Ashwagandha, Curcumin and Other Amyloid Interfering Supplements

[circular]

Count me in as unsure what to do. In the past only Longvida helped my pain, and it's supposed to have been shown to get in the brain (but that's controversial with conflicts I think?).

And the effect is found both via cognitive tests AND brain imaging (PET scans). (The brain imaging is "FDDNP-PET", which is somehow a measurement of "brain amyloid and tau accumulation" (quoting the paper).

If there was improvement on cognitive tests, isn't that the best outcome to hope for, regardless of what PET was used? Which showed the bigger effect? Sorry no time to focus on the article ... on hold at the moment haha.

[RJones]

Thanks to Harrison for the tip to the Gary Small controversy. A blogger gives a seemingly intelligent discussion of it at the link below.

Anyway despite the possible promotional aspect, this seems like a good study and a useful result.

http://neurocritic.blogspot.com/2015/04 ... r-cte.html

[Orangeblossom]

Looks promising https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 101908.htm

"Daily consumption of a certain form of curcumin -- the substance that gives Indian curry its bright color -- improved memory and mood in people with mild, age-related memory loss."

[Orangeblossom]

I had a look for the form of curcumin mentioned and it seems to be on offer at iherb online. https://uk.iherb.com/pr/natural-factors ... caps/42940

and article about the different types including this one

http://www.paleo-britain.co.uk/the-amaz ... bsorption/

[PBW]

This is a little out there but I am still looking for the answer. Turmeric is off my list of foods I can eat ,that don't have high oxalic acid count( bad for calcium kidney stone). I use to take cir cumin daily that I bought in Costa rica at a New Chapter vitamin resort/farm. It was one of their farms that produced curcumin for their supplements.... so high quality. I also was on Terry Wahls diet at that time and it is very high in other oxalic acid veggies(which is all green leafs including green tea especially spinach and kale). Urologist said I had created a perfect storm for stones and mine was very large. Since then I have been trying to find out if processing the curcumin out of the numeric reduces the oxalic acid content. I would like to take it again, but I don't want another stone.

[Julie G]

Apologies for any confusion, Orangeblossom. I merged your thread about the new curcumin research into an existing one where members were already chatting about it.

[NF52]

Here is the free link to a PDF, which I accessed from the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Online [http://www.ajgponline.org/] Note: if you go to the AJGP website, you have to scroll half-way down the page to a block with tabs for Articles In Press/Most Read/Most Cited--and click on the Most Read tab. This comes up first:

Memory and Brain Amyloid and Tau Effects of a Bioavailable Form of Curcumin in Non-Demented Adults: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled 18-Month Trial http://www.ajgponline.org/article/S1064 ... 0511-0/pdf

Highlights include the following:

• Of three tested brands in a preliminary study, Theracurmin had the highest concentration and the fastest absorption at 2 hours, so was selected for this study. Extensive testing was done at baseline and again at 18 months. During the study, Theracurmin was taken twice daily in 90 mg doses. Volunteers were told to limit other dietary curcumin and were excluded from the study if they were taking curcumin supplements.
  
  Here were some of the results that caught my attention.
  The Theracurmin group showed a 28.1% increase in "Consistent Long-Term Recall" on the Buschke Selective Reminding Test, while the placebo group showed a 2.6% increase.
  On a Brief Visual Memory Test-Delayed Recall, the Theracurmin group showed a 16.4 % improvement; the placebo group a 2.4%
  improvement
  On the Beck Depression Inventory, the Theracurmin group showed an improvement of 41.3% in scores, while the placebo group showed an improvement of 10.0%.
  In addition, FDG-PET scans showed a decrease in FDDNP binding (amyloid plaques?) of 2.05% in the amygdala, while the placebo group score increased by 0.62.
  
  The authors propose that changes in the amygdala positively affect mood in this group, which was selected to exclude people with "significant symptoms" of anxiety or depression.
  They note limitations of the study, including the small size, the fact that the Theracurmin group had two more years of education than the placebo group, and the fact that 40% of both groups tested at baseline has having MCI, but suggest that the results warrant larger studies to look at the benefits for people with and without MCI and for those with anxiety and depression.
  
  I wonder if this will get more notice in major newspapers, since it seems like the effect size may be more than a small sample fluke.

[Lucy5]

Thanks for the post, Julie and the PDF link, NF52. I've been a fan of Longvida for some time for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the claim that it does cross the BBB (a recent company website link): http://info.vs-corp.com/longvida-cross- ... l-barriers.

That said, the older I get the more I know what I don't know and so I tend to hedge my bets. I like this theracurmin study with actual humans and positive results, so I've just ordered a bottle and am going to alternate between the 2 formulations for now.

[Jafa]

Ditto. Today was the day for reordering my BCM95. Whilst I’m happy having fewer aches and pains, I’m not so sure regarding brain improvement. So have ordered Theracurmin. I doubt I will be brave enough to take the 180mg dose though. How about others?

[circular]

... so I tend to hedge my bets. I like this theracurmin study with actual humans and positive results, so I've just ordered a bottle and am going to alternate between the 2 formulations for now.

Lucy, my twin, I too have been wedded to Longvida and chose to take both! My New Chapter [Correction: Natural Factors] arrived today. It’ll be interesting to compare notes. I plan to take both until my Longvida runs out and then only the New Chapter to compare mixing them to taking only one. I once wrote that the pepper concoction may cause problems in people with MAOA polymorphisms, which I think is me but would need to brush up on that and verify, while also seeing, if it’s true whether I personally experience any issues with respect to that.