Category: Nutrition

3 Foods That Are Linked To ‘Successful Aging’

This plant-based nutrient can keep us avoid disability and disease into old age.

This plant-based nutrient can keep us avoid disability and disease into old age.

Dietary fibre consumed from fruits, cereals and breads are linked to aging successfully over many years.

The surprising benefits of fibre-rich foods has been underestimated, but Australian researchers reveal that fibre makes a big difference in order to age successfully.

They studied 1,609 adults who were 49 years and older for 10 years to find out the relationship between healthy aging and carbohydrate nutrition.

Total carbohydrate intake, total fiber intake, sugar intake, glycemic load and glycemic index factors were examined.

Fibre had the largest impact on what the researchers called ‘successful aging.’

Successful aging was defined as the absence of:

  • cognitive impairment,
  • disability,
  • depressive symptoms,
  • respiratory symptoms,
  • and chronic diseases including coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

Professor Bamini Gopinath, the study’s lead author, said:

“Out of all the variables that we looked at, fiber intake — which is a type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest — had the strongest influence.

Essentially, we found that those who had the highest intake of fiber or total fiber actually had an almost 80 percent greater likelihood of living a long and healthy life over a 10-year follow-up.

That is, they were less likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes, dementia, depression, and functional disability.”

We might expect that sugar intake would have a big impact on healthy aging, but in this study it was not linked to successful aging.

Professor Gopinath pointed out that the older adults who participated in this study had a low intake of carbonated and sugary drinks in their diet.

The study was published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A (Gopinath et al., 2016).

The Vitamins Linked To Better Sleep (M)

The link between poor sleep and nutritional deficiency is particularly strong in women.

The link between poor sleep and nutritional deficiency is particularly strong in women.

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The Everyday Remedy For Depression Symptoms

The remedy reduces symptoms in people experiencing the symptoms of depression.

The remedy reduces symptoms in people experiencing the symptoms of depression.

Eating better reduces depression symptoms, new research finds.

Three common diets have similar positive effects, whether people are trying to lose weight, reduce fat or just improve the nutrients in their diet.

There is no need for a special depression-busting diet: simply eating more fruit and veg and avoiding junk food will help.

Dietary changes are particularly beneficial for women, the scientists found.

Dr Joseph Firth, the study’s first author, said:

“The overall evidence for the effects of diet on mood and mental well-being had up to now yet to be assessed.

But our recent meta-analysis has done just that; showing that adopting a healthier diet can boost people’s mood.

However, it has no clear effects on anxiety.”

The conclusions come from almost 46,000 people who were involved in every existing clinical trial looking at diet and mental health problems.

The results showed that all three types of diet — a nutrient boosting, weight loss and fat reduction diet — ease depression symptoms.

Dr Firth said:

“This is actually good news.

The similar effects from any type of dietary improvement suggests that highly-specific or specialised diets are unnecessary for the average individual.

Instead, just making simple changes is equally beneficial for mental health.

In particular, eating more nutrient-dense meals which are high in fibre and vegetables, while cutting back on fast-foods and refined sugars appears to be sufficient for avoiding the potentially negative psychological effects of a ‘junk food’ diet.”

Exercise will boost the positive effects of diet changes, said Dr Brendon Stubbs, study co-author:

“…when dietary interventions were combined with exercise, a greater improvement in depressive symptoms was experienced by people.”

It is not yet clear how diet improves mental health, said Dr Firth:

“It could be through reducing obesity, inflammation, or fatigue—all of which are linked to diet and impact upon mental health.

And further research is still required to examine the effects of dietary interventions in people with clinically-diagnosed psychiatric conditions.”

The study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine (Firth et al., 2019).

The Vitamin That Helps Prevent Depression

Increased intake of this vitamin is particularly important for reducing depression risk.

Increased intake of this vitamin is particularly important for reducing depression risk.

A healthy diet including plenty of folates is linked to lower depression risk, research finds.

Folates include vitamin B9, folacin and folic acid.

Some of the best dietary sources of folates include:

  • vegetables,
  • fruits,
  • liver,
  • and whole-grains.

Folate levels are particularly high in chickpeas, yeast extract, lentils and broad beans.

Losing weight is also linked to a lower risk of depression.

In contrast, eating junk food, sugar and processed foods was linked to increased depression risk by the study.

People who ate more foods like sausages, sugary snacks and drinks, manufactured foods and processed potatoes had higher depression risk.

The conclusion comes from a Finnish study of over 2,000 middle-aged men.

