My Smarter Nutrition Curcumin Review – Is It A Good Choice?

It’s time for my Smarter Nutrition Curcumin review – a turmeric supplement that is pretty different from the rest:

• It has a special formula
• I haven’t seen this ingredient combination

But I’m wondering –  is it really worth it? Because when it comes to price, things aren’t looking great:

• A bottle costs exactly $40 per month
• It’s one of the most expensive turmeric supplements

So is this product worth all the money? Or there’s only a hype around its special formula? I tested it out to see for myself.

Note: This review is based only on my experience, 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

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Full Name: Smarter Curcumin by Smarter Nutrition

Quantity : 60 softgels

Best Actual Price: $40.00

Where I Bought It From: Ebay – but I recommend buying it from Amazon. You can get a better deal overall (shipping included).

Designed For: Most problems that involve inflammation:

• rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis
• chronic pain
• swollen joints

I don’t recommend it for one joint problem, though – osteoarthritis.

There’s little inflammation – so this product works much better for cartilage damage.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Worth Buying?: If you afford it, yes. It’s a great supplement in terms 3 things:

• ingredients
• formula
• pain relieving

It reduced my RA pain considerably in about 2 months, so it’s definitely not a useless product.

However, it’s not my #1 recommendation because of its price – it’s too expensive to buy it monthly.

So I recommend something cheaper – that works exactly the same. But other than that, Smarter Nutrition’s Curcumin is a great product.

 

What I Liked About It

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• Great ingredients – most of them are completely new to me
• It doesn’t need any bioperine – the ingredients have a good absorption alone (and there’s also the AstraGin, just in case – I will tell you more below)
• Really works. It relieved my pain considerably in about 2 months
• The pills are really easy to take and swallow
• Though the ingredients have pretty low doses – they are really strong (judging after the effect)

 

What I Didn’t Like About It

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• Extremely expensive. I can’t afford buying it every month, even though it’s a great supplement

 

 

 

 

The Ingredients – A Quick Analysis

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I was very surprised to see Smart Nutrition’s label. And I mean that in a very positive way. 

It contains some pretty different ingredients, compared to regular products with turmeric. But at first sight, they really convinced me.

So let’s take them by turn:

 1. Curcumin C3 Reduct (400 mg) – here’s what I found out about it:

• a complex with 95% tetrahydrocurcuminoides, which is a special turmeric extract
• the THC have a better absorption than regular curcuminoides
• it doesn’t require bioperine

I haven’t tried tetrahydrocurcuminoides before, but I have tried regular curcuminoides. And so far, they’re probably the best part about turmeric, in my opinion.

So I expect a lot from these 400 mg of Curcumin C3 Reduct.

 2. Black Cumin Seed Oil (400 mg) – is another ingredient I’m not very familiar with, at least not in turmeric supplements:

• it’s a great anti-inflammatory
• it has positive results on RA and other inflammatory conditions

 3. Ginger Root Extract (100 mg) – finally a herb I know pretty well. Ginger is also good for swelling and inflammation, and it’s a pretty common ingredient in turmeric supplements.

100 mg is not a huge dose, but it’s enough to contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect. So I’m glad to see it in this combination.

 4. AstraGin (50 mg) – this is another brand ingredient that I see for the first time. It’s a purified extract from 2 plants:

• Astragalus membranaceus
• Panax notoginseng

From what I know, these 2 herbs don’t have much to do with inflammation itself. But their purified extract increases the absorption of curcumin.

So it makes a great alternative for bioperine in this supplement.

Conclusion: Very good ingredients overall. Though it’s the first time I see most of them, I was positively impressed.

So I pretty much trust this supplement, I don’t think it could do wrong.

 

 

Why I Bought It

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Before I tell you how this supplement worked, let me give you a short background about my pain:

• I had RA for a long while and the pain was really terrible at times
• The average was somewhere between a 6.5-7, but I had very painful days when it went above 7
• It was worst in my hands, especially in the morning
• I had days when I could hardly move after waking up, but well, that’s another story.

So that’s what I was hoping from this supplement – to help me with this pain, or at least decrease part of it.

