Almonds - Another Brain Food?

Yes almonds are another brain food, but they are much more than that. First, let me just say that when you eat almonds, you want to be eating the raw almonds. Not dry roasted or salted, just plain raw almonds. The benefits of the this nut will astound you.

Almonds are a source of vitamin E, protein, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. They also contain phytonutrients (sometimes referred to as phytochemicals). These phytonutrients are the antioxidants which are not vitamins, such as lycopene, anthocyanins, and flavanoids. All of these offer the body essential nutrients to fight off disease and to maintain wellness.

Let's look at some of the benefits. I think one of the most exciting things is the research that has shown the benefit to someone who wants to lose weight and also to diabetics (who often need to lose weight). You may wonder how this works. Two things have been identified. First, almonds slow the absorption of carbohydrates. This in turn results in a slower increase in blood sugar levels which helps keep insulin levels in check. Big benefit to diabetics.

The second thing identified in the research is that almonds give you a sense of fullness (satiety) which means you will actually consume less calories. They are great as a healthy snack and you can see the benefit if you are attempting to lose weight.

More on Wheat Germ

Yes, there is more to wheat germ. In addition to what I mentioned yesterday, the high levels of vitamin E in wheat germ help prevent cancer, heart disease and aging. This is due to the powerful antioxidant in play. While strengthening the immune system, it also helps to prevent excessive blood clotting.

The vitamin B complex contained in wheat germ helps you cope with stress as well as benefiting metabolism. Homocysteine levels are decreased thereby helping to protect the arteries from damage.

And by the way, wheat germ is a great source of fiber, so it can useful in digestion and preventing constipation.

Wheat Germ - Benefit or Not

Wheat germ is the kernel of the wheat. There are many nutrients in this kernel, including protein, vitamin E, vitamins B1, B2, B5 (pantothenic acid) and B6, fiber, magnesium, zinc, and thiamine. These are essential nutrients that our body uses, so there are many benefits to wheat germ.

Once thing you should know about wheat germ is that it has a fairly short shelf life once the container is opened. Once opened, wheat germ should be stored in a tight container in the refrigerator where it can keep for up to 9 months. Because of the unsaturated fat content, the whet germ tends to become rancid in a short period of time if no refrigerated.

Wheat germ is a brain food in that it helps the brain become more alert. This in part is due to the increase in oxygenation utilization that wheat germ facilitates. Octacosanol is the part of the wheat germ responsible for improved tissue oxygenation. Another benefit here is an increase energy in the muscles and as a result endurance and overall stamina increases.

Weight Loss and Kiwi Fruit

Here's the last bit on Kiwi fruit. Arginine, which I have spoken about for the past few days, is found in kiwi fruit. This amino acid plays a key role in muscle health by helping the body to process creatine. Creatine is a substance which helps us build muscle mass. Arginine also helps the body process nitrogen, which is needed for muscle metabolism. Through this process, arginine actually helps reduce body fat by increasing muscle mass and speeds up weight loss.

Athletes as well as those with arthritis, may find arginine helpful in repairing damaged tissues to heal more quickly.

Did you have any idea this little kiwi fruit could do so much? Oh, and one more thing, kiwi fruit is ranked as the 4th highest antioxidant potential. One of these antioxidants is lutein which we know helps to decrease the progression of macular degeneration and may actually prevent it if we have the right levels.

Why is Kiwi a Super Food?

In addition to boosting the immune system and detoxifying the liver, arginine, the amino acid found in kiwi fruit also is a part of many of our hormonal processes. Arginine stimulates the pancreas to release insulin which stimulates the pituitary gland to produce vasopressin (which works on blood vessels) and regulates growth hormone production. In fact the commercial grade arginine is used to evaluate growth hormone deficiancy.

The production of vasopressin causes the blood vessels to relax or dilate. Because of this effect western medicine has used arginine to treat problems like angina, arteriosclerosis, coronary artery disease and intermittent claudication. In addition, there is evidence to support it's use in other diseases that result as a problem with vasoconstriction. These include erectile disfunction and migraines.

