Adding just one gram of the Asian spice turmeric to breakfast could help improve the memory of people who are in the very early stages of diabetes and at risk of dementia.
That’s the upshot of new research out of Taiwan that suggests antioxidant compounds in the spice used in curry dishes could halt the progression of dementia or reduce its impact,
Medical Xpress reports.
The study, led by Mark Wahlqvist, from the Monash Asia Institute at Monash University, tracked the working memory of a group of Taiwanese men and women aged 60 or older who had recently been diagnosed with untreated pre-diabetes.
Participants were given one gram of turmeric with an otherwise nutritionally bland breakfast of white bread. Their working memory was tested before and some hours after the meal.
"We found that this modest addition to breakfast improved working memory over six hours in older people with pre-diabetes," Wahlqvist said.
"Working memory is widely thought to be one of the most important mental faculties, critical for cognitive abilities such as planning, problem solving and reasoning. Assessment of working memory is simple and convenient, but it is also very useful in the appraisal of cognition and in predicting future impairment and dementia."
Turmeric is widely used in cooking, particularly in Asia. Its characteristic yellow color is due to curcumin, which has been shown by experimental studies to reduce the risk of dementia.
"Our findings with turmeric are consistent with these [past] observations, insofar as they appear to influence cognitive function where there is disordered energy metabolism and insulin resistance," Wahlqvist said.
The study, which was published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also involved a number of research institutes in Taiwan.
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