AE is hogging My RAM

Hi.

I have a simple 1080 x 1920 clip, 26 seconds long. I apply a bend effect to it, play around a bit with the bend, and Ae jacks up my RAM usage to 95% (about 25 Gigs of my 32 Gigs. Normal RAM used= about 20%. So Ae uses 75% of my RAM for a simple clip).

I thought it would be a problem with the latest version, so I uninstalled it and installed an earlier version (22.6), but I still have the same problem. 

I do have a HD set up for Media & Cache with plenty of available space on it.

It's a very simple project with barely anything on it. Even when I close the project, the RAM usage stays at 95%. I have to close Ae so that the usage goes back to normal (19% used) why is Ae such a RAMoholic? What can I do about this?

Thanks