the Mediterranean Diet & the Brain

A recent American Society for Nutrition press release gave another "thumbs'up!" to the Mediterranean Diet.

A study gave cognitive skills tests to more than 4,000 adults aged 65+ over a 15-year period, and found the highest scores on the tests & least cognitive decline amongst the participants who were following the Mediterranean diet.

Rather than asking people to avoid certain foods, the study found data that "adults over age 65 should look to include more olive oil, legumes, nuts, and seeds in their diet in order to improve their recall times and other cognitive skills, such as identifying symbols and numbers."

Of course, regular physical exercise is also part of good mental functioning.

See the full story here.

Portobello for lunch

Portobello for lunch

This afternoon I felt like eating a homemade nutritious sandwich

The ingredients:

• Tomato
• Red pepper
• Portobello mushroom
• Olive oil, salt & pepper
• Rye bread
• Fresh ricotta cheese.

Directions:

1. Cut the stem of the mushroom, slice the tomato and the pepper.
2. Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan
3. Put the mushroom and the pepper in the pan. Fry on low-medium fire. Flip the mushroom every once in a while so it will cook well on both sides. Towards the end, season with a little bit of salt and black pepper.
4. On the plate, sprinkle some sweet red paprika, and arrange the tomato slices

5. Cut a thick slice of bread, and spread some ricotta cheese on it.

6. The mushroom should be ready by now, so put it on your bread, with the red pepper on top.

Bon appetit!

What is this stuff good for?

Because all of the ingredients are fresh, this is a meal without preservatives.

• Mushroom – strengthen your immune system.
• Olive oil, tomatoes and peppers are part of the Mediterranean diet – fresh vegetables & fruits, olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, moderate amounts of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), some fish, little meat, and moderate wine consumption. Olive oil is nutritious and contains a very high level of monounsaturated fats – which studies suggest is linked to a reduction in coronary heart disease risk. There is also considerable clinical data that the antioxidants in olive oil can provide additional heart health benefits such as positive cholesterol regulation and LDL cholesterol reduction, and that it exerts additional anti-inflammatory and anti-hypertensive effects.

On top of all of this, you get the satisfaction of making a delicious (& appealing) meal for yourself and/or your loved ones!

The preparation time was only 10 minutes – a small investment in long-term health benefits!

Enjoy,

Eran

The Importance of Water

As a clinician, I spend a fair amount of time talking with my patients about their lifestyle habits, sometimes we work together in ways to move them towards a healthier life, and yes, often this includes looking at their drinking & eating habits. Most Americans don't drink water -- we drink everything else (coffee, soda, adult beverages, juice, lemonade, pina coladas, Red Bulls, milkshakes) -- which of course means that we're getting some water, plus a lot of other ingredients. There's some thought that most Americans are living with a certain chronic level of dehydration (75%, according to this blog entry), and that we get a lot of our fluids from our foods. (And, don't we have a national weight problem?????)

Of course, in this country we (most of us) have access to clean water -- we just don't choose to drink it. In many parts of the world, the supply of clean, drinkable water is drying up -- due to pollution, global warming, insufficient or destroyed infrastructures (an example of the latter being in post-quake Haiti). It's been speculated for several years that the next large international war may be over access to potable water supplies.

A major cause of the pollution of the global water supply is the lack of basic sanitation -- not too much of an issue in the countryside because rural environments can absorb (no pun intended!) and even put to use human excreta (it's called "nightsoil"). In the cities, and most particularly in the growing slums of the heavily-populated urban world, it's a serious issue -- according to the Charity Water website:

90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable. The UN predicts that one tenth of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply and sanitation. An interesting and innovative approach to working to minimize the impact of the lack of world sanitation is a cute little invention called the "peepoo." The peepoo is small biodegradeable plastic bag, intended for use as an instant latrine. One uses it, ties a knot in the neck of the bag & then buries or tosses it away. The inside of the bag is coated with a thin layer of urea, which helps to sanitize the natural "products" and convert them into natural fertilizer.

I think this is a brilliant little idea -- what my father likes to call "a simple solution to a complex problem." The inventors describe it as personal, as in personal computer; ... mobile, as in mobile phone; and micro, as in Microsoft.Please take a look at the peepoo website for more information. (The site is full of pictures from its test site at an informal settlement in Nairobi, including the one above. (This image is borrowed from the peepoople website -- check in with info@peepoople.com for more.)