NOW Boswellia Extract 250 mg + Turmeric Review

No — and it isn't quite the same as "65% boswellic acids" either, which is how an earlier version of this review described it. The panel says the boswellia extract is standardised to a minimum of 65% organic acids including boswellic acid. So at least 65% of the extract is acidic resin compounds, of which boswellic acids are one part; the label doesn't say how much is boswellic acid, and it states no AKBA percentage. An AKBA-standardised extract like AprèsFlex (20% AKBA) or 5-Loxin (~30% AKBA) guarantees a specific amount of AKBA, the most potent 5-LOX inhibitor in the family. NOW's figure is real and stated — better than raw resin that lists nothing — but if AKBA precision matters to you, Life Extension Boswellia (#1) is the step up.

Four. Kimmatkar 2003 (PMID 12622457) used a standardised Boswellia serrata extract three times a day, roughly 333 mg per dose or about 1,000 mg a day. NOW's capsule holds 250 mg of boswellia extract (the panel lists 500 mg per two-capsule serving), so you need four capsules a day — two servings, for example two with breakfast and two with dinner — to reach about 1,000 mg. That sits within the label's suggested use of 1-2 capsules one to three times daily. At four a day the 120-cap bottle lasts a month, which is what the ~$11 price buys.

More than a token. Per two-capsule serving the panel lists 200 mg of turmeric root extract standardised to at least 95% curcuminoids, plus 200 mg of turmeric root powder — and at four capsules a day you take that twice. Turmeric's curcuminoids act mainly through NF-κB, a different pathway from boswellia's 5-LOX, so the pairing makes sense. The caveat: it's plain turmeric — the panel lists no absorption enhancer such as black pepper extract — and plain curcumin is poorly absorbed. If you want both pathways with a high-absorption curcumin, Terry Naturally Curamin (#2) pairs boswellia with BCM-95.

Faster than most joint supplements — boswellia is an active anti-inflammatory, not a slow cartilage-rebuilder. Sengupta 2008 saw measurable pain relief within about a week at the higher 250 mg AKBA-enriched dose; with a whole-extract bottle like NOW's, give it two to four weeks at four caps daily with food before judging. If you feel nothing after four weeks at the full dose, two things to check: are you actually taking four caps a day (under-dosing is the most common reason it "doesn't work"), and would an AKBA-enriched extract suit you better? Boswellia is genuinely effective for many people but not everyone responds — a budget whole-extract bottle is a low-cost way to find out.

Neither, exactly — it damps the inflammation that drives the pain, which is a real mechanism but not structural repair. Boswellia manages osteoarthritis symptoms by inhibiting leukotriene-driven inflammation in the joint; it does not regrow cartilage the way collagen or glucosamine are theorised to support over months. The practical consequence: benefits are real and often noticeable, but they fade if you stop taking it, because you're controlling an inflammatory process rather than curing the underlying joint changes. Think of it as a maintenance anti-inflammatory you stay on, ideally stacked with curcumin and omega-3 for a three-pathway effect.

NOW's QC is among the most credible in the mass-market tier — they run their own analytical labs, manufacture in GMP-certified facilities, and have a 30-plus-year track record with public testing summaries. For a botanical extract (a category with real adulteration risk) that's a meaningful fraud filter at this price. You pay more for Pure Encapsulations (#3) to get a hypoallergenic, zero-filler clinician-grade label — worth it if you have a sensitive gut or react to excipients — but you are not buying materially better boswellic-acid standardisation. For most buyers, NOW's testing is genuinely good enough.

1. [1] Kimmatkar 2003 PMID 12622457 — Efficacy and tolerability of Boswellia serrata extract in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee — a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial in knee-osteoarthritis patients: a standardised Boswellia serrata extract significantly reduced knee pain, improved joint function, and increased walking distance versus placebo over 8 weeks, with good tolerability. The anchor trial for the ~333 mg three-times-daily standardised-extract protocol that NOW's four-cap daily dose targets.
2. [2] Sengupta 2008 PMID 18667054 — A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled study of the efficacy and safety of 5-Loxin for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Placebo-controlled trial of 5-Loxin (an AKBA-enriched Boswellia extract, ~30% AKBA) at 100 and 250 mg/day in knee osteoarthritis: significant, dose-related reductions in pain and improvements in physical function, with benefits appearing within as little as 7 days at the 250 mg dose. Defines the AKBA-enriched standard NOW's whole extract is measured against.