New Research Study Indicates Wild Blueberries Improve Brain’s Processing Speed

In a recently published study where volunteer participants with cognitive issues consumed wild blueberries daily for six months, it was found that the speed at which the participants could process information increased. Cognitive processing speed is defined as the speed at which our brains process information and use it to help us operate effectively in the world – a basic cognitive ability that is known to decrease with advancing age. The findings from this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial were just published in Nutritional Neuroscience, an International Journal on Nutrition, Diet, and Nervous System. (1)

NEW Research on Wild Blueberries & Cognitive Function

There has been great scientific interest in the possible link between blueberries and cognition since 1999, when initial studies were first published. Collective evidence over the 20+ years that scientists have been examining various facets of the blueberry-brain relationship suggests that the tiny blue fruit does have brain-healthy characteristics, and that eating blueberries daily may be a practical and effective way to help maintain cognitive health. 

This most recent study, conducted by Carol L. Cheatham, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and her team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI), focused on the impact of daily wild blueberry consumption over a period of 6 months—the longest and largest cognitive intervention study on wild blueberries to date. Dr. Cheatham and her team carefully screened older adults (age 65-80yr) according to presence and degree of cognitive impairment, as well as things like age and gender. A reference group of 43 individuals had no cognitive impairment, and 86 individuals who were experiencing cognitive decline were divided into either the wild blueberry powder group or the placebo powder group. Participants were instructed to consume the powder daily and monitored monthly. At the end of the 6 months, multiple cognitive tests were given to the participants, including ERP testing, which involves placing electrodes on the scalp to reveal electrical signals from the brain during cognitive tasks.

The Results:

Analysis of the large amount of data Dr. Cheatham obtained during the study revealed that processing speed did improve in those participants who received the wild blueberry treatment, and that the greatest effect was in those aged 70-74. This finding suggests that not only do there appear to be cognitive effects from consuming the berries themselves, but that their consumption over time may also be an important factor. 

Dr. Cheatham, who consumes wild blueberries daily for her own brain health, had this to say about the results: “Eating wild blueberries to prevent cognitive decline seems preferable to waiting until after the brain starts to suffer from aging. Now that we know daily consumption of wild blueberries can help with cognitive decline, we are keen to study whether consumption can also prevent decline if started when the brain is still young and healthy. I know I wish I would have started earlier. Eat wild early and often!”

Brain-boosting Benefits For All Ages

The foods we choose to eat can impact our cognitive health and brain function. Although the results in this study were most pronounced in the 70-74 years old age group, previous research indicates that there are cognitive benefits from wild blueberry consumption for people in other age groups as well, such as children as young as 7-10 years old. A 9% increase in reaction speed was observed in these children following the consumption of a wild blueberry drink compared to those consuming a placebo drink—with no trade-off in answer accuracy. The authors of that study said these results indicated an improvement in information processing speed. (2) While the study with children was an acute (short-term) intervention, the results reinforce the connection between wild blueberries and cognitive processing speed. 

This new paper by Dr. Cheatham and her team adds to the growing list of publications documenting clinical benefits of flavonoid-rich wild blueberries on selected aspects of cognition. For information about other studies on wild blueberries and cognitive health, check out the Brain Health section of the website. For more on the new study, see the press release.

Sources:

(1) Carol L. Cheatham, L. Grant Canipe III, Grace Millsap, Julie M. Stegall, Sheau Ching Chai, Kelly W. Sheppard & Mary Ann Lila (2022) Six-month intervention with wild blueberries improved speed of processing in mild cognitive decline: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial.Nutritional Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1080/1028415X.2022.2117475
(2) Whyte, A. R., Schafer, G., & Williams, C. M. (2017). The effect of cognitive demand on performance of an executive function task following wild blueberry supplementation in 7 to 10 year old children. Food & Function, 8(11), 4129–4138. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7fo00832e

Questioning Nutritional Research: Do We Need More Studies About Health & Nutrition?

Just before the debut of his now-popular TV show The Doctors, pediatrician Jim Sears talked to Wild About Health about wild blueberries, nutrition, and nutritional research. He reminded us that 200 years before we even knew what Vitamin C was, sailors ate lemons and limes to help prevent scurvy while they were at sea. While the sailors didn’t know the science behind what they were doing, they did know their health improved when they did it.

In some ways, consumers today are very much like those sailors. We know that the reason wild blueberries are so healthy has a lot to do with their high antioxidant capacity. But why does that help us live longer? Is it a mysterious, super-powerful anthocyanin, or is it, more likely, a balance of many compounds that work together? What else is there in wild blueberries that we haven’t even discovered yet? And if we already know they are good for us, is it really important to know why?

