Cholesterol Levels Slightly High

My annual blood tests show HDL/LDL cholesterol rates are slightly high.  It’s been at least three years since I had them tested and may not reflect the direction in which they are going, given my recent “Eat Clean & Train” programme.

I resolve to keep

• Increasing the amount of fibre, fruit and vegetables in my diet

• The gym programme (strength training – bench press, deadlifts and squats, every other day)

• Focused on reaching my annually-set personal weight and BMI targets

And to get my blood tests done annually now.

Fruit, Vegetables and the Menopause

A small February 2020 study by The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) called, "Higher intakes of fruits and vegetables are related to fewer menopausal symptoms: a cross-sectional study" it was found that there is, "some preliminary evidence regarding the influence of fruit and vegetable intake on menopause symptoms. There is ample evidence that a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables has a beneficial effect on health in a myriad of ways, but additional study is needed to determine whether various menopause symptoms may be affected by dietary choices,"

Some adverse effects on the urogenital system were noted for citrus fruits, green leafy or dark yellow vegetables.

Lifestyle, memory, ageing

An April 2020 study by Kings College London found that,

• “…nutrient-sensing pathways play an important role in memory and suggests that the ABTB1 and GRB10 genes are likely molecular links for the association between diet, the ageing of neural stem cells and our memory ability.”

• “To our knowledge this is one of the first studies looking at these relationships with human data and adopting this back-translation approach which uses lab-based experiments to inform research on large datasets, allowing for a more targeted approach.”

• “Our findings suggest that changes in lifestyle may be able to delay a decline in memory and thinking but that the effectiveness of these approaches will depend on the genetic makeup of each person. For example, adherence to a diet such as the Mediterranean diet may be most beneficial for people with a specific GRB10 mutation while increased exercise may be a better approach for participants with specific SIRT1 variations.”

Diet and the Taste of Sugar

An April 2020 study by the University of Sydney said,

“The food animals eat can change how they perceive future food.

This response uses the same machinery that the brain uses to learn.

Pathways that can extend lifespan were also involved in enhancing taste perception, and diets in fruit flies that promote long life were also found to enhance taste perception.

Lifespan, learning and sensory perception are linked in ways we are just starting to understand.”

The researchers went on to say,

“We were surprised to find that a protein-restricted diet that makes an animal live much longer also turns up the intensity of sucrose perception for that animal, and that is dependent on the same learning and longevity pathways.”

"The response was also really specific. For example, when we fed flies food that had no sweetness, the animals' sweet taste perception was enhanced, but only for glucose, not for fructose. We have no idea why they specifically focus just on one kind of sugar when they perceive them both as sweet."

"We also found that eating high amounts of sugar suppressed sweet taste perception, making sugar seem less sweet,"

Ursolic acid (in fruit peel and herbs) impacts on multiple sclerosis

“Ursolic acid is present in many plants, such as Mirabilis jalapa, as well as in many fruits and herbs used in daily life e.g. apples, basil, bilberries, cranberries, elder flower, peppermint, rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, hawthorn, and prunes). Apple peels contain large quantities of ursolic acid and related compounds.” Wikipedia

An April 2020 study by the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University said,

• "Although the evidence is preliminary - our data is from animal models of disease - it's encouraging to see a compound that both halts and repairs damage in [multiple sclerosis] MS, in the lab."

• "Many experiments have looked at mice in the acute phase, when disease is just starting or at the peak."

• “Instead, we tested whether this compound was effective in chronic disease, once there has already been chronic damage to tissues of central nervous system."

• "It's not a cure, but if we see a similar response in people, it would represent a significant change in quality of life. And most significantly, it's a reversal, which we really haven't seen before with other agents at such a late stage of disease”

Sugar, Longevity, Uric Acid, Gout and Stones

A March 2020 study by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and Kiel University said,

• "Just like humans, flies fed a high-sugar diet show many hallmarks of metabolic disease - for instance, they become fat and insulin resistant."

• "Obesity and diabetes are known to increase mortality in humans, and so people always assumed that this was how excess sugar is damaging for survival in flies".

• "Water is vital for our health, yet its importance is often overlooked in metabolic studies. Therefore, we were surprised that flies fed a high-sugar diet did not show a reduced lifespan, simply by providing them with an extra source of water to drink. Unexpectedly, we found that these flies still exhibited the typical metabolic defects associated with high dietary sugar".

The researchers found that the excess sugar is related to a build up of uric acid but that,

• "the sugar-fed flies may live longer when we give them access to water, but they are still unhealthy. And in humans, for instance, obesity increases the risk of heart disease. But our study suggests that disruption of the purine pathway is the limiting factor for survival in high-sugar-fed flies. This means that early death by sugar is not necessarily a direct consequence of obesity itself".

