Does turmeric help digestion?

Possibly a little, in people with a diagnosed gut condition, and only as a curcumin supplement. We found no trial of turmeric in food amounts and digestion. For irritable bowel syndrome, a 2018 meta-analysis of 3 placebo-controlled trials in 326 people found a benefit on symptom severity that was not statistically significant, a standardized difference of -0.466 (95% CI -1.113 to 0.182) with marked heterogeneity. The clearest positive result is in ulcerative colitis, a disease treated by doctors, where curcumin was mostly added to the drug mesalamine.

Unsettled. For ordinary indigestion the best single trial is hard to read. In 206 Thai adults with functional dyspepsia, 2 g of curcumin a day for 28 days eased pain scores about as much as omeprazole 20 mg, and combining the two added nothing. That trial had no placebo arm and 27 percent of people dropped out, so it cannot say how much of the relief was curcumin and how much would have happened anyway. We found no placebo-controlled trial of turmeric for functional dyspepsia.

What the trials found

Irritable bowel syndrome

The 2018 meta-analysis is the only pooled estimate we found for curcumin alone in irritable bowel syndrome. Its three trials used different curcumin preparations and the heterogeneity was 85.22 percent. A 2025 umbrella review of 58 meta-analyses, covering 175 trials of diet and supplements in irritable bowel syndrome, listed curcumin among the things that improved symptom severity. The same review rated those effects as mostly small and of low to very low certainty, and its authors concluded the evidence does not support nutritional treatments overall, apart from probiotics and the low-FODMAP diet.

A systematic review of 21 trials in 1,478 patients with digestive disease counted curcumin or turmeric as helpful in 4 of 7 irritable bowel studies and 6 of 7 ulcerative colitis studies. That is vote counting with no pooled size of effect, and some of the products mixed curcumin with other herbs.

Bloating and other symptoms

Two small trials looked at specific symptoms. In 67 people with irritable bowel syndrome and bloating, a curcumin and boswellia extract taken twice a day on top of a low-FODMAP diet cut bloating and abdominal pain more than the diet alone over 30 days (p below 0.0001). The trial was open label with no placebo, and boswellia was in the same capsule, so the part played by curcumin cannot be separated. In a pilot of 31 women with a BMI of 40 or more who were waiting for bariatric surgery, 1,500 mg of curcumin a day for 13 weeks lowered a gastrointestinal symptom score more than placebo (p = 0.002), mostly belching and constipation. The abstract gives p values and no size of effect.

Inflammatory bowel disease

In ulcerative colitis, a 2025 meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials found curcumin more than doubled clinical remission, a relative risk of 2.45 (95% CI 1.09 to 5.51), with 220 people on curcumin and 206 on placebo. Doses ran from 0.1 to 10 g a day for 1 to 6 months, several trials used enhanced or combined formulations, and heterogeneity was 88 percent. In Crohn's disease the same review found curcumin no better than placebo for remission in 2 trials of 92 people. This is treatment of a diagnosed disease alongside medicine. It says nothing about digestion in healthy people.

Who should be careful

The side effects of oral turmeric listed by the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) are nausea, vomiting, acid reflux, stomach upset, diarrhea and constipation. Those are the same complaints many people take it for, so a capsule that seems to make indigestion worse may be doing exactly that. In the colitis trials, adverse events were about as common on curcumin as on placebo, 7.8 against 7.3 percent (relative risk 1.03, 95% CI 0.55 to 1.92), over 1 to 6 months.

The liver is the real caution, and it comes from supplements. Across 31 trials, turmeric or curcumin supplements lowered the liver enzymes ALT by 4.09 U/L and AST by 3.81 U/L, but those trials were too small and short to catch a rare reaction. Seven cases of acute hepatitis reported in Tuscany up to 2019 all involved high-bioavailability, high-dose curcumin products. These are spontaneous reports, so how often it happens cannot be estimated. A pathology series of 11 people with biopsy-proven liver injury attributed to over-the-counter turmeric supplements found that liver tests returned to normal in all of them after they stopped, with causality judged by a scoring tool and not by giving the supplement again.

Not for everyone. NCCIH says conventionally formulated oral turmeric or curcumin is likely safe in recommended amounts for up to 2 or 3 months, and warns that highly bioavailable curcumin formulations may harm the liver. It also says turmeric supplements may be unsafe in pregnancy, and that little is known about amounts above food levels while breastfeeding. One case report describes liver injury attributed to turmeric in a woman at 23 weeks of pregnancy, with no dose in the abstract and no rechallenge. If you have ulcerative colitis, in most of the trials curcumin was added to medicine such as mesalamine, not used in its place.

