By Dr Conor Kerley, PhD, nutrition researcher, and someone who lives with an autoimmune condition himself.
If you have psoriasis, someone has told you to try turmeric. A relative, a colleague, a stranger in a comment thread. It is the most common piece of unsolicited advice a person with plaque psoriasis gets, and it is usually offered with total confidence and no evidence at all. So here is the evidence. Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, has been tested in people with psoriasis since 2008. Some of those trials are worth your attention. One of them is a warning about why the form of curcumin matters. None of them are a reason to stop what your dermatologist has prescribed.
Quick answer
- Curcumin has been tested in people with psoriasis in a handful of human trials, mostly alongside standard treatment rather than instead of it.
- The clearest results come from combinations. Curcumin added to steroid cream cut psoriasis scores further than the cream alone (2015). Nanocurcumin added to acitretin beat acitretin alone in moderate-to-severe psoriasis (2018).
- Reviews of the field conclude curcumin has real clinical efficacy in psoriasis, alongside conventional treatment.
- The earliest trial, in 2008, used plain curcumin and went badly. Absorption is the likely reason.
- Turmeric in food or as a plain powder has not been tested in psoriasis and would not deliver the doses used in the trials.
Why anyone is studying curcumin in psoriasis
Psoriasis is an immune condition before it is a skin condition. Overactive T cells, a type of white blood cell, drive the inflammation that makes skin cells multiply far too fast, which is what produces the plaques. Curcumin calms overactive T cells in laboratory studies, and that is what first drew researchers to it.
A 2016 systematic review of curcumin across skin conditions (acne, atopic dermatitis, photoaging, radiation dermatitis, vitiligo, oral lichen planus, itch, hair loss and psoriasis) concluded: "Overall, there is early evidence that turmeric/curcumin products and supplements, both oral and topical, may provide therapeutic benefits for skin health" [1]. A 2022 review of curcumin in autoimmune disease singled out psoriasis as one of three conditions where curcumin "had good clinical efficacy" [2].
The mouse study, and why it doesn't count on its own
You will see a 2016 study quoted online with the title "Curcumin shows excellent therapeutic effect on psoriasis in mouse model" [3]. It is a real study. Curcumin reduced psoriasis-type inflammation in cells and in mice by calming T cells, and the authors concluded that "curcumin has a great potential to treat psoriasis". But of course, humans are not mice! A great many things clear psoriasis in a mouse. What matters is what happened when people took it.
What the human trials found
2008, the first attempt, and a flop
The earliest human trial I could find is from 2008 [4]. It gave plain oral curcumin to a small group of people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Most did not finish, and only a couple improved. It is the study people cite when they say curcumin doesn't work for psoriasis, and on its own terms they are right. Bear it in mind for later, because the form of curcumin used is the whole story.
2015, curcumin added to steroid cream
A trial in mild-to-moderate psoriasis vulgaris compared a topical steroid on its own with the same steroid plus oral curcumin, using a formulation designed to be absorbed [5]. Psoriasis scores fell in both groups, and fell to a greater extent in the group taking curcumin. IL-22, an inflammatory signal involved in psoriasis, fell only in the curcumin group. The researchers wrote that "curcumin was demonstrated to be effective as a therapy for the treatment of psoriasis".
2018, nanocurcumin added to acitretin
Acitretin is a retinoid tablet used for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. A 2018 trial compared acitretin alone with acitretin plus oral curcumin nanoparticles [6]. Both groups improved. The group taking nanocurcumin improved more. The researchers concluded that "nanocurcumin represents an effective therapy in moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients".
2023, curcumin on the skin itself
A 2023 pilot trial took a different route: a nano-formulated curcumin gel applied directly to plaques, tested against a placebo gel on matching lesions in five patients [7]. Redness and scaling fell significantly on the curcumin-treated side. The researchers also measured gene activity in the treated skin and found seven inflammatory genes turned down, including IL-17 and IL-23, the two signals modern psoriasis biologics target. Five patients is a pilot, not proof, but it shows something changing underneath the plaques rather than just on top of them.
What the reviews say
A 2018 review described curcumin as "a valid and safe therapeutic option for psoriasis" [8]. A broader 2022 analysis pooling randomised trials across ten autoimmune diseases reached the same conclusion for psoriasis: curcumin "had good clinical efficacy in the treatment of Psoriasis, UC and RA" [2].
