In Defense of
Spicy Food
By Syed Amir, PhD
Bethesda, MD
Turmeric, an indispensable
ingredient of most spicy dishes of South Asia, has
been used for generations for enhancing the flavor
of curries and imparting them the characteristic
rich, golden color. Besides its role as a food additive,
the herb has found extensive application as an anti-inflammatory,
anti-oxidative agent in the Ayurvedic and Unani
systems of medicine. Some earlier evidence had indicated
that it was helpful in the treatment of breast and
prostate cancer. However, the multiple therapeutic
properties assigned to turmeric have never been
tested or proven in a well-designed scientific study.
Now, one of the most prestigious scientific journals
in the world, The Journal of Biological Chemistry,
in its February 18 issue, has reported some surprising
findings about turmeric. Curcumin, chemically a
polyphenol, is the active ingredient present in
turmeric root powder which gives the herb its characteristic
yellow color. Investigators at the University of
California, Los Angles, who studied curcumin in
mice, found that it was highly effective against
Alzheimer’s disease (AD). They are so impressed
with their findings that they expect curcumin to
eventually emerge as one of the most effective treatments
for this devastating disease.
AD, named after a German doctor, Dr. Alois Alzheimer,
is a progressive, disabling disease and is characterized
by gradual memory loss and impaired cognitive function
that robs the patients of their ability to communicate
and sustain the thought process. AD is often described
by the more common and non-specific general term,
dementia, a condition often associated with the
aging process. It is estimated that some 10 percent
of people over the age of 65 in the United States
suffer from AD; the numbers escalating to 50 percent
among those 85 or older. As people live much longer
than they used to, the incidence of AD is likely
to mount even higher. Scientists worldwide are urgently
focusing their efforts on finding the root cause
of the disease and developing strategies to prevent
and cure it. Yet, the success rate thus far has
not been very encouraging.
While the question of what initiates the onset of
AD remains unresolved, it is now clear that the
symptoms are caused by the gradual accumulation
in the brain of a protein, beta amyloid peptide.
As the amount of this protein increases in the brain,
so does the patient’s degree of dementia and
consequent disability. Based on these observations,
scientists have been exploring new approaches to
prevent the initiation of beta amyloid formation
in the brain, and remove it harmlessly once formed.
Since experiments cannot be conducted on the human
brain, they have to be performed on animals first.
Fortunately, mouse models can now be developed so
that they carry the same gene that is responsible
for the disease in humans. In time, the mice develop
amyloid plaques, similar or identical to those seen
in AD patients. These animals provide a unique model,
enabling the scientists to evaluate the success
or failure of any experimental treatment plan.
The researchers have found that when aged mice are
fed or injected with curcumin solution, the accumulation
of beta amyloid plaque is sharply diminished. Even
more impressive, plaques that were already formed
in the brain disintegrated and gradually disappeared.
These experiments have opened remarkable leads for
the development of new drugs and therapies to fight
AD. The findings have been so persuasive that pilot
trials at the Los Angeles Alzheimer’s Research
Center have been initiated in which the effect of
curcumin is being tested on real patients suffering
with the AD. Besides its known beneficial role in
the AD, curcumin is also being tested at the M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, as a potential
treatment for pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma,
a cancer of the immune system. The results of these
human studies are still awaited.
Turmeric as well as its active agent, curcumin,
offers some unique advantages. Both are non-toxic
in ordinary culinary doses - they have been consumed
by people in south Asia as part of their daily diet
for millennia. Furthermore, the recent experiments
have shown that curcumin can readily cross into
the brain from the blood stream, a prerequisite
for the success of any drug designed to reach the
amyloid aggregates present in the brain. The question
naturally arises: is there any evidence that the
consumption of turmeric has benefited the population
of India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, by providing some
measure of protection against AD. While no rigorous
clinical trials have been undertaken, there is empirical
and epidemiological evidence suggesting that the
answer is yes. The incidence of AD among the elderly
population in India is estimated to be less than
one-quarter of that seen in the western countries,
especially the United States. While other factors
such as the beneficial effects of close family support
cannot be ruled out, it seems logical to speculate
that the daily intake of turmeric also has an important
role in the observed low incidence of dementia.
In the medieval times, spices were scarce, and were
highly prized. The frantic search to discover easy
routes to countries where they grew in abundance
sent European explorers, such as Christopher Columbus
and Vasco da Gama, on perilous voyages across the
unknown oceans. As the sea journeys became more
common, the supply of oriental spices became plentiful
in the west. Their former mystique was lost. Now,
as the unique curative properties of some of the
common spices are being realized, they once again
are becoming the focus of attention. This time,
not so much as food preservatives or flavor enhancers,
as was the case in the olden days, but more for
the many health benefits they might hold in store.
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