Curry keeps your mind sharp
2006-10-27 12:19
New York - A diet containing curry may
help protect the ageing brain, according to a study of elderly
Asians in which increased curry consumption was associated with
better cognitive performance on standard tests.
Curcumin, found in the curry spice turmeric, possesses
potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
It's known that long-term users of anti-inflammatory drugs
have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, although
these agents can have harmful effects in the stomach, liver and
kidney, limiting their use in the elderly.
Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, have been shown to protect
neurons in lab experiments but have had limited success in
alleviating cognitive decline in patients with mild-to-moderate
dementia.
In their study, Dr Tze-Pin Ng from National University of
Singapore and colleagues compared scores on the Mini-Mental
State Exam (MMSE) for three categories of regular curry
consumption in 1 010 non-demented Asians who were between 60 and 93 years old in 2003.
Most of the study subjects consumed curry at least
occasionally (once every 6 months), 43% ate curry at
least often or very often (between monthly and daily) while 16%
said they never or rarely ate curry.
After taking into account factors that could impact test
results, they found that people who consumed curry
"occasionally" and "often or very often" had significantly better MMSE scores than did those who "never or rarely" consumed curry.
"Even with the low and moderate levels of curry consumption
reported by the respondents, better cognitive performance was
observed," Ng and colleagues report.]
These results, they note, provide "the first epidemiologic
evidence supporting a link between curry consumption and
cognitive performance that has been suggested by a large volume
of earlier experimental evidence."
Curry is used widely by people in India and
"interestingly," the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease among India's elderly ranks is fourfold less than that seen in the United States.