Table 5.

Summary of the timing and dose of curcumin supplementation required to improve muscle soreness and performance, inflammatory markers, and oxidative markers associated with exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD)

EIMD markers and oxidative markers	Author	Training status of participants	Exercise protocol	Formulation	Curcuminoids content	Duration	Dosage	Timing of dose
Muscle soreness	Nakhostin-Roohi et al., 2016 [19]	Untrained	Unaccustomed squat exercises	Theracurmin	10% curcumin, 2% curcuminoids without curcumin	Single dose	150 mg	Immediately post-exercise
	Tanabe et al., 2018 [22]	Untrained	30 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity of 120°/s	Theracurmin	Not defined	7 days	180 mg	90 mg twice a day at breakfast and dinner, consumed for 7 days after exercise
	Tanabe et al., 2019 [23]	Untrained	30 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity of 120°/s	Theracurmin	30% curcumin, 6% other curcuminoids	4 days	180 mg	90 mg twice a day at breakfast and dinner, consumed for 4 days after exercise
	Amalraj et al., 2020 [20]	Trained	Downhill running for 45 min	Cureit	Not defined	4 days	500 mg/day	Consumed on day 2, 3 and 4 of study
	Nicol et al., 2015 [21]	Trained	7 sets of 10 eccentric single-leg press repetitions on a leg press machine	Eurofins scientific Inc	Not defined	5 days	5000 mg/day	5 capsules (2.5 g curcumin) twice daily for 2.5 days prior to exercise, then 5 capsules twice daily for 2.5 days after exercise
Muscle performance	Tanabe et al., 2018 [22]	Untrained	30 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity of 120°/s	Theracurmin	Not defined	7 days	180 mg	90 mg twice a day at breakfast and dinner, consumed for 7 days after exercise
	Tanabe et al., 2019 [23]	Untrained	30 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity of 120°/s	Theracurmin	30% curcumin, 6% other curcuminoids	4 days	180 mg	90 mg twice a day at breakfast and dinner, consumed for 4 days after exercise
	Tanabe et al., 2015 [53]	Untrained	50 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity 120°/s	Theracurmin	Not defined	Single dose	300 mg	150 mg 1 h before exercise and 150 mg 12 h after exercise
Creatine kinase	Nakhostin-Roohi et al., 2016 [19]	Untrained	Unaccustomed squat exercises	Theracurmin	10% curcumin, 2% curcuminoids without curcumin	Single dose	150 mg	Immediately post-exercise
	Tanabe et al., 2018 [22]	Untrained	30 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity of 120°/s	Theracurmin	Not defined	7 days	180 mg	90 mg twice a day at breakfast and dinner, consumed for 7 days after exercise
	McFarlin et al., 2016 [24]	Untrained	6 sets of 10 repetitions of the leg press exercise with a beginning load set at 110% of their estimated 1RM	Longvida	Not defined	6 days	400 mg	48 h before exercise and for 72 h after
	Tanabe et al., 2015 [53]	Untrained	50 maximal eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors at an angular velocity 120°/s	Theracurmin	Not defined	Single dose	300 mg	150 mg 1 h before exercise and 150 mg 12 h after exercise
	S. Basham et al., 2019 [26]	Trained	225 repetitions of sit and stand using an aerobic step bench in 15 min	CurcuFresh	69 mg of curcuminoids	28 days	1500 mg/day	1000 mg at breakfast and 500 mg at dinner
	Nicol et al., 2015 [21]	Trained	7 sets of 10 eccentric single-leg press repetitions on a leg press machine	Eurofins scientific Inc	Not defined	5 days	5000 mg/day	5 capsules (2.5 g curcumin) twice daily for 2.5 days prior to exercise, then 5 capsules twice daily for 2.5 days after exercise
Tumour necrosis factor-α	McFarlin et al., 2016 [24]	Untrained	6 sets of 10 repetitions of the leg press exercise with a beginning load set at 110% of their estimated 1RM	Longvida	Not defined	6 days	400 mg	48 h before exercise and for 72 h after
Interleukin-6	Nicol et al., 2015 [21]	Trained	7 sets of 10 eccentric single-leg press repetitions on a leg press machine	Eurofins scientific Inc	Not defined	5 days	5000 mg/day	5 capsules (2.5 g curcumin) twice daily for 2.5 days prior to exercise, then 5 capsules twice daily for 2.5 days after exercise
Interleukin-8	McFarlin et al., 2016 [24]	Untrained	6 sets of 10 repetitions of the leg press exercise with a beginning load set at 110% of their estimated 1RM	Longvida	Not defined	6 days	400 mg	48 h before exercise and for 72 h after
	F. Drobnic et al., 2014 [70]	Trained	Modified downhill running test—running at a constant speed for 45 min after a 10-min warm-up on treadmill	Meriva®	200 mg/dose	4 days	1 g twice a day	48 h prior to exercise and continued for 24 h after exercise
Biological antioxidant potential and glutathione	Takahashi et al., 2013 [25]	Recreationally active	Walking or running at 65% V̇O2 max on a treadmill for 60 min	Theracurmin	10% curcumin, 2% curcuminoids without curcumin	1 day	180 mg/day	2 h before and immediately after exercise