Posted on 06/08/2004 6:27:21 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick
WASHINGTON : Too bad Ronald Reagan never developed a taste for curry. It might have saved him from Alzheimer's disease.
As the former President's death focuses attention on the degenerative brain condition that devastates memory, recent studies have shown that diets rich in curcumin, a compound found in the common Indian curry spice turmeric ( haldi ) can help prevent Alzheimer's.
In fact, American researchers reckon the high incidence of turmeric use is one reason why the disease is rare in India . Studies have noted that the elderly living in Indian villages appear to have the lowest incidence of Alzheimer's in the world, with just 1 per cent of those above 65 contracting it.
According to a recent paper by Dr Sally Frautschy of the University of California , Los Angeles , Alzheimer's is characterized by the build up of amyloid protein "plaques" within the brain. But in studies on rats, curcumin not only reduced the amyloid, but also reduced the (brain's) response to the amyloid.
Dr Frautschy had not returned calls at the time of writing, but while presenting her findings at an annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience recently, she suggested that curcumin found in curry could provide a clue to the Indian resistance since the compound has "a long history of dietary and herbal medicinal use" and is also a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.
Unlike Clinton, who developed a taste for Indian food, Reagan lived on an all-American diet, to the extent of keeping a jar of jelly beans on his table. He was roasted by critics because his administration once tried to classify ketchup as a vegetable to justify budget cuts. He often ate dinners at the White House from a TV tray table.
Several other researchers have now endorsed curcumin as having neuroprotective and anti-degenerative properties and there is raft of studies underway to determine how precisely to apply it as a prophylactic.
Dr Frautschy meanwhile has suggested other spices like ginger (also widely used in India ) and rosemary that have similar properties as turmeric might also help fight Alzheimer's.
I love curry but hate cooking indoors with it. It can stink up a house in a way not even roadkill can. Not that I've tried frying roadkill, mind you. Any Texans in the house? :D
Article seemed like a thinly-veiled slam on Reagan.
Yes, very interesting, thanks. But I can't believe people are still criticizing Reagan's Jelly beans. Clinton was no health nut, he smoked cigars.
What does that have to do with WHAT he ate? Gratuitous insult is what is intended.
It may be curry is helpful, or ginger, both of which I love and eat often, but it's also likely true that the gene for vulnerability to Alzheimer's is not much in India.
I concur...
Let me guess: a lot of things these days seem like that?
And ate everything in sight. I sincerely doubt if he developed a taste for Indian food -- he was just hungry at the time.
No wonder Clinton is so young looking he's eaten enough Rosemary to kill a donkey!
Yes, that was an insult. This is an Indian paper and in Indian culture, eating anything but a fresh home-cooked meal is seen as a sign of not having much class.
This legend just won't die; the FDA required labels on foodstuffs and it was unclear how one should label a condiment; since ketchup was tomato paste and mainly water it was suggested that it fall within the realm of vegetables. A wag took that out of context, and as they say, the rest is history.
What drivel!
This paragraph had absolutely nothing to do with the article. It's a condescending, sophomoric, lying, gratuitous slam on a great deceased American whom we are currently mourning.
Any real editor would have immediately chopped this paragraph from the markup copy.
Several other researchers have now endorsed curcumin as having neuroprotective and anti-degenerative properties and there is raft of studies underway to determine how precisely to apply it as a prophylactic.Curry powder as a prophylactic? That would hurt! >:)
Green tea extract is also a powerful anti-oxidant. But with anti-oxidants we're talking about the basic aging process, not neccesarily Alzheimers. Ron (Jr.) and Patty's appearance suggests that Reagan's resistance to visible aging may be genetic.
-Eric
I don't believe this, since it doesn't expllain why demency increased exponentially (per 1000 over 65) in the western societies.
Strange but true - I once had a dream in which David Stockman explained to me that the schoolchildren of American would not be harmed if ketchup were labeled a vegetable.
That's not what I've heard he did with cigars.
8 pieces chicken (thighs are best!)
1 c. sliced onion
2.5 TBS curry (S&B!)
1 TBS chili powder (1 tsp. of real New Mexico chile will work, to taste)
Brown chicken in 2-4 TBS oil. Remove chicken and brown onions till golden. Mix in curry, chili powder, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 min. Remove chicken. Add 2.5 TBS flour mixed with 1/2 cup water and 1 tsp salt. Simmer and stir till thickened. Mix with chicken and serve.
My wife's variation is to dredge the chicken with flour before browning, and then leave out the flour later.
It's available in capsule form labeled as "Tumeric." It's a powerful anti-inflammatory as well as an antioxidant. Lots of people take it for arthritis as well.
Isn't tumeric in pickles?
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