Nutrition information is abundant but often confusing. Food, Facts and Fads helps you to separate the sense from the nonsense
“There are around 50 million dementia cases globally, with around 10 million new cases discovered by doctors every year. Alzheimer’s disease makes up 50 to 70 percent of those cases. Its development and progression have links with both genetic and environmental factors, including diet and lifestyle.”
The Mediterranean Diet scores have high marks again when assessed for dietary effects on dementia.
https://studyfinds.org/mediterranean-diet-dementia-alzheimers-disease/
“The epigenome is a network of compounds surrounding our genes, which interacts with our environment, altering gene expression to external influences.”
“Although our DNA code does not change, the epigenome is flexible and reacts to our environment. Beyond helping cells know what to do, the epigenome also responds to things like diet, stress, toxins, behavior, and lifestyle. Our experiences help shape how genes are expressed. It is often referred to as an “on and off switch” that turns on or off certain genes. It is what makes even identical twins different over time.”
Improving vitamin D levels in Older Age is Linked to Lower risk of all-cause Mortality
Sources: BMC Geriatr 22, 245 (2022)
LIfe Extension, Feb. 2023
Judith E. Brown. Nutrition Now, 7th Edition
The participants in this study included 1,362 individuals in the Chinese Longitudinal and Health Longitudinal Survey, aged 60 to 113 whose serum vitamin D levels were measured in 2012 and 2014. Mortality data were collected in 2018.
Deficient vitamin D levels were detected in 67.5% of the participants in 2012 and 68.4% in 2014.
During follow-up, 420 deaths occurred. Individuals who were deficient in vitamin D in 2012 and 2014 had more than twice the mortality risk than those who maintained higher levels.
Among participants who maintained sufficient vitamin D were deficient in 2012 and not deficient in 2014, the risk of dying was 30% and 53% lower, respectively, compared to participants who were deficient at both points in time.
This highlights the need to address vitamin D deficiency in older individuals to support longevity and healthy aging.
Editor’s Note: The greatest benefit associated with improved vitamin D status was found among women and those people who were 80 years of age or older.
What are the primary functions of vitamin D? This fat-soluble vitamin is needed for absorption of calcium and phosphorus needed for bone formation and muscle activity. It inhibits inflammation and is involved in insulin secretion and blood glucose level maintenance. It can be toxic with the long term use of 10,000 IU daily. The RDA is 600 IU for adult women and men; the Upper Tolerable Intake (UL) is 4,000 IU.s or 100 ug.
This highlights the need to address vitamin D deficiency in older individuals. Based on the evidence for bone benefits, however, a nutrition panel recently increased the RDA for vitamin D to 600 IU for people up to age 70 and to 800 IU for those over 70. That’s a fairly sizable boost over the previous recommendations of 200 IU per day through age 50, 400 IU for ages 51 to 70, and 600 IU for ages over 70. They also raised the safe upper limit of daily intake for most age groups from 2,000 to 4,000 IU. to support longevity and healthy aging. 1 microgram vitamin D = 40 IU as both terms are used on supplement labels. It is primarily found only in vitamin D-fortified milk, cereals, and other foods such as fish.
The best way to measure effects of supplemental intake or vitamin D status is by a blood test. Vitamin D3 is the most active form and is made from a form of cholesterol in the skin cells upon exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. See your doctor for guidance.
Source: Medical News Today.
By Katharine Lang, Dec. 13, 2022.
Fact Checked by Hannah Flynn
“Keeping physically healthy can help protect against memory loss and dementia. The NIATrusted Source recommends regular aerobic exercise, and a healthy diet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
In addition, getting the right amount of sleep, socializing, minimizing stress, and keeping health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes under control will help reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
Dr. MacSweeney reiterated this advice:
“It has been shown that as a population we can reduce risk of cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s by adhering to healthy lifestyle habits including exercise, diet (Mediterranean diet high in fish oils) and keep[ing] sugar intake low — the brain hates sugar. High levels of mental and social activity. The brain needs to be exercised just like our bodies to stay in good condition. Avoid excess alcohol and smoking.”
A new studyTrusted Source has also highlighted the importance of vitamin D in preserving cognitive function. In this study of postmortem brains, the brains of people with higher cognitive function before death contained higher levels of vitamin D.
The researchers found that although the higher levels of vitamin D were associated with up to 33% lower odds of dementia symptoms, they were not associated with any decrease in post-mortem dementia neuropathologyTrusted Source.
Therefore, they could not suggest a mechanism for the potentially protective effect of vitamin D, or show a causative link.
They advised that ensuring you get sufficient vitamin D from sunlight and from foods such as oily fish might be beneficial. However, they warned against taking high doses of the vitamin to try and prevent dementia, as this can cause other health problems.
“Engaging in cognitively stimulating activities is also beneficial. We also know that depression and anxiety can negatively impact cognition, so it is important to treat those conditions if present. Maintaining social connections, engaging in meaningful activities, and exercising also help mood, which in turn, can impact cognition. It is not only your body that benefits from exercise, keeping the brain exercised can help preserve your mental abilities well into older age.”
