Indian Cuisine

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Spice Up Your Brain
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Take turmeric, a spice that lends curries their yellow tint. It can curb mental decline and even slow the effects of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
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“Oxidative stress causes inflammation, which causes cell death, then disease, and then neurodegeneration,” says lead researcher Nader Abraham, of New York Medical College. “<b>But curry can not only prevent disease, it could help keep the brain sharp as people age</b>” he says.  <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Curcumin was singled out as a worthy spice to investigate in part because of the relatively low rate of Alzheimer’s disease in India, where curries are a dietary staple. Curcumin's antioxidant activity gives it value as a food preservative, which is probably why it has been used; the flavor is just a bonus.

Indeed spices have been found to act as a kind of antibiotic, preventing or inhibiting the growth of more than 75 percent of food-borne germs. Their rich pigments often contain antioxidants.



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