Eating fish makes your brain better, faster and stronger, according to the results of a recent study published in Neurology.

The study measured omega-3 fatty acid levels in the red blood cells of 1,575 older people whose average age was 67. The study participants did not show signs of dementia, were evaluated for mental function and underwent MRI scans.

Researchers said the results showed that participants whose diets contained low levels of omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in fish, such as docosahexanoic acid (DHA) are more likely to have memory problems.

“People with lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had lower brain volumes that were equivalent to about two years of structural brain aging,” says researcher Zaldy S. Tan, MD, MPH, of the Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research and the Division of Geriatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Since previous studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids are known to reduce inflammation, which helps in the fight against Alzehimers dementia, this new research opens the door for more research on how including fish in your diet can help fight against this dreaded disease.

In addition, for people who aren’t suffering from dementia, including fish as a diet staple has shown to increase brain function, visual memory, processing and abstract thinking.

You no longer have to dread getting older and losing your memory, you can do something about it and maintain a better quality of life.

Other Ways to Keep Your Brain Healthy

Get Moving: “The best advice I can give to keep your brain healthy and young is aerobic exercise,” says Donald Stuss, PhD, a neuropsychologist and director of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto. Exercise helps to ward off mental decline and it may even help to restore memory. Numerous studies on animals have shown that aerobic exercise leads to more blood supply, nutrients and oxygen getting to your brain to help it function better.

Eat Better: Remember, what you feed your body, you feed your brain. Fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants that help to neutralize the harmful free radicals that break down the neurons in your brain. Eating good, nutritious food helps to keep your brain in tip-top shape, plus ward off other diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Don’t Stress: I know it’s easier said than done, but constant stress wreaks havoc on your body and your brain. You’re always going to have some form of stress in your life and not all stress is bad. But when it’s constant and uncontrolled, you’re asking for problems. Physical exercise is a fantastic destressor. Try out a Yoga or Pilates class or sign up for some meditation sessions. You’ll feel and look better and your brain will thank you by functioning better.

Laugh More: Don’t roll your eyes, laughter really is good for you. It stimulates the parts of your brain that use the “feel good” chemical messenger dopamine. Laughter is something you can do over and over and over and it always leaves you feeling good. You may even want to try out Laughter Yoga.

Keep your brain healthy, wise and strong with Lee Haney’s Omega 3: Mega EPA DHA. It increases your intake of omega-3 fatty acids ahd helps to reduce inflammation, which has been associated with Alzehimers dementia. You’re never too old to start taking care of your brain,

Learn Something New: Your brain is highly adaptable. If you ask your brain to lean, it will oblige. Learning new things helps to slow down typical brain aging and may even treat dementia. “Your brain is a learning machine,” says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. “Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding,” says Merzenich, will kick your brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up. For his part, Merzenich, 64, has “4,000 hobbies,” including a wood shop and a vineyard. With dedicated practice, you can train your brain to act like it did when you were younger.

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The search for healthy, organic products just got more confusing. A study of organic brown rice syrup just concluded that products containing this sweetener are a source for the toxin arsenic.

Organic brown rice syrup is used in organic and gluten-free foods as an alternative to high fructose corn syrup. It’s made by steeping brown rice with a special enzyme preparation where the whole brown rice grains are converted to a smooth-flavored, sweet liquid extract. This causes the syrup to dissolve into your bloodstream easily, which helps to control blood sugar spikes.

However, eating foods that contain this “sweet liquid” as a main ingredient could expose you to more arsenic than the U.S. government allows in drinking water. The problem is the rice and how arsenic gets into it.

Arsenic and Rice

Arsenic is both colorless and tasteless; it’s naturally present in the environment and easily dissolves in water, but once it gets in the soil, it can stay there for years. Rice is particularly vulnerable to contamination with arsenic because it is grown in water. Arsenic gets into the rice and is stored in the darker outer layer call the germ. Brown rice contains higher levels of arsenic than white rice because the outer layers are stripped from white rice in processing. But leaving the outer layers intact is actually what makes brown rice a healthier alternative than white rice.

Long term exposure to arsenic in drinking water has been linked to cancers of the bladder, liver, skin, prostate and lungs, along with increased risk for heart disease. Arsenic exposure in young children has been linked to lower IQs and reduced brain function.