Are you beginning to see why kiwi is a super food? Wait there is more!

More on the Super Food Kiwi Fruit

As I mentioned yesterday, arginine is one of the key ingredients in Kiwi fruit. Arginine works in the liver to detoxify the liver by neutralizing ammonia and other toxic substances. I could go through the Krebs cycle, but you would be bored to death and what is important here is to understand that when you build up ammonia in the body, it eventually ends up forming aldehyde which you may know as formaldehyde, something we use to preserve bodies that have died. Sometimes this is referred to as pickling the body. The problem is we are not dead yet and we don't need or want our brain pickled. So the detoxification process in the liver is a critical element to us staying well and mentally sharp.

Arginine is is required for the body to form urea, which is how the body removes ammonia in the urine.

There is more that arginine does in the body Tune in tomorrow.

Kiwi Fruit - Super Food

Kiwi fruit is another one of those super foods. One of the reasons kiwi is considered a super food is because it contains arginine. Arginine is an essential amino acid in the body and although we do manufacture it within our bodies, supplementation is often needed.

Arginine works in the immune system by stimulating the thymus gland to produce T-lymphocytes or you may have heard them called T-cells. If you think of the immune system as an army, the T-cells come in 3 varieties, helper, killer, and suppressor cells. These cells regulate immune reactions and control b-cell development.

What all of the last paragraph means is that T-cells are responsible for controlling the immune system. If the immune system is suppressed, then your immune system will be unable to fight off illness and disease.

A few of the disease entities that arginine helps with are cancer, HIV, any disease that has compromised blood flow (ie heart disease), and improves impotence.

More on the benefits of this super food tomorrow

Diet Tip #10

This is my last tip on getting your diet going. The very best way to get going on the right track for a diet is by eating at least 3 meals a day. If you can and want to, 6 small meals a day is the best.

This will get you off to a great start on your "diet" and you won't feel like you're dieting because you get to eat so often. You will be surprised at how much weight you can shed by just doing this one simple thing.

I also recommend that you get a diet coach who can help you with food choices and give you encouragement along the way. If you need someone, respond to this post.

Diet Tip #9

I don't like to tell you that you can't have something, but something you should definitely decrease or stop in your diet is alcohol. It doesn't mean you can't ever have it, but if you can cut it out for a few weeks, this will definitely jump start your diet.

Once you have lost some weight and are making true life style changes, you can add a little alcohol back into your diet.

One of the things that alcohol does is change the brain chemicals such that your internal hormonal balance will be thrown off. This will make it extremely difficult to lose weight.

Diet Tip #8

Use oils that are less refined like olive oil. The corn, sunflower and safflower oils are highly refined and contain preservatives that are difficult for your liver to break down. For a more information on this go back to September when I wrote about good and bad fat.

Remember that most of the oils that you buy at the grocery store contain hydrogenated fats and that is what you definitely want to avoid.

Be concerned about the kind of fat you eat rather than the amount of fat you're eating. The best fats are found in omega 3 foods like fish and flax seed oil. Avoid fried foods, margarine and foods that contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats or oils in them.

Diet Tip #7

Get your dairy with reasonable amounts of cheese and regular yogurt. The "light" or "fat free" yogurts have larger amounts of sugar in them. Best if you can cut out cow's milk for a period of time.

If you absolutely have to have milk, see my tips on milk. There are multiple posts on milk in the blog and you may want to go back and review them.

Diet Tip #6

Drink 8-10 glasses of purified water a day. There can be no excuses here. Water is essential and while I've heard the adages that most of the weight you lose on diets is water loss and that is usually true in many diets, you are mostly made up of water. The biggest problem that most of us have is being a bit dehydrated most of the time. That is why water is so essential.

If you are getting enough water, your cells will function better and you are better able to utilize the nutrients in food and also better able to eliminate the waste products.

No excuses for drinking water! Coffee, colas, soft drinks, do not count. Your body requires water.