The Buzz About Phytos

A large amount of today’s interest in food nutrition revolves around phytonutrient (also known as phytochemical) research. The term “phytonutrients” is used to refer to the many compounds in plants that give them color, flavor and resistance to disease. They are the micronutrients beyond the more commonly known nutrients, such as proteins,fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Some of the phytonutrients in fruits and vegetables work to provide disease protection, some act as anti-inflammatories, and some activate genes that fight cancer.

While we are used to associating foods with certain vitamins and minerals (a banana is known to be high in potassium, for example) we are less likely to associate foods with one of the hundreds of phytonutrient compounds that work to defend us against specific diseases and help us live longer. Some day, as research accumulates, perhaps we will. You may even recognize a few now (we have discussed them many times on this blog). They include anthocyanins, known for their ability to stop free radical damage, pterostilbene, known for its cholesterol lowering properties and resveratrol, known for its heart healthy properties. Wild blueberries, for example, contain nearly 100 of these compounds. They are concentrated in the berry’s intensely-colored skin, and they provide them with their blue color.

Fruits and vegetables demand attention in the lab and on our plates largely because of phytos. Researchers attempt to isolate them and understand the mechanism that prevents disease, some in order to treat disease more effectively, others with the goal of putting them into supplement form and selling them to consumers. No matter the objective, scientific research is a long and often difficult road, requiring the time and funds to replicate studies and gather data that turns cutting edge science into common knowledge. Even when there is enough evidence to support that a certain phytonutrient works specifically to fight disease in a certain part of the body, we still may not understand exactly how.

Phytonutrients contain mysteries that are yet to be uncovered. But if we already know that fruits and vegetables that contain phytos are good for us, why must we know more? Why not leave research in the lab, and continue to be like those sailors at sea?

1) Finding the Right Dose 

According to Dr. Robert Krikorian, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at University of Cincinnati, dose is an important issue in the ongoing studies into nutrition. His research into the connection between wild blueberries and cognitive ability indicates that there are reasons to believe lower, easily achievable doses can be effective in treating disease. That means regular servings of fruits and vegetables – not super doses or supplementations – are enough to make positive changes and correct deficits that are the result of a poor diet over time.

Krikorian’s message is an important one for those who may feel moderate amounts of berries, for example, won’t make a difference to their health. They may give up on nutritional efforts altogether because they are unable to afford healthy foods, have little access to them, or are not motivated enough to eat them. Understanding the power of doses, through nutritional research, can make big differences in how we think about food and how we act to mitigate today’s nutritional challenges.

2) Providing Doctors with Confidence

When doctors are armed with evidence that nutritional behaviors work, they will have the confidence to prescribe healthy food to patients faced with preventable and reversible disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, and a myriad of others. While diet suggestions can be common in the doctor’s office, the shift to making food a disease prevention Rx has yet to reach its tipping point.

The growing body of evidence that diet has the potential to reduce chronic disease risk and promote healthy aging can reinforce, for doctors and consumers alike, that food can in fact be used as medicine. Doctors routinely come face to face with patients dealing with the repercussions of being overweight, for example – much of one’s risk of Type 2 diabetes depends on weight. According to Dr. Daniel Nadeau, Medical Director of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Associates of Maine’s York Hospital, preventing and even treating chronic disease that results from excessive weight begins with food choices. For his patients, he depends on food as prescription, and inspires them with his knowledge that making better choices works.

3) Understanding Gene Expression 

While we have yet to offer widespread access to individual gene mapping, soon it will be commonplace. Mapping our genome can help us find out whether we are at risk for certain diseases so we can take action. Because research indicates that phytonutrients act on gene expression, eating the right foods to provide a defense for health vulnerabilities can help us proactively prevent or delay disease.  If you have a family history of Alzheimer’s, for example, early research indicates that eating wild blueberries could help prevent and delay the onset of damage to the brain as you age.

Studies conducted by Dr. Dorothy Klimis-Zacas, Professor of Clinical Nutrition and lead researcher from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine, Orono, have shown wild blueberries may help prevent vascular complications associated with hypertension and they may also affect gene expression. She and her team found that the berry may aid in the maintenance of a functional endothelium – the thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels. While this may seem like arcane information only of interest to those in lab coats, in fact, studies like these are helping provide the key to our future cardiovascular health. Understanding that it is not simply antioxidants in wild blueberries that provide the benefit but the action of a certain bioactive compound can help us unlock the door to a major health concern.

Until We Know More 

Even without a map of your genome or an Rx from your doctor, it’s smart to begin a healthy diet of daily servings of functional foods to provide a path to prevention. Beginning a healthy eating regimen before disease sets in is more effective than waiting until the damage is done.  And, while studies that aim to isolate phytonutrients in foods and identify the mechanism behind their benefit are ongoing, one thing is certain: a diet that includes a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables, particularly those with deep pigments, can improve health, prevent disease, and promote healthy aging. Study after study confirms it. There is simply no reason to wait for researchers to compile more evidence to start implementing this advice now, whether we fully understand the science behind it or not.

