Curcumin C3 Complex: Standardisation, Bioavailability and the Evidence

Turmeric has been in kitchens and traditional medicine systems for centuries. Curcumin is something narrower: one group of compounds isolated from within it, present in the root at a far lower concentration than most people assume.

The distinction is the foundation of everything else on this page.

Turmeric, curcuminoids and curcumin

Curcuma longa is a rhizome in the ginger family. Dried and ground, it becomes the culinary spice.

Within it sits a family of yellow pigments called curcuminoids, made up of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Curcuminoids typically account for around two to five percent of turmeric root by weight. The remainder is starch, fibre, volatile oils and other plant compounds.

That means a teaspoon of culinary turmeric and a standardised curcuminoid extract are not comparable quantities of the same thing. They are different preparations with different concentrations by an order of magnitude.

What standardisation means

An extract described as standardised to 95 percent curcuminoids has been processed so that ninety-five percent of the extract by weight is that curcuminoid group, rather than whole root material.

Curcumin C3 Complex is a branded extract standardised to 95 percent total curcuminoids, and the "C3" refers to the three curcuminoids being present together in a defined ratio rather than curcumin alone being isolated.

The practical value of a branded, standardised raw material is consistency and documentation. A named extract with a defined specification and a published analytical method behaves the same way batch to batch. Unstandardised turmeric powder does not, and much of the confusion in the curcumin literature comes from studies using preparations that were never directly comparable.

Standardisation is a manufacturing property. It describes what is in the capsule. It says nothing about what happens afterwards, and this article does not extend it further.

The bioavailability challenge

Curcumin is one of the more challenging molecules in the natural products literature, for four compounding reasons.

Poor water solubility. Curcumin is essentially insoluble in water at physiological pH

Poor absorption. Only a small fraction of an oral dose crosses the intestinal wall

Rapid metabolism. What is absorbed is quickly conjugated in the intestinal wall and liver into glucuronides and sulfates

Fast elimination. Circulating unconjugated curcumin appears at very low concentrations and is cleared quickly

Anand and colleagues set out this problem in a review that has framed the field ever since. It is why so much curcumin research is not about outcomes at all, but about delivery.

The approaches taken have included piperine co-administration, which slows glucuronidation, phytosome and phospholipid complexes, nanoparticle and micellar systems, and liposomal encapsulation. Sunflower lecithin phospholipids are used in the Longenyx formulation, presenting the curcuminoids within a phospholipid structure rather than as raw crystalline powder.

What the research has investigated

Curcumin has one of the largest and least conclusive literatures of any botanical compound. Thousands of papers exist, weighted heavily towards in vitro and animal work.

Human research has clustered around joint comfort and mobility, metabolic and lipid markers, exercise recovery, and gastrointestinal contexts.

Dose and practical considerations

Formulations vary widely, from low-milligram phospholipid preparations to gram-level unformulated extracts, and the numbers are not comparable across delivery systems.

Curcuminoids are fat soluble, so taking them with a meal containing fat is consistent with what is understood about their absorption.

Curcumin has documented interactions with anticoagulant and antiplatelet medication and may affect certain drug-metabolising enzymes. It is generally advised against before surgery. Anyone pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescribed medication or with gallbladder or bile duct disease should speak to their GP or pharmacist first.

Common questions

What is the difference between turmeric and curcumin? Turmeric is the whole dried root. Curcuminoids are a group of compounds within it, typically two to five percent by weight. Curcumin is the most abundant of those curcuminoids.

What does 95 percent curcuminoids mean? That ninety-five percent of the extract by weight is the curcuminoid group, rather than whole root material.

Why do curcumin products contain black pepper? Piperine slows the metabolic conjugation of curcumin, which raises circulating levels. Phospholipid and liposomal formulations address the same problem by a different route, which is why they do not always include it.

Why is the milligram amount lower than in a standard turmeric capsule? Because a standardised 95 percent extract in a phospholipid system is not the same material as unstandardised root powder. Comparing the two by weight is not meaningful.

Can I take curcumin with medication? There are documented interactions, including with anticoagulants. Check with a pharmacist or GP before starting.

References

1. Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA, Aggarwal BB. Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Molecular Pharmaceutics. 2007;4(6):807-818. doi:10.1021/mp700113r
2. Nelson KM, Dahlin JL, Bisson J, et al. The essential medicinal chemistry of curcumin. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2017;60(5):1620-1637. doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00975
3. Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, et al. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Medica. 1998;64(4):353-356.
4. Jamwal R. Bioavailable curcumin formulations: a review of pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers. Journal of Integrative Medicine. 2018;16(6):367-374.
5. Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. Curcumin: a review of its effects on human health. Foods. 2017;6(10):92. doi:10.3390/foods6100092
6. Gupta SC, Patchva S, Aggarwal BB. Therapeutic roles of curcumin: lessons learned from clinical trials. The AAPS Journal. 2013;15(1):195-218.
7. Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims Register. Department of Health and Social Care, gov.uk.
8. Committee of Advertising Practice. Food: Health claims. ASA AdviceOnline.

Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.