Curcumin for Hot Flashes

Curcumin might ease hot flashes a little, but the research is too thin to rely on. In 93 postmenopausal women in Iran, 500 mg curcumin capsules twice a day for 8 weeks lowered the number of hot flashes compared with placebo (Ataei-Almanghadim 2020), and in a 40-woman pilot in Thailand, 1,000 mg of curcuminoids a day cut about 7 hot flashes a week more than placebo (Buntoonprayuk 2026).

Against that, a 2024 trial from the same Iranian research group, with 84 women, reported a hot flash benefit for vitamin E but gave no hot flash result for curcumin (Yousefi-Nodeh 2024). A 2025 meta-analysis pooled a small improvement in vasomotor symptoms, with the caveat that products and doses varied (Jin 2025), and a 2025 systematic review called the vasomotor results conflicting (Akyakar 2025). Menopause experts do not recommend herbal supplements for hot flashes (NAMS 2023).

The trials started from curcumin's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The Thai team proposed these might improve vasomotor symptoms (Buntoonprayuk 2026), and the Iranian group argued that falling estrogen at menopause switches on oxidative and inflammatory processes that drive symptoms (Farshbaf-Khalili 2022).

In that Iranian trial of 84 women, malondialdehyde (a marker of oxidative damage, P = 0.009) and hs-CRP (an inflammation marker, P = 0.025) fell and total antioxidant capacity rose (P < 0.001) within the curcumin group over 8 weeks; the abstract does not report a comparison with placebo for these markers (Farshbaf-Khalili 2022).

Changes in blood markers did not mean fewer symptoms in that trial. Vasomotor scores fell in every group, placebo included, and the abstract reports no symptom advantage for curcumin over placebo (Farshbaf-Khalili 2022). None of the trials measured how curcumin might act on the brain's temperature control, so any effect on hot flashes remains unexplained.

The Iranian trials used 500 mg curcumin capsules twice a day, or 1,000 mg a day, for 8 weeks (Ataei-Almanghadim 2020; Yousefi-Nodeh 2024; Farshbaf-Khalili 2022). The Thai pilot used 1,000 mg of curcuminoids a day for 12 weeks (Buntoonprayuk 2026). No trial compared doses, and the 2025 meta-analysis noted that curcumin purity and dose varied between trials (Jin 2025).

Standard curcumin is poorly absorbed, so many products add piperine (black pepper extract) or use other high-absorption forms. NCCIH notes that liver damage has been reported with these bioavailable formulations, while conventional curcumin is likely safe for up to 2 or 3 months (NCCIH 2025). That makes a plain product at a trial dose, for a limited trial period, the cautious choice.

In a 2020 triple-blind trial of 93 postmenopausal women (mean age 51.7) in Iran, curcumin lowered the mean number of hot flashes compared with placebo after 8 weeks (adjusted mean difference -10.7, 95% CI -3.6 to -17.9, P = 0.001), with the first significant difference at 4 weeks (P = 0.027). It made no difference to anxiety, sexual function or overall menopausal symptoms (Ataei-Almanghadim 2020). The abstract doesn't give the period over which hot flashes were counted.

A 2026 pilot from Thailand, run by a separate research team, randomised 40 healthy postmenopausal women aged 41 to 65 to 1,000 mg of curcuminoids a day or placebo for 12 weeks. Weekly hot flashes fell by 7.35 more episodes a week with curcuminoids (95% CI -10.29 to -4.41, p < 0.001), with a difference also at week 6. Total quality-of-life scores (MENQOL and MRS II) did not differ at 12 weeks. The trial was registered retrospectively, and the authors call the results preliminary (Buntoonprayuk 2026).

In a 2024 trial from the same Iranian group, in 84 postmenopausal women given 500 mg curcumin, 200 IU vitamin E or placebo twice a day for 8 weeks, the abstract reports a significant drop in hot flashes only for vitamin E (P = 0.002). For curcumin it reports lower fasting blood glucose (P = 0.007), total cholesterol (P = 0.015) and triglycerides (P = 0.007), but no hot flash result, despite a title that credits both supplements (Yousefi-Nodeh 2024). Our vitamin E for hot flashes page covers that arm.

A 2022 trial from the same group (84 women, 500 mg twice a day, 8 weeks) found vasomotor scores fell in all groups, placebo included; the only between-group symptom difference it reports is less anxiety with vitamin E, none for curcumin (Farshbaf-Khalili 2022). The Iranian trials share study designs and authors, and the abstracts don't say whether any participants overlap.

A 2025 meta-analysis of 14 trials (982 participants) of curcumin after menopause found a small improvement in vasomotor symptoms (SMD -0.39, 95% CI -0.65 to -0.13, p = 0.003). The authors call the conclusions limited because curcumin purity and doses varied, and the abstract doesn't say how many trials fed this estimate (Jin 2025). A 2025 systematic review of 12 trials described the vasomotor results as conflicting (Akyakar 2025).

The North American Menopause Society's 2023 statement does not recommend supplements or herbal remedies for hot flashes, and says hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment (NAMS 2023). For another herbal option, see black cohosh for hot flashes.

In the Thai pilot, curcuminoids were well tolerated: all 40 women completed it with no serious adverse events (Buntoonprayuk 2026). In another 8-week trial of 500 mg twice a day in postmenopausal women, some participants dropped out with stomach ache or headache (Shabani 2025). NCCIH lists nausea, acid reflux, diarrhoea and constipation among possible side effects and says turmeric supplements may be unsafe in pregnancy and that little is known about higher-than-food amounts while breastfeeding (NCCIH 2025).

The rare but serious risk is liver injury. A US registry found 10 cases of turmeric-associated liver injury; 8 were women, the median age was 56, 5 were hospitalised and 1 died. Injury appeared 1 to 4 months after starting, and 3 of the 7 products tested also contained piperine (Halegoua-DeMarzio 2023). NCCIH advises stopping turmeric or curcumin immediately and talking with your provider if you notice fatigue, nausea, poor appetite, dark urine or jaundice (NCCIH 2025).

The interaction that matters most for hot flashes is tamoxifen, which often causes them. In breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen, curcumin at 1,200 mg three times a day lowered levels of its active form, endoxifen, by 7.7% (p = 0.07), and by 12.4% (p = 0.02) when combined with piperine. The authors warned this could push some patients below the effective level (Hussaarts 2019).

A French case report described a probable interaction in which turmeric raised the INR (a measure of blood clotting time) in a patient taking the vitamin K antagonist fluindione (Daveluy 2014). NCCIH advises talking with your provider before using any herbal product if you take medicines (NCCIH 2025).