Tag: food

Careful with the Holiday Food

It’s easy to indulge during holiday season – that’s kind of what the season is for, to celebrate (and with food). Nothing wrong with enjoying your holiday favourites, but exercise some self-control lest you want to pay the price next year. Over-indulgence never helped anybody, and it certainly won’t help you. Some common culprits:

Sweets – Cakes, biscuits, eggnog, hot cocoa… all very tasty but can aggravate any ongoing conditions that skate dangerously on diabetes or blood disorders. Digestion can also be affected; sweet before savoury can curb appetite, which means proper nutrition isn’t being followed.

Alcohol – If a glass of red wine helps, holiday parties always go overboard with beer before liquor. Alcohol acts the same way as sugar spikes in the bloodstream; pancreas are overworked and insulin production is overloaded. Liver functions are affected, and kidneys may also suffer because alcohol, though a liquid, can dehydrate the body.

Fats – Healthful fats are needed by the brain, but in the absence of healthful fats, the brain will cling to any fat, even if it’s unhealthful. If you’re “running” from task to task, event to event, person to person – you’re probably not actually running… and getting enough exercise. But you might be eating a lot of food, and if you’re staying away from sweets, there might be more fats in your diet than you realize.

There’s no sense to restrict yourself from enjoying the holiday season, but there’s no reason to let it destroy your brain either.

ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA DISEASE; LATEST RESEARCH

Both Alzheimer’s and dementia are often confused for being the same names for the same disease. They remain a mystery in many ways but a lot of work has been done on these diseases.

The Center for Disease Control has reported that Alzheimer’s disease is a common cause of dementia, which means that dementia can be caused due to Alzheimer’s. it has caused about 50-70% dementia cases. Alzheimer’s can also be said to be a form of dementia.

However, they both have a major difference that Alzheimer’s basically a problem with memory, thinking and behavior that has no cure and cannot be reversed. But on the other hand, dementia has so many symptoms that can be healed with time and proper medication. Most importantly, consultation, love and care, communicating and engaging with the person suffering from the disease can help in recovery.

Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association has stated that 2200 adults have said that eating healthy food decreases the risks of suffering from dementia. One should eat healthy. Some of the foods, which are tested to be good for the brain, are:

 Leafy green vegetables

 Blueberries

 Nuts and seeds

 Fatty fish

 Olive oil

 Lentils

 Legumes

 Whole grains

In 2016 many researches have been conducted which aim at reducing the number of people being effected from dementia. A major finding published by The New England Journal of Medicine’ has studied the impact of education on decreasing dementia and Alzheimer’s diseases. If you have an improved lifestyle, then it is for sure that your brain also remains healthy.

Further, a recent study has showed that a similar trend among African-Americans in Indianapolis. A survey was conducted, to prove the affect of education on dementia.

The finding resulted that dementia patients had declined from 1992 to 2001. The 2001 participants had more education, and although they had more cardiovascular problems than the 1992 participants, those problems were receiving more medical treatment. This proves the fact that education helps in reduction of the disease.

Another factor of these diseases are that obesity and diabetes increases the patients risk to have Alzheimer’s and dementia. though way outs are given for decreasing the disease but in the future the patients of dementia will tend to increase. Dementia experts and advocate groups have long predicted that the numbers of Americans suffering with dementia are numbered around five million. But this number will not stop rather it is expected to triple by 2050. But a burst of new research in Europe, Canada and the United States has pointed to decreases in recent decades in more educated populations with better-controlled cholesterol, blood pressure, and heart and lung health. Thus, it is evident that these diseases are common in people due to unhealthy food addictions and a non-caring life with no focus on their physical and mental healththat gradually leads to be a patient of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Therefore, it is necessary to concentrate on what you do, what you eat and what you learn to prevent the disease from coming to you.
REFERENCES
Belluck, P. (2016, February 10). Education May Cut Dementia Risk, Study Finds .
Retrieved from The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/11/health/education-may-cut-dementia-riskstudy-
finds.html?hpw&rref=health&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=wellregion&
region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=2

Best foods to protect your aging brain. (2016, May 13). Retrieved from CBSNEWS:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/best-foods-for-your-aging-brain-to-preventalzheimers-
and-other-types-of-dementia/

Difference Between Alzheimer’s and Dementia. (n.d.). Retrieved from alzheimers.net:
http://www.alzheimers.net/difference-between-alzheimers-and-dementia/

The Value of Good Carbohydrates

With many recent health trends, carbohydrates have been demonized as bad for health. But let’s remember that carbohydrates are neither “good” nor “bad”, simply that there are different types that have different functions. Matching those functions to our nutritional and physical needs is what’s important, rather than cutting out carbohydrates completely.

Generally speaking, simple carbohydrates (such as castor sugar and white flour) are quite easy to break down and consequently do not provide long-term energy. However, because they are easy to break down, people who lead very active lifestyles can benefit from the quick bursts of energy. Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are more difficult to break down and consequently provide longer-lasting energy. Most people who work long hours or who eat less frequently benefit from the slower-release aspect of complex carbohydrates.

The brain, due to its many functions, requires a wide range of energy sources. As far as carbohydrates are concerned, although the brain could benefit from simple carbohydrates, the constant presence of simple carbohydrates will harm the rest of the body (Type II diabetes, anyone?). Complex carbohydrates are the safer type for the brain, thanks to its slow-release factor and lower risk factor to the rest of the body.

Some “good” carbohydrates for the brain are: white rice, potatoes, bananas, legumes, and pasta (made from durum wheat).

A Fatty Brain

A false rumour has been circulating over the years that a zero-fat diet is a healthy lifestyle. Certainly for people with high cholesterol issues, intentional care should be given to avoid foods that exacerbate their condition – but not all fats are created equal, and avoiding them altogether could actually do more harm than good as far as the brain is concerned.

 The brain is a powerhouse of the body and consequently can be somewhat guilty of hogging the body’s fuel (which comes from food). A safe estimate is that the brain alone uses about 20% of fuel, and a significant amount of that fuel comes from fats. It’s no coincidence that the brain itself is composed of 60% fat, which means the body itself needs at least 30% fat to supply the brain and keep it working properly. This is why no weight-loss program, no matter how extreme or severe, can ever cut out fats completely – the lowest level of fat inclusion in a properly nutritional diet should still maintain at least 40% fats.

 The real issue, since it’s impossible to forgo fats, is to choose “good” fats that feed the brain as well as filling the stomach.  Olive oil has long been a favourite of these good fats, but there are many more options available, and for different reasons. Coconut oil can tolerate heat better than olive oil, which makes it far more ideal that olive oil (especially extra virgin) when cooking at higher temperatures. Coconut oil also more closely resembles fats that naturally appear in the human body, which means there is less work involved for the body to properly use it.  Peanut oil and grapeseed oil can also tolerate heat, making them suitable for all-purpose cooking. Peanut oil has the additional benefits of being cheaper than olive oil, with just as many (if not more) advantages for heart (and brain) health.