Recent Studies You Should Know About

In Maine, the Bar Harbor Group dedicates itself to continuing nutritional research as it relates to berries. Each year, researchers and scientists from around the country gather to share ongoing research and findings about nature’s most promising foods. In past years, presentations have included research involving disease prevention and anti-aging, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. We’ll keep you posted about this year’s summit, which took place this summer.

Wild Blueberries May Protect DNA From Damage
Juice made from wild blueberries may reduce oxidative damage to DNA by around 3% and decrease the risk of cardiovascular and degenerative diseases, suggests new data.

Berry Pigments Show Heart Health Benefits
Increased intakes of anthocyanins – antioxidant pigments from fruit and vegetables – may reduce blood vessel hardening and improve overall heart health, says a new study.

Study Unlocks Cholesterol-lowering Activity of Blueberry
The potential cardiovascular benefits of blueberry may be related to the berries’ anthocyanins interacting with bile acids to promote cholesterol reduction, suggests data from a study with hamsters.

Read more of the most recent research into the benefits of blue, including studies about vision, gut health, cancer prevention, and diabetes. 

Brain Palace: TEDMED Shares 2012 Video

The 2012 TEDMED Conference, modeled after the famed TED talks, gathered thinkers and doers from around the world this past April to share exciting ideas and innovations in the fields of health and medicine.

Some videos from the conference, which was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and streamed live to audiences nationwide, have been made available to the public so an even wider population of people can take part in the presentations that addressed issues affecting all Americans, including innovations in disease prevention and cure, health care considerations and management, and pioneering ideas in diagnostics, genetics, medications and social issues.

If you are a health and medicine geek, you’ll want to browse the topics of these dynamic talks. Here are just some of the videos now online with ties to some of Wild About Health’s most talked about topics:

  • Judith Salerno & John Hoffman talk about the consequences of the obesity epidemic.
  • David Kirchhoff, the CEO of Weight Watchers talks about living and coping with today’s new “obsogenic” environment and why obesity isn’t about eating too much.
  • Bud Frazier & Billy Cohn discuss the continual flow heart pump.
  • Franziska Michor investigates how to use math to decipher how cancer grows and how we can computationally crack the cancer code.

And there’s plenty more from this year and past years, including videos with Lance Armstrong, Dr. Oz and others. (Check out Calvin Harley and Elissa Epel’s 2011 presentation on how psychological stress causes our cells to age.)

See all TEDMED videos from 2012 and beyond.

Love all things health and science? Wildbluberries.com’s new web site has wealth of information to explore, including information about antioxidants, the latest research into the benefits of wild blueberries, and how to better understand the Glycemic Index.

Double Rainbow: What We Talk About When We Talk About Color

One of the best ways to stay healthy and prevent disease is to eat from the rainbow. That means choosing foods that represent all the colors of the spectrum. Research continues to pile on the evidence to support the color concept. In fact, in tests conducted on rats fed different colored diets, rats fed a strictly white diet not only didn’t thrive, but they died—within three months.

The greatest number of healthful compounds can be found in the most colorful foods. Naturally bright hues prevent aging and disease and keeping our brains, our skin, and our hearts healthy. Available to our cavemen counterparts and on colorful, noticeable display to birds and animals, color sends a clear signal: nutrients can be found here. But what are we really taking in when we eat colorful foods?

Color 101

Plants are colorful because of pigments, which fall into two categories: carotenoids and anthocyanins. Carotenoids are at the yellow-orange-red end of the spectrum. They are found in foods like carrots and tomatoes and are also in leafy greens (they’re just covered by the green of chlorophyll). Anthocyanins are at the red-blue end of the color spectrum. There are over 300 types of anthocyanins, and they are found in a lot of the foods we eat, but they are on brightest display in berries and deep blue and purple colored fruits and vegetables.

Pigments serve as a food’s own personal SPF. They block the UV light that they are exposed to every day, protecting themselves from the free radicals that are produced by the sun – a result of photosynthesis. Just as they protect the plant, so do they protect us as when we eat them.

Just for Hue

Anthocyanin pigments give blueberries their intense blue color – a hue that is almost black, especially in high skin-to-pulp ratio wild blueberries. Blueberries can have as many as 25-30 different types of anthocyanins, and they have them in large concentrations. In studies, rats fed these colorful blueberries were shown to have better physical performance, better communication, fewer damaged proteins in the brain, and better cognitive function.

