Curcumin and age-related disorders in 15 clinical trials
What it found
Curcumin may help with some age-related conditions like muscle strength and memory, but results are mixed and many studies were small.
The evidence comes from 15 clinical trials in people.
What they found
Studies in people
Muscle strength and function
In a small trial, healthy older people taking a bioavailable curcumin had better hand grip and weight lifting strength, walked further before fatigue, and improved walking time. Another pilot study found curcumin C3 Complex improved muscle strength and physical function in sedentary older people at risk of mobility disability.
Parkinson's disease symptoms
In people with Parkinson's disease, curcumin was well tolerated but did not significantly improve scores on the MDS-UPDRS or PDQ-39. The authors suggested the small number of participants and varied disease severity may have hidden any effect.
Cognition and mood
A study in healthy older adults found a single dose of solid lipid curcumin improved memory and mood, including less fatigue and better alertness and contentedness after acute and chronic treatment. It also reduced total cholesterol and LDL levels.
Insulin resistance
In people at high risk of type 2 diabetes, 180 mg/day of curcumin improved insulin resistance index, lipid profile, fasting insulin, GSK-3β and islet amyloid polypeptide.
Cognitive decline over time
In a 12-month trial, there was no significant difference between curcumin and placebo in cognitive function, verbal fluency, mood, perceptual-motor speed and other measures. However, the placebo group declined at 6 months while the curcumin group did not.
Animal and lab studies
Animal and lab studies
In mice and rats, curcumin improved memory, reduced amyloid plaques and tau hyperphosphorylation, protected neurons, and increased neurogenesis. In cells, it reduced oxidative stress and inflammation and induced apoptosis in cancer cells.
What the authors conclude
“The findings of this review suggest that curcumin could offer a natural and effective approach to enhancing the quality of life of aging individuals.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that curcumin could offer a natural and effective approach to enhancing the quality of life of aging individuals.
- They state that further research and well-designed clinical trials are essential to validate these findings and optimize the use of curcumin in personalized medicine approaches for age-related conditions.
How it was done
Aging brings inflammation, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, and curcumin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that might help. The authors wanted to see if curcumin could benefit conditions related to aging.
They searched three databases and found 2256 documents, then selected 15 clinical trials in humans that met their criteria. The trials looked at curcumin's effects on thinking, memory, neurodegenerative diseases, muscle health and other age-related conditions.
What it can’t tell you
- Many of the clinical trials were small and short, so their results may not apply to larger groups or longer periods.
- Some benefits seen in animals or cells may not happen in people.
- The review cannot show whether curcumin prevents or treats age-related diseases, only that it may help with some measures.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Marília (UNIMAR), Brazil; School of Gerontology, Brazil; University of Szeged (HUN-REN-SZTE), Hungary
The paper
- Title
- Curcumin: A Golden Approach to Healthy Aging: A Systematic Review of the Evidence
- Type
- Systematic review
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Nunes YC, Mendes NM, Pereira de Lima E, et al (2024). Curcumin: A Golden Approach to Healthy Aging: A Systematic Review of the Evidence. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu16162721Free full textPubMed 39203857DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error