Everyday spice could ward off bad memories, dementia AND fears

Imagine if you could wake up one day and you didn’t feel fearful anymore. Imagine having all those events from your past that you dwell on from time to time erased….well, scientists believe that one everyday spice can do it.

Turmeric has long been known for its healing properties – it’s great for arthritis sufferers – but a fascinating study has found that the common curry spice’s root, curcumin, can prevent new fear memories being stored in the brain AND remove pre-existing fears.

This is a breakthrough for those who suffer from psychological disorders.

The study was carried out at the The City University of New York where rats were trained to become scared and freeze in their spot when they heard a particular sound. The rats were given either ordinary food or curcumin and the ones which were fed the spice root did not freeze when the sound was replayed.

According to Professor Glenn Schafe, who led the study, “This suggests that people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological disorders that are characterised by fearful memories may benefit substantially from a curcumin-enriched diet”.

When we think about a old memory, the recall makes the memory new again in our brain so this is the perfect window to destabilise the memory with curcumin, explained Professor Schafe. “Effectively, we can erase them. And that appears to be what we’ve done with a curcumin-enriched diet”.

But wait, couldn’t the curcumin essentially erase a good, normal memory? Professor Schafe said that different types of memory systems encode different memories. We have reactionary memories that trigger our fears and these are the ones that we could erase with the treatment.

So what else can this magic spice do? Well, because it has anti-inflammatory properties, it could treat a wide range of diseases ranging from allergies to cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer’s, and cancer, heart disease and arthritis, as well as having an anti-depressant effect.

Another recent study found that turmeric may also be vital in repairing the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers. The aromatic Indian spice was able to promote stimulating of the brain stem cells and regenerate them. More research is to be done but this miracle everyday spice could be a cure-all that was hiding under our nose all along.

How would turmeric and curcumin improve your life? If you could erase a bad memory or fear, what would it be? Tell us below.