Turmeric has been a key ingredient in natural medicine for centuries. Researchers have been keen to verify the claims made by our ancestors in recent decades. They have conducted thousands of clinical trials on turmeric.
Curcumin has been shown to have a wide range of healing and practical properties. Curcumin is a widely-used dietary supplement because of its many proven health benefits. Is turmeric good for the brain? Can it help with brain fog and memory loss?
Turmeric for Brain Health
Many conditions can be treated with turmeric supplements. Curcumin has been shown to be effective in treating many conditions, including joint pain and arthritis. It also helps lower blood pressure and provides unique benefits for the skin. Turmeric can even help weight loss by improving allergy symptoms.
There may be benefits for brain health and chronic disease prevention, according to new evidence. Curcumin has neuroprotective properties that preserve mental acuity. Turmeric may be able to improve memory function, decrease brain fog and increase overall cognition. (1)
Let's take a closer look at the brain fog and memory before we dive into the research.
Memory and Brain Fog explained
A lack of mental clarity can often be accompanied by poor concentration, inability to focus and memory problems. This condition is also known as "brain fog" or "mental fatigue", but it's not a medical condition. It's actually a group of symptoms that are related to decreased brain function.
The brain is a complex organ. Everyone should make it a priority to maintain its best performance. How much turmeric can help depends on what is causing your brain fog. We'll get to that in a moment. Let's first review the core functions of your brain. (2, 3)
- Cognition refers to the mental process of understanding and learning through experience, thoughts, and senses. Cognitive function includes memory, reasoning and judgment, problem-solving, computation, evaluation, and decision making.
- Memory refers to the brain's ability store, recall, encode and retain information. It is the sum of all the data that has been built up over time using a set encoded neural connections within the brain. It is the information processing system that consists of working memory, long-term memory and sensory processing.
- Although learning is similar to memory, it is not the same thing. Information acquisition is a process that causes neurons to fire in certain patterns. This increases the chance of them firing together for future retrieval. Learning can also include the modification of existing knowledge, skills, and behavior.
- Brain plasticity is also known as neuroplasticity. It refers to the ability of the brain to constantly change throughout a person's lifetime. This involves the strengthening and weakening or optimizing of neural networks and one's ability to learn new information and memorize it.
Turmeric Curcumin:
Turmeric has been shown to be effective in treating brain fog from many causes. Turmeric may help with neurological conditions like Alzheimers Disease, Migraine, headaches and Depression. These are three well-known causes of mental fatigue.
Curcumin has been shown to improve liver health and diabetic. It can also help with memory loss and brain fog if left untreated. Researchers have many reasons to be optimistic about turmeric's ability to improve cognition.
This post will discuss the science and research surrounding curcumin's abilities to reduce brain fog, improve memory and overall brain health.
Turmeric for Brain Fog and Memory
What is the effect of turmeric on memory and brain fog? One study examined the effects of turmeric on cognition, mood and cognitive function in healthy older adults. 60 participants were between 60 and 85 years of age, who received 400 mg of curcumin. The double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized study was done.
Researchers found significant improvements in working memory tasks, sustained attention span and performance one hour after administration compared with the placebo group. The curcumin group saw a reduction in psychological stress-induced fatigue after four more weeks, a greater sense of calm, and an improvement in mood.
The study also found improvements in alertness and contentment. Although you might not associate turmeric with nootropics often, it is known to improve memory, focus, concentration, cognition, and cognition in older people. (4)
To prevent cognitive impairment, there are many mechanisms that turmeric uses to affect the body. Curcumin lowers chronic low-grade systemic inflammation and increases antioxidant activity. It also reduces oxidative stress.
Turmeric has been shown to fight free radicals within the body. This can help prevent cognitive decline. These processes show an inherent ability to slow down brain aging, and reduce brain fog symptoms caused by ageing and disease. (5, 6)
Turmeric may increase DHA (docosahexaenoic acids) synthesis in your body. DHA is a fatty acid that is closely tied to brain health, brain growth, and neuroprotection.
DHA deficiency can lead to cognitive disorders such as anxiety, memory problems, and inability to focus. Curcumin boosts the activity of multiple enzymes that are responsible for synthesizing DHA from alpha-lipoic acids (ALA), according to researchers. (7)
Curcumin can also reduce neurotoxicity caused by fluoride. Fluoride can have detrimental effects on core biological functions and mental health. This is well-known. A group of mice was subject to a trial that tested curcumin's neuroprotective effects.
These results revealed that fluoride increased lipid peroxidation, a major cause for damage to cell membranes. Fluoride also led to an increase in neurodegenerative cells within the hippocampus. After 30 days of curcumin administration, both LPO and neurodegeneration were significantly reduced. (8)
Another animal study tested curcumin's effects on cognition, neurogenesis and other aspects of cognition in aged rats. Neurogenesis is the process of creating new neurons in the brain. Researchers found increased cognition in the rats after a 12-week treatment.
The treatment group also had enhanced spatial and nonspatial memories. These results indicate that curcumin could affect neuronal development and neurotransmission as well as signal transduction. (9)
A brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) is another essential protein that aids cognition. This promotes the growth of nerve cells (neurons), and helps them mature. Turmeric can increase BDNF levels in women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS), obesity, and diabetes. (10, 11)
We'll be looking at the last study to confirm that turmeric can be used for brain fog reduction and memory improvement. For a period of 20 days, a group of chronically stressed rats was treated with curcumin.
After turmeric administration, impaired hippocampal neural growth was reversed. There were also increases in serotonin receptors, and BDNF. These results indicate that curcumin may be able to overcome stress-induced brain abnormalities that can impair cognitive function. (12)
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