Chocolate Sauce » dementia http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog Healthy chocolate and all things antioxidant Tue, 10 May 2011 04:00:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Crazy Curry Cranium Cure? http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog/2009/08/23/crazy-curry-cranium-cure/ http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog/2009/08/23/crazy-curry-cranium-cure/#comments Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:58:29 +0000 admin http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog/?p=307

Recently there have been quite a few reports extolling the virtues of curcumin in the prevention or reduction of the spread of amyloid plaques, which are thought to contribute to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Curcumin is a component of turmeric, a spice used in curries. Researchers have found that populations that eat curries [...]]]> turmeric Crazy Curry Cranium Cure?

Recently there have been quite a few reports extolling the virtues of curcumin in the prevention or reduction of the spread of amyloid plaques, which are thought to contribute to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Curcumin is a component of turmeric, a spice used in curries. Researchers have found that populations that eat curries two or three times per week have a lower incidence of dementia.

Murali Doraiswamy, director of the Mental Fitness Laboratory at the Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center spoke at the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Annual Meeting in Liverpool, England. In his address to the delegates he reported that “There is very solid evidence that curcumin binds to plaques, and basic research on animals engineered to produce human amyloid plaques has shown benefits.” He reported that “You can modify a mouse so that at about 12 months its brain is riddled with plaques. If you feed this rat a curcumin-rich diet it dissolves these plaques. The same diet prevented younger mice from forming new plaques. The next step is to test curcumin on human amyloid plaque formation using newer brain scans and there are plans for that.”

A study is currently underway at UCLA to test curcumin on human patients with Alzheimer’s. They are using regular curcumin and a synthetic version on the patients along with vitamin D3. (I have to interject here that since turmeric is a natural substance, it can’t be patented, so someone has to come up with a version that can be patented so big pharma can produce a pill that can make them some money)

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, there are quite a few reports out there regarding turmeric. The following three articles were used as source material for this post:

]]> http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog/2009/08/23/crazy-curry-cranium-cure/feed/ 5 Seven Steps to Fight Inflammation http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog/2007/08/20/seven-steps-to-fight-inflammation/ http://www.antioxidantalley.com/blog/2007/08/20/seven-steps-to-fight-inflammation/#comments Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:47:25 +0000 jbchristensen http://chocolatesauce.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/seven-steps-to-fight-inflammation/ I subscribe to a newsletter from Harvard Medical School. The most recent issue reminds us that inflammation, while an important part of our body’s healing system, can be dangerous, if there is too much of it. Inflammation is involved in atherosclerosis, heart disease, strokes and even some types of dementia. Below is a link to [...]]]> I subscribe to a newsletter from Harvard Medical School. The most recent issue reminds us that inflammation, while an important part of our body’s healing system, can be dangerous, if there is too much of it. Inflammation is involved in atherosclerosis, heart disease, strokes and even some types of dementia. Below is a link to the on-line version of the article.

Harvard Medical School: 7 simple steps to fend off harmful inflammation

The article lists seven dietary steps that will help fight inflammation. Quoting from the article -

Simple changes

What you eat may fan the fires of inflammation. With some small changes — no crazy new foods involved — you can douse them. Here are some suggestions:

  1. Get an oil change. Eating a lot of saturated fats and/or trans fats is linked with higher levels of inflammation. Swap them for olive oil, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties, or polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fats from fish.
  2. Don’t be so refined. The bolus of blood sugar that accompanies a meal or snack of highly refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, French fries, sugar-laden soda, etc.) increases levels of inflammatory messengers called cytokines. Eating whole-grain bread, brown rice, and other whole grains smooths out the after-meal rise in blood sugar and insulin, and dampens cytokine production.
  3. Promote produce. The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the lower the burden of inflammation. Why? They contain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of substances that squelch inflammation-rousing free radicals; some act as direct anti-inflammatory agents.
  4. Go nuts. Adding walnuts, peanuts, almonds, and other nuts and seeds to your snacks and meals is another tasty way to ease inflammation.
  5. Cocoa lovers rejoice? In laboratory studies, cocoa and dark chocolate slow the production of signaling molecules involved in inflammation. The trick is to get them without too much sugar and fat.
  6. Alcohol in moderation. A drink a day seems to lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a powerful signal of inflammation. Too much alcohol has the opposite effect on CRP.
  7. Spice it up. Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, basil, pepper, and many others have anti-inflammatory properties.

If you adopt an anti-inflammatory diet, you probably won’t see or feel any different. Angina won’t suddenly disappear or heart failure reverse itself. But you will be doing your heart, arteries, and the rest of you a huge favor that will pay off in many ways.

If you are interested in subscribing to the newsletter, here’s a link to the subscription form:
www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat

Just a warning – each issue of the newsletter will hit you up to buy a report regarding the subject matter of the newsletter.

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