What is the difference between Curcumin and Turmeric?

Turmeric is the actual plant. Curcumin is the active constituent that gives turmeric its health benefits, its anti-inflammatory effects.

Extracting the curcumin doesn’t just work on its own. You need black pepper to activate the curcumin. Adding an oil or a fat will help the curcumin absorb better in your body and stay in your body longer.

All turmeric (supplements, fresh and dried) all contain curcumin, but if you don’t eat your fresh or dried turmeric with black pepper and an oil, then the benefits of curcumin won’t be as effective.

Curcumin on its own in supplement form has been extracted from turmeric and is therefore usually in a higher concentration than what you would get from the whole plant. A good curcumin supplement will make sure it does include black pepper and sometimes an oil/fat is added to the processing of the curcumin.

Our preferred product is Fusion Curcumin Advanced.