking the one that you take, the directions say 1 a day and you take 2. What is the reason for 2 and is it safe?

you right chapat !! he states one at breakfast and one at night on his regimen page, but says he's only taking one.... the little one....

You know what chapat, i think this guy is overreacting curcumin...He definitly sleeps too much.
come on briiiiaaannn !!! wwaakkee uuppp !!!!

brian....be carefull...you switched to nutricology and it gave you 2 mores hours of sleep, go to bed earlier. you switched to LEF's curcumin and sleep like a baby...

your GF is gonna love your new "exciting" regimen , for sure !!!
try the pizza before bed, it's fabulous !
you wake up : bam , you're single again !

;-)

without hesitation, i recommend BCM-95 far above and beyond any turmeric/curcumin product i have tried. It is a killer supplement in league with EC.

What i have noticed:

Tough to get a hang-over. Truly helps with detox from alcohol, etc. Amazing.

Joint support: no more achy joints.

Eat a whole lot of junk food. No prob.

Better sleep at first, but my sleep is still fucked.

I take more than one a day. Today I took 3. Given the warning on the bottle, I hope it doesn't kill me.

europe - One might be enough, but for full coverage two would almost do it. One or two BCM-95 curcumin is the question.
Not sure on this one yet.

I used BCM-95 prior to the Nutricology Fibroboost (was taking "Doctor's Worst" Fibroboost then). So now? I am getting to bed a lot earlier, but that's good for me--my GF is a morning person!

Immortal sex - How can we do when a morning person meet an evening person....

That is the immortal question....
do it all day and night long...

europe - Dating a morning person isn't so bad....you can take them faster in the evening. In the morning when you stretch or yawn, that increases nitric oxide so even if you're tired you are ready.

So do you take 1 or 2 a day?

CS, Gibson

do you take the BCM-95 just prior to a meal or accompany it with a glass of warm milk as Lund suggested in a previous thread for better absorption?
Unless taking the LEF Bio-curcumin by itself already offers a good absorption,no need to mix with fatty food source...?

CS - why "Doctor's worst" ? Are you sure their EC is that bad after all?

chapat - I've been taking one, sometimes two Curcumin per day. I'm not exactly sure what is happening, but I have noticed that my appetite is not as great in the evening. It might have something to do with how curcumin regulates 5-HTP.

If I eat meals that are heavy, I'll make sure to have curcumin in there, if not I'll just leave it at one.

edony - I take it, just before the meal or during only.

I'm not sure how "bad" Doctor's best Fibroboost is, but the two things that had me concerned about it were (1) Someone used it topically and it did nothing compared to Nutricology and (2) Nutricology creates that effect that shows it is increasing pituitary growth hormone release, Doctor's best did not do this.

Edony,

I end up taking it both on an empty stomach and full, as I skip breakfast. It isn't really a consideration for me, as I seem to benefit regardless. But the label instructs to take with a meal.

Hey guys do you take take resveratrol/curcumin seperately from other supplements or do you take along with everything else? Usually i just take resveratrol/curcumin along all other supplements in the morning.

youngbalder - I take that combo with everything else, but I'm always taking something with a meal, but Res/Curcumin in just one of those meals.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/09/New-Hope-for-Natural-Weight-Loss.aspx

Reduced expression of VEGF...VEGF is good for the hair though!

Nid - The whole thing with VEGF has been pretty confusing on the hair forums. But VEGF often contains vasoreactive substances or mediators of inflammation. These are associated with obesity, heart disease and cancer.

Vascular endothelial growth factor is a sub-family of growth factors, some are expressed to decrease hair, while others will increase it.

One area we haven't discussed much on here is CRP (C-reactive protein), which is a measure of systemic microinflammation.

I've been on Life Extension BIO for about a week and don't think it's as strong as New Chapter Turmeric Force. When I took New Chapter, I was going to the bathroom 1-2x more during the day. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I attributed it to the New Chapter having a detox effect.

The Natural - You recently switched from Jarrow to something, right? What did you go to and how has it compared to the Jarrow product? Thanks.

NewReg wrote:I've been on Life Extension BIO for about a week and don't think it's as strong as New Chapter Turmeric Force. When I took New Chapter, I was going to the bathroom 1-2x more during the day. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I attributed it to the New Chapter having a detox effect.

The Natural - You recently switched from Jarrow to something, right? What did you go to and how has it compared to the Jarrow product? Thanks.

New Reg, I have been using Jarrow, New Chapter, and LEF curcumin for a month or so, assessing the differences, if any, between these products.

New Chapter has not faired as well as the others. In fact, I recently stopped using it because of a slight rash that developed. The rash has since subsided. Perhaps, I am (still) allergic to this particular product.

Now, the diuretic properties of Turmeric Force may be a good thing, removing toxins and the like from the body; however, too much of this could flush away important vitamins and minerals.

By the way, this is one of the reasons why I am dropping green tea extract from regimen. This herb causes me to use the restroom (too) often. And I don't think that it's a good thing in my case.

Other reasons are that I am uneasy about its relation to curcumin and the tendency for their respective polyphenols to compete against each other, rendering them both ineffective. Lastly, I am unclear whether elevated sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels are a good thing as we age. Maybe someone here can explain this to me. This notwithstanding, I will continue to drink two or three cups of the tea a day.

I have been using LEF's Super Bio Curcumin for a month without any problems. I "think" that it may be more effective than Jarrow's, but I will probably wait another month or so before making a definite statement.

TN

newreg,

the yardstick is inflammation. BCM-95 trumps new chapter as an anti-inflammatory.

gibson - could you specify your sentence ? i don't understand the meaning you wanna point between the two, turmeric and lef ?