Archive for the ‘Brain Health’ Category
What Makes Sweet Potatoes A Super Food?
- Image via Wikipedia
For many folks sweet potatoes are a food for the Thanksgiving season and usually no other time. It turns out that sweet potatoes provide an impressive array of nutrients, despite the fact that they are not really potatoes. They are members of the Convolvulaceae family which are plants with trumpet shaped flowers. Sweet potatoes come in 400 different varieties and range in skin color from white to yellow to orange to red to purple. The typical sweet potato has orange flesh and is sometimes called a yam. Folks have been consuming sweet potatoes for about 8,000 years. They were introduced in Europe by Christopher Columbus when he returned from the New World after 1492.
The good news for seniors is that sweet potatoes provide large amounts of the vitamins A and C and the minerals potassium and manganese. To top it off they deliver lots of fiber. Additional nutrients found in sweet potatoes include beta-carotene, copper, and vitamin B-6. Sweet potatoes hold special interest for senior men who need to supplement with beta-carotene, because consuming them on a regular basis may support cognitive function. Sweet potatoes have shown to provide significant support in reeling in some of the markers for diabetes, particularly improved insulin resistance. Finally in a cancer risk study that compared folks in Asia with those in North America and Northern Europe, the folks in Asia who regularly consumed sweet potatoes had a much lower risk of cancer compared with the folks in Northern Europe and North America who did not. For all these good healthy results that come from consuming sweet potatoes the conclusion for senior health is that sweet potatoes really are a super food.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=13d6d2d3-1c4b-4ccb-935a-ceb7b2e49a71)
Weakened Immune System Promotes Infection
- Image by Doramon via Flickr
As seniors age their immune systems decline leaving them more susceptible to a host of infections including those from viruses, fungi, and bacteria. In the case of cancer cells unless the immune system inactivates them or kills them, they will spread and develop into a fully developed malignant tumor. Studies of the pathology of free radicals has shown the link between the damage caused by free radicals and the weakened immune system in aging seniors. For example between 1982 and 1992 deaths due to infectious diseases increased by 22% according to a report in a major American medical publication. The same publication laid much of the blame for this increase on lack of preventative health care.
The good news that seniors can take from this report is that they can take preemptive steps about how to boost immune system. The lack of preventative health care can be reversed by taking simple preemptive aging measures for building immune system. One of the most important steps that seniors can take is to follow a daily antioxidant regimen that includes fruits, vegetables, vitamins, and minerals that protect against free radical pathologies that suppress the immune system. It turns out that free radical pathologies have been implicated in most of the disease processes of aging. The main disease processes of aging include cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, and cataracts as well as other degenerative diseases.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=9e071a27-9369-4d37-947b-08a9b1cbe1cb)
Games To Keep Seniors Healthy
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Regular physical exercise is typically recommended to seniors, in order to promote senior health. In addition to the obvious forms of exercise that involve the entire body there are other types of exercise that do not require total body participation. It turns out that one of these forms of exercise is actually a game, so it tends to be fun. The exercise in this case is provided by playing video games. The Wii video game system that was introduced by Nintendo in 2006 was the first interactive video game, but other major corporations like Microsoft and Sony are planning to enter the field with similar systems.
The benefit of playing interactive video games is due to the fun factor which makes the game a pleasant form of physical rehabilitation for seniors who are afflicted with disease induced disabilities. For example folks who suffer from Parkinson’s disease have regained some of their lost physical abilities after playing interactive video games. People who have suffered strokes or who suffer from diabetic neuropathy have been aided in their recovery by engaging in these interactive video games. Finally, patients with Parkinson’s who suffered from depression had it lifted by participating in the video games. This is good news for seniors who either suffer from such physical disability or who know a senior who does. The path is clear for these seniors to take advantage of this new technology to improve their senior health and enjoy their senior living.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=fd35f950-20fd-461b-8cd8-d6ab28f03933)
Spice For Fostering Seniors’ Memory
- Image by iwishmynamewasmarsha via Flickr
This spice has been used medicinally throughout history in China and India. Both its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects are well known. The folks in India have used it for centuries as both a spice and food preservative. This spice which is a member of the ginger family is the well known spice with the deep-yellow color called turmeric from which curcumin is derived. Curcumin is a multitalented healthy spice because of its many “anti” properties that include antimicrobial, antitumoral, and anticoagulant to mention just a few. In India the seniors who live in the rural districts have the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s disease in the world which is of particular significance for senior health. Recent medical research in America showed in animal tests that those on diets with curcumin showed large reductions in amyloid and other markers for inflammation of the brain.