What expert bodies say

NCCIH notes that turmeric has a traditional use for indigestion and abdominal pain, and says we don't know enough to definitively conclude if turmeric or curcumin is beneficial for any health purpose. That is the only expert body position on turmeric and digestion in our cards.

How we searched

What would change this answer

• A placebo-controlled trial of curcumin in functional dyspepsia. The omeprazole comparison shows the two arms ended up in the same place, and only a placebo arm can show whether that place is better than doing nothing.
• Larger irritable bowel trials using one standard preparation. Three trials with heterogeneity of 85 percent leave the pooled estimate straddling zero.
• A trial of turmeric as people actually cook with it. Every result on this page comes from supplements, and the doses in the colitis trials reached 10 g of curcumin a day.
• Colitis trials that report remission in each arm and use comparable products, so the relative risk of 2.45 can be stated in absolute terms and the heterogeneity of 88 percent explained.
• Longer safety follow-up of high-bioavailability products, which are the ones tied to the hepatitis reports.

More on turmeric itself, including what it contains and the other evidence: Turmeric.

Sources

1. ev-tudg-01 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized double-blind active-controlled trial, three arms, 28 days of treatment plus follow-up to day 56 · n = 206
   206 patients were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to one of the three groups; 151 patients completed the study. ... Significant improvements were observed in SODA scores on day 28 in the pain (-4.83, -5.46 and -6.22), non-pain (-2.22, -2.32 and -2.31) and satisfaction (0.39, 0.79 and 0.60) categories for the C+O, C, and O groups, respectively. ... No significant differences were observed among the three groups and no serious adverse events occurred.
   
   Who: patients with a diagnosis of functional dyspepsia at Thai hospitals; 151 of 206 completed
   Effect: SODA pain score day 28: curcumin -5.46, omeprazole -6.22, combination -4.83; day 56: -8.07, -8.85, -7.19; no significant differences between groups; no serious adverse events
   Certainty: No placebo arm, so the size of the curcumin effect beyond placebo is unknown; 27% dropout; dose 250 mg capsules, two capsules four times daily.
   BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, 2023, 28(6):399-406 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
2. ev-tudg-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs · n = 326
   Applying per-protocol analysis and a random-effects model, the pooled SMD from baseline IBS severity rating was −0.466 (95% CI: −1.113 to 0.182, p = 0.158), which showed a beneficial, albeit not statistically significant, effect of curcumin on IBS symptoms, compared to placebo.
   
   Who: individuals with IBS in placebo-controlled randomized trials of curcumin
   Effect: pooled SMD from baseline IBS severity -0.466 (95% CI -1.113 to 0.182), p = 0.158; I2 = 85.22%
   Certainty: Only 3 trials, marked heterogeneity, different curcumin preparations; per-protocol analysis.
   Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2018, 7(10):298 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
3. ev-tudg-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs with GRADE · n = 175 trials
   For instance, soluble fiber, peppermint oil, and aloe vera improved IBS symptoms, and vitamin D3 and curcumin improved IBS symptom severity.
   
   Who: adults with IBS; 175 trials in 58 meta-analyses of nutritional interventions
   Effect: curcumin improved IBS symptom severity; size and certainty given in ev-tudg-04
   Certainty: Authors conclude the evidence does not support nutritional interventions overall, except probiotics and low-FODMAP diet.
   Nutr Rev, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
4. ev-tudg-04 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs with GRADE · n = 175 trials
   Nevertheless, these outcomes have mainly shown small effects and low to very low evidence certainty.
   
   Who: adults with IBS; 175 trials in 58 meta-analyses
   Effect: mostly small effects; GRADE low to very low
   Certainty: Applies to all nutritional interventions except probiotics and low-FODMAP diet (moderate certainty).
   Nutr Rev, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
5. ev-tudg-05 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled RCTs, intention-to-treat · n = 426
   Intention-to-treat data regarding the efficacy of curcumin for achieving clinical remission and clinical response in UC patients were extracted from 7 different RCTs, with 220 and 190 participants in the curcumin group, and 206 and 177 participants in the placebo group, respectively. The analysis produced a combined relative risk (RR) of 2.45 (95% CI: 1.09, 5.51; Z: 2.17, P: 0.03) for clinical remission (Figure 3A) and 1.93 (95% CI: 1.15, 3.25; Z: 2.48, P: 0.01) for clinical response (Figure 3C), both of which favored curcumin significantly.
   