Recently, new Parkinson’s research has determined a connection between anthocyanin and Parkinson’s disease. Scientists found in preliminary research that the flavonoids in berries could be a key to prevention. While general flavonoids found across many different foods showed a positive link to prevention in men, anthocyanins found in blueberries protected both men and women from the disease, leading researchers to believe that anthocyanin-rich berries made the difference.

Anthocyanins and Cholesterol

Anthocyanins have been found to prevent a key step in atherogenesis: oxidation of low-density lipoproteins, or LDLs. Red pigments seem to retard the bad cholesterol and reduce platelet clumping, which guards against clots.

Anthocyanins and Blood Vessels

Anthocyanins also act as powerful antioxidants, known to fight aging, cancer and heart disease.  They have been found to prevent oxidation which has implications for vascular disease, and they have also been found to relax blood vessels, reducing chances of heart attack.

Anthocyanins and Cancer

According to cancer prevention research, anthocyanins can inhibit the growth of tumor cells by slowing the growth of pre-malignant cells, and encouraging cancer cells to die off faster. They are also found to have an effect on reducing the precursors that initiate cancerous tumors.

The journal Molecular Cancer found that a special anthocyanin found in the skins of deeply colored vegetables and berries known as Cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G) can contribute to decreasing the health-damaging free radicals, and new studies have found that anthocyanins found in black raspberries may inhibit colon cancer cells.

Color Your World!

If you are looking to increase your anthocyanin intake, and you should be, look to berries: wild blueberries, black berries, black raspberries and chokeberries top the list. Other great sources include red grapes, blackcurrant, and eggplant.

A surprising source for anthocyanins is black rice rumored to increase in popularity 2011 (along with mobile TV and bolder beer) due to its Mediterranean diet cache combined with its high anthocyanin content. It’s just one more way to start embracing color by putting an anthocyanin-rich rainbow on your plate.

Plate of Prevention: Should Your Food Be Treating You?

Scientists and researchers around the world are engaged in finding cures for disease. They are isolating components in food that could help prevent cancers and diseases of aging, they are engaged in clinic trials of pharmaceuticals, and they are studying the mechanisms of the body to discover how and why diseases occur to make strides toward prevention.

While this worthwhile research persists, the irony is that every day we can be part of treatment and prevention of disease. After all, we eat at least three times a day. Why wouldn’t we be using that opportunity to do what thousands of researchers are in their labs trying to do?

Since the late eighties we’ve heard the term “functional food” – food with health-promoting or disease-preventing property. More recently were introduced to the concept of superfoods – foods like blueberries with a particularly high concentration of phytonutrients. But we often think of those foods as isolated and special, categorized as such for their unique nutritional power.

Instead, perhaps we should be viewing all our food as poised to improve or deteriorate our health. Do you see your meals as disease preventing measures, or simply sustenance and enjoyment?

How We View Food

A recent report from the Hartman Group, a research and marketing firm that focuses on health and wellness, sheds a little light on our views about wellness, including how we view food when it comes to treatment and prevention. According to the report, consumers are more apt to see foods as useful in preventing health issues rather than treating problems. The report includes the following data:

  • 56% use foods to prevent high cholesterol; 30% to treat it.
  • 46% use food to prevent cancer; 10% to treat it.
  • 41% use food to prevent high blood pressure; 15% to treat it.
  • 27% use food to treat osteoporosis; 10% to treat it.

Interestingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, when it comes to being overweight or obese, it’s the exception to the rule of prevention-not-treatment. Nearly equal numbers of respondents said they’re using foods to prevent excessive weight or treat it.

Food as Treatment

There are plenty of authors and nutritionists that advocate the use of food (whole foods that are readily available, not herbs and tinctures) as treatment for disease and ailments by urging us to choose the right foods or food combinations. From white turnip fasts for fibroids to cabbage for depression, advocates say we can prevent addiction, allergies, even ADD, in addition to cancers and heart disease.

There are undisputed ways of treating disease with food as well. Celiac disease is treated by adopting a gluten-free lifestyle, for example. Diabetes has long been known to be a nutritional disease despite non-food treatments. A recent follow-up study by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health
indicates that people with metabolic syndrome may be able to reverse symptoms (in as sense, treat them) through diet. The potential of reversing cognitive ability and other diseases of aging are currently being researched as well and hold fascinating potential for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, age-related memory loss, even neurodengenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.

We also tend to see aging as a disease to be treated. According to the Hartman group study, older people are most likely to be concerned with “treating” aging, while younger people use foods more for energy or stress reduction without concern about anti-aging. While the two are likely to intersect, it may be one example of having the disease before we treat it rather than relying on prevention.

But beyond these food treatments, a shift in views about all foods that go into our mouths is brewing. Talk to nutritionist and laypersons alike, and you’ll likely find them say that they are seeing their food differently – as something that will be incorporated into their body to promote general health and well-being as opposed to seeing it as something tasty, filling, indulgent or fast. They look at their plate and they see medicine.