Turmeric was the best remedy for my joint pain and inflammation:

• it was natural
• it didn’t have any major side effects

I tested out lots of different brands, and Smarter Nutrition’s supplement looked really good. That’s why I bought it.

 

 

My Experience With This Supplement

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Week 2: So I took 2 softgels for about a week and then I started noticing a change:

• My pain wasn’t constant during the day
• It was present, but it wasn’t as sharp all the time

I had moments when it was much better, and moments when it was as bad as before.

But I saw that as an improvement, because it was only a week since I started the pills.

Week 4: At the end of a month, I was much better:

• My pain had gotten to about a 4.5-5, which is a lot
• I usually woke up in a decent shape (I mean that I could get up, I didn’t have to stay in bed all day long because of pain and stiffness)
• My hands were easier to move in the morning (sometimes the stiffness would last up to an hour in the past)

Week 8: As I liked this supplement, I bought another bottle because the first one ran out after one month.

Well, after another one month, I was now even better:

• I had gotten to about a 3.5 in terms of pain, which was great
• I still had very painful days, but they were much more rare

So overall I was pretty satisfied, because it worked. I continued to take it, but my pain didn’t really get lower than that.

So that was pretty much the final result, but I wasn’t disappointed.

Conclusion: This supplement really works. It’s much better than a lot of products in terms of relieving pain.

It’s still not my #1 recommendation – but that’s only because it costs way too much.

I can get something much cheaper that relieves my pain as well as this one. But except that, Smart Nutrition’s Curcumin is a really good product.

 

 

 

PRO #1 – No Bioperine Needed

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If you read some of my previous posts, you probably know that I’m a fan of curcumin + bioperine.

What happens without bioperine? – 2 things:

• Most of the curcumin you take doesn’t get absorbed
• Instead, it’s eliminated short after, without any effect

So that’s why I always recommend supplements that have bioperine. But guess what? I really liked Smarter Nutrition’s Curcumin, even though it doesn’t have it. 

Why? It has something else instead – a special formulation.

Because of this, the curcumin inside the pills doesn’t need any helper to get absorbed:

• No bioperine
• No anything

It’s specially designed to get absorbed on its own. How’s that?

1. Tetrahydrocurcuminoides – instead of the regular curcuminoides, this supplement contains a different form.

These THcurcuminoides have a much better absorption alone.

2. AstraGin – besides the special form of curcuminoides, there’s also the AstraGin:

• it increases the absorption of curcumin
• it’s some kind of replacement for bioperine – in case not all the THcurcuminoides get absorbed

So at the end of the day, it’s pretty sure than from those 400 mg, at least 350 will get absorbed, if not more.

That’s definitely a huge quantity, considering there’s no bioperine. So if you want a turmeric supplement without bioperine, this is probably the best one you can get. 

 

 

PRO #2 – Oil Based

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Have you ever seen an oily supplement based on turmeric? I surely haven’t.

So why is this a good thing? Why did I consider this an advantage of this supplement?

• It’s probably the only one (at least from what I know). This means it’s new and original, which will always be an advantage.
• The oil they’re using is a great anti-inflammatory itself, so it increases the final effect.
• It can also increase the absorption of curcuminoides, even a bit.

So compared to classic turmeric supplements, it seems like this oil-based product has a few major advantages.

Don’t imagine that oil makes it better than the rest.

I know a few regular supplements that work great, and they don’t contain any kind of oil. 

So I’m only saying that Smart Nutrition’s supplement has an advantage at this chapter – because of the oil it contains.

However, that doesn’t mean it’s better. That only depends of:

• how it works
• how much it costs – nothing else

 

 

PRO #3 – Easy To Take

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I don’t usually have any problems with turmeric supplements.

Compared to glucosamine pills, thse ones are easier to swallow and you don’t need to take lots of pills.

However, it was the first time I tried a turmeric softgel and I really loved it. 

What makes softgels different?

• They feel colder and more wet
• You can swallow them whole, without any water. Or at least I could, which was pretty surprising for me.
• They’re really soft, compared to gelatin pills. 

