Why You Need Black Pepper With Turmeric (And What Happens Without It)

If you’ve looked into turmeric supplements, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of them include black pepper extract. It’s not there as a bit of seasoning, it plays a significant role in how your body is able to use turmeric.

The reason black pepper appears alongside turmeric in well-formulated supplements has everything to do with how your body absorbs – or more accurately, fails to absorb – turmeric on its own.

Here, we’ll break down everything you need to know about pairing black pepper with turmeic.

Why Take Turmeric In The First Place?

Turmeric is a root spice that’s been used for centuries in traditional medicine across South Asia and the Middle East. The reason it’s attracted so much scientific interest in recent years comes down to one particular compound it contains: curcumin.

Curcumin is the active polyphenol responsible for turmeric’s deep golden colour, and it’s the compound that most of the research on turmeric is actually about. Studies have explored curcumin in the context of inflammation, joint comfort, oxidative stress and immune health [1].

The challenge is that curcumin, despite being genuinely interesting from a scientific standpoint, comes with a significant practical problem – your body can barely absorb it.

Why Your Body Can’t Absorb Curcumin

Curcumin has what us scientists describe as ‘poor bioavailability’. Bioavailability just means how much of something makes it into your bloodstream and becomes available for your body to use. It doesn’t matter how much of an ingredient you take, if it can’t be absorbed properly, the effect is limited.

With curcumin, the issue is threefold:

• It’s absorbed poorly in the gut
• It’s broken down quickly by the liver
• It’s eliminated from the body at speed

By the time most plain curcumin has passed through your system, very little of it has had any meaningful opportunity to do what you took it for.

One review described curcumin’s bioavailability as “disappointingly low” despite its promising biological activity, and called for better delivery approaches to make it practically useful [2].

That’s where black pepper comes in.

What Is Piperine & Why Does It Matter?

Black pepper gets its characteristic taste from a compound called piperine. It’s the active part of black pepper, just as curcumin is the active part of turmeric.

Piperine has been studied for its ability to enhance the absorption of various nutrients and compounds, and its effect on curcumin specifically is one of the most well-documented examples of what we call bioenhancement – essentially, using one compound to make another more effective.

The way piperine works alongside curcumin comes down to a couple of biological mechanisms.

Your liver and intestinal wall contain enzymes whose job it is to break down and clear substances from your body. It’s a protective system, but in the case of curcumin, it’s overly efficient – it clears the curcumin before you’ve had a real chance to benefit from it.

Piperine slows down this process. It inhibits certain enzymes (particularly one called glucuronyl transferase, involved in a process called glucuronidation) that would otherwise break curcumin down and prepare it for excretion [3].

With those enzymes temporarily slowed, curcumin has more time to be absorbed and circulate in your bloodstream.

What The Research Shows

The landmark study on this comes from 1998, by Shoba et al. [3]. Researchers gave human volunteers curcumin both with and without piperine, and compared their blood levels of curcumin over time.

The results were significant. When piperine was added alongside curcumin, bioavailability increased by 2,000% compared to curcumin taken alone.

That’s not a typo. Twenty times more curcumin was absorbed when piperine was present.

The dose of piperine used to achieve this was just 20mg – a relatively small amount. This tells us it’s not about taking vast quantities of black pepper. It’s about getting the right amount of the right compound, formulated properly alongside the curcumin.

So What Happens If You Take Turmeric Without Black Pepper?

Basically, you’re wasting the potential of the supplement (and wasting your money tbh).

Plain turmeric powder, turmeric in cooking, and even many turmeric supplements that don’t include piperine face the same problem. The curcumin enters your digestive system, gets rapidly broken down by your liver’s enzyme activity, and is cleared from your body before it can be meaningfully absorbed.

You might still get some benefit from the antioxidants naturally present in turmeric root itself, and there’s some value in consuming it as part of a balanced diet. But if you’re taking turmeric specifically for its curcumin content, and you’re not combining it with black pepper extract, the evidence suggests you’re not getting nearly as much from it as you could be.

This is why at Supp, our Turmeric Extract with Black Pepper combines both in a single capsule. We use good formulation practice, based on what the research supports.

How Much Black Pepper Do I Need?

It’s worth flagging that more black pepper (and thus more piperine – the active ingredient) is not necessarily better.

The research indicates that meaningful improvements in curcumin absorption can be achieved with relatively modest amounts of piperine. Going well above studied doses doesn’t appear to offer additional benefit, and very high piperine intake may not be appropriate for everyone, particularly those taking certain medications, as piperine can also affect the absorption of other compounds.

If you’re taking any prescribed medication, it’s always worth checking with your GP or pharmacist before starting a new supplement.

Does Black Pepper Affect Anything Else?

Interestingly, piperine’s bioenhancing effects aren’t exclusive to curcumin. Research suggests it can also improve the absorption of certain other nutrients, including selenium and some B vitamins [4].

That said, the curcumin and piperine combination remains the most studied and most compelling example of this effect, which is why it’s the one most commonly used in quality supplement formulations.

Final Takeaways

Turmeric has genuine scientific interest behind it. But curcumin’s potential is only as good as your body’s ability to actually absorb it.

Black pepper extract, specifically its active compound piperine, addresses what would otherwise be a significant limitation of turmeric supplementation. The research is clear, the mechanism is understood, and the difference in absorption is substantial.

If you’re looking to support your wellbeing with turmeric, it’s worth making sure what you’re taking is actually formulated to work.

You can explore our Turmeric Extract with Black Pepper here, and if you want to understand the individual ingredients in more detail, our Turmeric Extract and Black Pepper Extract ingredient pages break things down further.

References:

1. Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. 2017. Curcumin: A Review of Its Effects on Human Health. Foods. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PMC5664031/
2. Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA, Aggarwal BB. 2007. Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises. Molecular Pharmaceutics. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17999464/
3. Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, Majeed M, Rajendran R, Srinivas PS. 1998. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Medica. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9619120/
4. Kesarwani K, Gupta R. 2013. Bioavailability enhancers of herbal origin: An overview. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PMC3151395/

Disclaimer:
This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescribed medication or have an existing health condition, please consult your GP or qualified healthcare practitioner before starting any new supplement.