Encouraging Health

I LOVE berries! Recently, a friend invited me to go up Interstate 5 near Everett, WA to buy berries fresh from the actual farmers. I bought a 1/2 flat of blueberries and immediately stuck them in the freezer, on the pretense of enjoying them in the winter. There were 8 baggies of them, now I think I have 3 or 4 left. They are so good!

Been known to gorge on blueberries in late summer and early fall, when they’re abundant and in season? Go ahead! Even in the world of fruits and berries, which is loaded with health-boosting, age-fighting nutrition stars, blueberries are a supernova.

They’re linked not only to skin, heart, eye, and urinary health but also to a lower risk of cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

So how much should you be eating to reap the protective health benefits? About 1 to 2 cups a day says Steven G. Pratt, MD, author of the new book SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health.

First off, you may be thinking, “Wow, that’s a lot of blueberries, even in August!” Second, if they’re not in season, you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to eat a cup or more a day. Here’s how:

Stock your freezer. There’s evidence that frozen blueberries provide the same benefits of fresh, says Dr. Pratt. The big tip-off? A European study found that men who ate frozen berries daily had as much as 50% more quercetin, a particularly powerful anticancer antioxidant, in their blood than did men who abstained from eating berries.

When fresh blueberries are so last season, here are a few suggestions from Pratt and others on how to use frozen ones to get that “cup a day”:

• Put a cup of frozen berries in the fridge in the evening to defrost; in the morning, sprinkle them over cereal or stir them into yogurt. Forgot to defrost? Throw those chilly berries in the blender, and whip up a quick all-fruit smoothie.

• Boost the fiber and nutrients in your baked goods by tossing a handful into muffin or quick-bread batter. Just add 5 to 15 minutes to the baking time to compensate for their chilling effect.

• Float a few in a glass of cold club soda or lemonade as festive, edible ice cubes. (Kids will get a kick out of this.)

• Eat them plain, like tiny popsicles. (Another kid pleaser.)

• Add them to a salad of winter fruit about 15 minutes before serving.

Eating fistfuls of blueberries every day is certainly no risk to your weight. You’re only looking at 79 calories a cup. And all those antioxidants pay off big-time.

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Hate the thought of losing your mental edge — or worse, growing senile — as you age? Well, here’s a simple way to slash your risk of dementia by 73 percent:

Go for a power walk. People who regularly walk may be that much less likely to develop dementia compared with their couch-potato peers. Yeah, it’s that simple!

More Blood, Please
Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s. It’s the nosedive that memory and other cognitive functions can take when ailing blood vessels restrict — and sometimes block — the flow of blood to the brain. But because exercise — even mild exercise like walking — increases cerebral blood flow, it may shrink the risk.

Other Brain Savers
People with high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol up their odds of vascular dementia, so controlling those conditions is a start toward staying sharp. Here are a few other brain boosters to try:

Drink up! (Juice, that is.) Drinking fruit or vegetable juice at least three times per week may lower a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a recent study suggests. Antioxidants in the juice may be responsible for the effect. To keep your waistline from expanding, choose low-calorie or pure juices without any added sugar.

Slim down. Get your BMI under 25. It turns out that being seriously overweight not only translates into a greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and a host of other life-threatening conditions, but recent findings indicate that it’s bad for the brain as well. Especially if the weight is concentrated around the middle, because it’s associated with the brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Pop the right pills. Vitamin E and a daily aspirin are a good start.

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There may be a newly discovered bonus to good blood sugar control: better recall.

Turns out that Alzheimer’s disease and the #1 blood sugar disorder, diabetes, share something in common — something that wreaks havoc on normal brain function: lack of insulin.

Not All in the Genes
A long-term Swedish study revealed that too little insulin ups Alzheimer’s risk. Men with low insulin secretion at age 50 had a significantly greater risk of the mind-robbing disease — as well as other types of dementia — later in life. One caveat though: The link was strongest in men without the gene that predisposes people to Alzheimer’s.

What It Means to You
Exactly how an impaired insulin response bumps up Alzheimer’s risk isn’t clear. But it definitely underscores the importance of diabetes prevention efforts.

