Category Archives: Diet

Catch Up I: Dementia Signs, Microbiome & Brain, Processed Foods & More

Posted on by

Here we set out five brief posts concerning links which either bring up to date earlier posts on Strong Brain, or which are simply of interest in and of themselves.

☞ Signs: Onset of Dementia

Our recent post Distilled: Signs of the Onset of Dementia listed 18 possible signs of the onset of dementia. The excellent article Recognizing Alzheimer’s Disease adds to that by providing a discussion of early warning signs and a view of diagnosis.

Category: Diagnosis & Tests

☞ Microbiome & Brain

Quite recently, it has become apparent that the microbiome (all the microbes resident in an organism) can affect the brain, including the amount of amyloid beta clumps and exhibition of autistic behaviors. Much of the work has been done with mice (surprise!), but some also on humans. This is a quite interesting article on these investigations:
Germs in Your Gut Are Talking to Your Brain. Scientists Want to Know What They’re Saying.

Category: Neuro-Psych

☞ More on Processed Foods

Recently we published a somewhat lengthy post Best To Avoid Over-Processed Foods. The article below adds to that post:
What’s so bad about processed foods? Scientists offer clues.

Category: Diet

☞ Cancer Treatment and Dementia

A very large U.S. study of prostate cancer patients in their 70’s demonstrates a notable increased risk of Alzheimer’s among patients who received Androgen Deprivation Therapy.
Dementia tied to hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatment
Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer Tied to Dementia
Original research:
Association Between Androgen Deprivation Therapy Use and Diagnosis of Dementia in Men With Prostate Cancer

Category: Risk Factors

☞ Dementia Screening During Wellness Exams

The article Alzheimer’s Screenings Often Left Out Of Seniors’ Wellness Exams discusses the situation vis-a-vie dementia screening during annual wellness exams for seniors. The number of seniors experiencing them, and the number of physicians administering them, are relatively low, for a variety of reasons discussed in the article. Most likely, large-scale routine screening won’t be happening until a moderately inexpensive blood test is widely available.

Category: Diagnosis & Tests

Each group of links has been added to the indicated category.

Category: Alzheimers/Dementia, Diagnosis & Tests, Diet, Neuro-Psych, Risk Factors

Once Again, Lifestyle Counts

Posted on by

Another new study, involving 196,383 UK adults age 60 and older, has re-confirmed the importance of following healthy lifestyles for lowering your dementia risk — even if you have a high genetic risk for dementia. The study results showed a statistically significant difference: 1.13% of those with a healthy lifestyle developed dementia later in life compared with 1.78% of those with a less healthy lifestyle. The definition of healthy lifestyle included the following:

  • avoid smoking tobacco
  • be physically active
  • drink alcohol in moderation, or not at all
  • healthy diet: following recommendations on dietary priorities for cardiometabolic health

Here are three media articles on the study:
Your lifestyle can lower your dementia risk, even if you have high genetic risk, study says
Healthy lifestyle may offset genetic risk of dementia
Is healthy lifestyle associated with lower risk of dementia regardless of genetic risk?
The study was simultaneously presented at the 2019 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference together with JAMA publication here:
Association of Lifestyle and Genetic Risk With Incidence of Dementia

Another study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association Conference looked at similar issues. It tracked 2,765 individuals over about 10 years, rating them 1 point for maintaining each of the following healthy behaviors:

  • a low-fat diet
  • did not smoke
  • exercised at least 150 minutes each week at moderate-to-vigorous levels
  • drank moderately
  • engaged in some late-life cognitive activities

Those who rated 4 or 5 (i.e., participated in 4 or 5 of the healthy behaviors) were were 60% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s compared with participants who rated only 0 or 1 (i.e. participated in none or one of the healthy behaviors). The results did not vary by race or gender.
Here are two media articles on the work (formal publication is not yet available):
It May Be Possible to Counter Some of the Genetic Risk of Alzheimer’s With These Lifestyle Changes
Doing these five things could decrease your risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent, new study says

All links have been added to Alzheimers > Amelioration/Prevention, Alzheimers > RiskFactors, Alzheimers > Mental Exercise, Health > Diet, and to Health > Physical Exercise.

Category: Alzheimers/Dementia, Amelioration/Prevention, Diet, Mental Exercise, Physical Exercise, Risk Factors

Say Bye Bye To Supplements

Posted on by

Americans spend over $30 billion each year on dietary supplements, basically vitamins, minerals and herbal products. Yet there has been little evidence of the values of these supplements for normally healthy people. Now there are accumulating studies which show that for normally healthy people, most all of these supplements provide no significant value, and in some cases may even do harm.

