Hints from Humans that Turmeric Protects Memory

One provocative report from the  American Journal of Epidemiology in 2006 suggests that increased curry consumption in human populations is associated with a lowered risk for developing cognitive impairment, including memory loss, as one ages. Although this was a retrospective study using a population from Singapore these results are exciting, in part since most curries in Singapore are yellow curries which contain turmeric. Therefore, there is evidence that consuming turmeric prevents memory loss. In fact, people who ate curry “often” (once a month or more) were nearly half as likely to have cognitive impairment than were people who ate curry “rarely” (once every 6 months). Though more research needs to be done, these are encouraging results.