Food as Prevention

Termed “defensive eating” by the American Dietetic Association, eating for prevention means harnessing the power of vitamins and minerals in food and extracting an aggressively protective, or “anti” effect. For example, because wild blueberries contain nearly 100 phytochemicals, and phytochemicals they are agents of protection: they are antibacterial, antiinflammtory and anitoxdant among a host of other “antis”. Getting “anti” on your diet means you are eating for prevention.

While using food to prevent disease is more common than using food as treatment, sometimes treatment can just be prevention that’s happening too late. Consider those who have experienced cardiovascular events and subsequent operations who use diet as compulsory treatment when prevention could have lessened the chances of having the event in the first place.

But evidence suggests food-as-medicine is intensifying, and not at the grass roots – it may be happening from the top down. Recently, doctors have actually begun prescribing healthy foods to patients. As part of an initiative taking place at three Massachusetts health centers, doctors have been giving out free passes to farmer’s markets to those who need them. It should come as no surprise: for years some doctors have advocated going to the fruit and vegetable aisle in order to avoid going to the medicine cabinet. Here is The Color Code author Jim Joseph on prevention:

“By changing what you eat, you can reduce your blood pressure, lower your blood sugar, and diminish the risks of cancer, heart disease and macular degeneration. You can do all these things without pricey pharmaceuticals, just be adopting a more healthy, semi-vegetarian diet—one loaded with dark leafy greens, deep organ vegetables and vibrant red and blue fruits. […] As a Greek adage says, ‘It is the function of medicine to help people die young as late a possible.’  Food is precisely the medicine that let’s you do that. Colorful food that is.”


What’s Your Treatment Plan?

Do you view your food as treatment, prevention or something else entirely? Today, if you’re not viewing what’s on your plate as your three-times-daily “dose” rather than just a palliative for hunger, give it a try. Try seeing everything that goes into your mouth as part of your Rx. It might give you a very different view of how you are “treating” your body and your health.

Want more information? The USDA has information about diet and disease.

Armor Up, America – We’re in the Salt Battle of Our Lives

Recently, news concerning the nation’s salt intake brought some tough love to American consumers. Tough enough to prompt the author of the study, which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to be quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, “This is not good news”. True enough. It is in fact alarming news, proving that when it comes to salt, the term “silent killer” is no misnomer.

Adults, the study indicates, should eat less than one teaspoon of salt each day, while 70% of the population should eat less than 2/3 of a teaspoon. But in fact, only 1 in 18 people meet this goal. With heart disease and hypertension numbers on the climb, it looks like a true battle royale, with NaCl donning the armor.

It’s Not the Salt Shaker

This insidious mineral stepping into the gladiator arena is sodium chloride. Used traditionally for food preservation, it is something necessary for human life in small quantities and harmful – even deadly – in excess. It is a major player in the fight against high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.

Decades ago, putting down the salt shaker may have been solid advice for maintaining good health. But today, minding the shaker is old school. If you are a human being consuming food in 2010, you know your salt issues originate elsewhere:

  • Processed food: tomato sauce, soups, condiments, canned food, prepared mixes…
  • Restaurant foods
  • Cold cuts / meats
  • Baked goods
  • Grain-based products

In addition, some medications include sodium, and we can even be taking in a significant amount sodium from natural sources, such as well water. In fact, the Mayo Clinic determines that a mere 6% of salt originates from the shaker while 77% of salt intake comes from processed food. The rest comes from salt added while cooking and natural sources.

We could shake all day long and never reach the amount we get from processed of prepared food.

Salt is Part of the Golden Trinity

We have talked about David Kessler here in previous posts, and the recent salt news has catapulted him into the mainstream. Currently, more of the public is hearing about his mission to understand and expose the golden trinity of taste for what he feels it is: a concoction created by food companies to seduce the brain chemistry into making us eat and crave more. The recipe? Fat, sugar and salt that bathes food in startling amounts, in the most appealing and scientifically proven combination. Arguably, it’s the NaCl gladiator’s most powerful weapon.

It’s really no wonder that 1 in 3 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and the government estimates that 9 in 10 will develop it in their lifetime. We at risk, according to this study, are often eating twice their daily requirement of sodium.

Salt Reform

FDA’s anti-salt initiative begins later this year and would eventually lead to legal limits on the amount of sodium allowed in food. Its plan would be phased in over ten years and would not be voluntary. Restaurants are targets as well, and while some have said they will voluntarily reduce salt in items on the menu, they may also be required to visibly post amounts. Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg began a national campaign to cut salt levels, and food companies were recruited to comply. Starbucks and Heinz were one of 16 that agreed to cut salt levels in their products.

