Dementia: a curry a day may keep dementia at bay
17 July 2009
Eating curry regularly may produce unexpected benefits for the brain, possibly preventing the onset of dementia, researchers claim.
Studies had found people who ate a curry meal once or twice a week appeared to have a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a US researcher told the recent Royal College of Psychiatrists’ annual meeting in Liverpool, UK.
Professor Murali Doraiswamy, director of the Mental Fitness Laboratory at Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina, said the key ingredient was curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, also found in mustard.
Professor Doraiswamy is currently heading a clinical trial testing the effect of curcumin in humans with Alzheimer’s disease. It will look at the effect on amyloid plaque proteins. (Abnormal plaques, or deposits, of a protein called beta-amyloid are seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease).
Animal studies supported the hypothesis that a curcumin-rich diet could dissolve amyloid plaques and prevent formation of new plaques, he said.
Other researchers were testing the impact of high doses of curcumin to see if it could maximise the effect, he said. ‘It would be equivalent to going on a curry spree for a week.’
For those who don’t like curry, Professor Doraiswamy predicts a day when people might be advised to take a ‘curry pill’ each day.
However, he warns that curry is only one of the ingredients that may slow cognitive decline.
Last Reviewed: 17 July 2009