   Who: ulcerative colitis patients in 7 RCTs, 220 on curcumin and 206 on placebo (remission analysis)
   Effect: clinical remission RR 2.45 (95% CI 1.09 to 5.51); clinical response RR 1.93 (1.15 to 3.25); I2 88% and 69%
   Certainty: High heterogeneity; doses 0.1 to 10 g/day for 1 to 6 months; several trials used enhanced or combined formulations; treatment, not digestion in healthy people.
   Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025, 12:1494351 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
6. ev-tudg-06 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · meta-analysis of placebo-controlled RCTs, intention-to-treat · n = 92
   According to the intention-to-treat data from 2 RCTs evaluating the efficacy of curcumin for clinical and endoscopic remission in CD patients (with 51 participants in the curcumin group and 41 participants in the placebo group), curcumin did not show significant superiority over placebo in terms of clinical remission, with an RR of 2.23 (95% CI: 0.24, 20.51; Z: 0.71, P: 0.48; χ2: 2.85, P: 0.09, I2: 65%) (Figure 4A) and endoscopic remission, with an RR of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.34, 2.45; Z: 0.18, P: 0.86; χ2: 1.15, P: 0.28, I2: 13%) (Figure 4B).
   
   Who: Crohn's disease patients in 2 RCTs, 51 on curcumin and 41 on placebo
   Effect: clinical remission RR 2.23 (95% CI 0.24 to 20.51), not significant; endoscopic remission RR 0.91 (0.34 to 2.45)
   Certainty: Only two small trials; very wide interval.
   Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025, 12:1494351 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
7. ev-tudg-07 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · meta-analysis of placebo-controlled RCTs · n = —
   Among the participants, 16 (7.80%) experienced adverse events (AEs) and 41 (15.16%) withdrew from the intervention in the curcumin group, compared to 14 (7.29%) and 36 (13.85%) of participants in the placebo group. The pooled analysis indicated no significant difference in the frequency of AEs, with an RR of 1.03 (95% CI: 0.55, 1.92; Z: 0.08, P: 0.93) (Figure 3D), and withdrawal rates, with an RR of 1.04 (95% CI: 0.65, 1.66; Z: 0.17, P: 0.87) (Figure 3E), between the curcumin and placebo groups, although lower rates were reported in the placebo group.
   
   Who: ulcerative colitis patients in placebo-controlled RCTs of curcumin
   Effect: adverse events RR 1.03 (95% CI 0.55 to 1.92); withdrawals RR 1.04 (0.65 to 1.66)
   Certainty: Trials of 1 to 6 months; too small to detect rare liver injury.
   Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025, 12:1494351 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the fulltext
8. ev-tudg-08 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review of clinical trials without pooling · n = 1478
   Twenty-one studies comprising 1478 GI patients were included in the study. Four out of seven studies showed a beneficial effect of curcumin/turmeric supplementation on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and six out of seven showed positive effects of these herbs on ulcerative colitis. ... Nine studies reported some minor adverse effects.
   
   Who: gastrointestinal patients in clinical trials of curcumin or turmeric alone or with other herbs
   Effect: IBS: benefit in 4 of 7 studies; UC: 6 of 7; H. pylori eradication: 2 of 4; minor adverse effects in 9 studies
   Certainty: Vote counting, not a pooled estimate; includes combination products.
   Adv Exp Med Biol, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
9. ev-tudg-09 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial · n = 31
   At the end of the study, the curcumin group showed a significant reduction in the GSRS's total score compared to the placebo group (p = 0.002), with improvements in eructation (p = 0.011) and constipation (p = 0.007).
   
   Who: women with BMI of 40 or more awaiting bariatric surgery
   Effect: GSRS total score lower vs placebo (p = 0.002); eructation p = 0.011; constipation p = 0.007; effect size not reported in abstract
   Certainty: Very small pilot; p-values only in the abstract.
   Nutrients, 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
10. ev-tudg-10 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · randomized open-label controlled trial, 500 mg twice daily of combined extract · n = 67
    The intervention group (33 subjects) showed a significant decrease (p < 0.0001) of bloating, abdominal pain, and indican values at the end of the study, when compared to the control group (34 subjects).
    
    Who: IBS subjects with small bowel dysbiosis
    Effect: bloating, abdominal pain and urinary indican decreased significantly vs control (p < 0.0001); effect size not reported in abstract
    Certainty: Combination with boswellia, no placebo; effect of curcumin alone cannot be separated.
    Nutrients, 2022 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
11. ev-tudg-11 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of RCTs · n = 31 RCTs
    Turmeric/curcumin supplementation significantly reduced blood levels of ALT (WMD = -4.09 U/L; 95 % CI = -6.49, -1.70) and AST (WMD = -3.81 U/L; 95 % CI = -5.71, -1.91), but not GGT (WMD: -12.78 U/L; 95 % CI: -28.20, 2.64).
    
