Turmeric for Weight Loss: Fat-Loss Hope Or Hype? (2021)

Do you wish there was a magical pill that could help you lose weight, lower your cholesterol and reduce inflammation? Turmeric promises all of this and more.

Of course, any pill can claim to have impressive health benefits. The question you’re probably wondering is whether turmeric delivers, and how you can integrate it into your diet plan to boost your weight loss and overall health.

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how turmeric works for weight loss, the benefits you can enjoy and, finally, which is the best supplement brand.

This common spice packs in a lot of power when it comes to supplements. Offering life-changing benefits, turmeric makes for an impressive supplement you won’t want to miss out on. Read on to learn what it can do for you!

Before we take a deeper dive into the impressive health benefits of turmeric, both in seasoning and pill form, let’s take a quick look at our 2 favorite supplements.

The Top 2 Turmeric Supplements We Recommend

Turmeric is great and has the potential to help you improve your health. However, unfortunately, you can’t just pull any turmeric supplements off the shelf and expect results.

As you can imagine, the best turmeric supplement products meet the highest production standards and contain quality ingredients.

Don’t get overwhelmed by the wide selection of turmeric supplements. We’ve put together a list of the best turmeric supplements so that you can purchase with confidence. Take a look at the winning products you should consider adding to your routine below:

Best Turmeric Supplement with Black Pepper

Why purchase turmeric with black pepper? Another ordinary spice, black pepper contains piperine. This is an important extract which can improve your body’s ability to absorb curcumin, the main ingredient in turmeric. In fact, it increases the body’s ability to absorb curcumin by 2000%! (2) Naturally, many turmeric supplements are made with black pepper to take advantage of this property. But, which is the best supplement with black pepper? Here are our top picks:

 

 

The 7 Amazing Health Benefits of Turmeric

Turmeric is most commonly known as a spice. Popular in curries and Indian cuisine, this bright, yellow powder that comes from a rhizome is full of surprising health benefits. So, what are these amazing benefits and how does it work? Take a look at the many turmeric supplement benefits you can expect to enjoy when taking these pills:

#1. Lose Weight

Drop the pounds quickly with the help of turmeric supplements. There have been studies that show that people who are overweight may benefit from taking turmeric due to its ability to prevent adipocyte differentiation. Basically, it means it keeps cells that have the potential to become fat cells from actually turning into fat cells. Turmeric for weight loss can be very effective thanks to the spice’s impacts on metabolism and other areas of the body.

#2. Lower Your Cholesterol

Turmeric may help you lower your triglycerides. This is the bad kind of cholesterol you want to get rid of as it can contribute to heart disease.

#3. Improve Digestion

With turmeric, you can improve your digestion and also treat an upset stomach. For those hoping to lose weight, making sure your digestive system is working perfectly is important. Particularly, turmeric may be useful for treating digestive disorders such as heartburn, irritable bowel disease and even colon cancer.

#4. Regulate Metabolism

Insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hypertension and other metabolic related disorders that exhibit inflammation may be treatable with turmeric. Scientists also believe that overweight and obese individuals are affected by slight levels of inflammation. Because turmeric is an anti-inflammatory, it can play a role in treating these conditions. Having a healthy metabolism can also help with maintaining a healthy body weight. So, the implications of using turmeric for metabolism can be positive for managing weight as well.

#5. May Prevent and Treat Alzheimer’s

There’s promising evidence that shows turmeric may play a role in preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease. At this point, researchers aren’t sure exactly how it works. However, they suspect it has to do with turmeric’s anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

#6. Anti-inflammatory Effects

Inflammation in the body is related to many conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer,  infections and many more. Turmeric has been effectively used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat these conditions or prevent them.

#7. Antioxidant

You’ve probably heard about the importance of antioxidants. Preventing and healing the oxidation in cells in the body, this can help protect your body from toxins at a cellular level. Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant.

