How Juice Can Help Prevent Alzheimer’s

Well I told you how orange juice can help make that fast food meal healthier, and now it seems that drinking juice more than three times a week can lower your Alzheimer’s risk by76 percent. This comes from a ten-year study named the Kame Project where researchers followed 2,000 Japanese Americans in Hiroshima, Japan; Oahu, Hawaii; and Seattle. Participants underwent a physical examination beginning in 1992, and their mental function was tested every two years.

Those who drank juice three or more times per week experienced a 76 percent reduced risk for Alzheimer’s whereas those who drank juice once or twice a week experienced a 16 percent reduced risk. They don’t say whether the juices were commercial, or freshly made, but certainly the skins of fruit and vegetables are high in phenols, the chemicals that “mop up” free radicals that are believed to cause the damage seen in Alzheimer’s. These results suggested to researchers that polyphenols, a type of anti-oxidant, might have a protective effect on the brain, preventing or reducing dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Certainly we already know that there are certain dietary factors that are high risk for the onset of Alzheimer’s such as high fat and high calorie diets, alcohol, salt and refined carbohydrates. The top three recommendations from the US Alzheimer’s Society for reducing your risk are to increase fruit and vegetable juice consumption to at least two or three times per week (and I would be juicing organic fruit and vegetables for the maximum benefit), increasing vitamins, minerals and fluids, and increasing fibre to reduce constipation.

How OJ Helps You Through A Fast Food Meal

Ever wondered why fast food places also sell healthy orange juice along with their high fat, high-carbohydrate fast-food meals? They may not know it, but by eating foods containing flavonoids, particularly orange juice, with such meals it helps neutralise the oxidative and inflammatory stress generated by the such food and helps prevent blood vessel damage.

Endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York, studied the effect of the preventative effect of orange juice on the risk of heart attack and stroke. Free radicals are known to induce inflammation in blood vessel linings and contribute to those conditions and they believed orange juice might be a key as it is heavily loaded with the flavonoids naringenin and hesperidin, which are major antioxidants.

They found that drinking orange juice with a meal high in fat and carbohydrates prevented the marked increases in inflammatory agents and that did not happen when study participants drank water or a sugary drink with the meal. The high dose of free radicals in fast food meals are a risk because the resultant high glucose and high triglycerides are known to be related to the development of cardiovascular events.

So what did the study subjects eat? It was based it on a typical fast food 900-calorie breakfast composed of an egg “muffin” sandwich, a sausage “muffin” sandwich and a serving of hash browns. The meal contained 81 grams of carbohydrates, 51 grams of fat and 32 grams protein.

Along with the breakfast, one group drank 300 calories of “not-from-concentrate” orange juice, a second group drank a 300-calorie glucose drink and the third group drank an equal amount of water. All participants were given 15 minutes to finish their food and drink. Blood samples were collected before the meal and at 1, 3 and 5 hours afterwards.

Analysis of the samples after the meal showed that oxygen free radicals increased an average of 62 percent with water, 63 percent with the glucose and 47 percent with orange juice. There also was an increase in blood components known as toll-like receptors, which play an important role in the development of inflammation, atherosclerosis, obesity, insulin resistance, and injury to cardiac cells than can occur after a blocked vessel is reopened. Orange juice also prevented a significant increase in SOCS-3, an important mediator of insulin resistance, which contributes to development of type 2 diabetes.

So if you are having a fast food meal make sure you get a glass of real orange juice to mitigate the damage, but I have to say that starting the day with a 900 calorie fat and carbohydrate feast is not the best way to stay healthy. Couldn’t they just have suggested halving the calorie count and having orange juice as a better option?

Why Butter Is Best

I have bored people frequently by going on about why they should eat butter, the natural product, and not margarine which is a fascinating compound of colours and chemicals. Now the Kiwis are backing me up with a new piece of research from the University of Auckland.

Margarine can affect your intelligence, and it starts early as children who ate margarine every day had significantly lower IQ scores by the age of three-and-a-half than those who did not. Even more interestingly, those children who were underweight at birth had scores that were even lower by the time they were seven. The problem here is that the vegetable oils used in most margarine are hydrogenated to make them solid which is what turns them into the dangerously unhealthy trans-fatty acids.

