I was reading CNN.com this a.m. when an article about five ways to keep Alzheimer’s at bay grabbed my attention. Here’s one line that made me rub my eyes:
“Small, who’s 57, says that as he gets older, he might also try eating more foods with curry in them.”
Hello? Did anyone copyedit this story? Curry isn’t an ingredient; it refers to a spicy sauced dish. I can only assume they mean “curry powder,” a blend of turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, and other spices, since I doubt they were talking about the “curry leaf,” a distinctive lemony herb common to southern Indian cuisine. Here, it would be helpful (and more accurate) to point out the exact spices and herbs used in the research study. My guess is that turmeric with its anti-inflammatory properties is the hero of the day.
My gosh, if I could add “curry” to my foods, I’d be dumping it on everything.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Diana, I was about to write about it. Its crazy how some people can be ignorant sometimes. But when a big new organization writes stuff like this makes me doubt it anyone read the article at all before it got posted!
Rubbish. Curry, nor anything else will stop Alzheimer’s disease. In an effort to create patients, this has become one of the most misrepresented diseases of all times. Everyone’s cognative abilities begin to deteriorate in the fifth decade of life. It happens more quickly in some, more slowly in others. Dementia is a profound loss of cognative ability. If we live long enough, we will eventually become demented – some more than others. The body will usually wear out before dementia becomes debilitating, but not always. This is known as senile dementia. Until quite recently, Alzheimer’s disease was defined as the onset of senile dementia before the seventh decade of life. True Alzheimer’s strikes people who are quite young, usually in their 40s and 50s. An 85 year old having trouble remembering names, dates, and becoming occasionally disoriented was once considered normal. Now doctors tell us that he or she has Alzheimer’s. How silly. There is no clinical differentiation between the plaques of senile dementia and those of Alzheimer’s except the age of onset.
Alzheimer’s is incurable and progressive. There is no effective treatment and there is no way to prevent it; it is something one catches. Curry certainly wouldn’t prevent it. “Curry” is a generic term to describe a mixture of spices. There are many different kinds of curry, made from various combination of spices. An “Indian curry,” (not really Indian, but originated in London) which you describe is completely different from an Thai curry, which is completely different from a Vietnamese curry. So which curry is supposed to protect us from Alzheimer’s and other declines in cognative function? What is more probable is that some “researcher” doesn’t understand cause and effect. It may be that the people in India are less prone to Alzheimers and that they also happen to eat more curry than we do. But that doesn’t mean that the curry has anything to do with the lower incidence of the disease.
CNN is full of people confused by stairs. And hello.. just eat the damn fish, not a pill.
I was frustrated with this article. Clearly the author did not wish the put any effort into research. There were only two true things in the article. 1)Ginkgo does not prevent memory loss which was based on a study published this week. 2) doing different kinds of brain activities, such as crossword puzzles and staying active. The author was close to getting a third correct but failed to do the research, which is tumeric (a spice that is used in a lot indian curries) is what will help prevent the ds. The study was done in London, about 1.5 years.
I really hope CNN.com does a better job with another article like this in the future. I would be embarrassed to show this to a neurologist, or any other medical profession.
I hate curry powder but adore real curry. I will eat it whether or not it prevents dementia.
It wasn’t long ago that I had to explain to my Aunt, a new fan of Indian food, that curry is a dish and not a spice. Having lived in Britain I knew the difference but many Americans do not. Dr. Oz (the all knowing) said recently that it is turmeric (found in mustard and curries)that has protective qualities against Alzheimer’s.
Aren’t you being a bit pedantic?