– Dr. Miriam Weber
“Although keeping active and engaged as you age may not prevent dementia, mentally stimulating activities, such as volunteering, reading, playing games, or learning new skills could help lower the riskTrusted Source.
Doing word games, such as crosswords, has long been advocated in the popular press as a means of keeping yourself sharp, but until recently, there has been little evidenceTrusted Source in peer-reviewed journals.
Now, a new study published in NEJM Evidence has demonstrated their efficacy in a small group of people with MCI.
The participants, who had an average age of 71, and some degree of mild cognitive impairment, did either intensive crossword puzzle training or intensive cognitive games training on a computer for 12 weeks. They continued with booster sessions to 78 weeks.
At 78 weeks, crossword puzzles had improved both a primary cognitive outcome measure (ADAS-Cog) and a measure of daily functioning more than cognitive games. More strikingly, brain shrinkage — measured using MRITrusted Source — was less in those who did the crossword training.”
“So, you can reduce your risk of memory issues, but once the memory starts to fail, can the problem be reversed?”So, you can reduce your risk of memory issues, but once the memory starts to fail, can the problem be reversed?
There is some evidence that it may be possible. In a mouse study,Trusted Source researchers managed to reverse memory loss using chondroitin-6-sulphate, a substance that has also been shown to increase lifespan in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. It might have similar effects in people, but has yet to be tested.
In a more recent studyTrusted Source, researchers improved memory function in adults aged between 65 and 88 years using electrical stimulation via a wearable cap.
The researchers found that giving 20 minutes of electrical stimulation on 4 consecutive days led to an improvement in both working memoryTrusted Source and long-term memory for at least 1 month. They could focus the stimulation to affect different types of memory.
Dr. Robert Reinhart, of Boston University, corresponding author on the study, explained: “We developed two brain stimulation protocols — one for selectively improving short-term memory via low-frequency parietal stimulation, and another protocol for selectively improving long-term memory via high-frequency prefrontal stimulation.”
However, the improvement was only tested over one month, so the researchers call for further investigation into whether similar treatments might have a long-term benefit.”
“As we age, many of us will find we experience more frequent memory lapses, but unless these start to interfere with daily functioning, they are unlikely to be a sign of impending dementia.
To minimize the occurrence of memory issues, the advice is to keep active, eat well, look after your health, and stay engaged in lots of social and stimulating activities. And remember, like any part of the body, the brain will function better if it is exercised.
So keep up the daily word puzzle, and for even greater benefit tackle it with a friend. It could well be doing you more good than you realize.”
In the past peanuts were considered too high in fat to eat too many. Now it is now considered a “healthy food”?
If possible check to see where the funding came from. Also check out the MIND diet links if they are found in this article.
A lifestyle change that is worth a try. Most people could not make the old advice of 10,000 steps a day. Add to this the benefits of a healthy diet to give us a more reasonable chance of a healthy lifespan. How about a inexpensive pedometer for Christmas this year?
September 14, 2022
“WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Could the secret to a sharp brain in old age be as simple as taking a daily multivitamin? New joint research from Wake Forest University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital suggests as much. Scientists conclude that multivitamins can improve thinking skills in older individuals and help stave off cognitive decline.
Study authors note that the findings are still preliminary and require further confirmation before any concrete health recommendations can be made. Nonetheless, establishing a new, affordable such as taking a daily multivitamin way to fight cognitive decline and dementia in old age could potentially benefit millions. Today, over 6.5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of dementia), and a staggering one in three senior citizens pass away with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
“There’s an urgent need for safe and affordable interventions to protect cognition against decline in older adults,” says Dr. Laura D. Baker, a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and co-principal investigator of the trial, in a statement. Baker worked alongside Dr. Mark Espeland, also a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest.
This project, named the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study for the Mind (COSMOS-Mind), was funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health. Participants include 21,442 men and women living all over the United States.
Researchers investigated if taking either a daily cocoa extract supplement or a daily multivitamin-mineral supplement would influence health outcomes and risk profiles in relation to heart disease, stroke, cancer, and other health issues. Why cocoa extract? Prof. Baker explains cocoa extract is rich in compounds known as flavanols. Prior research suggests flavanols may have a positive influence on cognition. Moreover, deficiencies in several essential micronutrients and minerals among older adults may increase the risk for cognitive decline and dementia.
The research team tested the daily intake of a placebo versus a cocoa extract supplement, as well as the daily intake of a multivitamin-mineral versus a placebo. Over 2,200 participants, all aged 65 years and older, were tracked for a period of three years. Additionally, subjects completed memory and cognition tests over the phone at baseline and on an annual basis.
“Our study showed that although cocoa extract did not affect cognition, daily multivitamin-mineral supplementation resulted in statistically significant cognitive improvement,” Prof. Baker explains. “This is the first evidence of cognitive benefit in a large longer-term study of multivitamin supplementation in older adults.”
Study authors estimate taking a multivitamin for three years roughly translates to a “60 percent slowing of cognitive decline (about 1.8 years)”. They also note the benefits were especially pronounced among those with significant cardiovascular disease.
