Improve your learning and memory.

We would all like to improve our memory or at least not see it decline as we get older. The following research may show us one way to do that.

The study included healthy individuals aged 55 years or more (Yurko-Mauro, et al. 2010). The participants were randomly assigned to take either 900 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per day or a placebo for 24 weeks. DHA is one of the active ingredients of omega 3 fish oil.

The researchers concluded after 24 weeks that supplementation with 900 mg of DHA daily improved learning and memory function and is a beneficial supplement that support cognitive health with aging.

To read more about the benefits of omega 3 fish oil click on "Better Fish Oil," a pharmaceutical grade fish oil.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Yurko-Mauro K, McCarthy D, Rom D, Nelson EB, Ryan AS, Blackwell A, Salem N Jr, Stedman M; MIDAS Investigators. Beneficial effects of docosahexaenoic acid on cognition in age-related cognitive decline. Alzheimers Dement. 2010 Nov;6(6):456-64.

How to decrease your risk for upper respiratory infection.

The study reviewed here investigated the relationship between physical activity and the rates of upper respiratory tract infection (Nieman DC, et al. 2010).

The participants included 1,002 adults between the ages of 18-85 years, 60% were female and 40% male. They were followed for 12 weeks during fall and winter seasons and monitored using symptoms surveys.

The results showed that the days with upper respiratory symptoms were reduced by 43% in the participants who reported doing aerobic exercise 5 or more days per week when compared with those who did 1 day or less of aerobic exercise per week.

A 46% difference was found when comparing subjects in the high versus low fitness tertile.

One of the things you can do to improve your chance of staying healthy this winter is to include some type of aerobic exercise in your lifestyle.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Nieman DC, Henson DA, Austin MD, Sha W.Upper respiratory tract infection is reduced in physically fit and active adults. Br J Sports Med. 2010 Nov 1.

Increase your intake of a specific type of fat and improve cardiovascular risk factors.

Increasing your intake of fat and still improve cardiovascular risk may sound strange to you, since you probably have been told to eat a low fat diet to improve cardiovascular risk. However several studies have documented that you can eat a certain type of fat and improve your cardiovascular risk.

One of the most recent studies investigated the association between monounsaturated fat HDL the so called good cholesterol, apoplipoprotein A1 another cardiovascular risk factor and C-reactive protein an inflammatory marker, also a cardiovascular risk factor (Jenkins DJ, et al. 2010).

The study participants first ate a low saturated fat diet for one month and then half of the group was assigned to a dietary protocol high in monounsaturated fat and the other half of the group assigned to a diet low in monounsaturated fat.

The participants followed these diets for one month and were then retested. The results showed that the participants eating the diet high in monounsaturated fat increased their HDL cholesterol, reduced the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL and reduced C-reactive protein which means their cardiovascular risk improved.

You find monounsaturated fat in foods like avocados, nuts and seeds. An easy way to increase this type of fat without increasing your calorie intake is to substitute avocados, nuts and seeds for some of the carbohydrates you eat.

You can easily eat an avocado a day by putting it in salads, nuts or seeds you can eat as snacks during the day.

The book "The Food Connection" has food recommendations with explanations and easy to make recipes which has shown to reduce cholesterol, LDL the bad cholesterol, triglycerides and highly sensitive C-reactive protein in only 4 weeks.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Jenkins DJ, Chiavaroli L, Wong JM, Kendall C, Lewis GF, Vidgen E, Connelly PW, Leiter LA, Josse RG, Lamarche B. Adding monounsaturated fatty acids to a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods in hypercholesterolemia. CMAJ. 2010 Nov 8.

The health impact of white rice.

White rice is a common food especially in Asia, but also in the USA. It is very common to have white rice served in restaurants.

Refined carbohydrates have been suggested to have a negative impact on the glucose metabolism. For that reason a large study involving 25,666 men and 33,622 women ages 44 to 75 years was conducted investigating the association between white rice intake and the risk of type 2 diabetes (Nanri A, et al. 2010). The study lasted for 5 years.

The results documented that there was a significant association between rice intake and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women. In men it was found to be a positive association in persons who were not engaged in strenuous physical activity.

White rice has a high glycemic index which means it will elevate the blood sugar quite high. Brown rice is a little bit better, but it also has a high glycemic index even if it is somewhat lower than white rice and contains more nutrients.

If you are going to eat white rice it would be healthier if you mix it with beans or lentils, since both beans and lentils have a very low glycemic index. It would be even better of course to substitute the rice for beans or lentils.

You will find a lot of recipes with beans and lentils in the book, "The Food Connection" and with explanations why it makes sense to eat low glycemic, high nutrients meals.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Nanri A, Mizoue T, Noda M, Takahashi Y, Kato M, Inoue M, Tsugane S; for the Japan Public Health Center–based Prospective Study Group. Rice intake and type 2 diabetes in Japanese men and women: the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Dec;92(6):1468-1477. Epub 2010 Oct 27.

A big waist is bad for the bones.

Visceral fat, the fat we carry around the waist which is the fat surrounding the organs is recognized as a risk factor for increased chronic systemic inflammation.

Systemic inflammation is the type of inflammation which affects the whole body. It is different from the local acute inflammation we see when we for example sprain an ankle and it swells up. The local acute inflammation which is a response to an injury is not harmful. It is a part of the body's defense and also a part of the healing process.

Chronic systemic inflammation is however increasing the risk for many diseases and is not useful. Chronic inflammation is deleterious to bone and the fat we carry around the waist triggers chronic inflammation.

The relationship of visceral fat and bone density was investigated in the study reviewed here (Russell M, et al. 2010). The participants were girls 12-18 years old. Half of the participants were obese and the other half of normal weight. The regional fat content was measured using MRI. Bone density was measured and also several inflammatory markers.

The visceral fat (fat carried around the waist) was found to be an independent determinant of bone density in obesity and was related to a chronic inflammatory state.

This means that a big waist even in young girls is associated with a lower bone density.

Eating habits, which will help reduce systemic inflammation and keep you lean, is important from a young age and throughout life. Read the book, "Effective Nutrition for Effective Healing" for recommendations and recipes.

It is also important to support your bones with specific nutrients to help your bones stay strong and healthy from a young age. Click here for more information.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Russell M, Mendes N, Miller KK, Rosen CJ, Lee H, Klibanski A, Misra M. Visceral fat is a negative predictor of bone density measures in obese adolescent girls. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Mar;95(3):1247-55. Epub 2010 Jan 15.