KTK-Nutrition

My husband showed me an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal,  Is Your Brain Aging Faster Than You?  New Clues Emerge .    In the article, a man was experiencing issues like no longer being able to play the bagpipes as he made too many mistakes, then forgetting things.    At 56 years old, he was diagnosed with dementia.   What are the risk factors dementia? Age  is the highest risk factor for dementia and one you can’t change. Type 2 diabetes  is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.  Other  risk factors  include obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical  in activity, poor diet, and hearing loss.  Some more risk factors are noted in  Risk factors for dementia . What lifestyle changes can potentially slow and maybe even reverse some cognitive decline?  There are two lifestyle changes one can make that are often noted in research:  diet and physica...

Have you ever heard of brain food?    Foods you can eat for a healthier brain.      Researchers have found that the food we eat greatly affects our brain health.    Besides the food we eat, staying hydrated also affects our cognitive function.   Why is hydration important for brain health?  I always told my students that before an exam they should drink some water.  Why?  Because even being slightly  dehydrated  affects cognitive function.  A 1% dehydration level can lead to “a 5% decrease in cognitive function”.   A 2% level of dehydration “can result in short term memory loss”, what some people call “brain fog”.  Besides drinking plain water, many beverages are good for hydration including 100% juice and cow’s milk.  (See:   What beverage is most effective for staying hydrated? ) What researchers have found about diet and brain health. Researchers  at ...

Everyone has heard of Alzheimer’s and you may know people who have suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.   My sister called my attention to an article in Forbes magazine, People with Alzheimer’s disease tend to be deficient in these 5 nutrients that ‘help keep brains in top condition at all ages’ researchers say.   What are these 5 nutrients and how do these nutrients help protect against Alzheimer’s disease?   These research findings are interesting to me not only as a nutritionist but the work Forbes cited was done at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine by Professor Kathleen Dorey. What was the study and what other studies have been done? Virginia Tech scientists analyzed the brains of 31 donors, average age 75.   Most but not all of the donors had died with Alzheimer’s.   The scientists found that those with Alzheimer’s had brains with only half the level of 5 nutrients.   NIH has also studied diet in preventing Alzheimer’s Disease.   ...

Have you seen those commercials on TV for brain supplements?   You take some pills and you can remember things better, you think better.   Well, I don’t know about pills, but there are some foods that help promote a healthier brain.   Foods that can help your memory and thinking.   My sister sent me the article , The Best Brain-Healthy Foods to Protect Your Memory and Cognition , highlighting some healthy brain foods.  Many of the healthy foods for your brain are found in two diets that promote overall good health.   One of the best diets for good health is the Mediterranean Diet.   As I wrote it my blog, Best Diets for Health 2021 , the Mediterranean Diet is ranked by US News & World Report as the number one Best Diet Overall .    Why?   Because eating the Mediterranean Diet way is good for weight loss, for good heart health, and for brain health.   It also can help prevent cancer and prevent or help control Type 2 Diabetes....

Everyone knows you can eat for a healthier body.   But can you eat foods to improve your mind or to keep your brain healthier?   Yes.   Actually, there is a diet called the MIND diet specifically designed to keep your brain healthier.   The MIND diet is a combination of two other highly recommended diets – the DASH diet designed to prevent high blood pressure and the Mediterranean diet for overall good health.   U.S. News & World Report ranks the MIND diet as 5 th in their rankings of Best Diets Overall .   They describe this diet as one that aims to prevent mental decline, especially designed to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease .   Rush University researchers found that following the MIND diet can reduce Alzheimer risk by 53% for those who strictly followed the diet plan.   And the good news is, you can benefit your brain health without even sticking rigidly to this diet plan.   For those who followed the diet only moderately well, t...

What does “eating healthy” mean?   What are healthy diets to follow?   Not for weight loss or weight gain, but just a healthy eating pattern?   I recently heard a person say they were on an “anti-inflammatory” diet.    They had given up fruit and dairy – 2 important food groups for good health so already not a good choice.   Another person said they were eating healthy and following the Whole30 diet.   US News & World Report gives the Whole30 diet a poor rating and a low ranking.   Why?   The diet is quite restrictive and excludes grain (an important food group), dairy (another important food group), legumes, even peanut butter.   Any diet that excludes a food group, excludes nutrients that the food group provides, is not a healthy diet.   Each year, the US News & World Report evaluates the “Best Diets”.     For 2017, they evaluated 38 popular diets and determined which ones are best for your health and f...