As far as spices go my favorite is garlic closely followed by onion. I rarely cook without both and it’s funny because my late Father in law swore off garlic for 83 years whilst applauding me for my dishes and their secret ingredients. As I have been generously sprinkling in those it appears that I should be adding some tumeric…just because, well it’s personal and we will get too that shortly.
Turmeric is a spice that packs a punch for maintaining a healthy brain. Turmeric offers up a vast array of benefits. This spice “counters inflammatory activation, combats hyperactivity of the stress hormone,protects against the dysfunction of the cell powerhouses; the mitochondria. It defers neural degeneration such as Alzheimer’s, restores synaptic plasticity, modulates neurotransmitters and decreases oxidative stress in our bodies.” In a nut shell this spice delivers good stuff to the brain that prevents and staves off depression and degenerative diseases in the brain.
Now my Big Daddy had Alzheimers and gradually he forgot that I was born, favoring a happier time in his life before my mother was killed. He and I had a wonderful relationship and as I grew up under his care and looked just like my mother, I could completely understand as his mind went there to was where he parked himself in her memories. “Turmeric is approximately 2-8 percent cur cumin. Curcumin protects the brain in multiple ways, most strikingly by preventing—even dissolving—-the distinctive build up of amyloid-beta proteins that clog nerve pathways in Alzheimer’s patients.” Furthermore, standing the tests of time..turmeric has long been used by Indians and in Ayurvedic medicine. The heavy use of Turmeric in curries has lead scientists to believe that is one reason why Alzheimers;s is a rarity in India. Alzheimers runs in my family and because of that one single reason I have added a daily dose of Turmeric in my diet. If there’s a spice that nice on the body I think you should too!
Take Care of YOU!
Credits and quotes go to Psychology Today October 2015
Supplemental Science
by Daniel A. Marano