Being active is a big part of living a healthy lifestyle. It offers up many health benefits. This is true for people of all ages and especially true for people with or at risk for pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. Check out the benefits of being active, how much activity is best for you and get a few tips to become more active now.

Top 10 Benefits of Being Active

Improve blood glucose management. Activity makes your body more sensitive to the insulin you make. Activity also burns glucose (calories). Both actions lower blood glucose.

Lower blood pressure. Activity helps your heart pump stronger and slower.

Improve blood fats. Exercise can raise good cholesterol (HDL) and lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. These changes are heart healthy.

Take less insulin or diabetes pills. Activity can lower blood glucose and weight. Both of these may lower how much insulin or diabetes pills you need to take.

Lose weight and keep it off. Activity burns calories. If you burn enough calories, you’ll trim a few pounds. Stay active and you’ll keep the weight off.

Lower risk for other health problems. Reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke, some cancers, and bone loss.

Gain more energy and sleep better. You’ll get better sleep in less time and have more energy, too.

Relieve stress. Work out or walk off daily stress.

Build stronger bones and muscles. Weight-bearing activities, such as walking, make bones stronger. Strength-training activities, such as lifting light weights (or even cans of beans), make muscles strong.

Be more flexible. Move easier when you are active.
Just How Much?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is put out every few years by the federal government. These Guidelines were revised in 2005 and for the first time they suggest how much activity Americans should aim for. Read through these below. Keep in mind, they are goals, not the place to start. Note that the American Diabetes Association (ADA) supports these Dietary Guidelines and believes they are good advice for people with diabetes or those who want to prevent it.

People with pre-diabetes, diabetes, or the general adult public should aim for a minimum of 30 minutes most days (Walking, gardening, doing yard work, swimming, or cleaning house will all work to meet this goal. Anything that increases your heart rate and causes you to break a light sweat.)

Children &, teens should aim for at least 60 minutes most days.

The Diabetes Prevention Program — a large study done in people with pre-diabetes — showed that 150 minutes of physical activity a week (30 minutes, five times a week) helped prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. In this study, people also lost 10 to 20 pounds by making changes in their eating habits.

Do these guidelines seem hard to fit in to your busy life? It’s not easy to find the time. You won’t go from zero to thirty or sixty (minutes), in a day or week. Take one step at a time. Slowly build up to your goal.

First, Doctor’s OK

Most adults without medical problems don’t need their doctor’s OK to exercise. But because people with pre-diabetes and diabetes may have a heart or other diabetes-related problem, ADA suggests you get your doctor’s OK. Talk to your doctor about your plans for activity. Learn from your doctor how to stay safe while you exercise.

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Experimental shot stopped plaque, but not dementia, researchers say

Some doctors have long suspected that if the plaque that builds up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease could be removed, they could be saved. But a new vaccine that did just that suggests the theory is wrong.

British researchers gave 64 patients with moderate Alzheimer’s disease an experimental vaccine designed to eliminate plaque from their brains. Some patients were followed for up to six years.

Autopsies on seven patients who died of Alzheimer’s during the study showed that nearly all of the sticky beta-amyloid protein thought to be dangerous had been removed. But all patients still had severe dementia.

“It may be that these toxic plaques trigger the neurodegeneration, but don’t have an ongoing role,” said Clive Holmes of the University of Southampton, lead author, in a press statement. The study was published Friday in the medical journal, The Lancet.

The study was paid for by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, a British charity.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects about 25 million people worldwide.

Other experts said that the study’s findings pointed to a major gap in our understanding of the disease. Doctors have never been sure whether the brain plaques are the cause of Alzheimer’s disease or just a side effect.

“We still don’t have enough understanding of what we should target,” said Dr. Bengt Winblad, director of the Alzheimer’s Centre at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute. Winblad was not connected to the study.

Brain tangles may play a role
Aside from the plaque build-up, scientists also think that tangles of another brain protein called tau play a major role in Alzheimer’s. Because those tangles form later than the plaque, some experts think they should be the focus instead.

“It may be harder to get a response from targeting plaque because that forms years before people actually have Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Simon Lovestone, professor of Old Age Psychiatry at King’s College in London. “By the time you do something, it may be too late.”

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