Diet Tip #5

Eliminate processed foods. The things to eat are foods that are hunted, plucked, grown, caught or gathered from the ground. This may require a little more cooking on your part, but your health is definitely worth it.

You also may be surprised at how much you are eating that is processed foods. The meals that you buy and put in the microwave or the oven are all processed foods. They contain preservatives and carbohydrates that do not help with weight loss.

Unfortunately our society has gotten used to the "pop in the oven or microwave" and they don't realize that while they are eating, what they are eating often has little nutritional value.

Diet Tip #4

This next tip may be a difficult one for you, but if you are serious about losing weight it will help a great deal. For the next 4-6 weeks, eliminate all wheat or flour based foods. This includes breads, crackers and pastas.

This may seem difficult and it may be, but if you can stick to it, it will help a great deal. One of the things that you will recognize is how much of these you may be eating. Cutting these foods out will also make you feel better. Eating the fresh vegetables and fruits can take the place of the fiber requirements.

Diet Tip #3

One of the most important things in eating healthy and dieting is to eat some protein with every meal. This includes breakfast!! Eggs are a great protein source for breakfast, but you could also use something like peanut butter or a few nuts.

The reason this is so important is that the carbohydrates that you eat at a meal will actually burn in the flame of the protein and they won't all go to storage in the fat pads. This is also why you want to start your meal with a bite of protein first. This sets up the pre-insulin from the pancreas and assists you body in producing insulin which is necessary to move the nutrients into cells to nourish them.

So be sure to eat protein at every meal and take a bite of it first!

Dieting Tip #2

Now that you have cleaned out your refrigerator and cupboards, go shopping for the healthy foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables are what you are looking for along with some healthy choices of protein like meat, fish, nuts, white cheese, and legumes.

Have a least 1-2 servings of fruit each day. Remember, a serving is 1/2 cup. I use fruits as desserts because of the sweetness. Some of the best fruit for dieting is apples, berries, pears and plums. Lose the juices, they contain too much sugar. If you have to have orange juice, eat an orange. Far better for you than the orange juice.

Fresh vegetable should include enough for 4-5 servings a day or more. Dark greens, yams, and any colorful vegetables. You may need to supplement here with frozen vegetables which is OK. Try to avoid the canned vegetables as they have lost some of their nutrient value in the canning process.

Some Dieting Tips

I'm in the frigid area of northern Wisconsin for my mother's 94 birthday. Have gotten several questions while I'm here about dieting and what to eat. So thought I would give you all a few tips about dieting.

I don't believe in diets because I don't believe that they work. They do for a short period, but to sustain weight loss you have to make life style changes that are truly changes. Many of you have seen what happened to Oprah. While she made life style changes, she used illness as an excuse to revert, so maybe they weren't really changes that she made.

First and foremost, remove the junk foods - chips, cookies, candy, etc that are your weaknesses. It is far easier to move forward with healthy eating if the things that are unhealthy just aren't there. I know this is not an easy thing to do, but ask yourself if you are really serious about this. If you are, clean out the cupboards and the refrigerator.

Popeye Had It Right, Spinach Is Good for You

Yes, spinach is a super food. It contains powerful antioxidants which can help our bodies be healthy in many ways, not the least of which is to prevent many medical problems. Some of the nutrients in spinach are choline and inositol. These substances help prevent thickening of the arterial walls (atherosclerosis), thereby helping to control or decrease heart disease.

Spinach also contains lutein which is a powerful antioxidant that helps prevent cataracts and age related macular degeneration (the leading cause of blindness in people over age 65). And while we're speaking of those over 65, spinach is also an excellent source of fiber. Much better than taking metamucil every day, try spinach either cooked or raw. Not only will you get the benefits of the fiber, but also all of the vitamins and minerals spinach contains.

While it is a good source of calcium, most of the calcium is not available for our bodies to absorb. The oxalic acid in spinach combines with the calcium rendering it unavailable for absorption by our body.

