Anti-inflammatories are among the most common supplements anyone takes or recommends, and there is a simple reason. For chronic, low-grade inflammation, conventional medicine has very little to offer beyond NSAIDs and steroids, and neither is something you want to take long-term.
Not all supplements are created equal. Some are third-party tested for purity and heavy metals, which is the bare minimum. A smaller group has actual human clinical data on that exact form. For this list I looked for both. Where one product clears both bars, such as an NSF certification plus the studied form, it is my first pick. Fewer products do than you would expect, so when I could not find both, I chose the form with human data and told you what is missing.
Ground rules
Start one at a time, one to two weeks apart, so if your stomach or sleep changes you know which one did it. Take everything with food unless I say otherwise.
Fish oil, curcumin, ginger and resveratrol each nudge bleeding risk, and stacked together they add up. On a blood thinner, talk to your provider first. Surgery coming up, tell your surgeon and stop supplements ahead of time.
Pregnant, breastfeeding or in active cancer treatment? Bring this list to your care team before starting anything, because several of these change how the liver clears medications.
Everything I recommend is in my dispensary, where every manufacturer is third-party cGMP certified and Fullscript spot-tests products at independent labs: https://us.fullscript.com/s/dr-malarkey/shop
1. Fish oil
Why: The foundation. EPA and DHA are the raw material your body uses to switch inflammation off, and pooled trials show the most consistent drops in CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6 at 1 to 3 g a day.
Which ratio: This is where most people get it wrong.
Balanced, EPA-leaning. About 1.5 parts EPA to 1 part DHA. My default for general prevention and lowering CRP. Thorne Super EPA NSF, 2 gelcaps daily, picked because it is NSF Certified for Sport, which means an outside lab checks that each batch matches its label and is free of contaminants, and two gelcaps land right in the dose range where the CRP data are strongest. Metagenics OmegaGenics EPA-DHA 720 is my other favorite, with every batch tested by an outside lab, Eurofins.
High EPA. My pick for mood and for people with high cardiovascular risk. The heart outcome trials that worked best used EPA alone, and EPA has the stronger data for depression. Nordic Naturals ProEPA Xtra, picked because it concentrates EPA into fewer softgels.
High DHA. My pick in pregnancy and breastfeeding, for brain health, and when triglycerides are high and HDL is low. Head to head, DHA lowers inflammatory markers at least as well as EPA. Nordic Naturals ProDHA Xtra, picked for the same reason on the DHA side.
Start: One capsule with your largest meal for a week, then build to 1,000 to 2,000 mg combined EPA and DHA. Read the back label, not the “fish oil” number on the front.
2. Urolithin A
Why: Your gut bacteria make urolithin A from pomegranate, berries and walnuts, but in many studies half or more of adults make little or none, depending on their gut microbes. It helps cells clear out worn-out mitochondria, which is one of the drivers of age-related inflammation. In small placebo-controlled trials in middle-aged and older adults, it lowered CRP and improved muscle endurance, and a newer trial showed younger, less exhausted immune cells after just four weeks. It is my pick for inflammation that travels with aging muscle and fatigue.
Start: 1,000 mg once daily with breakfast, the dose used in most trials. Give it two to four months.
Pick: Timeline Cellular Longevity PRO, picked because it is Mitopure, the form used in the human trials.
3. Curcumin
Why: The most studied botanical anti-inflammatory. More than 60 trials pooled together show lower CRP, IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Plain turmeric and standard 95% extracts barely reach the blood, so this is the supplement where the form matters most. These are the forms with human data.
Phytosome, bound to phosphatidylcholine. Sold as Meriva. It has the most clinical trials of any form, in joint pain and other inflammatory conditions, and absorbs roughly 30 times better than standard extract. Thorne Curcumin Phytosome NSF is my first pick, because it is the trial-tested Meriva form and carries NSF certification.
Emulsified softgel. Designs for Health Curcum-Evail 400 is a pick I like because one low-dose softgel a day is easy to stay on. It sits behind Meriva because it has no published absorption data or outside certification.
Colloidal particles. Sold as Theracurmin. Absorption runs 20 to 40 times standard extract, with placebo-controlled trials in Crohn’s disease and knee osteoarthritis. Integrative Therapeutics Theracurmin HP, picked for that trial record.
Turmeric oils. Sold as BCM-95 or Curcugreen. Curcumin is recombined with turmeric’s own essential oils. It has trials in rheumatoid arthritis and depression, though independent head-to-head studies show smaller absorption gains than the forms above. Progressive Labs Curcumin BCM-95, picked because it is BCM-95 alone, with nothing added.
Solid lipid particles. Sold as Longvida, designed to reach the brain. Small trials show benefits for memory and mood in older adults. Metabolic Maintenance Curcumin + C, picked as the Longvida option in my dispensary.
Water-soluble carrier. Sold as CurcuWIN. It absorbed about 45 times better than standard extract in a head-to-head study, with fewer outcome trials. Allergy Research Group Bioavailable Curcumin, picked because it is CurcuWIN at the studied dose.
Micelles and cyclodextrin. Liquid micellar forms such as NovaSOL produced the highest blood levels in head-to-head human studies, with cyclodextrin complexes close behind. They have fewer outcome trials, and neither is in my dispensary.
Liposomal. Popular, but in the one head-to-head human study it did not beat plain curcumin. If you strongly prefer a liquid, NuMedica Liposomal Curcumin is the one I would use, though I would choose a form above first.
With black pepper. Piperine is behind the famous 2,000% absorption claim, which came from one small 1998 study. A 2025 independent study found it added no benefit. Piperine also raises blood levels of many prescription drugs and shows up repeatedly in turmeric liver injury reports, so I skip curcumin products that include it.
Start: Follow the label of the form you choose, with a meal. A well-absorbed form does not need a big dose.
Below: boswellia for gut and brain, the AKBA trials for joints, PEA for nerve pain, which cannabinoid to choose, and my favorite combos.