At the present time while drugs are being developed to combat Alzheimer’s disease seniors can chose to follow the example of the seniors in rural India and add turmeric to your foods. It will spice up your meals and you might find that you develop a taste for Indian curry and dishes prepared with turmeric. Alternately supplements are available with curcumin extracted from tumeric. The better supplements include bromelain or piperine to assist in absorption of curcumin.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d572e0f0-1833-47a3-8712-580a84649fd7)
Get Protection Against Senior Depression
- Image via Wikipedia
Several deteriorating health conditions tend to plague seniors over 65 and rob them of the enjoyment of life in their retirement. The nasty twins that are the enemies of senior health are dementia and depression. This is particularly the case for seniors 65 years of age and older. Both of these conditions have been traced to common vascular risk factors. In a recent study in Europe, over 1,000 elderly persons in that age group were studied over a four year period.
Particular attention was paid to examining them for dementia and depression. After four years about 5% of the elderly had developed dementia. The 95% of the elderly that were free of dementia were tested and found to have higher blood levels of EPA which is an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that is found in fish.
Continuing the study the researchers looked for an association between dementia and depression. In their research they were able to confirm that there is indeed an association between depression and dementia. They identified a common cause of both conditions, because they both share similar vascular risk factors. The good news for seniors looking for ways to preempt aging is that eating fish that are high in EPA content will simultaneously reduce the vascular risk factors for both dementia and depression. Getting sufficient EPA will decrease the risk of depression and dementia and promote senior health.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ddf0149e-a35c-4dbd-9818-f4e632ba7224)
Seniors Need More Vitamin B-12
- Image via Wikipedia
Recent research has identified a serious vitamin B-12 deficiency among many seniors. The researchers estimated that as many as 40% of Americans have low levels of vitamin B-12. Making matters worse some of the drugs used to reduce stomach acid tend to increase the deficiency. In fact more than 20% of seniors over the age of 65 suffer from severe B-12 deficiency. Unfortunately the symptoms of B-12 deficiency may go undetected, because they are subtle. B-12 deficiency has been identified as a link to age-related dementia, cognitive impairment, and depression. Even mild B-12 deficiency may be a contributor to Alzheimer’s disease. Getting adequate B-12 in their diet is obviously a preemptive aging measure that will contribute to senior health.
On the positive side B-12 plays a critical role in breaking down homocystene that contributes heavily to the development of a number of chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke, and rheumatoid arthritis. It turns out that B-12 works synergistically with folic acid to reduce high levels of homocystene. Getting absorption of adequate amounts of B-12 can be a problem for seniors, because of changes in the stomach linings of seniors. This absorption problem means that eating foods that contain B-12 such as meat, milk, and eggs will not help. Taking oral supplements of B-12 may not succeed either, because it is not adequately absorbed. Taking B-12 by injection has its own limitations. Two other approaches offer hope for achieving adequate absorption by seniors. B-12 can be taken sublingually or by one of the newer oral supplements.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e65cc69d-d18a-4c46-b344-716163dd14d1)
Olive Oil Completes the Mediterranean Diet
- Image via Wikipedia
The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet are well known and many folks have adopted the foods that are the basis for it. We know that it is loaded with fruits, vegetables, and omega-3 fatty acids that contribute to cardiovascular health. The Mediterranean diet is probably the ultimate diet necessary to benefit preemptive aging. What is not as well known is that the component that together with the other foods is the source of many of the Mediterranean diet’s health benefits. It turns out that particular compounds in olive oil, namely the olive oil polyphenols, contribute greatly to the diet’s health benefits.
