Eating For Health

Have you ever heard of brain food?   Foods you can eat for a healthier brain?   I always told my students that before an exam they should drink some water.   Why?   Because even being slightly dehydrated (1%-5%) can adversely affect brain function .   A 2% decrease in brain hydration can result in short term memory loss and have trouble with math computations. Besides staying hydrated, what foods can you eat for a healthier brain? My sister sent me an interesting article, “ People who eat magnesium-rich foods like spinach and almonds may have bigger, healthier brains” .    Why magnesium?   According to NIH , about half of Americans have diets deficient in magnesium.   It is known as a “silent deficiency” as most people are totally unaware that they are lacking in magnesium.   What are the health benefits of magnesium?   Magnesium is a mineral that has many roles to play in your body.         Heart ...

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. ...

Summer means ice cream, popsicles, Slurpees, slushies, and iced drinks.   Many people enjoy these until they get what most people call “brain freeze”.   A Virginia Tech assistant professor has studied the brain freeze phenomenon.   Kristofer Rau is an expert in molecular biology, electrophysiology, and behavior assessment and has used his expertise to study why one gets “quick onset headaches” after eating some cold foods or drinks.    What causes you to have a “brain freeze”? Some call it a “brain freeze” others call it an “ice cream headache”.   After eating something really cold, you suddenly feel a sharp pain in your head.   Why?   The professor explains that your body wants to keep things at a certain temperature including your mouth.   Eating something really cold means your mouth temperature suddenly isn’t warm anymore so your body wants to warm your mouth back up.   More blood is sent to the roof of your mouth to warm it up,...

Growing up every kid and many adults enjoyed a glass of real dairy milk at every meal.   Then plant-based milks started to come on the market and many people switched to these milks thinking they were healthier.   Are they?   Teaching nutrition I often talked about the nutritional differences of real milk versus the fake plant-based milks.   Some students asked what “real milk” was.   Real milk is dairy – milk from a cow.   Plant-based milks can be made from almonds, oats, or soy.   Which is healthier?   Real dairy milk or plant-based milks?   Which milk does the United States Department of Agriculture count as a serving of milk?   Consumer Reports has a great article Which Milk Should You Drink?   that answers many of these questions.     Should you drink cow’s milk?   Good news for nutritionists is that 79% of 2,121 US adults polled are still buying cow’s milk.   Unfortunately, people are drinking less re...