The saying doesn't typically go, "a spoonful of curry a day keeps the doctor away" – but after some recent findings, maybe it should. A new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that certain dosages of curcumin, the key ingredient in the turmeric spice that makes curry, may stave off or prevent symptoms of dementia.
The researchers, from two universities in Perth, Australia, studied a group of 96 participants ranging from age 40 to 90, administering some a thrice-daily curcumin pill and the others a placebo. After a year of this routine, the researchers found that those who took the curcumin supplement had better memory function than those who were given the dummy pill.
While the findings are a little more conclusive than the inconsistent animal trials that prompted the researchers to conduct this study, further investigation is still required before confidently recommending curcumin as a way to prevent or delay neurological disorders like dementia and Alzheimer's.
"Our findings suggest that further longitudinal assessment is required to investigate changes in cognitive outcome measures, ideally in conjunction with biological markers of neurodegeneration," Dr. Stephanie Rainey-Smith, of the Edith Cowan University in Perth, told the Daily Mail.
However, this isn't the first time curcumin has been associated with brain health. A 2014 study published in Stem Cell Research & Therapy found that the constituent could potentially aid in the treatment of neurological conditions like stroke and Alzheimer's. Curcumin has also been researched for other health benefits, such as fighting off diabetes, heart attacks and even cancer.
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