They were tracked for up to 20 years while their diet and mental health was monitored.

In another related study, 140 men and women were assigned to one of two groups.

One group ate a healthy diet while the other continued as normal.

The results again showed that a healthy diet including higher intake of vegetables, fruits, whole-grains and fish was linked to lower depression risk.

Increased intake of folates is particularly important.

Dr Anu Ruusunen, the study’s author, said:

“The study reinforces the hypothesis that a healthy diet has potential not only in the warding off of depression, but also in its prevention.”

The studies were published by the University of Eastern Finland (Ruusunen et al., 2013).

The Worst Weight Loss Technique Is Used By 50% Of People

Large decade-long study reveals what works best long-term in weight management.

Large decade-long study reveals what works best long-term in weight management.

Dieting is not the answer to effective weight management, new research concludes.

Indeed, people who carefully control what they eat put on more weight in the long-term, the large 10-year study found.

It is far better to avoid dieting and simple eat regular healthy meals.

Taking care of one’s psychological well-being is also important, as is finding a sense of meaning in life.

These are the conclusions of a Finnish study that followed over 4,900 people for a decade.

The results showed that almost everyone gained weight between the ages of 24 and 34 — around 1kg per year.

Men and women who dieted and had irregular eating habits put on more weight over the decade.

It is thought around 50% of adults are dieting at any one time.

Ms Ulla Kärkkäinen, the study’s first author, said:

“Often, people try to prevent and manage excess weight and obesity by dieting and skipping meals.

In the long term, such approaches seem to actually accelerate getting fatter, rather than prevent it.”

In addition, women who were unhappy with their life and who drank more sugary drinks also put on more weight.

For men, smoking was a risk factor for putting on more weight.

Ms Ulla Kärkkäinen, the study’s first author, said:

“Generally speaking, weight management guidance often boils down to eating less and exercising more.

In practice, people are encouraged to lose weight, whereas the results of our extensive population study indicate that losing weight is not an effective weight management method in the long run.

Prior research has shown that approximately every other adult is constantly dieting.

According to the National Institute for Health and Welfare, nearly a million Finns diet every year.

Even though dieting may seem a logical solution to weight management problems, it can actually increase weight gain and eating problems in the long run.”

The study was published in the journal Eating Behaviors (Kärkkäinen et al., 2018).

The Diet Linked To Drug-Like Withdrawal Symptoms

Irritability, depressed mood and tiredness peaked two to three days after giving up.

Irritability, depressed mood and tiredness peaked two to three days after giving up.

People trying to quit junk food experience drug-like withdrawal symptoms, new research finds.

In the first two to five days of giving up pizza, French fries and pastries, people experience irritability, sadness, tiredness and cravings.

The withdrawal symptoms likely make it hard for people to give up these highly processed foods that often contain large amounts of sugar.

People trying to quit junk food may benefit from some of the same strategies that drug addicts use.

Whether it is better to slowly taper off the junk food or suddenly go ‘cold turkey’, though, is not yet known.

The conclusions come from a study that asked 213 people about their experiences of junk food withdrawal.

The results showed that irritability, depressed mood and tiredness peaked two to three days after giving up junk food.

Most symptoms had reduced after around one week.

The study was published in the journal Appetite (Schulte et al., 2018).

The Food That Slows Down The Brain

The effects can be counteracted with the right nutrients.

The effects can be counteracted with the right nutrients.

A diet high in sugar slows down the brain, research finds.

Both memory and learning were weakened by a diet high in fructose (sugar).

However, omega-3 fatty acids can help fight the problem, the scientists also discovered.

Around 1g of DHA a day could be enough to help counteract the deleterious effects of sugar.

Professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, study co-author, said:

“Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think.

Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brain’s ability to learn and remember information.

But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”

The study gave some rats a high fructose solution to drink for six weeks.

Another group were also fed omega-3 fatty acids.

Professor Gomez-Pinilla explained the results:

“The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids.

The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity.

Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”

Professor Gomez-Pinilla advises that we should keep sugary food intake to a minimum:

“We’re less concerned about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants.

We’re more concerned about the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup, which is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative.”

Omega-3, though, can help protect the brain, Professor Gomez-Pinilla said:

“Our findings suggest that consuming DHA regularly protects the brain against fructose’s harmful effects.

It’s like saving money in the bank.

You want to build a reserve for your brain to tap when it requires extra fuel to fight off future diseases.”

The study was published in the journal Physiology (Agrawal & Gomez-Pinilla, 2012).

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