Fang & Nasir 2021, curcumin and recovery from muscle damage (meta-analysis)

Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials in Phytotherapy Research, on curcumin supplementation and recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage and delayed-onset muscle soreness. Curcumin significantly reduced creatine kinase, a marker of muscle damage (weighted mean difference −48.5 IU/L; 95% CI −80.7 to −16.4; p = .003), and significantly reduced the muscle-soreness index (weighted mean difference −0.48; 95% CI −0.75 to −0.20; p = .001). The effects held across subgroups of dose, timing, training status and study design, but the magnitude is modest and the underlying trials are small. The authors frame curcumin as a candidate recovery aid worth further study rather than a proven one, a real but small and uncertain signal.