The Inflammation Resolution Protocol — Curcumin + Boswellia + Omega-3 + SPMs
A four-layer protocol that separates suppressing inflammation from resolving it. Omega-3 supplies the substrate, curcumin dampens NF-κB signalling, boswellia blocks the leukotriene branch, and SPMs act on the resolution programme itself. Doses, formulation rules, what to measure, and where the evidence thins out.
Daily Schedule
Timing and dosage for each step
Morning, with a fat-containing meal
2000 mg
2 g combined EPA + DHA. The base layer, and the cheapest one: it supplies the substrate every resolution mediator is built from. Buying SPMs while omega-3 intake is low is paying a premium for the concentrate while skipping the raw material.
Morning and evening, with meals
1000 mg
1000 mg curcuminoids/day, split. Choose a phytosome or micellar formulation — absorption differs by more than an order of magnitude between products, so the delivery system matters more than the milligram figure. ⚠️ Avoid with gallstones; stop two weeks before surgery.
With meals, split two to three times daily
300 mg
300 mg of an extract standardised to 65% boswellic acids, or 100–250 mg of an AKBA-enriched extract. This is the 5-lipoxygenase layer — the leukotriene branch neither curcumin nor NSAIDs cover. Skip in pregnancy.
With a fat-containing meal, during flares or heavy training blocks
1000 mg
1000 mg enriched marine oil, used in defined blocks rather than indefinitely. Raises SPM levels in human trials; clinical outcome evidence is still early, and the price reflects the marketing more than the data. The optional fourth layer, added last.
Protocol Overview
Most anti-inflammatory stacks are three versions of the same thing — several polyphenols all nudging NF-κB, bought separately. This one is built so each layer does a job the others cannot.
- Omega-3 is the substrate layer. Every resolvin, protectin, and maresin is synthesised from EPA or DHA, so nothing downstream works well on a depleted base.
- Curcumin is the suppression layer — NF-κB and COX-2, with meta-analytic evidence for lowering C-reactive protein.
- Boswellia covers the 5-lipoxygenase branch and its leukotrienes, which curcumin and NSAIDs both leave largely untouched.
- SPMs act on resolution itself — the programme that terminates an inflammatory response rather than blocking it.
The reasoning, and the evidence limits, are set out in the inflammation resolution stack article.
Dosing Summary
| Layer | Supplement | Dose | Timing | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Substrate | Omega-3 (EPA+DHA) | 2 g/day | Morning, with fat | A |
| Suppression | Curcumin (phytosome) | 1000 mg/day split | With meals | B |
| Leukotriene branch | Boswellia (65% BA or AKBA-enriched) | 300 mg × 2–3 | With meals | B |
| Resolution | SPMs | 1000 mg, in blocks | With fat | C |
Omega-3 and curcumin carry the evidence. Boswellia is well supported for joint symptoms specifically. SPMs are the frontier layer, and priced like one.
How to Build It
Add one layer at a time, four weeks apart, so you can attribute any change.
- Weeks 1–4: omega-3 at 2 g EPA+DHA. Cheapest, best-evidenced, and the precondition for the rest. If you eat oily fish several times a week you may already be there.
- Weeks 5–8: add curcumin 1000 mg as a phytosome or micellar product. A gram of plain 95% extract is not the same drug — absorption between formulations spans more than an order of magnitude.
- Weeks 9–12: add boswellia if joint pain or stiffness is the main complaint. This is where its trial data sit, and where it adds a mechanism the first two layers miss.
- Add SPMs last, and only in blocks — around an injury, a heavy training phase, or a flare. Human trials show supplementation raises SPM concentrations; trials showing that this improves clinical outcomes are not yet there.
- Measure at 12 weeks. hs-CRP is the practical marker. Symptom scores — pain, stiffness, recovery between sessions — matter as much, provided you wrote down the baseline.
Formulation Rules That Matter More Than Dose
- Curcumin: phytosome (curcumin-phosphatidylcholine) or micellar. Piperine-boosted products work through CYP3A4 and glucuronidation inhibition, which also raises the levels of many prescription drugs — avoid them if you take anything with a narrow therapeutic index.
- Boswellia: ignore the extract milligrams and read the standardisation. "65% boswellic acids" is the baseline; an explicit AKBA figure is better.
- Omega-3: check the EPA+DHA content, not the fish oil weight. A 1000 mg capsule commonly contains 300 mg of actual omega-3.
- SPMs: these supply monohydroxylated precursors (18-HEPE, 17-HDHA, 14-HDHA), not finished resolvins.
Safety & Notes
- Curcumin: stop two weeks before surgery (antiplatelet activity); contraindicated with gallstones or biliary obstruction; rare liver injury is documented and clusters around high-bioavailability and piperine-enhanced products. Investigate jaundice, dark urine, or unexplained fatigue rather than ignoring them.
- Boswellia: avoid in pregnancy. Generally well tolerated otherwise.
- Omega-3 and SPMs: additive bleeding risk with warfarin, DOACs, and antiplatelet drugs. Tell your prescriber.
- Iron: curcumin reduces non-haem iron absorption — relevant if ferritin is already low.
- This is not a treatment for autoimmune or inflammatory disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, IBD, and psoriasis have disease-modifying therapies that work. This protocol addresses chronic low-grade inflammation and musculoskeletal symptoms, and it is a supporting layer at best in diagnosed disease.
Foundations First
The largest inputs to chronic low-grade inflammation are not in this list. Visceral fat, poor sleep, smoking, periodontal disease, sedentary behaviour, and untreated insulin resistance all raise inflammatory markers more than any of these supplements lower them — and a single night of short sleep raises inflammatory signalling measurably.
Supplements are the last 10%. Adding them while sleeping five hours a night is the wrong order of operations.