Can You Believe There is More to Walnuts

One of the things you may not be aware of is that walnuts because of their antioxidant properties help promote eye health. Research has shown walnuts may decrease macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 65. The chemical resveratrol which I mentioned a few days ago is thought to decrease the formation of new vessels which occurs in the wet form of macular degeneration. While this form is not as common, it does account for 90% of the severe vision loss associated with the disease.

And there is more that walnuts do. They help in preservation of bone and bone health. The omega 3 are responsible for decreasing bone turnover which when rapid results in osteoporosis.

One last thing, since we are just into the new year and I know many of you are looking at going on a diet. I won't get on that soap box today, just consider getting a diet coach - respond to this post and I will discuss it with you. But, the last thing about walnuts, reserach has shown that those who eat nuts 2 or more times per week are less likely to gain weight than those who never or rarely eat nuts. So use 7-10 walnuts as a snack in the middle of the day, or better yet, use them as a snack in the evening so that you sleep better!!

More on Walnuts

I found an interesting fact about walnuts. They have been shown to decrease the likelihood of gall stones by 25% by just eating 1 ounce per week. This is a pretty easy thing to do if you use a few walnuts as an afternoon snack or your sprinkle a few walnuts on a baked apple (no sugar added) or pear. This make great desserts and give you some of the essential nutrients to help your body.

Melatonin which is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, helps us sleep. As we age we produce less melatonin and sometime supplementation helps, but many times not. So here is something you can try that is not only good for you, but as an evening snack may actually help you sleep. That's a bonus!!

Walnuts are Brain Food

Walnuts are brain food. Since the brain is at least 55% fat, the brain needs fat to maintain its structure. The type of fat that it needs is omega 3 which is found in walnuts. The outer membrane of every cell is composed a fatty lipid layer. The cell must pass toxins from the inside to ouside the cell through this layer. Like wise, for the cell to be nourished, nutrients must pass from the outside into the inside of the cell through this lipid layer. We have become as a society so "fat" conscious that we believe that everything should be low fat and food that have fats in them are not good for us. This is just not true.

The Omega 3 fatty acids are essential to making the cell membranes able to get nutrients in and toxins out. Walnuts are a great source of omega 3. This is particularly important as far as our brains are concerned. Toxic build up in the cells of our brains leads to unclear thought processes and cell death. While we only use a very small portion of our brain, look at the number of olde people who have dementia. It doesn't take the whole brain or even a quarter of the brain to die for us to be in trouble. Walnuts can also serve as a brain food by supporting the cells to function normally.

Walnuts

Walnuts are another super food with many benefits. Of course most of you probably know that walnuts are rich in omega 3, but there are many other benefits to walnuts. They are also a wonderful source of fiber. How many people out there do not eat nuts because they are "high in fat"? That is not the issue here. The fat in walnuts is good fat, omega 3. In addition, if you eat a handful or so a week it will help with constipation, one the biggest complaints of people over the age of 65. Walnuts are both a soluble and insoluble source of fiber. They bind with fatty acids, decrease the stomach emptying time and thereby decrease the speed at which sugar is absorbed into the blood stream. Diabetics out there, can you see how this might help you?

Walnuts are also a rich plant source of protein and besides the omega 3s, they are also have B vitamins and Vitamin E.

Walnuts have been shown to help protect against heart disease and they also have been shown to decrease C-Reactive protein. See my notes about C-Reactive protein on 11/20/08. This leads me right into my thoughts about anti-inflammatories which is the key to many diseases.

More on Blueberries

There is a lot of research out there supporting eating blueberries in terms of cancer. Because it is a strong antioxidant, it helps in the prevention of cancer cells. They also help if taken in the months prior to chemo to eliminate the nausea that comes with the therapy.

There is some research out of the University of Mississippi that demonstrates that blueberries have lipid lowering properties. The compound that has been identified by Dr. Rimando is pterostilbene which is similar to resveratrol. Resveratrol is the substance in grapes and red wine thought to help in lowering cholesterol.

More importantly as far as I'm concerned are blueberries anti-inflammatory effects. They have been shown to decrease inflammation and may be of help in people with arthritis.