Keep in mind that inflammation and oxidative stress seem to play a role in most chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and more. So, this may mean that turmeric supplements and their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant powers are effective in treating a range of conditions. (1)

So, how does it work? Turmeric supplement benefits are still being researched to understand exactly how they are able to achieve so many positive outcomes. However, scientists do know that there’s one main active ingredient in turmeric that plays a major role in the health benefits offered by this rhizome. The active ingredient is curcumin.

What is curcumin? It’s is a polyphenol, or micronutrient. This amazing micronutrient is responsible for most of the health benefits associated with turmeric. However, pure turmeric powder contains a maximum of 3% curcumin. In order to offer more benefits, most turmeric supplements include a higher concentration of curcumin which is extracted from turmeric.

Turmeric Side Effects

Whenever you take any supplement or medication, you should be aware of potential interactions and side effects. After all, medicine is derived from natural sources, so it makes sense that plants and extracts may also produce the same side effects. When it comes to turmeric, what should you be aware of? Are there any turmeric supplement side effects?

Here’s what you need to know:

• Generally, turmeric supplements are safe when taken in moderate amounts for up to 8 months at a time. For this reason, take only the recommended dosage.
• Do not take a turmeric supplement while pregnant. While safe when used in small amounts for food, medicinal amounts of turmeric could stimulate a menstrual period or the uterus.
• Due to possible complications, turmeric supplements should not be taken by people with gallbladder conditions.
• Turmeric supplements may slow blood clotting. Consequently, they are not recommended for people with bleeding disorders. You should also avoid taking turmeric before an upcoming surgery for this reason.
• If you have diabetes, use turmeric with caution as it may interfere with other medications and lower your blood sugar.
• Turmeric may interfere with iron absorption. So, if you have an iron deficiency, avoid taking this supplement.
• It’s uncertain whether turmeric plays a helpful or negative role in hormone-sensitive conditions such as reproductive system cancers or conditions. (3)

As is always wise, check with your doctor before taking any new supplement or medication. However, be especially aware of the above interactions so that you don’t suffer unfortunate consequences when taking turmeric pills.

Turmeric Dosage: How Much Should You Take?

What’s the appropriate amount of turmeric to take? Dosage is important when taking any supplement. If you don’t take the right amount, you can’t expect to gain any of the benefits, can you?

Dosage recommendations range from 1400 mg of turmeric extract for lowering cholesterol to 500 to 1000 mg of pure curcumin to treat allergies or depression (3). However, other studies cite successfully using as little as 10 mg of curcumins daily for treating cholesterol or atherosclerosis (a cardiovascular disease).  As you can see, there’s a wide variation in dosing practices.

Most turmeric supplements include 1200 – 2000 mg of turmeric extract and a smaller amount, perhaps 100 mg or so, of pure curcumin. Consequently, you should be able to work out an appropriate dosage with most supplements available on the market.

Turmeric: Your Supplement for Good Health

Whether you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis or you’re hoping to lose weight, turmeric supplements will help you reach your health goals. Now that you know exactly what turmeric can do for your body, how much you should take and what some of the best turmeric supplements are, you can get started making positive changes in your health. Many of the turmeric supplement options are very reasonably priced meaning it’s easy to add them to your routine.

Do you have a good experience with turmeric supplements? Tell us about your favorite brands, dosage suggestions and experiences in the comments below.

 

Article Sources

1. Manning-Schaffel, Vivian. Is Turmeric Good for You? Yes, But It’s Complicated. Better by Today, 12 January 2018.
2. Hewlings, Susan J. and Douglas S. Kalman. Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. Foods, 22 October 2017.
3. Turmeric Overview. WebMD.
4. Aggarwal, Bharat B. Targeting Inflammation-Induced Obesity and Metabolic Diseases by Curcumin and Other Nutraceuticals. Annual Review of Nutrition, 26 July 2011.
5. Mishra, Shrikant and Kalpana Palanivelu. The effect of curcumin (turmeric) on Alzheimer’s disease: An overview. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, January 2008.