Here are two media articles on the most recent of these studies:
There’s even more evidence that taking supplements is a waste of money — and could be harmful to your health
Nutrients from food, not supplements, linked to lower risks of death, cancer
And here is a link to the study itself:
Association Among Dietary Supplement Use, Nutrient Intake, and Mortality Among U.S. Adults: A Cohort Study

Here are posts about supplements from the American Heart Association and Johns Hopkins doctors:
Vitamin Supplements: Hype or Help for Healthy Eating
Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins?
This is a link to the original editorial by the Hopkins doctors:
Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

As discussed in FDA: Stop Making False Claims For Supplements, the FDA recently sent out warning letters to supplement manufacturers telling them to stop claiming anti-Alzheimer’s benefits from their products. Because the FDA has limited ability to regulate the supplements industry, the situation has be come bizarre:
Nearly 800 dietary supplements contained unapproved drug ingredients, study finds
Original study:
Unapproved Pharmaceutical Ingredients Included in Dietary Supplements Associated With US Food and Drug Administration Warnings

All links have been added to Alzheimer’s > Amelioration/Prevention > Vitamins & Select Foods.

Category: Diet, Vitamins & Supplements

Best To Avoid Over-Processed Foods

Posted on by

Processed foods typically contain lots of additives, especially sodium (salt) and sugars. Of course, to a certain extent, that’s why they are so tasty. But the more over-processed foods are definitely not so healthy for you. Two recent studies drive that home. The first shows that the more processed food you consume, the greater your chances of early death due to heart disease, cancer, and other causes. The second (small-scale, but a randomized controlled trial) showed that eating highly processed foods tends to lead one to consume more calories.

Below we present two groups of media articles and links for these two studies. Then at the end of this post, we present a group of articles discussing what are and are not highly processed foods.

Over-/Ultra-processed food consumption can lead to early death.

The study relating ultra-processed food consumption to early death involved 44,551 French adults age 45 and older, for two years, with average age 57; almost 73% of the participants were women. Each subject provided 24-hour dietary records every six months, and also completed questionnaires about their health, physical activities and sociodemographics. Using these records, the researchers calculated each participant’s overall dietary intake and consumption of ultraprocessed foods, finding that ultraprocessed foods accounted for more than 14% of the weight of total food consumed and about 29% of total calories. For every 10% increase in the proportion of ultraprocessed foods in a subject’s diet, the risk for all-causes death increased by 14%.

Here are links to media articles about the study:
Avoiding ‘ultraprocessed’ foods may increase lifespan, study says
Consuming Ultraprocessed Food Tied to Higher Mortality
Study: ‘Ultraprocessed’ Foods Are Accelerating Your Risk Of Early Death
New French study explores risks of ultra-processed food

Here are links to the research article abstract:
Association Between Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Risk of Mortality Among Middle-aged Adults in France
Association Between Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Risk of Mortality Among Middle-aged Adults in France.

Ultra-processed food diets bulk you up.

Twenty experimental subjects stayed at an NIH center and had meals provided to them. For 14 days they had highly ultra-processed meals, and for 14 days they ate minimally processed foods. The basic meals contained the same amount of sugars, fiber, fat and carbohydrates, but the participants were allowed to eat as much as they liked, by taking extra or fewer helpings. The participants all exercised about the same amount each day throughout the study.

When on the ultra-processed diet, people ate faster, yet consumed about 500 calories more per day (by taking extra helpings) than they did while on the unprocessed diet; this increase in calories was due to higher quantities of carbohydrates and fat but not protein. Consequently, when on the ultra-processed diet, participants gained weight — on average, about 2 pounds. While on the diet of unprocessed foods, they lost an equal amount of weight. The study authors concluded that the ultraprocessed foods caused people to eat too many calories and gain weight.

Here are links to media articles about this study:
Overprocessed foods add 500 calories to your diet every day, causing weight gain
Processed foods lead to weight gain, but it’s about more than calories
New study says processed foods make us crave more calories
Processed food leads people to eat more and put on weight, study finds
First-of-its-kind trial finds processed food causes overeating, but researchers not sure why

Here is the research article:
Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake

What are ultra-processed foods?

Here are a number of media articles and articles from health-related organizations, all discussing what should count as “ultra-processed” foods, and how to diminish their proportion in one’s diet:

Eating processed foods
Can Processed Foods Be Part of a Healthy Diet
‘Detox’ from overly processed foods: Why and how to cut back
What is ultra-processed food and how can you eat less of it?
Processed Foods: 5 Reasons to Avoid Them
Not all processed foods are unhealthy

All links have been added to Health > Diet.

Category: Diet, Health

Your Brain On Alcohol

Posted on by

No definitive smoking gun on alcohol use has yet been presented, but the evidence leans heavily against it. Two very large direct studies and one huge meta study have recently appeared, and they largely point to increased risk of dementia as well as of cardiometabolic disease (includes stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes).

