Turmeric and Brain Health
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) a member of the ginger family, is the subject of intense scientific research evaluating its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. It is the seasoning that gives curry powder its yellow color and has been used for thousands of years in Chinese and Indian medicine as a natural remedy for a variety of ailments. Curcumin,the active compound found in turmeric, has beneficial effects for a variety of diseases and conditions. And it is curcumin that gives turmeric its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
In a recent report in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers investigated the association between curry consumption level and cognitive function in elderly Asians (Read Abstract ). Those who consumed curry occasionally and often or very often had significantly better scores on specific tests designed to measure cognitive function than did subjects who never or rarely consumed curry.
The results of this study are not surprising given the strong association of Alzheimers and other forms of dementia with inflammation and the powerful anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin. The study demonstrated that those individuals with the highest consumption of tumeric had the lowest risk of cognitive decline. But the relationship of turmeric to brain health, and specifically to Alzheimers, goes much deeper.
One of the important elements of Alzheimers disease is the finding of elevated amounts of a specific damaging protein in the brains of Alzheimers sufferers, amyloid protein. Indeed, amyloid is considered one of the hallmarks of this disease. New research published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research has shown that curcumin actually inhibits the formation of amyloid protein (Read Abstract ). So promising were these findings that the author of the study concluded that curcumin could be a key molecule for the development of therapeutics for Alzheimers disease.
You can purchase Turmeric online at iNutritionals.
Comments
September 7th, 2007 at 5:52 am
How much circumin are you reccomending for inflammation, alzheimers , and ms? Wow this font is so small I can’t read it!
September 9th, 2007 at 5:41 am
I’ve heard that turmeric is more effective when taken with black pepper. What do you think of that?
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