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Tag: Antioxidants

  • Over 65? Eat more salmon and less cheese!

    Over 65? Eat more salmon and less cheese!

    As you age, you want more high-quality fatty proteins in your diet, Leigh Weingus reports for The Huffington Post. These proteins reduce inflammation and promote brain health. Eating more salmon should help a lot.

    Of course, different foods deliver different health benefits. Some foods boost energy levels. Some prevent disease, often caused by inflammation. But eating too much saturated fat is linked to heart disease and high LDL cholesterol. It also reduces your fiber intake which can lead to constipation.

    The benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet: Experts advise to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, as we get older, in order to stay in good physical and mental health. Including a fatty fish in your diet, such as salmon, at least twice each week, will help your muscles and strength. It will also increase your omega-3 consumption, promote brain health, and reduce inflammation.

    Eat protein-rich foods and foods with antioxidants: If you don’t like salmon, chicken or duck without the skin, eggs and tofu are also rich in protein. And, kale and spinach are good antioxidants, as are pomegranates. They also provide folic acid, niacin and other B vitamins that help to promote healthy brains.

    As for dairy products: Experts are now thinking you need less cheese and other dairy products than previously advised and possibly none at all, reports Andrea Petersen for the Wall Street Journal. There’s a new-found link between dairy products and cardiovascular disease as well as some cancers, including prostate cancer. But, some experts disagree, claiming that dairy products reduce the risk of heart disease and colon cancer.

    And, the jury’s still out as to the value of drinking fat-free milk over whole milk or two percent milk. Whatever you do, the new thinking is that one serving of dairy products a day is all you need. Dairy is primarily good for calcium, and you can get your calcium from other foods, such as tofu, edamame, kale and bok choy.

    If possible, avoid ultra-processed foods and supplements. Food that is fresh and not ultra-processed offers nutrients that are far easier to absorb into your body.

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  • Eat more plants . . . reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s

    Eat more plants . . . reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s

    Two studies in the past few years provide the best evidence to date that a largely plant-based diet, with moderate amounts of fish and dairy—a Mediterranean diet—can help keep one’s brain healthy and reduce risk of Alzheimer’s.

    Researchers who studied the MIND diet, a kind of Mediterranean diet, which calls for eating more berries and leafy green vegetables, found that even following the diet moderately reduced participants’ risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 35% over the four and a half years. In short, they found that you do not need to eat bushels of kale or spinach. Two servings of vegetables daily, two servings of berries each week, and one meal of fish each week seemed to be enough. At the same time, you do need to eat less unhealthy food, such as butter and fast food. Those who followed the diet more rigorously reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 53%.

    In the MIND study, researchers observed people’s dietary intake over time. This type of study can’t say anything about cause and effect, which can only be learned by dividing people into groups and randomizing some to follow the diet and some not (a control condition). Researchers in Spain completed just such a study.

    The Spanish researchers showed that those randomized to follow a Mediterranean diet, which they combined with either extra olive oil or nuts, showed improved measures of memory and other brain functions. The participants were tested after a median of four years on the diet. Although they had no memory or other cognitive problems to begin with, they did have risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, diabetes and obesity.

    The food included in a Mediterranean diet is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, which many studies have shown are good for heart health, and decreasing risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes. Since these are also risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, this is one reason why eating lots of foods high in anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds helps preserve brain function. Berries, dark, leafy green vegetables, and nuts are especially high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory action.

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    This post was originally published on June 10, 2015.

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  • Can eating more mushrooms prevent cognitive decline?

    Can eating more mushrooms prevent cognitive decline?

    There are hundreds of studies on the benefits of different foods and vitamins for your heart, your brain, your muscles and more. More often than not, these studies recommend eating more green leafy vegetables and nuts. The latest study, out of the National University of Singapore (NUS), finds that eating more mushrooms may prevent cognitive decline in older adults.

    Did you even know that mushrooms could have special health benefits? According to this new study, older adults who eat a half plate (300g) of mushrooms each week could reduce their risk of mild cognitive impairment–memory loss or forgetfulness or attention deficits–by half. The senior research fellow on the NUS study suggests this benefit may stem from the compound ergothioneine (ET), which is found in most mushrooms.

    ET (ergothioneine) is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. People cannot synthesize ET on their own. But, you can find ET in a variety of mushrooms, including golden, oyster, shiitake, white button mushrooms, dried and canned mushrooms. Keep in mind that there is no evidence that taking supplements containing ergothioneine is beneficial; it is not the same as eating mushrooms, and supplements have risks.

    Moreover, there is not enough evidence to say definitively that eating mushrooms forestalls cognitive decline. Still, there’s no harm in eating more mushrooms. If you don’t like mushrooms, there are other evidence-based ways to forestall cognitive decline.

    Keeping mentally and physically healthy may prevent cognitive decline and dementia, according to other research. Managing high blood pressure, having a social network , exercising, keeping a healthy weight, managing hearing loss, not smoking and drinking only small amounts of alcohol all may help.

    The NUS study was conducted between 2011 to 2017.

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