Blackmores Institute

The study, a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised controlled trial, designed to investigate the effects on mood and cognitive function of 12-weeks supplementation with a bioavailability-enhanced curcumin extract, Longvida©, in healthy older adults found that curcumin administration resulted in significant improvements to working memory and reductions in fatigue.“Compared with placebo, the Fatigue-Inertia scale of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) was significantly improved in the curcumin group at both 4-week (F(1,79) = 6.795, p = 0.01) and 12-week (F(1,75) = 8.120, p = 0.006),” the authors reported.“As in our previous study, curcumin administration led to reductions in fatigue at both 4 and 12-weeks. It should be noted that in this study, the reduction was in the POMS subscale of Fatigue-Inertia rather than the Chalder Fatigue Scale in our previous study. Nevertheless, the results are broadly consistent across the two trials. “According to the study, native curcumin has low bioavailability and likely has little efficacy unless large quantities are consumed daily and several methods have been used to attempt to increase bioavailability such as, co-administering curcumin with piperine, or modifying the compound with lipidation.“Our previous RCT assessed the acute and chronic (28-day) mood and cognitive effects of 400 mg per day of Longvida© curcumin – a solid-lipid curcumin formulation – and compared with placebo, there were significant acute improvements to two measures of working memory, with one remaining significantly better at 28 days.“The primary objective of this study was to evaluate whether the effects of our earlier 4-week trial could be replicated, and to extend the time course to evaluate if any effects were evident following 12-weeks curcumin supplementation,” the authors explained.While the results of this study have essentially confirmed the findings of the authors’ previous study, one interesting result found at the 12-week assessment only was that participants in the curcumin arm had significantly higher blood glucose. The authors noted, however, that this effect did not approach the levels to signal diabetes risk, but in fact suggested that slightly elevated glucose levels are known to facilitate aspects of cognitive function including working memory and specifically Serial Sevens.” (Serial Sevens refers to serial subtractions where a starting number between 800 and 999 was presented on screen. Participants were required to subtract three or seven (serial Threes and Serial Sevens, respectively) from this number and enter the three-digit response using the computer keyboard numeric keys.)Although the mechanism by which curcumin produces these effects is unknown, the study claims that the vast majority of outcomes were numerically superior in the curcumin arm at both timepoints. “These data further support previous findings that Longvida© curcumin improves working memory and mood as well as the possibility of learning in healthy individuals. It is noteworthy that memory and fatigue are widely reported as the two more concerning non-physiological aspects of ageing. This has potential promise to offset these effects and may also be relevant to conditions where mood and cognition are fragile,” the authors concluded.Source:
 Nutrients. 2020. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061678">10.3390/nu12061678</a>

Australian researchers have found that cognitive function in older people may be improved by supplementation with a highly bioavailable curcumin formulation.

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