I recently came across some information I thought was interesting. I had heard it before, in fact I mentioned it in my post Turmeric – Flavor With Benefits, but this time I decided to look into a bit to see what is being said. One of the compounds found in turmeric is curcumin. Turmeric is a product of a ground root of the Curcuma longa plant. It is a relative of ginger. The curcumin is what gives turmeric it’s yellow color. So basically it is the stuff in turmeric that stains everything it touches. While in the middle of typing this I needed to make dinner. I used some turmeric. This spice has been used in other cultures as a spice to flavor foods, and a medicinal spice. It has been used as a dye. It is a subject of study and research as it is thought to have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. There is information that has been published regarding using curcumin as a possible prevention and treatment for Alzheimer’s. The National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine’s website has information regarding a paper disclosing such information. The UCLA Alzheimer Translation Center website also has information regarding how it might help prevent Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s is thought to begin with inflammation. So, as I have stated often in my post, I believe that chronic inflammation in the body is a disease catalyst. It is as if the body is so busy fighting the inflammation, other things go wrong. Chronic inflammation is being viewed as a serious health problem. So again, as I have stated before, things, foods, that can reduce inflammation can be good to add to our diets.
The NCBI article states that the idea that curcumin might help with Alzheimer’s comes from the fact that it is less common in India where they eat a lot of food with curry with turmeric. This idea was supported by a study in which macrophages (A type of white blood cell that ingests foreign material) was treated with curcumin. The white blood cells treated with the curcumin were able to clear the type of plague that is thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s. The article also indicates that since curcumin can pass through the blood brain barrier it can help at the neurological level. Also, neurotoxicity caused by cadmium and lead was prevented. Additionally, curcumin might help lower cholesterol.
The bioavailability of the curcumin is not very high. So eating enough and getting enough could be an issue . . . especially at this point there might not be enough information to know what amount “enough” is.
Another post on The National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine’s website claims that three patients with Alzheimer’s showed significant signs of behavioral and psychological improvement after being treated with turmeric powder capsules. A change was seen after just 12 weeks, but a large improvement of recognizing family members was seen after a year.
There is always risks with anything if one is to use it as a treatment for a specific condition, so before you go out and purchase curcumin capsules please do some research and seek professional advice. I do think that my adding it to my food would not be a problem. I know in my post about turmeric I said I would, but I really dislike that it turns my dishes yellow. But I really think the possible benefits outweigh that. I prefer to try to use food, herbs, spices, and movement to provide nutrition and health benefits so that I can keep it healthy and hopefully not need medication.
Do you like curry dishes? What type of curry dishes do you make? What do you add turmeric to? Do you have a trick to keeping it from turning things yellow?
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