While regulation debates rage on, some eschew regulations and prefer to enter the gladiator ring for a one-on-one. For those, there’s one dagger of knowledge that can help us get medieval on salt starting now.

Sodium is an Acquired Taste

Your secret weapon is knowledge. We know, for instance, that salt is an acquired taste. It’s acquired by the processed and prepared foods we eat over our entire lifetime and the result is that low sodium foods taste bland.

But as we take steps to reduce sodium in our diets, our taste sensitivities will adapt. We will appreciate foods for their true flavor. The process of adapting takes about 8-12 weeks – that’s the amount of time it takes for a shift in taste preference to occur in most people.

Give yourself 8-12 weeks.

The American Heart Association offers these tips to get you started.

  • Choose fresh, frozen or canned food items without added salts.
  • Select unsalted nuts or seeds, dried beans, peas and lentils.
  • Limit salty snacks like chips and pretzels.
  • Avoid adding salt and canned vegetables to homemade dishes.
  • Select unsalted, lower sodium, fat-free broths, bouillons or soups.
  • Select fat-free or low-fat milk, low-sodium, low-fat cheeses and low-fat yogurt.
  • Learn to use spices and herbs to enhance the taste of your food.  Most spices naturally contain very small amounts of sodium.
  • Add fresh lemon juice instead of salt to fish and vegetables.
  • Specify how you want your food prepared when dining out. Ask for your dish to be prepared without salt.
  • Don’t use the salt shaker. Use the pepper shaker or mill.

Now that you are armed with tactics, remember that they must be combined with strategy. In the end, according to Kessler, we must change our relationship with food by understanding that hyperpalatable foods that use hyperportions of salt are not our friends. They should be understood as harmful and be duly replaced by healthier foods and their own positive associations – until we get to the point where the golden trinity of taste is no longer what we crave.

Best of luck, gladiators. Let the games begin.

.

Dear White Rice, It’s Over.

White rice, listen, it’s not you. It’s me. We’ve had some good times – the nights we shared Chinese take out together, those halcyon days when all I needed was a saucepan and a minute – but the fact is, we’ve grown apart.

You had to know this was coming – what with all the fresh leafy greens hanging around lately and the wild blueberries sharing space with the ice cream bars in the freezer…the whole grains I’ve been leaving around.

The fact is, I need a little space – on my plate, that is, for something not quite so colorless. We can still be friends.

Please, don’t press me for the details.

Ok, you asked for it. Here’s the truth: There’s been a study published in the June 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine in which a team of scientists from Harvard University showed that regular consumption of brown rice – 5 servings a week – reduces the risk of diabetes by 36 percent.

The study also shows that people who eat white rice five times a week had 17 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who eat only once a month.

Now you know.

Your New Brown Rice Doctrine

Welcome to your new, more colorful life where white foods don’t get the time of day. It’s a good idea for everyone, but if you have or are in danger of developing type 2 diabetes, dumping the white could be one of the best things you can do to maintain a healthy weight, a healthy heart, and healthy glucose levels.

Here are some Brown Rice Rules to help you get out there on your own:

#1 – Start loving it.  Brown rice is nutty, it’s chewy, it’s delicious. It’s the perfect foil for fish, beans, veggies, olives, raisins. You name it, brown rice adds a robustness, taste and style.

#2 – Start a merger. If you have an unflagging love for white rice, mix it with brown. Half the brown rice means half the benefits, and if you’re a true white rice fanatic, cold turkey isn’t for everyone.

#3 – Take it slow. Perfect brown rice requires more water and more patience than white. But slow is the latest trend in food, and quickening the pace could lead to cultural frustration, so do your psyche a favor.

#4 – Don’t sauce it, toss it. Remember that all rice starts out as brown. It only becomes white through the refining process that strips it of the minerals in the hull. Eating food as close to its original form is usually a good rule of thumb, so when you see white rice, think weddings, not dinner.

#5 – Don’t be a slave to instant. Go instant if you must. But instant has been precooked and dried and has lost nutrients and fiber, and its higher on the glycemic index.
According to Dr. Sears, “Compared with regularly cooked rice, the instant variety has a bit less of the following nutrients (though the differences may be insignificant): selenium, zinc, B-6, folic acid, and much of the amino acids. Instant rice also loses a bit of its texture.” Still, if it’s brown, it’s a start.

#6 – Look to the East. Asia’s rice consumption is 135,000 thousand metric tons, while the U.S. consumes about 3,882. While rice is part of every meal across many parts of the world, our carb choices tend toward the potato. Taking a page from Eastern diets can provide a little inspiration. While no food is evil, switching out your white carbs for brown rice (especially if those carbs are shaped like shoestrings or tend to sport a crinkle) could reap huge benefits for your nutritional profile. 

