Summary

Curcumin is the active ingredient in the spice, turmeric. Naturally, the spice is only about 6% curcumin.

Curcumin has anti-inflammatory properties. It is also a top-tier natural treatment for MCAS.

Bioavailability is the principle problem. This is why piperine is often added. Ginger is also sometimes added. The maximum safe daily amount is hard to determine (it is relatively high), while the maximum dose of piperine is more restrictive.

It is processed through the liver, so be sure to track liver/kidney condition before taking this.

It also slows the processing of other medications, so it cannot be taken with warfarin or other blood thinning medications.

Known effects

Thins blood. Calms mast cells. Reduces allergic reactions. Reduces gastric acid reflux issues (GERD). Calms stomach. Regulates gut function. Has H1 antihistamine properties and H2 blocking properties. Can reduce POTS and dysautonomia symptoms in long covid. Reduces pain.

May conflict with other drugs that affect the gut, such as -prazole-type drugs or H2-blockers such as famotidine.

Must be treated as a medication – listed on medication forms, even if doctors don’t always realise its significance in high doses.

Rose takes this like this

I take capsules with approximately 475 to 500 mg curcumin and some piperine. I take 2 capsules twice a day (2-0-2). However, this is a very high dose and goes beyond medical recommendations. I have liver and kidney function tested extremely regularly, but my tolerance for meds and supplements seems to be especially high. This is often not the case for chronically ill patients, so seek expert advice.

1-0-1 is a more appropriate maximum dose for most people, but even one a day may be too much for some patients. It depends on our individual issues.

Research

The efficacy of curcumin-piperine co-supplementation on clinical symptoms, duration, severity, and inflammatory factors in COVID-19 outpatients: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (2022)
https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13063-022-06375-w
This one also has a lot of references showing how curcumin is generally good against viruses and for balancing the immune system.

Effectiveness of Curcumin on Outcomes of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review of Clinical Trials (2022)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35057437/
On acute covid, how it balances the famous cytokines and avoids the cytokine storm.

Curcumin as a Potential Treatment for COVID-19 (2021) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.675287/full
This one also has a lot of references showing how curcumin is generally good against viruses and for balancing the immune system.

The efficacy of curcumin-piperine co-supplementation on clinical symptoms, duration, severity, and inflammatory factors in COVID-19 outpatients: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (2022)
https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13063-022-06375-w
On how curcumin reduces weakness in post-covid patients (unclear if this is previously hospitalised patients or those with long covid after a mild acute case).

Curcumin inhibits spike protein of new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC) Omicron, an in silico study (2022)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010482522003444
A computer simulation suggests curcumin disrupts the covid spike protein itself in omicron.

Curcumin Ingestion Inhibits Mastocytosis and Suppresses Intestinal Anaphylaxis in a Murine Model of Food Allergy (2015)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26147007/
This is a rodent-based animal study that shows how curcumin ingestion prevents both mastocytosis (MCAS’s scarier, deadlier older brother) and anaphylaxis. I’m skipping other MCAS studies as there are many – it’s recommended by a lot of authoritative sources.

Efficacy of Turmeric Extracts and Curcumin for Alleviating the Symptoms of Joint Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials (2016)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5003001/
Inflammation-related arthritis therapies seem to work well in Ehlers-Danlos syndromes.

Therapeutic effects of turmeric or curcumin extract on pain and function for individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review (2021)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7812094/
As above.