According to the label, you have to take 2 softgels per day. Now, I would normally take one in the morning and one in the evening, as I do with every supplement.

But after taking a closer look, I noticed they recommend taking them both together.

That would have been hard with a regular pills, but in this case, it wasn’t:

• I think I could even take 3-4 one after the other
• And I wouldn’t feel no pain in my throat
• If you take them with water, it’s even better

So when it comes to this chapter, I really have to praise Smart Nutrition. They did a great job creating these softgels, because they are extremely comfortable.

I would normally criticize a supplement that asks me to take 2 pills at once, but in this case, that was really possible. 

 

 

PRO #4 – Really Works

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That’s what I basically care about when I try any supplement. It may have these 3 things:

• great ingredients
• low price
• positive reviews

…But if it doesn’t work for me, I’m not going to praise it. 

Well, from this point of view, there’s nothing I can reproach to the producers of this supplement.

Smart Nutrition’s Curcumin was one of the top supplements I tried. That’s only in terms of pain. If it was cheaper, I would have liked it a lot better.

But coming back to the story, it really relieved my arthritis pain. I wrote a detailed description above, but I will try to sum it up here:

• I started noticing an improvement after about a week – not very fast, but not too late either
• 2 months later, my pain got to a 3.5 from a 6-7, which is a lot

That’s the best proof that this supplement really works. My pain never went any lower than that, but that was okay, considering how bad it was before.

So overall, I got one of the best relief from Smart Nutrition’s Curcumin.

That’s why I pretty much trust this supplement. It contains great stuff and that’s the reason why it has this high price.

However, it’s not my #1 recommendation because it’s way too expensive to buy it monthly. Maybe it’s just my case, but that’s how I see things.

But other than that, it’s a really good product in terms of pain.

 

 

CON #1 – Way Too Expensive

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There isn’t much I can criticize about this supplement – because it’s a really good one.

But I’m pretty disappointed by its price – it costs way too much to buy it on a monthly basis. At least in my case.

Now – judging after the ingredients, the company has enough reasons to ask for a high price.

Why? I have 2 reasons:

• You can’t find these substances in any supplement
• The formula is designed to ensure a better absorption

So obviously these things would cost more.

But the problem is – I couldn’t really afford paying $40 every month for one bottle.

I know it’s a great product, but I just can’t afford it. There’s nothing I can do about it, and I’m sure there are a lot of people in my situation.

Well, that’s why Smarter Nutrition’s Curcumin isn’t my top choice.

Out of turmeric supplements, I know another one that relieves my pain incredibly well and it costs half:

• Yeah, it doesn’t have such great ingredients
• But it relieves my pain even better

So if I consider only the effect (which I do), I would definitely recommend that one instead.

There’s only one reason – it costs almost $20 less and it did the same thing for me. 

You are free to choose whatever you want, but that’s what I would choose. There’s a lot of money involved for someone who spent thousands on supplements, like me.

 

My Final Verdict – Is It A Good Choice?

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Short answer: Yes, it’s definitely a great product in terms of relieving pain.:

• It has great ingredients
• It’s one of the best products I tried

The only problem is that it’s way too expensive, but that only depends on your budget.

So if you afford it, I kind of recommend it. If not, I have a better alternative which is my personal choice. 

Would I buy it again?: On paper, yes – because it really worked.

But in reality, I’m probably not going to buy it in the nearest future. 

As I said:

• it’s simply too expensive on a monthly basis
• I couldn’t find it anywhere for less than $40
• so I don’t really afford such a large amount

But I have another supplement that relieved my pain just as well, or maybe even better:

• It doesn’t have such an impressive ingredient list or formulation
• But it really helped me – so that’s what really matters

Besides, it costs about $23 for one month (or even less, because I buy a larger pack so it’s somewhere about $17 per month). So that’s finally something I can afford.

Overall, I recommend you Smart Nutrition’s Curcumin, it’s a really valuable product despite its high price.

In case you don’t afford it, I have a supplement that is my #1 recommendation for RA. They both work really well, there’s only the price that is different. So choose the best thing for you.