Does turmeric help with blood pressure? What the research does and doesn't show

Two systematic reviews have pooled every randomized trial of curcumin and blood pressure, and both reach the same headline conclusion: across all trials combined, curcumin supplements didn't produce a significant change in systolic or diastolic blood pressure. A small effect turned up only in subgroup analyses of long trials, not as an overall verdict either way.

What the evidence doesn't support

It doesn't support turmeric or curcumin, in any studied form or dose, as a way to lower blood pressure, manage hypertension, or stand in for a blood pressure medication. It also doesn't support the opposite worry — the same trials found no evidence that turmeric or curcumin raises blood pressure. What follows is a small effect in specific subgroups, not a reliable change in either direction.

What the trials found

A 2019 meta-analysis in Pharmacological Research pooled 11 randomized trials of curcumin or turmeric supplementation, 734 people in total. Across all trials, curcumin had no significant effect on systolic blood pressure (SBP) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP). In a subgroup of trials lasting 12 weeks or longer, SBP dropped by a small amount (-1.24 mmHg) — small enough that a home blood pressure cuff wouldn't reliably tell it apart from ordinary day-to-day variation. DBP showed no effect even in that long-duration subgroup, and no form of curcumin or turmeric showed a favorable result once the authors grouped trials by participant condition.

A larger 2023 dose-response meta-analysis in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases pooled 17 trials and 1,377 people and reached the same overall conclusion: no significant effect on SBP or DBP, and no dose-response relationship — more curcumin didn't track with a bigger effect. In this review, the small subgroup effect showed up in DBP rather than SBP, again only in trials lasting 12 weeks or longer, and separately in a subgroup of trials done specifically in women (SBP down 1.55 mmHg, DBP down 1.73 mmHg on average).

Read together, the two reviews agree on the main finding — no reliable overall effect — and disagree on which subgroup turned up a small one, which is itself a sign of how thin and inconsistent this evidence is. Both sets of authors called for more trials before concluding anything either way.

Review (year)	Trials / people	Overall effect on SBP	Overall effect on DBP
Hadi et al., 2019	11 trials, 734 people	Not significant	Not significant
Karimi et al., 2023	17 trials, 1,377 people	Not significant	Not significant

Questions people ask

Can turmeric raise blood pressure?

No trial in either review found that curcumin or turmeric raised blood pressure. The pooled result across all trials in both reviews was "no significant change" — not an increase.

Is turmeric good for high or low blood pressure?

Neither review reported results split out by whether participants started with high, low or typical blood pressure. Since the pooled result across all trials combined was no significant change, there's no research basis for using turmeric to move blood pressure in either direction.

Can I take turmeric with my blood pressure medication?

Neither review tested curcumin alongside a blood pressure medication, so there's no trial describing what happens when the two are combined. Turmeric and medications: what to check covers curcumin's separately documented effect on platelets, the clearest medication caution on record. Anyone on blood pressure medication should ask a doctor before adding turmeric or curcumin.

How quickly does turmeric lower blood pressure?

There's no timeline to give, because the pooled evidence doesn't show a reliable overall drop to begin with. The small subgroup effects in both reviews only showed up in trials that ran 12 weeks or longer, not something measured in days.

When to talk to a doctor

High blood pressure that's diagnosed, or that isn't well controlled, is a medical condition managed with monitoring and, often, prescribed medication — not a supplement. Turmeric is not a treatment for hypertension. If you have high blood pressure, take medication for it, or are pregnant or nursing, talk to a doctor before adding turmeric, curcumin or any other supplement.

Related reading: how much turmeric should you take a day, turmeric and medications: what to check, and who should not take turmeric.