An interesting article about Tumeric, a spice often used in cooking, that has many healthy properties:

"In recent years, turmeric, known as the queen of herbs, has become known for its healing powers following much research on its therapeutic properties. Curcumin, the yellow pigment in the root, is the primary pharmacological agent in turmeric.

Benefiting our brains

Turmeric has been used extensively in traditional Indian medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It is also a spice commonly used in cooking.

Interestingly, in the elderly Indian population whose diet has turmeric as a common spice, they have very low incidence of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s (online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dec. 2004).

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, unusual behaviour, personality changes and a decline in thinking abilities.

Research has narrowed down to curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, which could work by inhibiting the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer patients.

Curcumin has a low molecular weight and polar structure, which allows it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier effectively and binds to the harmful beta amyloid. Curcumin is also capable of break up existing plaques."