Jerusalem: Cinnamon when consumed in appropriate quantity can help prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a recent study.
A team of Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers, headed by Prof Michael Ovadia, have succeeded in extracting a substance from cinnamon that is capable of inhibiting the formation of toxic - amyloid polypeptide oligomers, which disassembles - amyloid fibrils, whose accumulation in the brain cells kills the neurons in Alzheimer's patients, a university press release said.
However, the researchers have warned people not to rush to consume large quantities of raw cinnamon (more than 10 gms per day) as it also contains substances that are toxic to the liver.
The idea seeking the medicinal properties of cinnamon came to Ovadia's mind by way of a biblical passage that explains the use of a holy ointment by the high priests – a preparation that presumably was meant to protect them from infectious agents.
Several life sciences faculty laboratories are said to have participated in the study and the research findings were recently published in the science journal 'PLoS ONE'.
Ovadia had found in the course of a past research that an extract from the bark of the cinnamon plant possesses the ability to inhibit the infectivity of 'enveloped' viruses, such as influenza, herpes, HIV and others.
A later study showed that the same extract also inhibits the accumulation of the - amyloid (A) polypeptide assemblies that cause neuron destruction and result in the development of Alzheimer's disease.
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