If they can affect children in this way you can be sure that adults are affected just as badly, particularly when it comes to heart disease. This is because of the way that trans fats can raise LDL – the bad cholesterol – and lower HDL -the good cholesterol (HDL) and have been linked to inflammation, which is one of the major causes of heart disease.

If heart disease is a concern, then another piece of research to encourage you off margarine – particularly for men – comes from the respected Framingham Heart Study carried out in the US. Over a 20 year period they tracked and recorded the number of heart attacks and found that as margarine consumption increased, heart attacks went up. As butter consumption increased, heart attacks declined.

In the latter part of the study, over the final ten years they found that the group eating the most margarine had 77% more heart attacks than the group eating none.

Why is butter better? It contains short- and medium-chain fatty acids, which are easily converted to energy so that the fat in butter is less likely to be stored as fat in your body. It contains heart healthy vitamins A and E (in fact it has more vitamin A than carrots) and the essential mineral selenium, all of which protect your heart from free radical damage. Oh, and it tastes much better too.

Why Curry Is Good For Your Liver

The Brits are addicted to their curry, and very tasty it is too, but it can also be a very healthy choice if you want to protect your liver. A new study has suggested that Curcumin, one of the principal components of the spice turmeric, may delay the liver damage that eventually causes cirrhosis.

It is the Curcumin, which gives turmeric its bright yellow colour – and presumably it’s fabulous ability to stain your clothing if you spill it – and it is a staple of Ayurvedic medicine for treating a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders. Curry is recommended as a health aid because various of it’s spices have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which may be helpful in combating disease.

The current research focused on whether curcumin could delay the damage caused by progressive inflammatory conditions of the liver that can be sparked by genetic faults or autoimmune disease. These cause the bile ducts in the liver to become inflamed, scarred, and blocked which leads to extensive tissue damage and irreversible and ultimately fatal liver cirrhosis.

The experiment was carried out on mice who had curcumin added to their diet for a period of four and a period of eight weeks and the findings showed that it significantly reduced bile duct blockage and curbed liver cell damage and scarring. It did this by interfering with several chemical signalling pathways involved in the inflammatory process.

I know you are not a mouse, but it’s a healthy reason to add curry to your menu regularly – but stay away from the creamy korma dishes if you are also trying to lose weight!

5 point plan for reducing cholesterol

Naturally, you didn’t overindulge at Christmas at that New Year’s Party, but in case you know anyone who does here is a simple 5 point plan to tackle cholesterol for 2010.

1. Reduce saturated fat. I know, you know all about this, but it may be time to start practicing it rather than theorising. Just avoid too much red meat, butter and high fat cheeses and substitute healthy low fat options – not the ones containing chemicals, but the really natural ones like more white meat and fish and fewer slabs of brie and stilton and switching to cottage or edam cheese – at least for a while. Substitute whole soy protein for animal protein, and use low- or non-fat dairy products.

2. Avoid trans-fat. Read the labels and beware of the phrase “partially hydrogenated oil” on the label. Most often found in snacks such as crisps – which you were cutting down on anyway, weren’t you? Look for baked rather than fried crisps if you really can’t give them up.

3. Go for garlic because it not only will help lower cholesterol levels, but it will boost your immune system as well.

4. Switch to green or white tea as they both contain antioxidants that help lower cholesterol and prevent the cholesterol in your blood from oxidizing. Without milk or sugar please, though a little honey might help if you find green tea too bitter.

5. Fill up on soluble fibre as it has a powerful cholesterol-lowering effect, and is found in the kinds of foods that naturally fill you up and will help you avoid unhealthy snacks. Fill up on beans and lentils, apples, citrus fruits, oats, barley, peas, carrots and freshly ground flaxseed.

Pleasing the Vegetarians This Christmas

If you are stumped when faced with a relative or visitor coming for Christmas who is a vegetarian, don’t panic and overload them on Brussels sprouts as you will all regret it! I have found a free 90 page guide to having a veggie festive season and you can download it from the website of the only vegetarian TV Channel I know of so click here and stop worrying! www.VeggieVision.tv

Top 4 Foods To Eat To Suppress Your Appetite

If you love food, as I certainly do, then to stay healthy it can help to balance your appetite naturally. I am not in favour of stringent diets or some of the wilder claims for fat-busting supplements, but there are some natural foods that will help you maintain a good, healthy, weight by helping suppress your appetite.

