What can you say about turmeric (curcumin) in your ads and on your site?

The library supports 3 wordings for turmeric (curcumin); the strongest is “Used in herbal medicine to aid digestion” (moderate, 1-9 g dried rhizome (or crude equivalent) a day). Avoid wording that names or implies a disease, a drug or a treatment, such as “Relieves joint pain, arthritis or inflammation”.

Also called: Turmeric, Curcumin, Curcuminoids, Curcuma longa

Reviewed 14 October 2026

Not legal advice. This guide shows the wording that published evidence supports at a daily dose, from the sources linked below; it is not a ruling on any claim. Your own product, its form and dose, and your own evidence still need to match the wording you use.

Supported wordings

What you can say.

Limited evidenceWording 1

Claims Facts

“A source of antioxidants that help protect cells against damage from free radicals.”

Daily dose	up to 9 g dried rhizome (or crude equivalent) a day
Support	Health Canada sets maximum doses only, with no minimum; no other listed source covers it.
Dose details	Adults 18 and older. Concentrated extracts: up to 1,500 mg curcuminoids a day and 500 mg per dose; curcumin: up to 1,200 mg a day and 400 mg per dose.
Form	Turmeric rhizome or extracts; curcuminoids; curcumin
Sources	Health Canada monograph: Turmeric - Oral Health Canada monograph: Concentrated turmeric and isolates (curcuminoids/curcumin)

Moderate evidenceWording 2

Claims Facts

“Used in herbal medicine to aid digestion.”

Daily dose	1-9 g dried rhizome (or crude equivalent) a day
Support	Health Canada lists it as a herbal medicine use at 1-9 g a day; no other listed source covers it.
Dose details	Adults 18 and older.
Form	Dried rhizome, powder or extracts
Source	Health Canada monograph: Turmeric - Oral

Limited evidenceWording 3

Claims Facts

“Traditionally used in herbal medicine to help relieve occasional indigestion with gas.”

Daily dose	1-9 g dried rhizome (or crude equivalent) a day
Support	Traditional use in Health Canada’s monograph; no other listed source covers it.
Dose details	Adults 18 and older. The ‘occasional’ form keeps the wording in structure-and-function territory.
Form	Dried rhizome, powder or extracts
Source	Health Canada monograph: Turmeric - Oral

How strong the evidence is

Strong evidence: At least two listed sources support it independently at a comparable dose and form, and none disagrees.
Moderate evidence: One listed source supports it as an evidence-based use at that dose, and no listed source disagrees.
Limited evidence: The only support is traditional use, the sources disagree, or the source itself calls the evidence weak.

Wordings to avoid

What to leave out.

Claims Facts

Ingredient: Turmeric (curcumin)

Wording to avoid	Reason
“Relieves joint pain, arthritis or inflammation”FDA’s 2000 rule (page 1016) says ‘joint pain’ is characteristic of arthritis.	Disease
“A natural anti-inflammatory, or works like ibuprofen”Presents the product as a drug substitute.	Drug
“Protects or detoxes the liver”Implies protection against liver disease; Health Canada also warns about liver problems with turmeric and curcumin.	Disease

Disease: names or implies a disease. Drug: names a drug or presents the product as one. Treatment: promises to treat, cure or prevent a condition.

Sources

Where this comes from.

All ingredient guides

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