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From the crispy crunch of fresh veggies to the creamy indulgence of decadent desserts, we all have different food preferences. Our palates develop uniquely, shaped by genetics, culture and personal experiences.

Food preferences play a significant role in shaping our dietary habits. Highly palatable foods rich in sugars, fats and salts often appeal to peoples tastebuds and provide immediate satisfaction. However, these foods are typically high in calories and low in essential nutrients, leading to weight gain, and a higher risk of physical and mental health conditions.

Now we have discovered that the food you choose to eat isnt just linked to your physical and mental health, but also to your cognitive function, brain structure and genetics.

A widespread preference for fast food is likely contributing to an increase in obesity worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022 one in eight people worldwide were obese. This rate has doubled since 1990.

Obesity isnt just linked with an increased risk of diseases including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but also with a 30-70% higher risk of mental health disorders.

Our new collaborative study from Fudan University in China and the University of Cambridge in the UK, published in Nature Mental Health, used a large sample of 181,990 participants from the UK Biobank to examine how food choices are associated with cognitive function, mental health, metabolism, brain imaging and genetics.

We examined the consumption of vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, cheese, cereal, red wine, spirits and bread. We found that 57% of participants had food preferences for a healthy balanced diet. This included a balanced mix of all the foods we examined, with no excessive amounts in any category.

We further showed that those with a healthy balanced diet had better brain health, cognitive function and mental health than others. We compared the balanced diet to three other diet groups low-carb (18%), vegetarian (6%) and high protein/low fibre (19%).

We found that people who ate a more balanced diet had better fluid intelligence (the ability to solve new problems), processing speed, memory and executive functions (a set of mental skills that include flexible thinking and self-control) than the other diets. This also corresponded to better brain health with higher grey matter volumes (the outermost layer of the brain) and better structured neurons (brain cells), which are key markers of brain health.

Perhaps surprisingly, the vegetarian diet did not fare as well as a balanced diet. One reason for this may be that many vegetarians dont get enough protein. Two healthy, balanced diets for the brain are the Mediterranean and Mind (Mediterranean intervention for neurodegenerative delay) diets.

These promote fish (especially those oily fish), dark leafy vegetables and fresh fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, as well as some meat, such as chicken. But these diets also limit red meat, fats and sugars.

In fact, research has shown that the Mediterranean diet can alter our brains and cognition. One study showed that people showed improved cognition after only 10 weeks on this diet.

Another study showed that following the Mediterranean diet was associated with lower levels of a harmful peptide known as beta-amyloid in the brain. Beta-amyloid, together with tau protein, are measures of the brain damage that occurs in Alzheimers disease.

Previous studies have also shown that Japanese diets, including rice, fish and shellfish, miso, pickles and fruits, protect against brain shrinkage.

We also discovered that there were some genes that may be contributing to the association between dietary patterns and brain health, cognitive function and mental health. This may mean that our genes partly determine what we like to eat, which in turn determines our brain function.

However, our food choice priorities are also affected by a number of factors, including price, allergies, convenience and what our friends and family eat.

Some people opt for going on diets, which may lead to weight loss, but involve cutting out entire food groups that are important for the brain. While theres some evidence that ketogenic diets (low carb), for example, have beneficial affects on the immune system and mental health, it does seem that balanced diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, is best for overall brain health and cognition.

It is clear that adopting a healthy balanced diet and doing exercise can be good for our brains. But for many people, this is easier said than done, especially if their current food preferences are for very sweet or high fat foods.

However, food preferences arent destiny. For example, if you reduce your sugar and fat intake slowly and maintain it at a very low level over a number of months, you will actually begin to prefer that type of food.

Establishing healthy food preferences and an active lifestyle early in childhood is vital. Other important techniques are to eat slowly, pay attention to what you eat and enjoy it, rather than finishing a sandwich on the go or while looking at your mobile screen.

It takes time for your brain to register that you are full. For example, it has been shown that consumers generally eat more when watching television, listening to music, or in the presence of others, because the distraction decreases our reliance on internal satiety signals.

Social support from friends has also been shown to encourage adherence to healthy eating habits, as has cognitive behavioural therapy. Distraction is another excellent technique literally anything you like to do (that isnt eating) could help.

One interesting survey study found that how you set your priorities affects your food choices. If you are keen to remain healthy and to have a physically fit appearance, you will choose healthy foods.

We live in tough economic times. Socioeconomic status shouldnt limit dietary choices, though this seems to currently be the case. Clearly, governments have an important duty to prioritise affordable healthy eating options. This will help many of us choose a healthy diet for either health reasons, reduced food prices, or both.

Now that we know that the food we eat can actually affect our brains and how well we perform cognitively, having a healthy balanced diet is more important than ever.

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How food preferences are linked to cognition and brain health and why a balanced diet is superior - The Conversation

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At this point, smashed avocado on toast is on every menu across the globe. But it doesnt just look good on your feed. The avocado's health benefits are many as nutritionist and author Dagmar von Cramm explains.

