Want to Avoid Alzheimer’s? Eat at Indian Restaurants
From the Washington City Paper blog City Desk
I have mixed feelings about posting this item, given my general belief that foods alone don’t determine your health, long-term or otherwise. (Well, short of a nasty hurl due to food poisoning.) But Gourmet magazine has posted a short piece about the alleged benefits of eating turmeric on a daily basis. Here’s the pertinent part:
Intrigued by the fact that the elderly population of India has one of the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s cases in the world, researchers at UCLA began looking at differences between the American and Indian diets and landed on turmeric. Turmeric, a staple in Indian cooking, is featured in curries, soups, and meat dishes. It’s as common in Indian cuisine as salt and pepper are in American cuisine. Bharat B. Aggarwal, a senior cancer researcher at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, says the average Indian eats turmeric at every meal—about a gram a day. The UCLA group hypothesized that curcumin, a chemical in turmeric, might clean up or block the buildup of amyloid plaques, which scientists believe may contribute to Alzheimer’s.
I guess I’ll be seeing y’all at Rasika or Indique or Passage to India tomorrow after the polls close? I’ll be the one conducting memory tests on chefs.
Copyright Washington City Paper
Posted Wednesday, Jul 15, 2009 - 1:26 PM EST
Top Stories
