Curcumin is the main yellow compound in turmeric (Curcuma longa). Supplements usually contain a turmeric extract standardized to curcuminoids, sometimes in formulations designed to raise absorption.
Also known as: turmeric extract, curcuminoids.
Curcumin has no intake value or upper limit. Published dose-escalation and pharmacokinetic studies used single doses from 500 mg to 12,000 mg (Lao 2006; Vareed 2008). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. For compounding, curcumin sits in FDA's 503A Category 1 (bulk substances under evaluation, list updated May 14, 2026).
The NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says there is not enough evidence to conclude whether turmeric or curcumin is beneficial for any health purpose, and that liver damage has been reported in some people taking formulations designed to be better absorbed. In a dose-escalation study, 7 of 24 people had minimal side effects that did not appear to be dose-related (Lao 2006).
Very little free curcumin reaches the blood. In one study no curcumin was detected in serum after single doses of 500 to 8,000 mg (Lao 2006); in another, after 10 or 12 g, only one person had detectable free curcumin, and what circulated were its glucuronide and sulfate conjugates, which peaked at about 3.3 hours with a half-life of about 6.8 hours (Vareed 2008). Because those figures are for the metabolites at very large doses, we do not list them as curcumin's. The app's level curve follows these conjugates, the only form measured in blood, with a 7-hour half-life and a 3.3-hour peak.