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

#271

Post by upbeatlinux » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 7:32 AM UTC

JofArnold wrote: post #147

elchief wrote: post #133

Anti-inflammatories are in the news lots now. Low-dose aspirin, intermittent fasting, turmeric. Why are we chronically inflamed?

Pollution.

Currently there are a studies [1] suggesting Alzheimer's is an inflammatory disease where a bunch of different particles like micro-plastics, heavy metals, microfibers, etc accumulate in the brain causing a brain immune response (amyloid beta and tau) that is more dysregulated in people with certain genetic backgrounds.

Honestly I think this hypothesis makes the most sense - especially if you look at Alzheimer's global and local distribution patterns. Locally people near freeways get Alzhiemer's at way higher rates [2] (I've seen interesting maps of this before but can't find any ATM).

Think about all the particulate matter (incomplete combustion products, rust particles, little pieces of tire) you are breathing in near freeways.

Globally industrial countries have the highest rates of dementia, and the lowest rates are in Africa, India, and South Asia [3]. These places have less industry, less traffic, less plastic (I mean, they are catching up fast, but historically if you're looking at patterns), etc.

[3] also mentions a correlation between meat eating and dementia. I don't necessarily think this is due to the "any meat is bad for you" FUD instead it's most likely due to two factors

- plants have greater anti-inflammatory properties

- any type of fat will accumulate loads of particles and plants don't have fat

tl;dr nutrition is complicated and there is a lot of FUD

- [1] https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/alzheimers-disease-consis...

- [2] http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-air-poll...

- [3] https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/11/12/where-are-the-lowest-r...

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

#272

Post by eni » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 7:40 AM UTC

sov wrote: post #220

hannob wrote: post #152

Small study, probably not preregistered (didn't find anything about it in the description). Likely Publication Bias or p-hacking. I'm starting to get interested when it's been independently replicated.

> Small study Almost entirely irrelevant, provided it's properly powered--and based on the effect size and p-values, it is. Furthermore, for an 18 month trial, 40 people is larger than most. > probably not preregistered I mean, true, and we should definitely promote pre-reg, but, 1. so few are preregistered that I'm not sure it's prudent to disregard a study based on this and 2. it's an academic study, neither a clin…

it's not turmeric, it's curcumin, which is about 2% of turmeric by mass (so, you'd need to eat ~4.5g turmeric daily to match study doses)

Typical Indian cooking uses turmeric in pretty much everything. I wouldn't be surprised if daily consumption of turmeric is very close to the figures you mentioned.

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

#273

Post by neeleshs » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 7:43 AM UTC

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…

I agree. "How" is a difficult question to answer, and involves basic research. "X does Y" studies need a hypothesis, a bunch of test subjects, and some statistical wrangling. Far easier than basic research. I'm now at a point to take all statistical studies with a pinch of salt. Molecular studies are more interesting and while micro and may miss the macro picture, are more promising.

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

#274

Post by buyx » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:08 AM UTC

quickpost wrote: post #265

buyx wrote: post #199

I’m wary about where I source my turmeric from, because of Lead Chromate contamination: https://www.bu.edu/sph/2017/04/04/high-levels-of-lead-detect...

Have any suggestions on the best sources to avoid this type of contamination?

I avoid third-world sources of tumeric (and most other food, especially when given to my children). Corruption and food safety make poor bedfellows IMO.

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

#275

Post by thibautg » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:11 AM UTC

I’ve just added some turmeric on my 256 Gb SSD and its memory increased to 332 Gb. It works.

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

#276

Post by kumarvvr » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:11 AM UTC

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…

Im from India. Whenever I get a throat infection, my grandmother gives be a spoonful of turmeric powder mixed with very hot milk, no sugar.

Till date, it has not failed once to cure the inflammation/infection/pain. The infection is gone within a day or atmost a couple of days.

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

#277

Post by dberhane » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:29 AM UTC

Here is another research published recently by BMJ about benefits of curcumin for cancer (myeloma) patients:

Long-term stabilisation of myeloma with curcumin http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2017/bcr-2016-218148.long

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

#278

Post by stordoff » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:29 AM UTC

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…

Not to say it's not useful (a plausible method of action + weak evidence is more suggestive that further study is needed than weak evidence alone, and that understanding could lead to further developments), but the question of does this work is far more important, and can be answered without knowing the how.

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

#279

Post by cellularmitosis » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:35 AM UTC

“What I’ve learned” just did a video on tumeric for hangovers. Summary: mix it with pepper and fat for best results. https://youtu.be/Ij_aJI5O9Rs

Tumeric may also help with ulcerative colitis. Here’s a summary of the studies: https://youtu.be/teJ9QHCdN2Q

Avoid tumeric if you are taking blood thinners.

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

#280

Post by dahidahi1 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 8:35 AM UTC

danans wrote: post #257

dahidahi1 wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

It is different in important ways from the modern scientific method [1]. In particular, it omits (or has long since stopped): - Developing testable (falsifiable) predictions - Gathering data to test the predictions - Refining, Altering, Expanding, or Rejecting Hypotheses Modern science is actively doing all those things: constantly re-evaluating its own prior conclusions and testing against the most recent empirical…

Other than the part that it has long since stopped or highly slowed down due to various reasons, why would the others be any different in Ayurveda. It is just medical science called by a different name. Now mankind's prejudice has made many shun it & discredit it again & again while at the same time digesting it & copying it to use a different name in order to credit someone else. There are many evidences for such copying, because not only are the good parts copied, but also the mistakes in the ancient Vedic sciences are copied by the people who want to discredit it because they attribute this cultural development to Hindu pagan religion — this while historically true has worked to encourage mankind to shun it even now. The copying of the mistakes are what gives away this dishonesty.

> Ayurveda, like many other traditional health practices, is an interesting source of hypotheses that can be tested by the modern scientific method - and we might learn a lot from doing just that - but it's by no means a fully verified system of knowledge.

That is true for everything, that is how science works today at least. Even scientific theories are tested again & again, just to prove them wrong. If they are proved wrong, then that is a great accomplishment, but how can they be proven wrong if they are not tested? Same with Ayurveda, it is just science with a different name.