The history of the Mediterranean diet stretches back thousands of years and its health benefits are well documented. This diet is rich in fresh vegetables and fruits, fish, wine, lean meat, whole grains and especially olive oil. The benefits have been documents over many years up to the present time. The health benefits include a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, lower incidences of cancers, and neurological disorders. Recent research has verified that the polyphenols in olive oil, combined with the omega-3 from fish and resveratrol from red wine work synergistically to produce the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b21942de-93e7-4c1f-97ca-e846e88f019e)
Resveratrol’s Twin Brother
- Image via Wikipedia
Studies based on recent plant extract research has discovered a plant extract that is very similar to resveratrol. This plant extract functions in ways similar to resveratrol, because it provides many of the benefits for longevity required for senior health. This compound which is found in minute quantities in grapes and blueberries regulates genes that control the development of diseases that typically affect seniors. Diseases like atheroschlerosis, cancer, diabetes, and systemic inflammation are classic examples of such age-related disorders. This plant extract is called pterostilbene and like resverotrol is a member of the stilbene family of compounds. It turns out that when the two are combined they work synergistically to enhance the good health benefits of resveratrol which is very good news for senior health.
When resverotrol and pterostilbene are combined they activate a person’s longevity genes. Together they act on our longevity genes in a manner that parallels caloric restriction without the obvious and very unpleasant side effect that accompanies caloric restriction. They act at different places to control gene expression. In the case of cancer they turn on the genes that kill cancer cells and turn off the genes that allow cancer cells to spread. They provide similar activity to head off diabetes and memory loss due to aging. Thanks to the availability of combined extracts of both resverotrol and pterostilbene seniors do not have to eat five cups of blueberries and drink 20 bottles of red wine a day.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=88a83dbb-02e9-46ee-baa8-df058421c0c6)
Why Pick Organic over Conventional?
- Image via Wikipedia
The debate over which foods are better for us in terms of conventionally grown produce versus organically grown food continues to rage on as we head into the final months of 2009. The organic food promoters have been making claims from day one that their organically grown food is more nutritious than the food grown by conventional means. Their opponents who promote conventional growing methods respond that it does not make much difference, so the added cost of buying organically grown food is not worth the added cost. In fact one recent study from the United Kingdom compared the results of more than fifty earlier studies that compared the nutritional value of organically grown food against conventionally grown food. The UK study concluded that both methods produced foods with about the same nutritional value for the eight most significant categories. The eight categories included calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, zinc, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, and total soluble solids.
A recently published French review came to an opposite conclusion. It confirmed that organic foods are more nutritious and promote better health compared with the conventional foods, because they have higher mineral content and they have more antioxidants. The data that tipped the balance over to the organic foods were the results of the measurements of pesticide residues and nitrates. The conventionally grown food had 50% more nitrates than the organic foods due to the fertilizer used to increase crop yield. The organic foods had lower pesticide residues than the conventional foods that required the use of pesticides to improve their products marketability. Finally a comparable study from the 2008 Organic Center reported that plant-based organic food had a 25% greater nutrition density compared with conventional food. The higher pesticide residues found in the conventional foods by both the French and United Kingdom studies raises a red flag in terms of senior health. Pesticide exposure may be responsible for the senior disease of Parkinson’s, so it would be wise for seniors to consume foods with the least amount of pesticide residue. For example blood tests performed on subjects who had switched over to organic food for less than a week found sharp reductions in levels of several pesticides.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=29c14ede-d429-4ce1-8f52-ec0e02aa8143)
Dynamic Duo for Brain Health
- Image via Wikipedia
Maintaining brain health in the senior years is a goal well worth achieving. Of the dreaded diseases that strike seniors the ones that incapacitate the brain are among the most cruel. Among the diseases of the brain, Alzheimer’s disease is one of the worst. Beta-amyloid deposits that cause the buildup of plaque are the precursor of oxidative stress and cell damage that leads to an increased risk for Alzheimer’s. Recent research in the laboratory using a combination of curcumin and vitamin D3 was shown to provide an immune system boost which would protect the brain against beta-amyloid.
The immune system is organized to protect the body against the precursors of diseases so the researchers investigated using either vitamin D3 or curcumin or both in their study for boosting the immune system. One of the tools that the immune system uses to absorb and eject unwanted visitors is the macrophages. In this case vitamin D3 apparently improves the macrophages’ ability to absorb the beta-amyloid. The other half of the dynamic duo, curcumin, apparently improves the macrophages’ ability to hold on to the beta-amyloid until it can eject it. Based on the lab results, the researchers concluded that the combination of curcumin and vitamin D3 may assist the immune system in clearing out the plaque that causes Alzheimer’s.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=fbd0f403-2427-434f-b7bb-bdb14010431e)