To live a full life is to fear at nothing, but then that's definitely easier said than done. We fear many things, from insects to isolation and death. But what if we can find a way to be truly fearless or at least remove bad memories that cause us to fear?
That may be possible with the help of turmeric. Turmeric is a well-known spice in the culinary world, especially in Indian cuisine. Aside from adding more texture and flavor to your food, it also contains potent protective properties through its compound called curcumin.
Now a team of researchers have discovered that this same compound may help us deal with fear and bad memories more effectively by keeping them at bay.
The scientists were specifically trying to identify the role the compound may play to treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects thousands of people including non-veterans.
To test their hypotheses, they fed a group of rats with food spiked with curcumin. The researchers also played their loud music and shocked their feet to invoke fear. The rats had also been subjected to a series of tests that aimed to help them retrieve the fear memory.
After the experiment, they analysed the brains of these rats and discovered that those that consumed food with curcumin struggled to remember their fear memory. In fact, as the researchers put it, it's as if the source of their fear was lost.
The researchers still don't know what's with curcumin that causes such effect, although they believe that it has something to do with its ability to regulate inflammation, especially of the neurons in the brain.
The data has been very exciting they are planning to expand it this time to humans-will people also "forget about fear" like the rats? Well, they can definitely proceed with the experiment once they can address an issue: how much curcumin should be consumed. If humans were to consume the same amount of curcumin taken by the rats, they would need more than 65 grams of it per day.
