As well as being one of the most widely-used spices in the world, turmeric has become among the most sought-after substances for use in nutritional health supplements. In particular, joint supplements are often stuffed full of turmeric, either in extract form or as standard powder (in lower quality stacks).
There’s a very good reason for turmeric’s popularity among supplement manufacturers – IT WORKS!
Few substances are as reliably effective at reducing joint pain as turmeric. It reduces inflammation, which in turn eases joint pain caused by inflamed joint tissues (whether from rheumatoid arthritis, a pro-inflammatory lifestyle, or sport).
Turmeric’s efficacy as a joint supplement is so well-known now that people are beginning to add turmeric to anything and everything and calling it a joint-reliever.
But how much turmeric should you actually be taking for joint pain?
How much turmeric should you take for arthritis-like symptoms?
Let’s find out!
How much turmeric should you use?
How much turmeric you should use depends entirely on what you are hoping to accomplish with it.
If you are looking for a supplement to help you keep on top of systemic inflammation – that is, inflammation affecting your whole body at the cellular level – then adding in more turmeric through your diet should be all you need to do. We recommend adding turmeric to as many dishes as you reasonably can: add a handful to curries, stir-fries, soups, and casseroles; try some turmeric-based drinks like smoothies and lattes; marinate meat in turmeric and olive oil, and so on.
If your goal is general health, then eating more turmeric through food is more than enough to see the results you desire. Just be sure to add some black pepper to the same dishes as piperine increases turmeric bio-availability by an enormous factor.
However, if your goal is to help manage severe joint pain (such as that caused by rheumatoid arthritis), then you are going to have to take a more targeted approach.
For assuaging joint pain, we recommend taking a high-quality turmeric extract which has been standardized to contain a high concentration of curcumin (the active compound in turmeric which reduces inflammation and related joint pain).
If you’re able to source a highly bio-available, potent, high-curcumin turmeric extract, then 250mg per day is plenty. In contrast, if you’re taking a simple turmeric powder capsule, then we recommend upping the dose to at least 750mg per day coupled with piperine to maximize bio-availability.
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