Turmeric

What time of day should you take turmeric?

There is no data on what the optimal time of day for use of turmeric is. There is no evidence that turmeric impairs sleep if taken before bed-time.

Which are the active ingredients in turmeric?

The primary active ingredient, which is likely highly involved in the effects of turmeric on cognition and mood, is curcumin.

This is the one that you should care about when selecting a turmeric product. In fact, curcumin-only products are often the ones that have been studied for cognitive enhancement. For example, Longvida curcumin is a curcumin product with several placebo-controlled studies.

But there are also other ingredients in turmeric, that may also be involved in its effects on mood and cognition:

"Turmeric contains 3-6% polyphenolic compounds, collectively known as curcuminoids, which is a mixture of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin." [10]

Bisacurone [2], Tumeronol A, and Tumeronol B [12] are other active ingredients in turmeric that may be involved in the effects of turmeric products on cognition and mood.

Considering that by far the most high-quality research on the cognitive effects of constituents in turmeric has been conducted on curcumin, we recommend that you select a product that contains high amounts of curcumin.

How much should I consume of the different forms of turmeric products for maximum nootropic effects?

• 150mg turmeric water extract reduced emotional fatigue [11]
• 1.5g Biocurcumax preserved cognitive functions in healthy elderly [5]
• Do not consume 2000 mg Longvida: ∼400 mg curcumin, which did not enhance motor performance or cognitive functions in healthy people [1], but do consume 400 mg Longvida: ~80mg curcumin, which did enhance working memory and improved mood in healthy elderly. [16]

We suggest that you buy Longvida curcumin, start with small doses (100-400mg) and slowly increase it until your results worsen (and then lower the dose to the one you consumed with optimal results). This is a solid dosing strategy to find one's personal sweet spot. Longvida is the most studied curcumin product for cognitive enhancement and contains highly bioavailable curcumin.

Are studies for curcumin only included on this page?

Yes, studies that examined the effects of the primary active ingredient in turmeric, curcumin, are included on this page.

Is curcumin bioavailable, and if not, how can I make it so?

The bodily absorption of curcumin depends a lot on which product you select. Curcumin in turmeric has very poor bioavailability [18], meaning you would have to use huge amounts to get any nootropic effects. Thankfully, scientists have figured out how to safely administer curcumin to people in a way that's bioavailable and effective.

Consuming piperine with curcumin has been shown to increase its bioavailability with 2000%. [20] Around 3-20mg of piperine with 500-2000mg curcumin is commonly used when combining these nootropics.

Longvida curcumin is optimized to deliver free curcumin into target tissues through something called "Solid Lipid Curcumin Particle Technology". It is a product developed to combat the absorption problems of curcumin as it is usually consumed. In one study, 650mg curcumin was found highly bioavailable if ingested as Longvida, but not if ingested as it is normally consumed. [22][23]

It is important that you select a product with bioavailable curcumin that can be absorbed by your body. Longvida curcumin is a good example of such a product. Another way to consume well-absorbed curcumin is by combining it with piperine.

How does curcumin work?

Curcumin is anti-inflammatory, has anti-oxidant effects, and modulates dopaminergic receptors [25]. It increases dopamine and serotonin [26], and modulates the cholinergic system. [27]

These findings are mostly based on animal and cell studies.

The neuropsychopharmacological effects of curcumin have not yet been fully discovered by researchers.

Is curcumin neuroprotective?

"... curcumin has at least 10 known neuroprotective actions ..." ~ Neuroprotective Effects of Curcumin, published in Advances in experimental medicine and biology [28]

It is likely that the neuroprotective effects of curcumin depend on what the factor that is damaging neurons in the brain is. For example, lack of oxygen or dangerously high glutamate levels in the brain can lead to increased neuronal death. Curcumin is likely going to protect neurons from some forms of neurochemical toxicity. [29] While curcumin may be protective in many instances, it is likely not going to protect you from everything you might expose your brain to. The optimal dose and duration for the use of curcumin for neuronal protection are not known.