The End of the Affair

It’s time to end the love affair with white rice. Start by cooking up a stir fry, creating a classic pairing with black beans, and discovering basmatis, gratins and green rice. Here’s a start: Try Martha Stewart’s Brown Rice & Black Beans, Allrecipe’s Vegetable Fried Rice, or the New York Times’ Brown Basmati Rice Salad With Roasted Poblanos and Cumin Vinaigrette, Fried Basmati Brown Rice With Chicken and Vegetables, and Green Rice (you can use brown for this recipe too).

Need tips on cooking brown rice? There’s plenty of help out there. The Healthy Eating Site has tips for cooking brown rice right, as does Suite 101 and The Buzzle.

Food For Your Whole Life Health Symposium Spreads Nutritional Love in NYC

Elizabeth Jarrard has blogged comprehensively at her blog Don’t (White) Sugar Coat It about her experience in New York City at the Food For Your Whole Life Symposium. She’s a healthy eating enthusiast who blogs about fruits and veggies, vegan eating, and all things that enhance your health and your life.

The Symposium was held this past weekend and was open to industry professionals, media, and the public, and the focus was on the latest information and research surrounding nutritional themes such as plant-based nutrition, and making healthy food more accessible. Featured presentations included those from the popular scrub-clad health guru Dr. Mehmet Oz, renowned nutrition authority Dr. David Katz, and YOU: On a Diet co-author Dr. Michael Roizen. Topics ranged from belly fat, to childhood nutrition and genetics.

You can check out Jarrard’s updates, or visit the Walnut Council website – they’ll be posting the conference streams and summaries in full sometime this week. You can also find recaps on A Fete for Food, Green Grapes Blog, Healthy Blog Snack, and Eat Well With Janel. Thanks Elizabeth & all!

Why You Should Know About Metabolic Syndrome

According to studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association, metabolic syndrome affects up to 25% of the American population.

25%.

This startling statistic means that one in five people are experiencing significant health risks due to this condition. What is this insidious disease called metabolic syndrome, and why is it deserved of so much attention?

What is Metabolic Syndrome?

Once known in the medical community as “syndrome X” or “insulin resistance syndrome”, metabolic syndrome has the dubious distinction of becoming a recognized diagnosis in its own right. The syndrome poses such a significant health risk because it is really a cluster of conditions that work together to seriously degrade health and invite mortality. These conditions, occurring together, increase your risk of heat disease, stroke and diabetes and can lead to a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome:

  • Increased blood pressure: A blood pressure reading of higher than 120 / 80.
  • Elevated insulin levels: Insulin helps to regulate the amount of sugar in your body, and insulin resistance can elevate risk of disease.
  • Excess body fat around the waist: Obesity in general puts you at risk for disease, but having an “apple shape” – more fat around the middle – means elevated risk.
  • Abnormal cholesterol levels: that is, low HDL levels (your good cholesterol) and high LDLs (your bad).

Don’t these conditions alone have adverse health effects? You bet. High blood pressure increases your risk of serious disease, as does elevated insulin levels and high cholesterol. But the combination of these diseases can make your risk of disease skyrocket, leading to the very serious diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

If you already know you have at least one of the conditions described above, it may be that you have others without being aware of it. Visiting a doctor to see if you should be checked for the others is a good idea. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome isn’t great news, but knowing you have the disease can get your doctor on the case, put your level of risk in perspective, and make your need to make aggressive changes in your lifestyle a priority.

What’s the Connection to Metabolism?

You’ve heard people who are thin and seem to eat a lot described as having a “naturally high metabolism”. Most of us know metabolism has to do with our rate of burning calories, but our understanding stops there. What is “metabolism” really?

It’s true that our metabolism is affected by what we eat and our physical activity. But metabolism is the term used to refer to several processes that concern converting food and other substances into energy and other metabolic byproducts. It’s an important function because how our body uses food to maintain itself, repair damage, heal from injury, and aid in digestion and absorption of nutrients depends on the process of metabolism.

One of these metabolic processes includes how our body responds to insulin. Insulin controls the amount of sugar in our bloodstream. If we are insulin resistant, glucose cannot enter our cells as easily. Our body then responds by churning out more insulin and increasing the insulin level in our blood, which can lead to diabetes. It also interferes with how our kidneys work, leading to higher blood pressure.

Greater weight, especially around the middle, means a higher risk of insulin resistance, because fat interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are the hallmark risk factors for many diseases and conditions, including type 2 diabetes. These conditions together create a perfect storm of damage when it comes to our metabolic processes.

Combating Metabolic Syndrome

If you are one of the “one of five” diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, aggressive lifestyle changes will likely be the Rx. While medication is often necessary for those with this diagnosis, changes in diet and exercise can delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems related to metabolic syndrome. If you are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome or you are at risk for this diagnosis because you have one of its component conditions, a three-prong attack is the path to prevention.