Media articles:
No healthy level of alcohol consumption, says major study
There’s no risk-free amount of alcohol, population-level study finds
Study:
Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Media articles:
Heavy Drinking Tied to Early-Onset Dementia in French Study
Study:
Contribution of alcohol use disorders to the burden of dementia in France 2008–13: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

Media article:
Both long term abstinence and heavy drinking may increase dementia risk
Editorial:
Relation between alcohol consumption in midlife and dementia in late life (Editorial)
Study:
Alcohol consumption and risk of dementia: 23 year follow-up of Whitehall II cohort study

All of the links have been added to Alzheimers > Risk Factors and Health > Diet

Category: Alzheimers/Dementia, Diet, Health, Risk Factors

Mediterranean Diet Appears to Prolog Life in Elderly

Posted on by

It’s already well-known that the Mediterranean Diet appears to be quite beneficial for heart health, and to aid in resisting atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes:

Mediterranean diet: A heart-healthy eating plan

What’s to know about the Mediterranean diet?

In addition, the Mediterranean Diet has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of dementia:

Mediterranean Diet: Better than ever for your Brain

Mediterranean/MIND Diet Seriously Fights Alzheimer’s/Dementia

Now, a new study has suggested that adopting the Mediterranean Diet, even in old age, can prolog life. Here are two media articles on the study, together with a link to the study abstract:

Adopting Mediterranean diet in old age can prolong life, study suggests

Mediterranean Diet Could Help Older Adults Prolong Life, Study Says

Mediterranean diet and mortality in the elderly: a prospective cohort study and a meta-analysis

All three links have been added to Aging and Health > Diet

Category: Aging, Diet, Health

Added Sugar: Again The Bad Guy — It Can Kill

Posted on by

Sugar is definitely not too good for your health. We’ve collected a number of media articles about the bad effects of added sugar in our diets. The articles contain references to the original research publications.

Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying with heart disease
Sweet Stuff: How Sugars and Sweeteners Affect Your Health
How Does Too Much Sugar Affect Your Body?
More Proof Sugar Can Kill
Is Sugar Really Bad for You? It Depends

All the links have been added to Health > Diet

Category: Diet

Diet Soda And Dementia And Stroke

Posted on by

Just about a year ago, a study examining the associations of drinking artificially sweetened soda drinks made something of a splash. The study found that people consuming at least a can of so-called diet drinks every day were 2.96 times more likely to suffer an ischaemic stroke and 2.89 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who drank them less than once a week. The study — like many — could not establish a causal relationship either way, only a definite association. But “the best current evidence suggests that when it comes to reducing your risk of dementia, what is good for your heart is also good for your head.”

Here are four media articles about the work:
Stroke and dementia risk linked to artificial sweeteners, study suggests
Diet sodas may be tied to stroke, dementia risk
Is soda bad for your brain? (And is diet soda worse?)
Diet Soda and Dementia: What You Need to Know
Here is a link to the research publication:
Sugar- and Artificially Sweetened Beverages and the Risks of Incident Stroke and Dementia
And here is a link to a collection of expert researcher reactions to the publication:
expert reaction to artificially-sweetened fizzy drinks, stroke and dementia

The links have all been added to Alzheimers > Risk Factors and Health > Diet.

Category: Alzheimers/Dementia, Diet, Health, Risk Factors

Why Fiber is Good For You

Posted on by

Dieticians have maintained that fiber (typically from fruits and vegetables) is an essential part of our diet, and that a high-fiber diet has many health benefits, including lower risk for developing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, as well as lowering blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels (Health benefits of dietary fiber). Now evidence is coming in as to why that is the case: fiber (that resists digestion by the body’s digestive system) is readily eaten by bacteria in the gut — fiber feeds the gut’s microbiome. Keeping the microbiome in good shape is essential for the proper functioning of the gut.

Here are two media article discussing both studies (which were carried out with mice, but will apply to human systems too):
Fiber Is Good for You. Now Scientists May Know Why.

PSA from your gut microbes: Enjoy the holidays, but don’t forget your fiber

And here are the two original studies:
Bifidobacteria or Fiber Protects against Diet-Induced Microbiota-Mediated Colonic Mucus Deterioration

Fiber-Mediated Nourishment of Gut Microbiota Protects against Diet-Induced Obesity by Restoring IL-22-Mediated Colonic Health

All four links have been added to Aging and Health > Diet.

Category: Aging, Diet

Alzheimer’s Linked To Sugar & Diabetes

Posted on by

A new longitudinal investigation studied 5,189 people over 10 years. It found that people with high blood sugar had a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar. This was true whether or not their blood-sugar level technically made them diabetic. In other words, the higher the blood sugar, the faster the cognitive decline.

Below are three media articles about the study:
The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer’s
Faster Cognitive Decline Tied to Hyperglycemia
Diabetes link to long-term mental decline

And here is a link to the formal study itself:
HbA1c, diabetes and cognitive decline: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

These four links have all been added to Health > Diet and Alzheimer’s > Risk Factors.

Category: Diet, Risk Factors
Older Entries →