The score so far
| Year | What was tested | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Plain curcumin, alone | Little benefit, most dropped out |
| 2015 | Absorbable curcumin plus steroid cream | Better than cream alone, IL-22 fell |
| 2018 | Nanocurcumin plus acitretin | Better than acitretin alone |
| 2023 | Nanocurcumin gel on the skin vs placebo gel (pilot, 5 patients) | Less redness and scaling, 7 inflammatory genes turned down |
Why the form of curcumin matters
Look at the pattern above. The trial that failed used plain curcumin. The trials that worked used forms built to be absorbed. That is not a coincidence.
Plain curcumin is very poorly absorbed. Most of a dose passes straight through and never reaches the bloodstream, let alone the skin. That is why the 2008 trial could give people gram-sized doses and see almost nothing. Nanocurcumin shrinks the particles so far more is absorbed, which is why later trials could use much smaller doses and get a measurable effect, and why the 2018 trial specifically used a nano form.
Turmeric powder is a step further back again. It is roughly 3% curcumin, and that 3% is the poorly absorbed kind. No psoriasis trial has used culinary turmeric.
Is it safe alongside psoriasis treatment?
In the trials above, curcumin was taken with a topical steroid and with acitretin, and the combinations were reported as safe. That is a narrower statement than "curcumin is safe with everything". Curcumin can interact with blood thinners and with some other medicines, and psoriasis treatment ranges from creams to methotrexate to biologics. If you are on any of those, mention curcumin to your dermatologist or GP before you start. Bring the reference list at the bottom of this page. It will make the conversation shorter.
Frequently asked questions
What dose did the trials use?
The 2015 trial used an absorbable curcumin formulation at gram-level daily doses. The nanocurcumin trials used far smaller doses, because far more is absorbed. The 2008 trial used plain curcumin at high doses and saw little benefit.
Should I take it instead of my treatment?
No. In the trials that worked, curcumin was added to standard treatment, not swapped for it. Nothing in this research supports stopping a prescribed medicine.
Does turmeric in food help?
There is no trial of dietary turmeric in psoriasis. A teaspoon of turmeric gives you under 100 mg of poorly absorbed curcumin, well short of what was tested.
What about curcumin on the skin?
The 2023 pilot above applied nano-formulated curcumin directly to plaques and saw redness and scaling fall. It is early, five-patient evidence, but it is the most direct sign yet that curcumin acts on the plaque itself. The 2015 and 2018 trials used curcumin by mouth.
How long before you'd see anything?
The trials ran for weeks to a few months. If nothing has changed after twelve weeks, it is unlikely to.
Where nanocurcumin fits in
Gold Standard Curcumin provides 80 mg of nanocurcumin per capsule. If you are thinking about it, take this article, and its references, to your next appointment.
Related reading: Curcumin and rheumatoid arthritis · Curcumin and autoimmune disease
References
- Vaughn AR, Branum A, Sivamani RK. Effects of turmeric (Curcuma longa) on skin health: a systematic review of the clinical evidence. Phytother Res. 2016;30(8):1243-1264. PMID 27213821.
- Zeng L, Yang T, Yang K, et al. Efficacy and safety of curcumin and Curcuma longa extract in the treatment of arthritis and other autoimmune diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Front Immunol. 2022;13:896476. PMID 35979355.
- Kang D, et al. Curcumin shows excellent therapeutic effect on psoriasis in mouse model. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016;473(4):1077-1082.
- Kurd SK, Smith N, VanVoorhees A, Troxel AB, Badmaev V, Seykora JT, Gelfand JM. Oral curcumin in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris: a prospective clinical trial. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008;58(4):625-631. PMID 18249471.
- Antiga E, Bonciolini V, Volpi W, Del Bianco E, Caproni M. Oral curcumin (Meriva) is effective as an adjuvant treatment and is able to reduce IL-22 serum levels in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:283634.
- Bilia AR, Bergonzi MC, Isacchi B, Antiga E, Caproni M. Curcumin nanoparticles potentiate therapeutic effectiveness of acitrein [sic] in moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients and control serum cholesterol levels. J Pharm Pharmacol. 2018;70(7):919-928. PMID 29600580.
- Kolahdooz H, Khori V, Erfani-Moghadam V, Livani F, Mohammadi S, Memarian A. Niosomal curcumin suppresses IL17/IL23 immunopathogenic axis in skin lesions of psoriatic patients: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Life (Basel). 2023;13(5):1076. PMID 37240721.
- Panahi Y, et al. Curcumin: a valid and safe therapeutic option for psoriasis (2018 review). Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2018;6(1):218-220. PMID 29484027. [author list to confirm against the record]
