East Windsor, NJ—Sabinsa’s Curcumin C3 Complex and BioPerine have once again shown their potential in a randomized, double-blind, human clinical trial testing the effects of turmeric and curcumin on the gut microbiota.

The study is called “Effects of Turmeric and Curcumin Dietary Supplementation on Human Gut Microbiota: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study,” by Christine T. Petersonet al. It was published on Aug. 8 in theJournal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine.

Thirty subjects were randomly divided into three groups: one to receive turmeric tablets, one to receive curcumin tablets, and one to receive a placebo. Turmeric tablets contained 1000mg turmeric root and 1.25mg BioPerine, the curcumin tablets contained 1000mg Curcumin C3 Complex and 1.25mg BioPerine, and the placebo tablets were similar in size, shape and color to the other two groups. Subjects were instructed to take three tablets twice a day, over the course of eight weeks.

The placebo group showed a reduction in bacterial species by 15%. Turmeric-treated subjects displayed a 7% increase in species. The curcumin group showed an average increase of 69% in bacterial species.

Turmeric and curcumin altered the gut microbiota in similar ways, suggesting that curcumin drives the majority of the changes observed in the subjects who took turmeric.

The researchers were uncertain as to why curcumin had these effects. Curcumin cannot be a direct energy source for microbiota, and does not meet the definition of prebiotic; the researchers suggested that the effects are therefore driven by alterations in host physiology.