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.)

Acupuncture Clinic at the Senior Center is OPEN

Today was our first clinical acupuncture day at the Sunshine senior center in St. Petersburg. The acupuncture clinic is free of charge to the seniors and stuff members at the center.

We treated 6 patients, which is better that what we expected for the first day.
Some of our patients today never had acupuncture before, and some actually did, and liked it. Some were sick of taking drugs from their doctors and looked for an alternative. One patient told me that she has been taking the same medicine for her health problem for about 20 years, but without any results. Why is she keeping taking the drug? I guess habit, or because her doctor told her so...
One of our potential patients said to us "Hmm..I just took my pills, so I better not get an acupuncture treatment today, I'll come back next time." Total understandable.

Here are some of the questions we got today:
1. what is on the needle? what did you put on the needles?
2. How come you didn't put a needle on my right arm, but you did on my left arm?
3. Are you going to put this needle in my head? but my head is fine...
4. If you are treating my insomnia, will I fall asleep now? Because I have a meeting in an hour, and I don't want to fall asleep while somebody is talking to me.
5. Is this safe? are the needles clean?
6. What do you mean you are going to be here every week?
7. Why is this free?

Then some said to us:
-*- I feel relaxed
-*- I'll come back next week to see you again

A lot of people there don't know anything about acupuncture and Oriental medicine. We hope to change that.



---Eran

Untreated PTSD in Veterans

An estimated 300,000 veterans from recent U.S.wars are suffering from PTSD, and another 300,000 from physical & psychological symptoms due to head injuries. A February 2010 news release states that many veterans from the Iraq & Afghanistan wars who have received diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder aren't receiving treatment. (Fewer than 30% of vets who were diagnosed with PTSD between 2002 & 2008.)

Most likely to be under-treated were: veterans who were male or under the age of 25, those who live in rural areas and those who got their diagnoses at primary-care clinics and needed referrals to mental health programs. Most diagnosed veterans attended at least one mental-health care session, but both personal & systemic factors created barriers to their continuing in treatment.

Meanwhile, the military is still making some inroads into the U.S. acceptance of acupuncture as a treatment for PTSD. The military has run several studies in the use of acupuncture for alleviating PTSD, including one in New Mexico that involved 84 participants, supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The U.S. Air Force is developing a system called "battlefield acupuncture" to prevent PTSD and treat battlefield injuries on site with acupuncture. (Guidepoints, January 2009) Acupuncture services are offically available at some VA hospitals (Seattle, Fort Bliss, TX & Cinncinati and a Naval hospital in San Diego), and there are continuing studies being conducted on its use. Acupuncture is also offered for free or at low cost to veterans at sites all over the country, including here in St. Petersburg by AWB affiliates. (Thursday nights @ 7.30pm, at Unity of St. Petersburg, 6168 1st Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33710)

For a list of veterans' clinics in the U.S., see:

http://acuwithoutborders.org/msrpclinics.php

Other sources on military research into the use of acupuncture:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_95333.html

http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.magDtl&dtl=3&mid=3832

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-07-holistic_N.htm

http://www.moaa.org/momStory.aspx?pagename=pubs_mom_070601_ptsd

Acupuncture May Ease Depression During Pregnancy

A recent study, to be published in the March 2010 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology, explored treating women with depression during pregnancy with acupuncture. The small study (150 participants) found a 63 percent response rate to the depression-specific acupuncture treatment protocols, compared to a 44 percent response rate in women treated with control acupuncture or massage.

Up to 20 percent of women may experience depression during pregnancy. Depression in pregnant mothers is linked to premature delivery and post-partum depression. The safety of antidepressant drugs during pregnancy is not completely known, so it's important to have non-pharmaceutical treatment options.

For more details, please see the story @ Medline:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_95574.html

--chris

Diet Therapy Advice

“Let your foods be your medicine, not your medicine be your food”

Maimonides/Rambam (1135-1204)

Here are some general guidelines of diet therapy & eating habits that we should all follow:

“No disease that can be treated by diet should be treated with any other means.”

Eating & Drinking Habits:

• Eat only when you are hungry, and not when 'it's time to eat' or when everybody else is eating around you. How do you know when you are hungry? your tummy makes gggrrrrrrr noises...
• Stop eating when you are not hungry.
• Eating slow = eating less! So eat slowly -- it takes at least 20 minutes to the hunger center in your brain to know that you are full. So if you eat fast, you eat more.
• Give your stomach a rest, and don't eat in between meals. Let your stomach get empty before filling it with more food. So, no snacking if you're bored, instead go for a walk, move your body.
• When you are eating, avoid other activities such as watching TV, reading and driving etc. Just sit down and eat. It's that simple.
• Avoid eating when you are moody. When you are upset, sad, angry etc., walk it off, don't eat it off.
• Don't overeat. Portions are getting bigger and bigger and so are people in this country. How to eat less? Eat 3/4 of your meal, stop, and put the plate aside, far away from you. After 10 minutes, ask yourself if you are still hungry. Often the answer will be no. Stop eating before you are completely full.
• Drink more water. A lot more. At least 12 cups of room temperature water is highly recommended for an adult.
• Avoid eating or drinking cold food & drinks. What a waste of energy! – warming your ice-cold water to reach your body temperature?! Ask for a room temperature water in restaurants. Say no to ice.
• Avoid eating and drinking at the same time. Water dilutes the stomach acid, which makes the digestion slower and harder. Drink half an hour before and/or after the meal. Your digestive system will thank you.

“A man's health can be judged by which he takes two at a time - pills or stairs.” ~ Joan Welsh

“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.”

Maimonides

What and When to Eat?

• Eat a big breakfast with protein, you need the energy to start your day; medium size lunch, not too much; and a small dinner, because you are soon going to sleep. It's like putting gas in your car before you go on a journey, and not at the end.
• Eat a variety of foods, not only few types of food that you have gotten used to. You can get a lot more from Mother Nature if you eat different fruits & vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, etc.
• Avoid eating too much cow-based dairy products. Switch to goat and sheep. They are easier to digest and cause less digestive system symptoms.
• Eat more veggies! mostly steamed, some raw; small amount of stir-fried (too much oil...eek).
• Take a short easy walk after the meal, move your Qi.
• Spice up your food with ginger, black paper, fennel seeds, cumin, sweet paprika, etc.

Exercise:

Move your body!

There are two types of exercise, and they complete each other. Please do both, at least 2-3 types of different exercise regimens.

• YIN types such as Tai Qi Chuan, Qi Gong and Yoga are very relaxing and also strengthen your body.
• YANG types such as swimming, walking quickly, bicycling and running move your Qi faster and make you big and strong.

The easiest exercise is to walk quickly. How do you know that you are walking fast enough? Your are all sweaty, your heart beats rapidly, and you are still alive!

After exercising, it is very important to eat well. Your body needs the energy to build up the muscles. It is harmful not to eat when you are hungry after exercising.

The best time to exercise is when the sun is up. At night, it is better to read a book, or take a slow walk, thus directing your Qi inward, and prepare for sleep.

what we eat is who we are

Diet therapy can treat many diseases:

• Insomnia – eating a big dinner is the most common reason for sleepless night.
• Diarrhea & constipation, abdominal pain & discomfort – attributed to bad eating habits such as overeating, eating when not hungry, eating junk food, eating late at night, eating when upset or have nothing to do, etc.