Study Results

Researchers at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire tested 17 brands of baby formulas, 29 cereal bars and three energy shots and three organic brown rice syrups. Products that did not list organic brown rice syrup as the main ingredient were low in arsenic levels. Most of the arsenic was detected in the bars and energy bars and was the inorganic kind, believed to be the most toxic.

As reported by ABCNews.com, “There’s been quite a lot of press on arsenic in rice in the past six years, but less so on the rice products,” says researcher Brian P. Jackson, PhD, director of trace metal analysis at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. He went on to say that as Americans consume more rice-containing foods, they’re unknowingly ingesting more arsenic, he cautioned. He pointed out that they’re buying more organic packaged foods, more gluten-free products made from rice instead of wheat flour, and choosing foods sweetened with organic brown rice syrup because of the buzz they’ve heard linking high-fructose corn syrup and obesity.

Organic  Foods are Not Always Safest

Concerns for You

If you eat foods that contain organic brown rice syrup every once in a while, you probably don’t have anything to worry about, since your body can clear a single, small dose of arsenic in a few days. But if you are an athlete or fitness enthusiast and consume energy bars or gels regularly, you could have issues.

In addition, if you are giving your baby organic formula, you also have need to be concerned. Jackson suggests that parents hold off on feeding babies and toddlers formula that contains brown rice syrup as a sweetener until arsenic levels in products are regulated.

“There’s no perfect advice,” said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C.Lovera. “There’s no one thing people can do.” But she said, the surprising presence of arsenic in packaged foods give people a chance to ask themselves, “How many foods do I need to eat that are processed with ingredients I don’t really know that much about?”

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Followers of the Mediterranean diet will be happy to know that they will probably have less small blood vessel damage in their brain, says a recent study. So now, they have another reason to continue to follow its principles. The Mediterranean diet is based on the eating style of cultures that border the Mediterranean Sea, such as Italy and Greece. The diet has been linked to lowering the risk of what’s known as the metabolic syndrome, heart disease, stroke and dementia.

The Mediterranean diet is comprised of eating fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, whole grains, legumes, monounsaturated fats like olive oil along with moderate amounts of alcohol. It also includes lower amounts of red meat, saturated fats like butter and refined grains.

The research study, which compared the brain scans and diets of 966 adults, average aged 72, showed that those who most closely followed the Mediterranean diet had lower measures of white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) than those who did not. WMHV in the brain is an indicator of small blood vessel damage. It is detected by using a magnetic resonance screening (MRI) and is found in the average person as they age. High amounts of WMHV in the brain can predict a higher risk for stroke (brain attack) and dementia.

Researchers believe that the ratio of monounsaturated fats to saturated fats is what seemed to matter most in judging the benefits of following the diet. During the study, researchers adjusted other risk factors for small blood vessel damage in the brain, such as smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels, but the outcome remained consistent.

Mediterranean Diet Basics

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February is Healthy Heart month. On today’s show, I will show you how to keep your heart healthy and your weight down at the same time. Plus, learn 5 steps you can take to reduce your blood pressure without using drugs.

Happy Valentine’s Day! A healthy heart is a happy heart that is open to love.

Also check out:

• 7 Heart Tests That Could Save Your Life
• The Truth About Heart Medication

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Walmart, the largest food seller in the United States, is starting a ripple effect in the grocery industry. Recently, they announced they are ready to begin rollout of their “Great for You” program.

The “Great for You” program is one more tool in Walmart’s efforts to show consumers that they can make healthy, low-cost choices for food to feed their families. The designation that a food has made it into the program is a prominent green and white logo. Consumers can be assured that products that sport the logo meet Walmart’s standards that regulates the amount of total saturated and trans fats, added sugars and sodium levels a product can contain. Fresh fruits and vegetables and lean cuts of meat qualify, as do brown rice and 1 percent milk. After a lengthy debate, eggs are also included in the program.

“There are no candy bars,” said Andrea Thomas, the company’s senior vice president of sustainability.

The logo also appears on 20 percent to 25 percent of Walmart’s Great Value brand food. Brand name foods and some of Walmart’s own Marketside items may also qualify for the program.

This move will help consumers to make informed choices about what foods to put on their family’s tables. The ability to make more healthy choices is “a key piece of solving childhood obesity,” says First Lady Michelle Obama, who was on hand at the unveiling of the program in January 2011.

In their efforts to continue to keep prices low, Walmart will introduce new packaging that contains the seal of approval as the old packaging runs out.

Image Source: Google

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