Live data from Hacker News

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

ac.els-cdn.com

21–30 of 406 posts

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

#21

Glanced at the study. The supplement appeared to be 90mg of curcumin, taken twice daily. A quick google search says there are about 15 mg per tablespoon. That would mean you'd need to eat about 6 tbsp of turmeric to get a comparable amount. Probably even more so, since I don't think turmeric is pure curcumin. For reference, the average curry or other dish using turmeric in my household takes about 1 tbsp, so at a gla…

You could eat it with pepper, to increase potency.

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

#22

Glanced at the study. The supplement appeared to be 90mg of curcumin, taken twice daily. A quick google search says there are about 15 mg per tablespoon. That would mean you'd need to eat about 6 tbsp of turmeric to get a comparable amount. Probably even more so, since I don't think turmeric is pure curcumin. For reference, the average curry or other dish using turmeric in my household takes about 1 tbsp, so at a gla…

I think your numbers might be off. From https://www.livestrong.com/article/543411-how-much-curcumin-... :

"Turmeric contains approximately 2 percent curcumin by weight, so a tablespoon of turmeric, which weighs 6.8 grams, contains about 0.136 gram curcumin, or 136 milligrams."

So that means the study quantity was equivalent to about two teaspoons a day.

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

#23

Glanced at the study. The supplement appeared to be 90mg of curcumin, taken twice daily. A quick google search says there are about 15 mg per tablespoon. That would mean you'd need to eat about 6 tbsp of turmeric to get a comparable amount. Probably even more so, since I don't think turmeric is pure curcumin. For reference, the average curry or other dish using turmeric in my household takes about 1 tbsp, so at a gla…

I think you got your units confused. A tablespoon of turmeric is more like 15 grams, 15000 mg. Turmeric is ~2% curcumin by weight, so you’d need 4500mg of turmeric to get 90mg of curcumin, or about a third of a tablespoon.

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

#24
For those commenting on bioavailability, black pepper supposedly makes it more bioavailable:

https://examine.com/supplements/curcumin/

It's an interesting result, but they do note that the subpopulation is somewhat self-selected: "Only approximately 15% of the screened volunteers were included in the study, and our recruitment method yielded a sample of motivated, educated, physically healthy subjects concerned about age-related memory problems. The sample, therefore, was not representative of the general population. "

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

#25
post #19
post #13

It is a great spice to use in your cooking. But use only a pinch, it is very potent.

It also seems to stain chopping boards.

Yes, it can stain skin as well. Actually, you can apply it to the skin (via a recipe) to make it vibrant. This is common practice in India. I usually get turmeric powder (unadulterated) instead of raw.

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

#26

>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…

For all the claims of bioavailability, I was surprised to see that Theracumin(R) doesn't seem to contain piperine[1] or any perines (which are usually in curry powder courtesy of black pepper). The 90mg dosage also seemed low, I have been taking 500mg of 95% extract daily for a couple of years. 1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120

Would you say your supplement regime has helped you? Can you offer any insight into this?

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

#27

>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…

For all the claims of bioavailability, I was surprised to see that Theracumin(R) doesn't seem to contain piperine[1] or any perines (which are usually in curry powder courtesy of black pepper). The 90mg dosage also seemed low, I have been taking 500mg of 95% extract daily for a couple of years. 1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120

How do you take it?

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

#28
post #3

Note: this was a relatively small sample (40 total, split in half for placebo/not), who were elderly people who already have "mild" memory problems, and given a concentrated turmeric derivative rather than just sprinkling it over food. In summary: very cool, and I'd offer these curcumin supplements to anyone 50+ but sprinkling turmeric on your breakfast cereal ain't going to do much for high schoolers.

Actually the age range was 51-84, so middle plus old age, not all "elderly". Normal people flourish and are in their prime around 50.

Volunteers had "objective cognitive performance scores and clinical histories consistent with normal aging or MCI (i.e., mild neurocognitive disorder) and inconsistent with dementia (i.e., major neurocognitive disorder)." [emphasis added]

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

#30
Don't know about the study-- it seems interesting but like more research is needed-- but I do know that if you throw a little turmeric on your broccoli or cauliflower or whatever, before you roast, the veggies come out extra delicious. My kids will even eat them without complaining. ;-)
Post reply on HN