Blueberry Brain Turn On

I've known for a long time that blueberries are rich in antioxidants and help boost the immune system. They are also a super food that can energize and turn on brain cells.

Blueberries actually help neuron signals be stronger, this is part of the problem in Alheimer's (the signals are weak). The chemical that is required to have strong neuron signals is potentiated by blueberries.

Blueberries can actually help your brain think more clearly.

Last Thoughts on Pomegranate Juice

There is no research that shows the effect of pomegranate juice on the gastrointestinal tract. But I did find that many people who drink it on a regular basis tend to get constipated. So it may work for those of you who are experiencing diarrhea. While it has many good benefits that I have mentioned over the past few days, it can also cause constipation.

Drink it in moderation - 8 ounces a day is probably enough. Oh, the other thing I forgot to mention is that there seems to be quite a bit out there that indicates that it helps the skin as well. This would stand to reason since it is a potent antioxidant and antioxidants do come out in skin cells.

Alzheimer's and Pomegranate Juice

While studies have shown that individuals with high blood pressure had twice the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, this wasn't enough for me to believe that pomegranate juice while it may decrease blood pressure, would have an effect on the development of Alzheimer's disease. In digging around a little more, I found that there has been some research in animal studies showing that when rats bred to develop Alzheimer's were given pomegranate juice, they developed less of the amyloid plaque which is associated with Alzheimer's and were able to perform mental tasks better.

This research tends to make me think that drinking pomegranate juice is not a bad thing, and if you have a history of Alzheimer's disease in your family, I would highly recommend it.

Pomegranate Juice and Inflammation

I found this next little bit of information about pomegranate juice particularly interesting since I believe our problem is inflammation not high cholesterol and makes sense to me why it would help prevent heart disease. Studies have shown that pomegranate juice decreases inflammation and decreases the activity of enzymes which break down cartilage. More extensive research is needed to show its benefit in arthritis, but it certainly looks like it may help.

The fact that it is a strong antioxidant helps in the decrease in inflammation. Not everything works for everyone, but this is worth a try and it won't hurt you.

More on Pomegranate Juice

While I was looking at pomegranate juice, I found some other interesting information about this fruit. One study showed that drinking 8 ounces of pomegranate juice a day over a three month period, increased the amount of oxygen reaching the heart muscle. This particular research was done with patients who had coronary artery disease. So with the effects mentioned yesterday and this research it stands to reason that pomegranate juice could be beneficial to your heart health.

There is another benefit that has been described, and that is the effect of this powerful antioxidant on cancers such as prostate and breast cancer. There is a reduction in the risk of breast cancer and in animal studies, they showed a slowing the growth of prostate cancer cells.

Pomegranate

I remember as a child having pomegranates at Christmas time. We thought they were great, but it may have been the novelty of something we only got one time a year. As an adult, I haven't paid much attention to the fruit until the past 10 years, when it has come into the picture once again. So I thought it was time to do some digging and see what the fruit has to offer.

Pomegranate juice is a powerful antioxidant. So it was no surprise to see that research has shown that pomegranate juice actually keeps LDL (the bad cholesterol) from oxidizing. Therefore, less chance of heart attack and stroke. Along this same line is the fact that it works similarly to aspirin on the platelets, keeping them from clumping together and forming clots. Again, lessening the chance of heart attack and stroke.

There is also evidence that pomegranate juice decreases blood pressure. So this is all good in terms of the heart.

Vitamin C Deficiency

Here are some of the signs and symptoms you might experience if you are not getting enough Vitamin C.

Some of these you may be familiar with, like bleeding gums, gingivitis and weakened tooth enamel. You may also experience dry and splitting hair, rough dry and scaling skin, easy bruising, nosebleeds and anemia.

Swollen painful joints and the inability to fight off infection and inflammation are related to the weakened immune system, which requires Vitamin C.

There is also the possibility that you will gain weight because of a slowed metabolism related to a low level of Vitamin C.

My best advice is be sure you're eating foods with natural vitamin C and if you're not eating many of those, be sure you supplement with Vitamin C.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to all!!