They can be very useful if you are trying to lose some weight and the basic principle is to choose foods are filling, but low in calories. Also, be adventurous in your food choices as one of the problems people have in sticking to a diet – sensible or otherwise – is that they get bored. Add in these healthy foods to your menus and you will help keep the weight off:

Celery
This crunchy vegetable was a major feature of my childhood with the stalks washed and placed in a glass jug on the dining table whenever we had salad. My mother had no idea how healthy it was but she knew it helped fill us up as it has a low energy density and, according to research conducted by the Mayo Clinic, that can help control hunger. Celery contains few calories, only 16 for a cup, and its bulk and slight saltiness can be very satisfying when you are hungry. Add it to the snack list.

Psyllium
To be honest, I am not that keen on psyllium as my experience of it is rather akin to swallowing wallpaper paste or even worse, frog spawn. No, I haven’t actually eaten either of those but this gives you some idea of the texture! Psyllium is a soluble plant fibre which adds bulk to the diet and gives you a feeling of fullness and is also a great colon cleanser and so helps eliminate waste and this can lose you a few extra pounds in no time. Psyllium, in my view is best taken as capsules with plenty of cold water but if you are made of sterner stuff and want to try the powder then I would suggest mixing it with lemon juice and a tiny amount of apple cordial in a large glass of cold water. Mix thoroughly and the trick is to drink it immediately before it starts to solidify..

Lentils
My absolute staple for soup making, lentils again are a great source of soluble fibre that helps your blood sugar to stabilize. This means you don’t get those peaks and troughs that can send you hurtling towards the biscuit barrel – oh no, that’s me again – and they also are a good source of protein, folic acid, iron, and magnesium. If you are a fan of the Atkins Diet you will already know that protein can suppress hunger by its slower rate of travel through the digestive system.

Courgettes
Like celery, this is another low density, high fibre, food that can help suppress hunger and a cup of it has only 20 calories. If you are already a fan, then try a new way of using it by making it a replacement for pasta in one of your meals. Using a food processor, or mandolin, cut the courgettes into very thin noodle-like strands and serve with a tomato sauce hot, or with a low calorie salad dressing for a light lunch.

I suppose for maximum appetite suppression you should make a tomato, celery and lentil sauce with courgette noodles to get the maximum flavour, fewest calories and virtually no cholesterol. If you do, let me know what it tastes like!
Health Bite on Xmas Drinks

Usually when trying to lose weight alcohol is the first thing to be cut down on, but how do you celebrate Xmas without the odd sherry or glass of wine? Well, if you are toasting the festive season you might like to remember that the moderate drinking actually can reduce your risk of heart disease. And, as heart disease will kill more women over the age of 65 than all cancers combined, this might seem like good news except that moderate drinking also increases the risk of breast cancer in some women. What to do? Well you could try adding in some vitamin B complex to your regime as that can lower the added risk of getting breast cancer if you drink and always try to have at least one glass of water for every glass of alcohol you have as that will lessen the hangover!

What, and When To Eat For Maximum Health Benefit

One simple way to stay healthy is to pay attention to what we eat, that much we know, and of more of that about a specific part of our diet in the Health Bite at the end of this piece.

Now it seems that when we eat could be just as vital to good health. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has turned the conventional wisdom that our body’s metabolism is controlled by our body’s circadian rhythms –our body clock, but instead it’s our liver that is responsible.

Our liver, which is the body’s metabolic clearing house, contains thousands of genes that wax and wane throughout the day and this process is mostly controlled by our food intake, not our body clock and this has a huge huge impact on our metabolism.

Previously it was thought that people like shift workers, who are unusually prone to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high cholesterol levels and obesity, had these problems because of their shift patterns disrupting their normal circadian rhythm. Now this theory gives them an opportunity to change that as controlling eating and fasting periods can manage the body’s processes much more easily.

We all have a ‘master clock’ in the brain which is set by light and determines our sleep-wake cycles and when we eat. We also have subsidiary clocks in our other organs and they are not affected by light but do keep time through the fall and rise of gene activity on a roughly 24-hour schedule that anticipates environmental changes and adapts many of the body’s physiological function to the appropriate time of day.

This initial research has been done by putting laboratory mice on a strict 8-hour feeding/16-hour fasting schedule and this could be translated into how we eat on a daily basis. For example, genes that encode enzymes needed to break down sugars rise immediately after a meal, while the activity of genes encoding enzymes needed to break down fat is highest when we fast.

