What you eat in midlife may affect your memory later in life.

Everybody wants to have good cognition, memory. As more people are living longer there is a growing concern about impaired cognition with increasing age.

Researchers in Finland recently published a study where they had followed participants for an average of 21 years (Eskelinen MH, et al. 2008). The participants were evaluated in several ways for their cognitive abilities.

The investigators found that an abundant saturated fat intake from milk products and spreads at midlife was associated with poorer cognitive function and prospective memory. Prospective memory has to do with the ability of remembering to do something, such as meeting someone or bringing a certain document to the office.

Also interesting, was that high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the fat from nuts, seeds, and vegetables, was associated with better semantic memory. Semantic memory is not related to a specific experience, but rather to the meaning and understanding of things, for example, a car is for transportation and is not an animal. Frequent fish consumption was associated with both better cognitive function and semantic memory. The researchers also found that a higher polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat ratio was associated with better psychomotor speed and executive function.

Cognition is another example of why it is important to increase the omega 3 fat intake and decrease ingestion of saturated fat.

Reference:

Eskelinen MH, et al. Fat intake at midlife and cognitive impairment later in life: a population-based CAIDE study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Jul; 23(7):741-7.

Sleep more, get sick less often

Getting enough sleep is important for many reasons. The quality of sleep as well as the amount of sleep affects our immune system.

An interesting study just published, investigated whether sleep duration and efficiency in the weeks preceding viral exposure are associated with susceptibility to getting a cold (Cohen S. et al, 2009). Sleep scores were calculated for 14 days before the participants were exposed to the rhinovirus. They were then monitored for signs and symptoms indicating that they had developed a cold.

The results showed that participants with less than 7 hours of sleep were 2.94 times more likely to develop a cold than those with 8 hours or more of sleep. When sleep efficiency was graded, participants with less than 92% efficiency were 5.5 times more likely to develop a cold than those with 98% or more efficiency.

If you want to have better resistance to illness, be sure you get enough quality sleep.

Reference:

Cohen S, et al. Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Jan 12;169(1):62-7.

Would you spend 30 seconds or less three times a week if it could improve your bone density?

The risk for osteoporosis and bone loss is increasing with age. The more bone density we build in younger years, the better off we are as we get older.

Especially women, but also men are at risk for increased bone loss leading to osteoporosis and risk of fractures unless we take some steps to avoid it.

There are many steps you can take to avoid getting osteoporosis, but you probably did not know that one of the things you can do to improve bone density only takes less than 30 seconds three times a week.

Women college students participated in a 6 month long study where they did low repetition high impact training of 10 maximum vertical jumps per day 3 times per week (Kato T. et al, 2006). The jumping group was compared with a control group which did not jump.

When bone mineral density was rechecked after 6 months, the women in the jumping group showed a significant increase in bone density in the femoral neck region and the low back. The femoral neck is an area which is prone to fractures in older women.

I also suggest you supplement with a high quality mineral formula which should include vitamin D3.

Resistance exercises (weight training) would also be helpful for prevention of upper body bone loss.

Reference:

Kato T., et al. Effect of low-repetition jump training on bone mineral density in young women. J Appl Physiol. 2006 Mar;100(3):839-43.

Reduce inflammation with omega 3 fatty acids, more evidence.

It has been known for a long time that omega 3 fatty acids, the kind you find in fish and flax seeds, have the ability to reduce inflammation.

A recent study where the participants were young women between 18-23 years provides even more evidence (Murakami K, et al, 2008). The researchers documented that the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) went down as the intake of omega 3 fat went up.

The easiest and most effective way to increase your omega 3 fatty acid intake is to take fish oil. Flax seed oil also contains omega 3 fat, but the fat from flax has to be metabolized to EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid).

Fish oil already comes as EPA and DHA. For that reason you can take less of the fish oil compared to flax oil to get the same amount of EPA and DHA. Just be sure the fish oil you use is of high quality because omega 3 fat oxidizes easily and fish oil can be contaminated from other toxins as well.

Reference:

Murakami K, et al. Total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake is inversely associated with serum C-reactive protein in young Japanese women. Nutr Res. 2008 May; 28(5):309-14.

Be happy.

Being happy is not only good for yourself, but can affect more people than you may think.

An interesting study recently published in the British Medical Journal investigated whether happiness can spread from person to person and how it may form within social networks (Fowler JH, Christakis NA, 2008). This was a large study where 4,739 individuals were followed from 1983 to 2003.

The researchers found clusters of happiness as a result from the spread of happiness and not just a tendency for people to associate with similar individuals.

According to this research people’s happiness are affected by the happiness of others with whom they are connected.

Reference:

Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study. BMJ 2008;337:a2338.

Good news if you don’t like long work outs

We all know that exercise is a necessity if we are going to stay healthy. It needs to be part of a healthy lifestyle. Not everybody enjoys spending a lot of time in the gym however.

For those who would rather exercise for a short time when they do, the following study should be good news. The research was done on patients with diabetes, but you don’t have to be diabetic to benefit from this type of regime (Eriksen L, et al, 2007). These patients were randomly assigned to one of two exercise programs carried out at home on a bicycle. The training was done at 60% of maximal oxygen uptake, this was termed as moderate to high-intensity. One group did three 10-minute sessions per day while the other group did one 30-minute session per day. The program lasted for 5 weeks.

The cardiorespiratory fitness increased similarly in both groups, but there were additional benefits documented for the 10-minute 3 times daily group.

On an oral 3 hour glucose tolerance test fasting glucose, 120 minutes glucose and blood glucose concentration areas under the curve at 120 minutes and 180 minutes decreased in the 10-minute 3 times daily exercise group, but not in the 30-minute daily group.

For people who have blood sugar issues being insulin resistant or having type 2 diabetes, exercising in short intervals three times during the day definitely is the preference.

People who don’t have any blood sugar problems will not lose any benefits exercising in intervals during the day since the cardiorespiratory fitness increased similarly in both groups.

Reference:

Eriksen L, et al. Comparison of the effect of multiple short-duration with sing long-duration exercise sessions on glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetologia. 2007 Nov;50(11):2245-53.

Low glycemic index foods reduce the risk for chronic disease.

The glycemic index is a way to rate how high a certain food will raise the blood sugar when compared to glucose or white bread. The higher the glycemic index of a food the higher it will raise the blood sugar.

Glycemic load is another way to rate food using both the glycemic index and the amount of carbohydrates in a serving.

There has been controversy for awhile over the effects of dietary glycemic index and glycemic load on the risk of chronic diseases and the important of eating low glycemic index, low glycemic load foods.

Researchers at the University of Sydney looked at studies with 4 to 20 years of follow up investigating if the glycemic index, load had any impact on chronic disease (Barclay AW, et al, 2008). They found a positive association between glycemic index and glycemic load for type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, gall bladder disease, breast cancer and also all disease combined.

The conclusion was that their findings support the hypothesis that higher blood sugar levels after eating is a universal mechanism for disease progression.

An example of a very low glycemic index meal would be a salad with beans which also is high in micro nutrients. This type of meal will stabilize your blood sugar and give you prolonged energy.

Reference:

Barclay AW, et al. Glycemic index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk—a meta-analysis of observational studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):627-37.