“It’s too early to recommend daily multivitamin supplementation to prevent cognitive decline,” Baker concludes. “While these preliminary findings are promising, additional research is needed in a larger and more diverse group of people. Also, we still have work to do to better understand why the multivitamin might benefit cognition in older adults.”
The study is published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The aging process usually does not cause malnutrition in healthy, active adults, but nutritional health can be complicated by physical changes that occur with age, the presence of disease(chronic and acute), economic, psychological and social circumstances. Malnutrition then exacerbates some of these factors, contributing to a downward health spiral from which it is difficult to recover.
Does chronological age always match biological age? According to a recent study, 1500 elderly women aged 64 to 95 years who sit for more than 10 hours a day have cells that are biologically older by 8 years compared to women who are more active. These women had shorter telomeres which are found on the ends of DNA strands. These structures protect chromosomes from degradation and normally shorten with age but more progressively with unhealthy lifestyles such as obesity or smoking.
Aladdin Shadyab. Lead author. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The research was partly funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Longevity appears to not just be due to diet. Lifestyle in general is so important. No one says we have to eat rice and beans every day as they traditionally did in the Blue Zone of Costa Rica. However, there were other factors like keeping active and being social with friends and family. Why not search for the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, to try a more delicious fare?
A DAY of the life of living in a Blue Zone:: Costa Rica
“Aged 94, Saturnino “Sato” Lopez rises early each day, chops wood and takes long walks in a part of Costa Rica that’s a global oddity: like him, people there tend to live a very long time.
Home for Sato is the Nicoya Peninsula, where 1,010 people aged 90 or older live in a so-called “Blue Zone” — five areas around the world where life expectancy is particularly high.
And these people did not move to the peninsula, located in the northwest of Costa Rica. Rather, they have always lived there.
“At my age, I feel well because the Lord gives me strength to walk at ease. I go out, walk maybe a kilometer (around half a mile), or four kilometers, and I return, no problem,” said Lopez.
His house is in a village called Dulce Nombre — Sweet Name — is a sort of nature refuge.
The village’s wood, concrete and stick-and-mud houses are surrounded by vegetation and cicadas drone non-stop. The Covid-19 pandemic has gone easy on this village.
“During the day if I have to sweep the patio, I sweep. If I have to chop wood, I chop, also. A bit of everything,” said Lopez.
Blue Zones –
In the late 20th century, demographer Michel Poulain and a physician named Gianni Pes used a blue marker to highlight on a map the Barbalia region of Sardinia, Italy, where they found people lived a very long time.
In 2005, an American author and National Geographic fellow named Dan Buettner discovered similar characteristics in Loma Linda, California; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan, and Nicoya.
So what is their secret?
“The main food is rice and beans. A bit of meat, fruit, avocado. That is what you eat. They say this is good food,” said Lopez.
His neighbors Clementina Espinoza, 91, and her husband Agustin, 100, follow a similar diet.
Espinoza has outlived six of her 18 children. She walks slowly but steadily, and still tosses corn to her chickens, prepares meals and washes up afterward.
Clementina Espinoza, 91, tends to her garden in Nicoya. She exhibits robust energy in a country where the life expectancy is a mere 80. For the world in general it is 72, the World Health Organization says.
“Out in the countryside, life is quieter,” said Espinoza, insisting that diet is key. “You are more relaxed and there is not so much danger.”
– Having purpose is key –
Having goals is critical to aging well, said Aleyda Obando, who works in the social security administration in Nicoya.
“They thank God for being alive and they make plans, to plant something or go see friends,” said Obando. “It is a combination of factors that makes these people last longer.”
It also helps to have a social support network, exercise, eat healthy food and minimize stress.
“We grew corn, rice, beans, everything. “We grew what we ate,” said Clementina. Now, her daughter Maria looks after her.
Agustin, one of 53 people in the area who are 100 or older, is blind now and suffered a stroke.
– Back in the saddle –
Jose Villegas is another centenarian, who lives in the neighboring village of San Juan de Quebrada Honda, with one of his eight daughters.
He is hoping that when he turns 105 on May 4 he can once again ride a horse — he used to make his living on horseback, herding livestock. But sometimes he has trouble with his legs.
Being 104, he says, “is a big deal because God has given me a lot of life. It was not fantastic but it was not bad, either,” said Villegas, sitting in the house he was born in.
“Now, lifestyles have changed. It is not the same as before. Things used to be healthier, and people loved each other a little bit more,” said Villegas, who became a widower seven years ago and spends his evenings listening to folk music.
Gilbert Brenes, a demographer at the University of Costa Rica, said the Blue Zone’s elderly population may peak in the next 20 or 30 years and then decline.
Younger generations have different diets and suffer more from diseases like obesity and diabetes. And fewer and fewer people grow what they eat.
But Saturnino Lopez, a father of nine, remains active.
“My children say to me, ‘you no longer work. We have to work to support you.’ But I don’t like that, because I know what keeps me going,” he said, referring to physical activity like cutting wood.
“Even if it is just a couple of blows with the machete, that’s enough.”
FOOD, FACTS and FADS 