1-Medication

Many individuals with metabolic syndrome are treated for elevated blood pressure and insulin resistance with medication. Medication can be the first order of business for patients with hazardous levels; other patients may find that their doctor turns to medication if lifestyle changes are not having the desired effect. Also, doctors might recommend a daily aspirin to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.

2-Diet

Diet is truly at the heart of mitigating the symptoms of this disease. Many professionals recommend the Mediterranean diet for those at risk. This diet is rich in vegetables, whole grains and fish, and is rich in good fats like olive oil. It has become a popular dietary recommendation because unlike other diets, it can be enjoyable, isn’t overly restrictive, and as a result, it can be sustained over the long term – the key to any lifestyle change. And, according to industry sources, recent studies have shown that when compared to a low fat diet, people on the Mediterranean diet have a “greater decrease in body weight, and also had greater improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and other markers of heart disease — all of which are important in evaluating and treating metabolic syndrome.”

3-Exercise

Exercise completes the prevention triumvirate when it comes to metabolic syndrome. Studies indicate that simply decreasing fat (through liposuction, for instance, or divine intervention) won’t have the beneficial effects of actually moving to lose the weight. In fact, even those who lose no weight through exercise still benefit from it when it comes to this disease. There is a beneficial effect of exercise on blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and insulin sensitivity – the perfect combination of benefits for metabolic syndrome.

Antioxidants & Metabolic Syndrome

Recent discoveries attribute potential health benefits to antioxidants such as anthocyanin, anti-inflammatories and other natural compounds found in the deep blue pigment of fruits like our own wild blueberries. Working with wild blueberry fruit compounds known as anthocyanins, Mary Ann Lila, Ph.D., from North Carolina State University, Plants for Human Health Institute led a team of researchers that demonstrated that blueberry phytochemicals helped alleviate hyperglycemia in rodent models, a condition associated with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. You can read the research in the May 2009 issue of Phytomedicine.

Ongoing studies like Dr. Lila’s that are focused on metabolic syndrome can open the door to even better ways to hone in on prevention, and with luck, kick that 25% statistic into the single digits where it belongs.

You can learn more about metabolic syndrome at the American Heart Association. You’ll also find more about the risk factors and complications at the Mayo Clinic.

The Key to Your Heart: New Heart Health Guidelines Focus on Food, Not Nutrients

The International Food Information Council Foundation’s website Food Insight published an interesting interview recently with Dr. Rachel Johnson. Johnson is Dean and Professor of Nutrition at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont, and member and chair-elect of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. She discusses some new dietary metrics released by the The American Heart Association that have been designed to maintain ideal cardiovascular health.

Johnson’s message includes a focus on food intake, including types of foods and calories, rather than nutrients. That’s because nutrient-based messages are hard for people to translate into action, she said. The new directives also aim to address a messaging disconnection. In the past, recommendations have included terms such as “moderating” intake or “minimizing” certain foods, and such vague rules for healthy eating were not resonating with consumers the way hard numbers could, said Johnson.

The guidelines for good heart health include a recommendation of no less than 4.5 cups of fruits and vegetables per day. Other guidelines include eating fish and whole grains, and cutting sodium intake. Another important principle for heart health, according to Johnson, is cutting sugar, and the guidelines also include strict calorie allowances for sugar, particularly sweetened beverages.

A New Kind of Sugar High

In the spirit of concrete measurements, the article sites research by the American Cancer Institute that says Americans consume 22 teaspoons of sugar per day. That translates into 335 calories per day – a high number for a country struggling with issues of obesity and the diseases that accompany it. New guidelines from the AHA dictate a limit of 100 calories per day for women, and 150 for men – that’s a mere 6 teaspoon and 9 teaspoons respectively.

Sugars in foods can be seemingly ubiquitous in our diets, and such a ceiling on sugar intake can seem strict. But Johnson doesn’t vilify sugar; instead she suggests that those who want more sugar should simply move more. “We haven’t said eliminate added sugars from your diet. I feel that the wise approach is to use your added sugars allowance in a way that enhances the flavor and the palatability of otherwise nutritious foods (e.g., putting a little maple syrup on your oatmeal),” she said.

Other positive sugar intake can include its use as an incentive for kids to eat well. A little flavoring in milk, for example, can encourage children to incorporate milk into their diet. The hope is that such dietary trade-offs will be well worth the net nutritional gain, so kids can maintain their own heart health for years to come.

Find out more about nutrition and heart health by reading the interview.

Food Insight is a publication of The International Food Information Council Foundation, a foundation dedicated to the mission of effectively communicating science-based information on health, food safety and nutrition for the public good.