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Curcumin-rich curry consumption and life expectancy: Singapore longitudinal ageing study

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Abstract

The therapeutic potential of curcumin for many diseases are intensively investigated. However, real-world observational data documenting health and longevity effects associated with dietary curcumin in turmeric from consuming curry in food is lacking. A prospective cohort study of 4551 adults aged 55 + assessed curry consumption (never or < once/year, ≥ once/year to < once/month, ≥ once/month to < once/week, ≥ once/week to < daily, ≥ once daily), prevalent health conditions, blood biomarker indexes of atherogenicity, insulin resistance, and inflammation at baseline, and mean (SD) 11.6 (3.8) year follow up of all-cause, CVS and cancer mortality. There were linear positive associations of increasing curry consumption with waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, TyG, AIP, CRI-1, CRI-2, central obesity and diabetes prevalence, and inverse association with eGFR. There were non-linear associations with FEV1/height2 and COPD prevalence, GDS score and depression, MMSE score and cognitive impairment, comorbidity count, serum albumin and haemoglobin, being most favourable with moderate consumption. The levels of NLR, PLR and SII indices of systemic and immune inflammation decreased linearly with curry consumption. Total mortality HR adjusted for baseline co-variables, decreased across curry consumption, 0.68 (95%CI 0.56–0.82), 0.54 (95%CI 0.43–0.69), 0.70 (0.52–0.93), and 0.62 (0.41–0.95), being lowest in the middle categories. Among participants with cardio-metabolic and vascular diseases (CMVD), at least occasional curry consumption was associated with decreased mortality risk by 39%, and increased life expectancy by 1.0 years. Among those without CMVD, the associated life expectancy increase was 1.9 years. Moderate curry consumption may confer meaningful longevity benefits.

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Data availability

Data is available upon request from the corresponding authors.

Abbreviations

AIP :

Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP)

CRI-1:

Castelli Risk Index-1

CRI-2:

Castelli Risk Index-2

TyG:

Triglyceride-glucose index

NLR:

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio

LMR:

Lymphocyte-monocyte ratio

PLR:

Platelet-lymphocyte ratio

SIII:

Systemic and immune inflammation index

GDS:

Geriatric Depression Scale

MMSE:

Mini Mental State Examination

eGFR:

Estimated glomerular filtration rate

FEV1 :

Forced expiratory volume in one second

COPD:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Acknowledgements

We thank the following voluntary welfare organizations for their support: Geylang East Home for the Aged, Presbyterian Community Services, St Luke’s Eldercare Services, Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society (Moral Neighbourhood Links), Yuhua Neighbourhood Link, Henderson Senior Citizens’ Home, NTUC Eldercare Co-op Ltd, Thong Kheng Seniors Activity Centre (Queenstown Centre) and Redhill Moral Seniors Activity Centre.

Funding

This work was supported by research grants from the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) Biomedical Research Council (grant number BMRC/08/1/21/19/567) and the National Medical Research Council (grant numbers NMRC/1108/2007, NMRC/CIRG/1409/2014.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Level 9, NUHS Tower Block, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119228, Singapore

    Tze Pin Ng, Xinyi Gwee & Denise Qian Ling Chua

  2. Geriatric Education and Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore

    Tze Pin Ng

  3. Office of the Senior Deputy President & Provost, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Shwe Zin Nyunt

  4. National Public Health and Epidemiology Unit, National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore, Singapore

    Qi Gao

  5. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    Keng Bee Yap

Authors
  1. Tze Pin Ng
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  2. Shwe Zin Nyunt
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  3. Qi Gao
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  5. Denise Qian Ling Chua
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  6. Keng Bee Yap
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Tze Pin Ng, Shwe Zin Nyunt, Qi Gao, Xinyi Gwee, Denise Qian Ling Chua, and Keng Bee Yap. Data analysis was performed by Tze Pin Ng. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Tze Pin Ng, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tze Pin Ng.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest, including relevant financial interests, activities, relationships or affiliations.

Role of the funding source

The study sponsor had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, the writing of the report and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Trial registration. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03405675.

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Ng, T.P., Nyunt, S.Z., Gao, Q. et al. Curcumin-rich curry consumption and life expectancy: Singapore longitudinal ageing study. GeroScience 46, 969–980 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00842-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00842-1

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