Do you like to eat sushi?If you're a sushi lover, then you might be in disbelief with the news: a Japanese study found that little bit of green wasabi on sushi not only adds flavor to the food, but also improves your memory!
The study, led by Professor Rui Nouchi of Tohoku University in Japan, said in an interview that the results exceeded their expectations, and that they had known some of the health benefits of wasabi, but the claim that it could improve memory was really amazing. The main active ingredient in wasabi is a biochemical called 6-MSITC, which is a known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent and is present in very small amounts in the plant kingdom, says Professor Nouchi. The double-blind, randomized study involved 72 healthy subjects, aged 60 to 80 years. Half of them took 100 mg of mustard extract at bedtime, and the other half took a placebo.
After three months of observation, the wasabi group experienced "significant" improvements in cognitive performance in both areas, working memory (short-term memory) and episodic memory (long-term memory), as judged by standard verbal skills, attention, and performing simple tasks. No improvements were seen in other areas of cognitive ability, such as inhibitory control (staying focused), executive function, or processing speed. Subjects who took wasabi had an average 18 per cent improvement in episodic memory scores, Professor Nouchi said, and an average of 14 per cent higher than the placebo group's total score.
For this result, the researchers speculate that 6-MSITC can reduce inflammation and oxidation levels in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for memory function, and enhance neuroplasticity. Compared to the placebo group, subjects who took mustard "experienced improved performance in verbal episodic memory, as well as better performance in the ability to associate faces with names, which is often the most predominant memory-related problem in older adults." ”
Wasabi is a member of the mustard family. This spicy condiment has a long history in Japan, and it not only kills bacteria in food, such as E. coli and staphylococcus, but also complements the taste and aroma of seafood. Professor Nouchi, who specializes in preventing dementia, chose mustard as the best method because he found that traditional methods of keeping the brain healthy, such as the Mediterranean diet, exercise, and ***, have high interruption rates. He believes that taking a supplement a day is easier for older adults to adhere to and more beneficial than other spices that have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effects, such as ginger and turmeric. The research team plans to test the effects of mustard in other age groups and to find out if mustard can slow cognitive decline in people with dementia.
However, here's a catch: the wasabi offered by almost all sushi restaurants, even in Japan, is not really wasabi. In fact, there are three types of wasabi, wasabi, yellow mustard and horseradish, wasabi is light green, wasabi is yellow, and horseradish is white. Most of these shops offer green dyes with yellow mustard or horseradish other than wasabi.
Wasabi is often difficult to grow. The plant takes almost two years to mature and is very demanding in terms of temperature, shade, gravel, and water. It's more expensive per pound than even the best tuna, so some people call it "green" and it must be eaten fresh to have a significant effect, that is, it is ground into a paste on the spot with the rhizomes of the plant before eating, and just a small point can provide the same effect as the capsule supplement used in the study at Northeastern University, which is 08 mg of 6-MSITC. For now, although we are very surprised by the results of this study, more experiments are needed before it is confirmed, and we hope that the research team will be able to give good news in the near future.