The number of clinical trials on turmeric, not in rats or petri dishes, but with actual people,

continues to climb dozens a year, and most were randomized double-blind placebo-controlled,

the gold standard for clinical trials.

There have been so many trials published that there are now umbrella reviews on turmeric.

You've heard of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, pooling multiple studies together.

Well, an umbrella review can be like a systematic review and meta-analysis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses,

meaning pooling multiple meta-analyses together, placing them at the very top of the hierarchy of evidence pyramid. Dr. Greger has covered the benefits of the tumor pigment curcumin for knee

osteoarthritis. In some cases working as well as or even better than anti-inflammatory drugs and

painkillers without their side effects of injuring our gut. And in the 10 years since, a meta-analysis

of 11 meta-analyses on the efficacy of carcumin for relieving osteoarthritis strongly supports that it can

relieve pain as well as improve joint mobility and shorten medication

use. And more isn't necessarily better. Low-dose extracts appear to have similar pain relief

effects to high-dose extracts. What about other arthritic conditions? A pilot study in 2012 of

45 patients showed promise for rheumatoid arthritis, finding it is actually

more effective at alleviating pain compared to the leading drug.

And a recent meta-analysis, including more than 500 patients, found the same.

Kirkuman was beneficial, both for inflammation levels and clinical symptoms.

Kirkuman's ability to lower some inflammatory biomarkers, like C-reactive protein, a marker of systemic inflammation, extends more broadly to patients with auto-inflammatory conditions, and the stronger effects seem to appear at relatively smaller doses.

You may recall that Dr. Greger talked about a 2012 study

in pre-diabetic individuals, where 0% of those taking carcumin extract for nine months

progressed to type 2 diabetes, while 16% of those on placebo did. There have been a lot of

studies since. 14 systematic reviews and meta-analyses containing 61 individual randomized controlled trials were included in this umbrella review.

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