Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds • Hacker News Board

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#221

Post by lern_too_spel » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:11 AM UTC

pjmorris wrote: post #150

dumbneurologist wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a neurologist. this is actually the exact opposite of what you should care about, which is "does it work to treat ___" In this trial, and 99% of other trials, there is no mechanism provided by the study, only a measurement of causality (which is the same thing as effectiveness). The authors may think they know based on other, prior, basic science research (as they are postulating here), but it does not affect th…

I am having trouble accepting your argument. Judea Pearl presents [0] the debate over whether smoking causes cancer as an illustration for why correlation is not sufficient. Two plausible, contradictory, models ('smoking causes cancer', 'no it doesn't, something else does') could not be settled by observing correlations. The debate was resolved through the addition of an explanatory mechanism, and a test of the mecha…

The issue that you're raising does not apply for randomized treatment.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#222

Post by sudhirj » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:18 AM UTC

If this is real, we Indians have the best memory on the planet and the lowest depression in the world.

With the UK a close second after the appropriated all out “curry” recipes.

Colour me skeptical.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#223

Post by dahidahi1 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:18 AM UTC

taco_emoji wrote: post #108

dahidahi1 wrote: post #45

Turmeric has been used in India since ancient times. There are many references to it in Ayurveda - the Indian/Hindu medical sciences. Ayurveda believes in using food as medicine to non only prevent a large majority of human diseases, but also to cure several of them — all with almost zero side effects. Turmeric is just one such extremely powerful & healthy food item that Western science seems to be playing catch up o…

But how do you actually know if these Ayurvedic practices work without the rigorous trial and error that "Western" science demands? Unless I'm mistaken, the Ayurvedic texts do not contain repeatable evidence of the efficacy of the treatments described within them, nor do they describe plausible explanations of how those treatments work. Whatever truths are contained in Ayurvedic texts are accidental unless they were…

I think you are quite mistaken. The ayurvedic or any of the sciences of ancient Indians use the same trail & error methodologies of modern science. Why should it be any different? A lot of the texts have already been lost, thanks to time, the British & Muslim rule in India.

I don't agree there are accidental truths. In India we have been following these for thousands of years. They were not exposed to the Western world, maybe because of the prejudice of religion, obscurity etc & also the belief that something of virtue is rarely possible in an Eastern civilization like India.

What ones have been disproven? If any, Western sciences have been building up on some of what were already discovered & documented. Also, I did not mean to insult anyone by saying that they are trying to "catch up". I feel at least some of what we are discovering nowadays are repeat discoveries of the Eastern / Indian / Vedic world, not because the Vedic people were smarter, but only because they have had a much much longer civilizational presence than any other. Even this longevity of Vedic civilization has not yet been "discovered" fully by the Western world.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#224

Post by dahidahi1 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:20 AM UTC

danans wrote: post #186

taco_emoji wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But how do you actually know if these Ayurvedic practices work without the rigorous trial and error that "Western" science demands? Unless I'm mistaken, the Ayurvedic texts do not contain repeatable evidence of the efficacy of the treatments described within them, nor do they describe plausible explanations of how those treatments work. Whatever truths are contained in Ayurvedic texts are accidental unless they were…

The OP comment strikes me as having a rather jingoistic/nationalistic tone, so I sort of doubt its sincerity regarding question of efficacy of Ayurvedic practices. Any culture that has been developing food habits via trial and error for centuries has some that are beneficial, some that are harmful, and others that are neither harmful nor beneficial.

> Any culture that has been developing food habits via trial and error for centuries has some that are beneficial, some that are harmful, and others that are neither harmful nor beneficial.

How is that different from science? That is great & is science. Maybe you do not recall the recent news about how Radium painting was also science. All this is science, especially the Ayurvedic sciences. What else is it?

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#225

Post by dahidahi1 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:26 AM UTC

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #76

ng12 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is it's hard to make money off of those things. There's strong evidence suggesting papaya seeds are remarkably good for purging parasites from the digestive system -- but why research it further when you can push Albendazole for $400/treatment?

You see a lot of turmeric and a ton of other spices and herbs in SE Asian cooking too. But I really wouldn’t say that these populations are particularly healthier. The idea that modern medicine is ‘playing catch-up’ is laughable. For every home remedy they get right, they probably get many others wrong. I agree drug companies are still fairly evil.

> For every home remedy they get right, they probably get many others wrong.

Ayurveda & any Vedic sciences are arguably as rigorous as today's sciences, if not more. You're are grossly mistaken if you think Ayurveda is a "home remedy".

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#226

Post by dahidahi1 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:28 AM UTC

noir_lord wrote: post #136

ng12 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I really wouldn’t say that these populations are particularly healthier How would you be able to tell?

By sampling them against other cultures, the same way we know Japanese people have lower rates of heart disease than western European/Americans.

Japan has a very close relationship to Vedic sciences. This has been established since ancient times. Look at their gods for example, almost all are 1:1 Vedic/Hindu gods - Ganesh, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kuber, Shiva, Yama etc.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

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Post by dahidahi1 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:29 AM UTC

dboreham wrote: post #125

dasil003 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only until people find out they're papaya seeds and just go buy a papaya for $3.

That papaya might not be safe though.

Just like that?? Papaya seeds are good, but the papaya itself is not safe? — this does not make sense anyway you look at it.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#228

Post by smt88 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:31 AM UTC

maxxxxx wrote: post #203

mrguyorama wrote: post #4

>Because curcumin's anti-inflammatory properties may protect the brain from neurodegeneration My very first question was: Please provide a possible physiological pathway for this. I'm so glad it was answered in the very first sentence. So many of these "Superfood does X" studies are just trials with 10 people over a month, with no explanation as to __how__ it could possibly happen. It significantly increases the skep…

Turmeric has helped me quite a bit with my inflamed joints after learning about it at a yoga ashram. Now I cook a lot with it. What i have noticed though is that supplements do nothing for me. I only feel a difference when it's fresh powder or even better ground from a root. I have done several experiments where I stopped taking it. Every time my joints got worse and then better after resuming cooking with Turmeric.…

It's almost guaranteed that some of your experience is the placebo effect, but it's impossible to know how much.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#229

Post by azemetre » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:32 AM UTC

ShabbosGoy wrote: post #211

piyh wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If every study on tumeric, tea, chocolate, and coffee was fully accurate we'd all be immortal by now.

Aren’t we? People are living longer than ever before. The issue is in determining effect size. I’m sure some amount of all those things you mentioned is “good” in some sense, but in what quantity and for how long?

People are "living longer" because child mortality has fallen dramatically.

Re: Curry spice turmeric boosts memory by nearly 30%, eases depression, study finds

#230

Post by option_greek » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:34 AM UTC

For those who want to try the turmeric directly and without preparing curry, you can take it this way. This is a traditional recipe for cold/flu but can be generally taken everyday. Mix a half teaspoon full of turmeric with little bit of black pepper powder (varies based on how much you can tolerate) in a glass of milk with either a spoon of sugar or honey.