My Solgar Curcumin Review – Is It So Amazing?

by Heather Pharm.D. ·

It’s time for my Solgar Curcumin review, a supplement that claims to be much better than the others. If you take a look at the label, it claims to have a much better absorption and ingredients.

So at first sight, it shows a lot of potential. However, I tried another joint supplement from Solgar and it turned out to be weaker than I expected, in terms of effect. So I’m not that sure if the curcumin version is as good as they claim.

It’s really expensive overall, so that would make me think twice before buying it. I tested out this supplement myself so I have a pretty good knowledge about what it can do.

Note: This review is based only on my experience with this supplement, so it won’t necessarily agree with other reviews you find. I am not trying to praise/criticize the product or its company, I am simply telling my opinion about it.

So Let’s Get To The Review

Full Name: Full Spectrum Curcumin from Solgar

Quantity : 60 softgels

Best Actual Price: $41.24

Where I Bought It From: Ebay

Designed For: Joint pain caused by inflammation. At least that’s what it works best for, because curcumin is an anti-inflammatory. I read a lot of reviews about OA, but I personally doubt it could improve this condition. Osteoarthritis isn’t caused by inflammation. There can be some (and curcumin would help that), but it won’t be a major problem.

So this supplement is a lot more effective in conditions like RA, PsA or in swollen joints.

My Rating: 7.50 out of 10

Worth Buying?: I’m not 100% sure. It did help with my pain, but it wasn’t as miraculous as the label made me think. It surely has a better absorption and everything, but maybe its doses aren’t as high as they say.

I don’t really know, but it didn’t work better than other supplements in my case. Besides, I think it’s pretty expensive, especially because I couldn’t find a 30-days version. It’s definitely not a bad product, but I have the feeling that the label is making it look better than it really is. That’s how I see things.

What I Liked About It

Pretty good ingredients, even though it contains only 2 substances with pretty low doses
It has a different formula and uses a liquid extract to increase absorption
The softgels are really easy to swallow
You only need to take one pill per day

What I Didn’t Like About It

It’s pretty expensive, in my opinion
You can’t find a smaller version so you’re kind of forced to buy the 60-days one, which doesn’t cost very little
It didn’t amaze me in terms of effectiveness. It did decrease my pain, but not more than other cheaper supplements. So to me it doesn’t seem as good as the label described it (just my opinion)

Is there any product I recommend instead?: Sort of. You may criticize me for my choice, since my recommendation doesn’t contain such impressive ingredients. But in my case, it was one of the best turmeric supplements I tried.

The reason why I recommend this product instead of others is its price. It’s a lot cheaper and it gives you the option to choose a larger pack, so you can get a major discount. As I said, it doesn’t have such an amazing ingredient list, but I believe all its ingredients are very pure, because I can tell the difference between it and other supplements.

So you may or may not consider my recommendation, but this is the supplement I like most.

The Ingredients – Really Different

Solgar’s curcumin comes with a pretty different approach when it comes to ingredients. And I’m not talking about its liquid form this time. It doesn’t contain a lot of substances, like most supplements do.

However, the 2 ingredients it has are a lot stronger than in other products. At least that’s what the label claims, because it might not be visible in the effect of this supplement. But let’s take each ingredient by turn, because there are only 2:

– Curcuminoides (48 mg) – these are actually the curcumin extract, so they have a much better potency than curcumin itself. According to the label, the curcuminoides from Solgar have a better bioavailability, which means they have the same effect but in a lower dose.

That’s the reason why there are only 48 mg, which is a pretty low dose normally. Most quality supplements contain between 100-150 mg, which is good enough. So whether Solgar’s curcuminoides are better or not, I can’t tell myself. But that’s what the label says, and I can’t argue.

– Curcumin (40 mg) – this is actually the turmeric extract, but I was kind of confused about it in this supplement. The label talks a lot about curcuminoides and how better they are, but it doesn’t say much about curcumin. I mean, it doesn’t say that their curcumin is also more special.

So this makes me think that they’re using the regular curcumin. 40 mg is very very little. I know they’re using a water-soluble extract, so even those 40 mg will be fully absorbed. But it’s still a pretty low quantity, especially since it’s not anything special about it.

Conclusion: Solgar curcumin’s ingredients look pretty good, even if they have very low doses. If we listen to the label, their curcuminoides are a lot more powerful (I don’t know if 185x more powerful, but that’s what they say).

But as far as I know, the curcumin is regular and it has a very low dose. So maybe it’s the liquid extract that makes them say this supplement is better, I don’t know.

My Experience With This Supplement

My Background: I was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for a long while and turmeric & curcumin proved to be the best remedy for my pain. I can’t say they cured my condition, because RA can’t be cured. But in terms of pain, these 2 herbs really helped.