    Who: adults in randomized controlled trials of turmeric or curcumin supplementation
    Effect: ALT WMD -4.09 U/L (95% CI -6.49 to -1.70); AST WMD -3.81 U/L (95% CI -5.71 to -1.91); GGT not significant
    Certainty: Trials too small and short to detect rare idiosyncratic liver injury.
    Complement Ther Med, 2023 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
12. ev-tudg-12 · Observational data · case series · n = 30
    Seven cases of acute hepatitis occurring in Tuscany up to September 2019 are described. In all cases, hepatotoxicity was associated with Curcuma longa formulations with high bioavailability and high dosage of curcumin/curcuminoids.
    
    Who: 7 Tuscan spontaneous reports plus 23 published case reports of hepatotoxicity after Curcuma longa supplements
    Effect: all 7 Italian cases with high-bioavailability, high-dose products
    Certainty: Spontaneous reports; incidence cannot be estimated; human case series, level C as in turm-dv2-14.
    Br J Clin Pharmacol, 2021 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
13. ev-tudg-13 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    Oral turmeric can cause adverse effects such as nausea and vomiting, acid reflux, stomach upset, diarrhea, or constipation.
    
    Who: general public, NIH consumer fact sheet updated April 2025
    Effect: position statement; no effect size
    Certainty: Relevant because the same symptoms are what people take turmeric for.
    NCCIH (NIH), Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety, last updated April 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
14. ev-tudg-14 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    Conventionally formulated oral turmeric or curcumin (not modified to enhance bioavailability) is likely safe in the recommended amounts for up to 2 or 3 months.
    
    Who: general public, NIH consumer fact sheet updated April 2025
    Effect: likely safe up to 2 or 3 months
    Certainty: Matches the length of the dyspepsia and IBS trials; longer use not covered.
    NCCIH (NIH), Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety, last updated April 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
15. ev-tudg-15 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    Highly bioavailable formulations of curcumin, which enhance the body’s ability to absorb the curcumin, may harm your liver.
    
    Who: general public, NIH consumer fact sheet updated April 2025
    Effect: position statement; no effect size
    Certainty: Applies to enhanced formulations like those in several colitis trials.
    NCCIH (NIH), Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety, last updated April 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
16. ev-tudg-16 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    The use of turmeric supplements during pregnancy may be unsafe. Little is known about whether it’s safe to use turmeric in amounts greater than those commonly found in food while breastfeeding.
    
    Who: pregnant and breastfeeding women, NIH consumer fact sheet updated April 2025
    Effect: position statement; no effect size
    Certainty: Caution from limited data, not documented harm at food doses.
    NCCIH (NIH), Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety, last updated April 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
17. ev-tudg-17 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet · n = —
    We don’t know enough to definitively conclude if turmeric or curcumin is beneficial for any health purposes.
    
    Who: general public, NIH consumer fact sheet updated April 2025
    Effect: position statement; no effect size
    Certainty: Federal position; no formal review of digestion trials.
    NCCIH (NIH), Turmeric: Usefulness and Safety, last updated April 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section
18. turm-dv2-13 · Observational data · retrospective clinicopathological case series · n = 11
    We identified 11 patients via retrospective pathology archive review: 10 females (91%) and one male, with a median age of 58 years (range = 37-66 years)...All patients stopped ingesting turmeric supplements after presenting with liver injury, and four patients additionally received steroid therapy; liver function tests normalised in all patients.
    
    Who: 11 patients with biopsy-proven liver injury attributed to turmeric supplements, retrospective archive review
    Effect: RUCAM probable in 8 and possible in 3; recovery in all after withdrawal
    Certainty: No denominator, so no incidence; causality by RUCAM, not by rechallenge.
    Histopathology, 2025 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the abstract
19. turm-dv2-20 · Observational data · case report · n = 1
    We hereby report a case of a pregnant patient who demonstrated atypical signs and symptoms of dietary-induced liver injury during pregnancy. She presented with itching at 23 weeks 4 days of pregnancy and had deranged liver function tests and was diagnosed with dietary-induced liver injury.
    
    Who: one pregnant woman presenting with itching and abnormal liver tests at 23 weeks 4 days
    Effect: dietary-induced liver injury attributed to high-dose turmeric; improvement after dietary restriction
    Certainty: Single case; no dose in abstract; causality not tested by rechallenge.
    Case Reports Hepatol, 2024 · checked 2026-09-23 · we read the abstract