Health Benefits of Turmeric and Cayenne Pepper

Potential Health Benefits of Turmeric and Cayenne Pepper

Potential Health Benefits of Turmeric and Cayenne Pepper
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Updated on August 14, 2025
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Note: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve supplements for safety or effectiveness. Talk to a healthcare professional about whether a supplement is the right fit for your individual health, and about any potential drug interactions or safety concerns.

Individually, turmeric and cayenne pepper are both popular culinary ingredients and dietary supplements. Besides adding spicy flavor to a variety of dishes, each may have several health benefits, often linked to lowering inflammation.

Combining turmeric and cayenne pepper may have a positive impact on digestion, metabolism, and blood pressure, but more research is needed.

3 Possible Health Benefits of Turmeric You Should Know About

Turmeric is the golden yellow spice long used in curries and complementary and alternative medicine. It contains curcumin, a natural compound with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Turmeric May Reduce Inflammation

If you’ve taken turmeric as a supplement, you may have done so to tame inflammation. One meta-analysis found that curcumin helped reduce four out of five pro-inflammatory markers in the blood.

Researchers concluded that turmeric supplementation may be a useful way to improve oxidative stress, which is an imbalance of unstable molecules in the body that can lead to cell damage.

Turmeric May Ease Joint Pain

Although turmeric is a spice, it could have a cooling influence on your joints.

“I believe we have moderate to strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of turmeric for easing joint pain associated with arthritis,” says Jenna Volpe, RDN, LD, CLT, founder of Whole-istic Living in Austin, Texas.

One small systematic review showed turmeric and curcumin extracts were comparable to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for alleviating knee pain in people with osteoarthritis.

Turmeric May Improve Depression

Depression may be related to inflammation in the brain, making turmeric supplementation a potential way to manage its symptoms.

Although this spice isn’t a replacement for conventional depression treatments, one meta-analysis did find that turmeric may alleviate depression and anxiety in people with major depressive disorder.

3 Possible Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper You Should Know About

Cayenne pepper is the red, skinny pepper frequently used in curries and Mexican food. It’s considered good for your health because it contains capsaicin, the compound that gives this spice its heat.

Cayenne Pepper May Boost Weight Loss

Cayenne may help improve metabolism. One review of studies found that capsaicin might be beneficial for small reductions in body weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference, particularly for people who are overweight or have obesity.

Cayenne Pepper May Improve Digestion

While some studies suggest that cayenne pepper may have a positive impact on digestion, others say the opposite. More research is needed on cayenne’s effects on digestion, says Dr. Simran Malhotra, MD, a lifestyle medicine physician in Bethesda, Maryland.

“There’s modest evidence suggesting that capsaicin can be an effective tool in supporting digestion while optimizing gut and metabolic health,” she says.

Cayenne Pepper May Help Heart Health

Capsaicin is thought to be beneficial for heart health due to its potential to improve blood circulation, reduce inflammation, and help lower blood pressure numbers.

Eating them in recipes once a week may lower your heart disease risk by 11 percent.

Why Combine Turmeric and Cayenne Pepper?

Some health blogs claim that pairing turmeric and cayenne pepper could have a synergistic effect, creating a stronger anti-inflammatory punch.

But Dr. Malhotra notes the science isn’t settled on whether turmeric and cayenne pepper are truly the dynamic duo that some people want it to be.

“There isn’t any clear human evidence specifically on this combination, so more research would be needed to confirm their synergistic benefits,” she says.

In one small study, a spice mix that included turmeric and cayenne pepper (as well as several other spices) increased the diversity of the gut microbiome in 15 healthy men.

Volpe says these gut-level changes could optimize anti-inflammatory activity. A diverse microbiome produces short-chain fatty acids, which are known for helping regulate inflammation.

Other research has found that combining spices, including turmeric and cayenne, could inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut, which is another important factor in keeping inflammation at bay.

People who are sensitive to either should be careful with the combination, as it may irritate the stomach or GI tract, Malhotra says. Excess turmeric has been linked to liver damage, and Volpe says this spice isn’t a great choice for people with gallstones or kidney stones, as it can aggravate these conditions.

How to Combine Turmeric and Cayenne Pepper

If you’d like to test the merits of combining turmeric and cayenne pepper, Volpe says it may be easier to do that through diet rather than supplements.

“Turmeric and cayenne pepper can be blended and added to a variety of savory dishes such as stir-fries, omelets, or noodle bowls,” she says. “They can also be integrated into curry recipes.”

She suggests starting with small amounts to test your spice tolerance. You may also be able to enhance your absorption of turmeric by adding a source of fat (since curcumin is fat-soluble) and some black pepper, which increases curcumin’s bioavailability.

If you prefer to take these spices in supplement form, health experts recommend up to 3 milligrams (mg) of turmeric per kilogram of body weight.

There’s no set dosage for cayenne pepper, but studies suggest that 2 mg to 8 mg is safe daily.

The Takeaway

  • Turmeric and cayenne pepper are flavorful spices that are valued for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compounds.
  • As individual supplements, turmeric and cayenne pepper may have health benefits like reducing inflammation, easing joint pain, boosting weight loss, and alleviating depression.
  • It’s possible that these spices could have a synergistic effect on lowering inflammation when taken together, but more research is needed.
  • You can experiment with these spices in your recipes, or you can take them as dietary supplements.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Turmeric Benefits. Johns Hopkins Medicine.
  2. Dehzad M et al. Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Curcumin/Turmeric Supplementation in Adults: A GRADE-Assessed Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Cytokine. April 2023.
  3. Oxidative Stress. Cleveland Clinic. February 29, 2024.
  4. Paultre K et al. Therapeutic Effects of Turmeric or Curcumin Extract on Pain and Function for Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review. BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine. January 13, 2021.
  5. Han K-M et al. How Inflammation Affects the Brain in Depression: A Review of Functional and Structural MRI Studies. Journal of Clinical Neurology. September 17, 2021.
  6. Fusar-Poli L et al. Curcumin for depression: a meta-analysis. Critical Reviews in Food Science Nutrition. 2020.
  7. Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper. Cleveland Clinic. November 30, 2021.
  8. Zhang W et al. The Effects of Capsaicin Intake on Weight Loss Among Overweight and Obese Subjects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials. British Journal of Nutrition. March 20, 2023.
  9. Sirotkin A. Peppers and Their Constituents Against Obesity. Biologia Futura. July 2023.
  10. Yang L et al. Chili Pepper Intake and All-Cause and Disease-Specific Mortality. International Journal For Vitamin and Nutrition Research. January 18, 2022.
  11. Thwe Khin W et al. A Single Serving of Mixed Spices Alters Gut Microflora Composition: A Dose–Response Randomised Trial. Nature. May 28, 2021.
  12. Du Y et al. The Role of Short Chain Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Body Health. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. July 2024.
  13. Lu Q et al. Prebiotic Potential and Chemical Composition of Seven Culinary Spice Extracts. Journal of Food Science. August 2017.
  14. LiverTox. National Library of Medicine. June 16, 2025.
  15. Evaluations of the Joint FAOWHO Expert Committee on Food. World Health Organization.
  16. Szallasi A. Capsaicin For Weight Control: “Exercise in a Pill” (or Just Another Fad)? Pharmaceuticals. July 11, 2022.
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Kayli Anderson, RDN

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Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.

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Sarah Garone

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Sarah Garone is a licensed nutritionist, registered nutrition and dietetics technician, freelance health and wellness writer, and food blogger in Mesa, Arizona. She has written for The Washington Post, Healthline, Greatist, Verywell, and Eat This, Not That, among other outlets. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
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