So that’s why I bought Solgar’s supplement, even though I had some disappointing experiences with this brand. Maybe disappointing isn’t the right word, but their products didn’t help me much.

Regarding my RA, the pain was worst in my hands. I have some pretty painful flareups quite often, and my pain would sometimes get to a 7-7.5. That’s really painful, believe me.

I also had OA in my knees, but glucosamine supplements worked best for that, so I didn’t count on this product.

How I Took It: I did exactly what the label said and took one softgel per day, with a lot of water. Fortunately, the pills were extremely easy to swallow, maybe even easier than gelatine pills.

I didn’t try to increase the dose and take 2 softgels per day, because they said these curcuminoides were stronger and I was afraid of the possible side effects.

It Didn’t Work Better Than Others For Me

After taking these pills, there are some things I noticed about this supplement.

In terms of pain, it was really effective. I didn’t notice an improvement from the first week, but after about 10-15 days I was a bit better. My flareups weren’t that regular, it would take a longer while until they came back. Also, my joints weren’t that rigid when sitting down for long periods of time.

When it comes to the actual pain, it did decrease pretty visibly. It’s hard to give a number, but let’s say I went from a 6.5 to a 3.5, which is a big improvement. So these pills did work, but to be honest, they weren’t the best ones I tried.

I’m not sure how potent their curcuminoides are, because I haven’t seen such a huge change in my pain. Maybe it was just me, I don’t know. The pills really worked, I could see that easily. But they just weren’t as incredible as the label made me think.

Conclusion: That’s my overall opinion about this supplement. It’s great, it really improved my pain but it didn’t decrease it much better than some other cheaper supplements. So to me, it wasn’t that amazing and potent as the label made me think.

Biggest Advantage: Liquid Extract

In my opinion, this is the best thing about Solgar’s curcumin. It uses a liquid extract that increases the potency and bioavailability of curcumin, at least that’s the conclusion I got to.

So from what I understood, that’s basically what makes their ingredients better. Curcumin tends to be poorly absorbed by the body, so there’s no point taking it alone.

Some supplements use bioperine, that increases its absorption by up to 2000%. That’s also my personal choice, because I got the best results from supplements with bioperine. However, Solgar uses a different technique.

Instead of dry powder, it uses liquid to increase the absorption of curcumin. At it really does it. Considering that I did feel an improvement with these pills, it means that their formula really worked.

So what I basically like about liquid extract is that the pills are usually softgels, so they are easier to swallow. Not that gelatine pills were hard to take, but softgels are even easier.

However, the problem is that softgels and special formulas also tend to cost more. So that’s why I don’t necessarily recommend Solgar’s curcumin, even though it’s a pretty good product.

Biggest Downside: Price

I know that compared to others, Solgar’s curcumin isn’t even that expensive. After all, one bottle lasts for 2 months, so that’s a pretty decent period of time.

However, you can’t really tell if this supplement is going to help you or not. At least not when you buy it. I know it seems really good, but I’ve read a lot of negative reviews about it, where people said they didn’t feel any change. So there are good chances that you are one of those.

It did help me, but not as much as I thought. So if I were to buy it again, I would probably not do it mostly because of its price. To be honest, it is an expensive supplement. That’s especially because there’s only a 60 days version.

That’s what I think about the price of Solgar’s curcumin. It may not be that high if you look at the number of pills, but it is high as money. I don’t know who can afford paying $40 just to try it out.

Don’t misunderstand me, it’s definitely not a scam product, but I believe it is a bit too expensive compared to what you could get instead. Maybe a 30-day supply would solve that problem, but I haven’t found it anywhere, so I doubt it exists.

My Final Verdict – Is It Worth Buying?

Short answer: Hard to say. It’s a good product in terms of relieving pain, because it really worked for me. But once again, it wasn’t any better than some other products, that didn’t even have such impressive ingredients.

Maybe it was just me, but I can’t praise Solgar’s curcumin that much. Besides, it didn’t work as amazing as the label promised. It made me think that it was a miraculous product, and in my case, it was far from that.

So it kind of didn’t really do what it promised, or at least what I expected from it.

Would I buy it again?: Probably not. As I said, it’s not a bad product at all, but for me it was a bit expensive. And most importantly, it didn’t prove me that it’s much better than the rest, as it claims.

So it didn’t really convince me it’s better than my #1 recommendation. Obviously, you are free to buy whatever you want and make the best choice for you, but I don’t trust Solgar’s curcumin that much anymore.

To me, it simply looks better than it really is. In reality, it wasn’t that amazing, that’s all.