• "Strikingly, just like flies, we found that dietary sugar intake in humans was associated with worse kidney function and higher purine levels in the blood."

• "It will be very interesting to explore how our results from the fly translate to humans, and whether the purine pathway also contributes to regulating human survival."

• "There is substantial evidence that what we eat influences our life expectancy and our risk for age-related diseases. By focusing on the purine pathway, our group hopes to find new therapeutic targets and strategies that promote healthy ageing".

Protein intake, muscle mass, ageing

A March 2020 study by the University of Birmingham said,

• "We know that older people show a blunted response to muscle building when consuming a certain amount of protein. Therefore, older individuals need to eat more protein to get the same muscle building response as younger and middle-aged people."

• "Another way to help muscles make better use of dietary protein is to perform regular exercise".

• "Most people are reaching the Recommended Daily Allowance of protein, but our results show that a one-size-fits-all guideline for protein intake isn't appropriate across all age groups. Simply saying older people should eat more protein isn't really enough either. We need a more sophisticated and individualised approach that can help people understand when and how much protein to consume to support muscle mass."

The value of family meals

A March 2020 study of the value of family meals, by the University of Delaware, said

"This study employed a comprehensive approach to explore the direction and magnitude of the relationship between exposure to family meals and dietary and family functioning outcomes in children."

"There are thousands of individual studies that examine the impact of family meals on nutrition and family behavior, but this new meta-analyses looks at the relationship between family meal frequency and family functioning outcomes."

"It is particularly fitting that as we celebrate National Nutrition Month, we can confirm that family meals are a valuable contributor of improved nutrition and family functioning. This compelling evidence energizes us to expand our National Family Meals Month™ efforts to a year-long Family Meals Movement."

"Even more impressive than the positive behavior changes we have seen over the past five years … is that 89% of Americans believe it's important for families to have as many family meals as possible each week, and 84% are willing to commit to doing so throughout the year. This kind of interest and commitment has motivated us to expand National Family Meals Month™ to the ongoing Family Meals Movement."

Avocado, Lutein, Attention, Obesity

A March 2020 study by University of Illinois of eating an avocado each day found

• "Previous work has shown that individuals with overweight and obesity are at higher risk for cognitive decline and dementia in older age … We are interested in whether dietary approaches may have benefits for cognitive health, especially in midlife."

• "It could be that nutrients in avocados have a specific action in the brain that supports the ability to do this task in particular, or they could be more beneficial for certain cognitive abilities over others."

• "It's also possible that with a longer study or different tests, we could see other effects. Other studies have found broader effects in other populations, so it is interesting to see a more specific benefit for this population."

• "Avocados also are high in fiber and monounsaturated fats. It is possible that these other nutrients may have played a role in the cognitive effects we saw, but we focused on the lutein in our analyses."

• "Future analyses may focus on other nutrients found in avocados, or avocado consumption's impact on other measures such as weight status, inflammation and potential changes in the microbiome."

• "Our mission is to give people options. There are multiple ways people can eat to optimize brain health."

• "What we're learning is that avocados may be one of those fruits that may be neuroprotective in certain ways. This work provides some evidence behind one option people have from a plethora of healthful foods that we can consume."

Mealtimes, Technology and Food Intake

A March 2020 study by the University of Illinois found a significant decrease in the amount of food eaten whilst using technology. They said,

• "It's fairly simple but distracting enough that you have to really be watching [the game] to make sure that you don't miss a number and are mentally keeping track."

• "That was a big question for us going into this - how do you ensure that the participant is distracted? And [the game] was a good solution for that."

• "It really seemed to matter whether they were in that distracted eating group first … Something about being distracted on their initial visit really seemed to change the amount they consumed during the nondistracted meal. There may be a potent carryover effect between the mechanism of distraction and the novelty of the food served.”

olive and other oils, animal fats, and heart disease

A March 2020 study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said,

• "Previous studies have linked high consumption of olive oil with better cardiovascular health, particularly in Mediterranean countries where olive oil intake is much higher than in the United States."

• "Our aim was to investigate whether higher olive oil consumption was beneficial to heart health in the U.S. population."

• "One interesting thing our study shows is that although olive oil was better than most animal fats and margarine, it was not superior to vegetable oils in this study population."

• "This means that replacing any type of animal fat with vegetable oils, including olive oil but also others, could be a good strategy to improve cardiovascular health."

Nutrition and Anxiety

A February 2020 study by the University of Toronto and the University of Edmonton said,

• "For those who consumed less than 3 sources of fruits and vegetables daily, there was at least at 24% higher odds of anxiety disorder diagnosis."

