Herbal remedy

Never has there been a better time to indulge in a curry unless you're a cactus mouse or packrat (see preceding story). Herbs and spices not only enhance even the most nouvelle of cuisine, but, as has been claimed by the alternative medicine movement and others for many years, can provide health-boosting benefits too. Now, scientists from Australia's national research organisation, CSIRO, have investigated the effects on cancer, memory function, and heart disease risk of certain plants, which hint that a decent curry can do more good than harm.

Gingko biloba

CSIRO Adelaide research nutritionist Lynne Cobiac has shown that curry leaves have potent antioxidant properties and is currently assessing ginger for similar effects. "Researchers are working to ascertain how much of each herb and spice we need to consume to gain their beneficial effect, but some quantities are already known," she explains. It has already been shown that eating a small amount of garlic each day can help reduce cholesterol and so hopefully lower heart disease risk and she suggests that similar amounts might also have an anticarcinogenic effect. There are claims that Gingko biloba extract can benefit Alzheimer's patients and CSIRO is planning to study the cognitive-enhancing effects of the extract from this ancient tree on the general population.

Cobiac spoke at the 15th CSIRO Annual Food Industry Conference in July and estimated that 80% of the world's population uses herbs and spices in its traditional medicine and has done from India and China to the Americas for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

Many present-day pharmaceuticals are themselves derived from herbal extracts. There is, however, a growing move to enquire scientifically into the effects of the whole herb or its gross extracts, as it has been recognized that some herb components can work together synergistically. "Once a herb's medicinal qualities have been proved scientifically, the next step is to identify the active beneficial component and find the best way to optimise its effects," Cobiac says, "We still don't know whether isolating the active ingredient in such a way has any detrimental effect on its efficacy," she adds.