September 18, 2013 

Increased animal fat consumption in developing countries is associated with more Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in the Journal ofAlzheimer’s Disease. Researchers analyzed dietary data from populations 65 years and older in Japan and in eight developing countries including India, China, and Brazil. As animal fat and calorie consumption increased, so did obesity rates and prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease. According to the author, mechanisms for dementia risk include increased obesity and increased intake of saturated fat, cholesterol, and iron.

Grant WB. Trends in diet and Alzheimer’s disease during the nutrition transition in Japan and developing countries. J Alzheimers Dis. Published ahead of print September 13, 2013.

These four food groups provide the good nutrition you need. There is no need for animal-derived products in the diet, and you’re better off without them. Be sure to include a reliable source of vitamin B12, such as any common multiple vitamin or fortified foods.

For millennia, the grains humans ate came straight from the stalk. That means they got a carbohydrate package rich in fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, plant enzymes, hormones, and hundreds of other phytochemicals.

Even after we learned how to grind grain, we still got all of the goodness that grains pack in their three layers. Whole grains have a tough, fibrous outer layer called bran that protects the inside of the kernel. The interior contains mostly the starchy endosperm. Its job is to provide stored energy for the germ, the seed’s reproductive kernel, which nestles inside the endosperm. The germ is rich in vitamins, minerals, and unsaturated oils.

The invention of industrialized roller mills in the late 19th century changed what we got from grains. Milling strips away the bran and germ, making the grain easier to chew, easier to digest, and easier to keep without refrigeration (the healthy oils in the germ can turn rancid, giving the grain an off taste). Processing also pulverizes the endosperm, turning it from a small, solid nugget into millions of minuscule particles.

Refining wheat creates fluffy flour that makes light, airy breads and pastries. But there’s a nutritional price to be paid for refined grains. The process strips away more than half of wheat’s B vitamins, 90 percent of the vitamin E, and virtually all of the fiber. It also makes the starch easily accessible to the body’s starch-digesting enzymes.

A growing body of research shows that returning to whole grains and other less-processed sources of carbohydrates and cutting back on refined grains improves health in myriad ways.

Keeping weight in check, being active, and eating a healthy diet can prevent most cases of type 2 diabetes.

There’s good news and bad news about type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult onset diabetes. The bad news? It’s striking people at younger and younger ages, and rates are skyrocketing globally as the population grows heavier and gets less physical activity. The good news? It’s highly preventable.

Keeping weight in check and being physically active can help prevent most cases of the disease. Choosing a diet rich in whole grains and healthy fats adds even more protection—skip the refined grains and sugary soda. Limiting red meat—steak, hamburger, pork chops, and the like—and avoiding processed meat—bacon, hot dogs, and deli meats—can also help lower diabetes risk. Go for healthier protein sources instead, such as nuts, beans, poultry, and fish.

Here are five quick tips to help prevent diabetes:

1. Put exercise first—and put television last. Regular exercise by itself can cut diabetes risk. That it also helps keep weight in check adds even more benefit. Choose things you enjoy and do them every day. Too much television-watching ups diabetes risk—an increase of 20 percent for every 2 hours you watch. So trade some of your sit-time for fit-time.

2. Try to keep weight in check. Being a healthy weight is the best thing you can do to lower your risk of diabetes. Need to lose weight? Getting active and eating a healthy diet, with smaller portions, s-l-o-w-l-y are your best bets.

3. Choose healthy fats and proteins, and skip the red and processed meat. Sure, they’ve got long names, but a diet rich in mono and polyunsaturated fats can help lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Canola oil and olive oil are great choices, as are the fats in avocados, nuts, and seeds. For protein, replace the steaks, chops, hot dogs, and bacon with nuts, beans, poultry, or fish.

4. Focus on plant foods. A diet high in whole grains can help lower the risk of diabetes and keep appetite in check. Choose a good variety of whole grain foods prepared in interesting ways, such as Mollie Katzen’s recipe for couscous-quinoa tabouli.

5. Cut back on refined carbs and sugary drinks. White bread, white rice, white pasta and potatoes cause fast and furious increases in blood sugar, as do sugary soft drinks, fruit punch, and fruit juice. Over time, eating lots of these refined carbohydrates and sugar may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.  To lower your risk—switch to whole grains and skip the sugar, especially the sugary drinks. Drink water, coffee or tea instead.

 The photos above  of the pale blue dot…….”a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam” as Dr Sagan put it. His comments below are worthy reading for all earthlings.

“We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity — in all this vastness — there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It’s been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”

Carl Sagan

SO

It is such a miracle that we are here. The symphony of the Universe and life on earth  is our gift to enjoy and cherish. Honor your body by treating it with respect, nourish your mind and body with good thoughts and good food. That is your responsibility.