• "This may also partly explain the findings associated with body composition measures. As levels of total body fat increased beyond 36%, the likelihood of anxiety disorder was increased by more than 70%."

• "Increased body fat may be linked to greater inflammation. Emerging research suggests that some anxiety disorders can be linked to inflammation.”

• "Our findings are in keeping with previous research which has also indicated that women are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders than men."

• "We were not surprised to find that those in poverty had such a high prevalence of anxiety disorders; struggling to afford basics such as food and housing causes relentless stress and is inherently anxiety inducing."

• "Chronic pain and multiple health conditions make life very unpredictable and can be anxiety producing. One never knows whether health problems will interfere with work or family responsibilities and many activities become more challenging and time consuming."

• "Immigrants may face a myriad of challenges associated with resettling in a new country, including language barriers, poverty, difficulties in getting qualifications recognized, and limited social support, so it seems counter-intuitive that they should have a lower likelihood of anxiety disorders than those born in Canada. It may be that potential immigrants with anxiety disorders would find the challenges of relocation too anxiety-inducing and would therefore not choose to immigrate, so there is a 'self-selection' for those with lower anxiety."

• "It is estimated that 10% of the global population will suffer from anxiety disorders which are a leading cause of disability … Our findings suggest that comprehensive approaches that target health behaviors, including diet, as well as social factors, such as economic status, may help to minimize the burden of anxiety disorders among middle-aged and older adults, including immigrants."

Big Breakfasts Good

A February 2020 study by University of Lübeck found, “that a meal eaten for breakfast, regardless of the amount of calories it contains, creates twice as high diet-induced thermogenesis as the same meal consumed for dinner,"

"This finding is significant for all people as it underlines the value of eating enough at breakfast."

"We recommend that patients with obesity as well as healthy people eat a large breakfast rather than a large dinner to reduce body weight and prevent metabolic diseases."

Mediterranean diet, gut bacteria and healthy ageing

A February 2020 study said, “The interplay of diet, microbiome and host health is a complex phenomenon influenced by several factors … While the results of this study [how the Mediterranean diet affects gut bacteria and ageing] shed light on some of the rules of this three-way interplay, several factors such as age, body mass index, disease status and initial dietary patterns may play a key role in determining the extent of success of these interactions," 

Healthy Eating Kitchens

A February 2020 paper by Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and University of Washington, Seattle, said, "Healthy Teaching Kitchens [a teaching environment] not only focus on participants' knowledge, but also on supporting practical skills such as kitchen setup, meal experience, grocery shopping, label reading, meal planning, and budgeting."

Gluten, Casein, and Autism

A small (N=60) non-double bind study February 2020 study by the University of Granada (UGR) found that the behaviour of autistic children was not affected by Gluten-free and casein-free diets over a period of a few months.

Tibb: Beef

As-Suyuti said, “Beef inclines to coldness and dryness and is hard to digest. It generates spleen. It is better eaten as veal. From Suhi'b comes the statement: You must drink cows’ milk, for it is a cure. The fat of beef is a medicine. It is best eaten with pepper and cinnamon.” Al-Qayyum classified this as a weak hadith.

Walnuts Might Slow Cognitive Decline for Ageing At Risk Population

A January 2020 study by Loma Linda University said, “Further investigation is definitely warranted based on our findings, especially for disadvantaged populations, who may have the most to gain from incorporating walnuts and other nuts into their diet." 

Alternating Keto Diet – “Starving-Not Starving”

A January 2020 study (on mice) by Yale University found mixed results by following a ketogenic diet.  Short term health benefits were followed by some negative effects.  There appears to be some benefit in lowering inflammation and reducing the risk of diabetes. Researchers said, “Obesity and type 2 diabetes are lifestyle diseases … Diet allows people a way to be in control … Our findings highlight the interplay between metabolism and the immune system, and how it coordinates maintenance of healthy tissue function,"

Bread Products – the Glycemic Index (GI)

This is a way of measuring how the food that you eat affects the amount of sugar in your blood.  This is important for a number of reasons.

A food with a GI value of 55 or less is labelled “Low GI”.  The food will have a slower, longer impact on you, energy-wise.  High GI foods (those with a GI above 70) will be used by your body before any stored energy like body fat. And this may make weight loss more difficult.

French Baguette - 95

Bagel - 72

White Bread - 71

Croissant - 67

Wholemeal Rye - 62

Hamburger Bun - 61

Pitta - 57

__________________________

Sourdough Wheat - 54

Whole Wheat - 49

Sourdough Rye - 48

Pumpernickel - 46

Heavy Mixed Grain - 45

Soya and Linseed - 36

Source

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/