If you're a fan of Indian curry, your brain may thank you for it. Early research shows that a spice in yellow curry may help clear beta-amyloid, a protein fragment which causes brain plaques. That spice is tumeric, which contains the compound curcumin. Our advisor, Fred Vagnini, M.D., medical director of the Heart, Diabetes and Weight Loss Centers of New York, tells patients to take curcumin to reduce inflammation. Since inflammation in the brain may be associated with Alzheimer's, this could explain the research results.