Curry May Protect Against Brain Aging:

CURRY Spice fights MS and Alzheimer's Disease:     Throughout my research I became quite curious why some cultures do not have instances of MS and Alzheimer's while other cultures are overly susceptible. I found that most researchers attribute the health of Indian cultures and their lack of MS and Alzheimer's disease to their curry intake.  Curcumin or turmeric, is the main yellow ingredient in Curry.  It possesses very high levels of phenols, which are powerful antioxidants which prevent cell damage caused by free radicals.

Okinawa, Japan is said to be the healthiest place on earth.  Residents live very long and healthy lives and are studied for their longevity.  Aside from their great diet, they drink Turmeric TEA!  Said to taste bitter, it is used as a health tonic.  Okinawa Diet

According to researchers at UCLA, " The yellow pigment curcumin directly decreases the build-up of beta amyloid proteins by binding to it. The beta amyloid proteins collect to form plaque that disrupts neuron function in the brain, affecting thought processes which make carrying out daily activities difficult. "

Apparently, curcumin has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that may be effective in treating several diseases of aging. The pigment's polarity and low molecular weight allow it to enter the highly selective blood-brain barrier, which is closed off to many drugs, to bind to the accumulated proteins.  Here is the UCLA article regarding Curry and Alzheimer's posted on the UCLA Newspaper website. Click here: http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?ID=31480

The Italian Study:
According to a study by researchers at the Universita di Catania, in Italy, Curcumin triggers an enzyme known as hemeoxygenase-1 or HO-1, which protects cells from free radical damage that causes inflammation and tissue damage.  This free radical damage is associated with many diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease.  This study was published by researcher Claudia Colombrita, PhD, Universita di Catania, Italia.

In their study, researchers exposed rat brain cells to various concentrations of curcumin, then analyzed the cells 24 hours later. They discovered HO-1 as well as two other protective enzymes were present. Strangely, higher concentrations of curcumin caused substantial cell damage, without increasing the protective HO-1 protein.  Usually these studies involve injections of curcumin, which can be an amount unlikely any of us could endure.  Curry is obviously very effective in humans if it is ingested with a normal to high dietary intake.

It is impressive that Dr. Colombrita is researching results with curry, a much larger study is needed to determine levels of curcumin to protect against Alzheimer's disease.

ARTHRITIS and Joint Pain    While I am luckily too young to experience arthritis, I did mange to dislocate my elbow last year.  I was putting on my pants early in the morning and the leg was turned a bit inside out.  I jumped around trying to force my foot through the blocked hole and ended up falling into the wall.  I barely even hit it, yet the pain was quick and excruciating.  My arm looked to be broken, with both bones sticking out of my body at different angles.  I had never seen anything like it before, and could not move.   It turned out to be severely dislocated and required to be put back into place and held in a cast for months.  The ambulance ride was insane and I was given Morphine, which I wish I had declined.  It gave me a headache and dry mouth without easing my arm pain at all.

After the cast came off my arm, the arm was frozen at a very odd angle.  After months of serious rehabilitation, I could not regain full stretch of my arm and was told I never would unless I underwent arthroscopic surgery.  SO I STUNG MY ELBOW WITH 4 HONEYBEES!  It took 2 days and I fully recovered the full range of my elbow and I have never needed to sting there again. 

This illustrates to me how powerful Honey Bee stings are.

Throughout the centuries, honey bee venom has been mainly used to alleviate Arthritis stiffness and pain.  I speak a lot about bee stings and MS, but Arthritis has been the main ailment healed by bee venom through the eons.  Pharaohs used bee venom for Arthritis and so did Hippocrates, German and French doctors in the 1800's and Dr. Beck of NY city in the 1930's.  Even Napoleon's coat of arms featured a Honey Bee logo as did Pope Urbano VIII Barberini's family crest.  Pope Urbano VIII actually commissioned my favorite sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1644,  to create the Fountain of Bees in Rome. Bernini included the Bee theme in several of his fountains, representing papal symbols of the Barberini family.  If you have arthritis and worry about the possibility of terrible side effects of  prescription drugs, why not try bee stings.  Its an old remedy for an old problem and its easy to figure out where to sting, just go where the pain is. 

When I decided to sting my elbow, I did not have any bees in my yard.  I drove down to Carmel and easily caught bees off of the bushes at the Park Hyatt Highlands Inn.  It took about 10 minutes to capture bees in a jar, add a bit a water to the jar to slow them down, to catch them in the tweezers and sting the elbow.  I must admit the staff looked at me like I was insane, luckily Christina Aguilera was also there that week and garnished way more attention than I ever could chasing bees around with a  jar!

I also stung my hands because they started feeling a bit stiff.  I never really figured out if my stiff hand were from my MS or the beginnings of Arthritis, but my stiffness disappeared 3 days after stinging my knuckles with honey bees. 

Bee Venom is much more effective against Arthritis than it is against MS.  The calcium deposits are much easier to reach with a honey bee than the lesions located in the Spinal column for MS treatment.  If applied to the correct area, the bee stings should dissolve the Arthritis causing calcium almost immediately.

EASY method for stinging with Honey Bees:

• Capture Honey bees off of flowers or go to a local bee keeper
• Put a small amount of water in the jar and stir it around until the bees seem slower
• You can also release the bees in a closed room, since they will go to the window. It's very easy to catch them off the window with tweezers.
• I use reverse tweezers which I purchased on line.  You can also use long nosed tweezers, just make sure not to crush the bee
• Once you have the bee in the tweezers, apply it directly to the skin where you want to sting.  The bee will sting you pretty quickly.
• Release the bee outside
• Leave the stinger in for 20 minutes and then remove by sliding it out against the skin
• You should experience some itching and inflammation, this is a good thing.  The reaction is what will clear out the calcium and rebuild the cell membranes with new cell material.

PLEASE REMEMBER: 

• Do not drink alcohol while stinging with bees.  The alcohol negates the bee venom effects
• Do not take histamine blockers. Itching and puffiness are the desired effect, don't block it
• Try to sting every other day to the affected areas causing you pain
• Although less than 1% of our population is allergic to Honey bees (allergic meaning death), please do a test sting first.  Sting once, and quickly remove the stinger.  Wait a few minutes and see how you feel.