Turmeric boosts mood and mind
It might be time to embrace an Indian diet with new research showing what the country has long known: turmeric is good for the mind and body, and could potentially ward off cognitive decline.
Numerous studies have found turmeric helps conditions like heart disease and arthritis, but how about the brain? With India having one of the lowest rates of cognitive decline in the world, as well being the largest consumers of turmeric-spiced curries, it’s begging the question: is it because of turmeric?
Over60 spoke to Professor Andrew Scholey, co-author of a world-first study that examined the effects of curcumin (the active compound in turmeric that gives its rich yellow flavour) in 60 healthy seniors aged 60-85.
“It's true that at a population level it seems that eating curry is associated with lower rates of dementia,” says Professor Scholey, continuing, “We need to be cautious though, firstly I wouldn't like to give the impression this is a binary effect – ‘eat curry, don't get dementia’. We are talking about effects in populations. Secondly, in these types of studies there may be some unknown third factor which makes some people more likely to both eat curry and not get dementia.”
While we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves and start gulping turmeric by the spoonful, Professor Scholey’s study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology does have some promising results.
The Director of the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, explained: “In our double-blind, placebo-controlled study a special extract of curcumin increased working memory and attention following a single dose. After four weeks of taking the supplement, the working memory benefits remained and we also saw reduced fatigue.”
We think that sounds like a pretty good result. Surprisingly, Professor Scholey also discovered a life in mood for his participants.
“Another interesting element was that usually undergoing cognitive testing causes stress and anxiety, especially in older people. This effect was significantly reduced in the people taking curcumin,” he said. “It was as if they were protected to some degree from the stress of being mentally challenged.”
But again, don’t expect turmeric off the shelves to start boosting your memory and mood. As Professor Scholey explains, “Unfortunately curcumin in turmeric off the shelf does not get absorbed. We used a special extract called longvida which is treated to get into the body.”
However, he adds, “there are lots of other health benefits associated with curcumin”. It’s antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral properties helps boost immune function, decrease join inflammation, lower cholesterol and prevent arthritis.
So even though the research isn’t quite there to definitively prove that turmeric will stop Alzheimer’s, it’s other proven health benefits means you should definitely consider spicing up your diet.
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