Eating turmeric boosts memory another way!....

Thursday, 10-30-2014

New way found that turmeric boosts and protects memory! 

Other than regular exercise and developing a large cognitive reserve and avoiding high blood sugar, we already knew turmeric was a superb way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and mental decline of other kinds.  So a whole different way it does this effectively in addition to what we already knew about is simply incredible!

1.  We already knew it did these things:

As you may know the value of turmeric and curcumin was originally found by the fact that in India, the people who ate foods liberally spiced with curries containing turmeric (which contains curcumin) had far less Alzheimer’s disease or other kinds of mental decline than people in the United States and Europe.

It turns out that this is both an unusually powerful effect and more complicated than was originally thought.

In fact, eating foods with curries containing turmeric and/or taking curcumin with black pepper is much like hiring an unusually skilled crew of several kinds of professionals who each contribute to the result you want!

One group of causes of the damage that causes Alzheimer’s disease is the several ways excessively high chronic inflammation causes that damage.  Eating turmeric with black pepper or taking curcumin supplements with black pepper is one of the most effective  ways known to cut that kind of inflammation.  So getting the turmeric prevents much of the damage that way.

In addition to cutting high chronic inflammation so well, eating turmeric with black pepper or taking curcumin supplements with black pepper also sharply reduces LDL.  There is even some evidence that turmeric mostly reduces the small particle LDL that causes heart disease. So, since the turmeric helps so much to keep your arteries and veins clear, your brain has more access to the things it needs and is more able to get rid of waste!

In addition to this, turmeric apparently enables your immune system to clean up any damage that still occurs!

2.  Yet another way to prevent mental decline is to grow new connecting nerves and brain cells on a regular basis so your brain can wire around any damage and continue to function anyway.

We already knew that regular exercises release BDNF, a growth hormone that does precisely this.  And, we’ve known that combining the omega 3 DHA with exercise increases this effect.  Apparently, taking the brain boosting supplement Bacopa also has this effect.  (Every morning I take DHA and Bacopa and exercise.)

Another study found that adding choline and the uridine found in apple peels to DHA also enhances this effect.  And, in that study, this 3 part combination reversed the symptoms of early Alzheimer’s disease!

What if another ingredient in turmeric dramatically increased this effect?

Wow!

They just discovered this IS the case!

A month ago, Medical News Today had that news:

“Regeneration of brain stem cells boosted by turmeric compound  

                                                                                          28 September 2014

A bioactive compound found in turmeric promotes stem cell proliferation and differentiation in the brain…”

This research was recently in the journal, Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

The research examined the effects a turmeric component called, “turmerone” on the stem cells found within adult brains. These stem cells called, “NSC”  “differentiate into neurons” or become brain nerves.

Clearly this is a normal function in the self-repair and recovery of brain function by the brain.

It was already known that turmerone blocks activation of microglia cells, which, when activated, cause neuroinflammation.

Researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Jülich, Germany, studied the effects of turmerone on this NSC stem cell proliferation and growth into neurons “both in vitro and in vivo.”

At the concentrations studied, turmerone increased NSC proliferation by up to 80% within 3 days.  And, it did so without causing any cell deaths.

In the live rats they used to study this, the rats which got the turmerone got

a widening of the “subventricular zone (SVZ).”

But of even more importance, the hippocampus in the treated rats expanded! 

Since the hippocampus is the key part of the brain for storing and retrieving memories, this is really important news!

 The article further noted that the “….SVZ and hippocampus are the two sites in adult mammalian brains where neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, is known to occur.”

Here’s the link to the original Medical News Today story:

Regeneration of brain stem cells boosted by turmeric compound

http://mnt.to/l/4qTL

A bioactive compound found in turmeric promotes stem cell proliferation and 

differentiation in the brain, reveals new research published in the open access 

journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

The authors clearly hope that drugs based on turmerone will be even more effective.

But it seems clear to me that using turmeric regularly, particularly when combined with exercise and DHA and the other things is quite likely effective.

Best of all, it’s available now!  You can go buy turmeric in the spice section of most grocery stores. 

I find that turmeric by itself has a bit of a harsh taste. You might find it quite harsh.

But by combining it with extra virgin olive oil and sugar free pasta sauce also free of other oils and black pepper and garlic and other spices that contain uridine, such as oregano and basil you can get a great tasting, spicy sauce that has the co-factors needed to make the turmeric most effective!