How does this help?

If you want to optimize burning fat and sugar, to control weight, you would want your period of ‘fasting’ after a meal high in fat, and all your food intake for a 24 hour period to take place within an 8 hour time frame. The researchers have found that not eating between 8 pm and 8 am works best if you want to lose weight and stay healthy and certainly much naturopathic advice has been not to eat a heavy meal at night, but it might be worth seeing if not eating all during the evening period makes a difference.

Healthy Bite:

So now you know when to eat, and here’s some advice on what not to eat to lose weight and stay healthy. Mount Sinai School of Medicine published their findings in the October/November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and it means throwing away that frying pan, if you haven’t already, and giving up processed foods.

They conclude that simply by stopping frying food you will reduce inflammation in the body, restore its natural defence system, lose weight, possibly increase your lifespan and improve or prevent diabetes, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease.

Wow, and this works no matter what your age or whether you already have a serious disease. The processes of heating, pasteurizing, drying, smoking, frying or grilling food produces harmful toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). When you eat foods subject to any of these processes then the AGEs adhere to tissues and oxidize them. This causes inflammation which can result in numerous diseases.

The new clinical study put their subjects on a diet of only eating food that was poached, stewed or steamed, but with no change in the number of calories they had each day. After four months of this they found that AGE levels, inflammatory markers, and biomarkers of vascular function declined by as much as 60 percent. Kidney patients put on this diet showed a similar reduction but after only one month on the diet.

So if you want to maintain a healthy immune system and avoid inflammatory disease it might be a good idea to follow that poaching, stewing and steaming diet recommendation.

Willing to Pay More For Nutritional Labelling?

Santiago de Compostela is more renowned as a centre of pilgrimage, but it seems they also have a University that is interested in studying food and nutrition.

They recently looked at the labelling of breakfast biscuits and found that people would be willing to pay more for products that carry more detailed nutritional information. Apparently consumers are willing to pay a premium price for products labelled ‘light’ – usually a euphemism for containing sweeteners in my experience – and apparently will pay more for good labelling. The product chosen for analysis was the breakfast biscuit owing to its popularity in Spain, and it’s high fat content, to see if consumers were concerned about what they were eating.

Older readers may remember the breakfast biscuit produced by Huntley and Palmers, and in Georgian times it was not uncommon to have sweet biscuits and tea as the first item of the day, but now we eat chewy cereal bars instead. These are not always as healthy as they seem as they often contain high amounts of fat and sugar, but if the Spanish experiment can encourage manufacturers to be even more forthcoming about their nutritional labelling I am all for it.

How Fish Is Cooked Affects Omega 3 Levels

We know all about the heart benefits of eating fish high in Omega 3, but did you know that how you cook it can seriously affect the levels? Research carried out by the University of Hawaii and was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions on November 20 and found that if you want to get the maximum benefit your fish needs to baked or boiled, rather than fried, salted or dried.

You can also enhance the benefits by adding low-sodium soy sauce or tofu when cooking it. Frying does not generally get many health points and fish is no exception – despite the wonderful crisp batter from my local fish and chip shop – and in fact has several associated health risks.

The researchers studied the intake of various forms of omega 3 including tinned fish, soy products like tofu and shoyu and studied the results.

The Gender Difference

Men with a high Omega-3 intake from fish had a lower risk of death due to heart disease, but women got the same heart protection from both fish and plant sources. The researchers theorised that, for women, eating omega-3s from shoyu and tofu that contain other active ingredients such as phytoestrogens, might have a stronger cardioprotective effect than eating just omega-3s from fish alone. Also, that eating salted and dried fish was a risk factor in women, but not in men.

Before you start shaking that soy sauce bottle, please note that the benefits apply only when using a low salt version as the standard one is very high in salt which can raise blood pressure. You might do better to make tofu a regular part of your diet as that also seemed that eating it also had a cardio-protective effect. Personally I think it’s like eating your school eraser but without the added taste benefit of ink, so soak it in low salt shoyu before using it, or try smoked tofu instead as that has more flavour.

So, banish that frying pan and steam/bake your fish instead for a healthier option. Interestingly they didn’t study microwave cooking, and as this is a very fast way of cooking that essentially steams the food it would have been useful to see if that was also a good method for preserving the Omega 3.

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