The author explains that avocados are a good way to make a satisfying meal that isn't loaded with saturated fats or salt. Instead of cheese or bacon as a side of your eggs, a healthy portion of avocado is a delicious and healthy alternative. You can switch out foods such as cheese and processed meats to help you cut down on saturated fats and salt, she says. Which is probably why avocado on toast has become such a popular meal. As you eat them raw, it preserves vitamins such as folate.

Avocados are also said to help keep your blood sugar levels constant, and to help cholesterol and triglyceride (a type of fat) levels stay low.

For sustainability reasons, its good to be mindful of our avocado consumption, but according to von Cramm, they should be a regular part of your diet. This is particularly beneficial for vegans, she adds, pointing to their nutritional benefits for those following plant-based diets.

To get your avocado to the perfect ripeness, it is important that you store it correctly. Other fruits like bananas or apples should always be stored separately, as they cause other foods to ripen more quickly. Try to store avocados in a cool, dark place and as soon as it feels soft on the outside, its the right time to dig in.

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Avocados 101: Exactly Why The Fashionable Fruit Should Be Central To Your Diet - Vogue

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Having an egg-heavy diet may not impact cholesterol levels as much as once thought, new research shows.

Preliminary results from a new study show that people who ate 12 or more fortified eggs a week had similar cholesterol levels to those who didnt eat eggs at all. The study will be presented at the American College of Cardiologys Annual Scientific Session on April 6 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Eggs have notoriously received a bad rap due to concerns that they may raise cholesterol levels or worsen heart health. The new research, however, may provide some reassurance that eating eggs may be OK, even for a more high-risk group of people.

There has been a lot of controversy around how eggs, a food rich in cholesterol, but also protein, can affect cardiovascular health, Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University, told Health. The question on the health effects of eating large amounts of eggs remains unanswered and this small study gives some insight that can be further studied in a larger study with blinded controls.

Heres what you need to know about the newest research on eggs, how they may or may not impact cholesterol levels, and how they can be part of a healthy diet, even for those paying special attention to cardiovascular health.

For the study, funded by Eggland's Best, one of the largest egg producers in the U.S., researchers assessed the effects of consuming a diet high in fortified eggs as compared to a non-egg diet on cardiovascular biomarkers like cholesterol, inflammatory biomarkers, micronutrient levels, and many other endpoints.

Fortified eggs are eggs that have added nutrients like vitamin D, selenium, vitamin B2, 5, and 12, and omega-3 fatty acids. This is a common practice that is done in order to increase a food items nutritional value.

140 participants enrolled in the study and were randomized into two groupsthe fortified eggs group, which consumed 12 or more fortified eggs a week, and the non-egg diet group, which consumed 2 eggs or fewer per week. Participants were allowed to prepare the eggs in whatever manner they preferred.

All of the participants in the study were over 50 years old, and all had experienced one previous cardiovascular event or had at least two cardiovascular risk factors. Twenty-seven percent of the participants were Black and 24% had diabetes.

Participants had in-person appointments at one month and after four months to assess their vital signs and blood cholesterol levels. Researchers also performed phone check-ins throughout the study to monitor egg consumption.

Researchers looked at the levels of HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol) and LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol), of participants divided into the two groups at the beginning of the study and again after four months.

Results after a four-month follow-up showed that levels of HDL- and LDL-cholesterol were similar between both study groups. Results showed a small reduction of HDL- and LDL-cholesterol in the fortified egg group versus the non-egg diet group, but these changes were not statistically significant.

These results suggest that eating 12 or more fortified eggs each week had no negative effects on blood cholesterol.

This is what is known as a neutral study, a study that shows there is no statistically significant difference between the study groups. This means that, while there is no evidence of harm, there is no evidence of benefit either as it relates to changes in HDL- and LDL-cholesterol levels.

Study results also showed that blood levels of high-sensitivity troponin (a marker of heart damage) decreased slightly in the fortified egg group, and levels of vitamin B increased slightly.

In this small single-center study, eating more than 12 fortified eggs per week did not change blood cholesterol levels in a clinically meaningful way after four months, said Rodriguez. As physicians, our patients may ask us if its okay to eat eggs, and this study lends some evidence that this amount of egg consumption may be ok.

While the data provides some evidence suggesting that the consumption of 12 or more eggs did not have negative effects on blood cholesterol, experts suggest results should be taken with some caution.

The small study was a single-center trial, meaning it was conducted according to a single protocol at a single site. The study was also small and relied on patients self-reporting their egg consumption and other dietary patterns. Additionally, patients knew which group they were in (the egg-eating or non-egg-eating group), which could have influenced their health behaviors.

All of these factors make it difficult to draw strong conclusions from this study, according to Matthew Tomey, MD, a cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

While I agree that the data shared do not provide evidence of harm with eating more eggs, I might stop short of citing the present study as sufficient reassurance of the absence of harm, Tomey told Health.

Information provided about the study also does not go into details regarding the participants diets outside of their egg consumption, including whether they ate fewer overall calories or consumed less saturated fat or if these results apply to non-fortified eggs, according to Martha Gulati, MD, professor of cardiology and director of preventive cardiology at Cedars-Sinai.

Experts are also interested in knowing more about the long-term cardiovascular effects of fortified egg consumption. Four months is a good follow-up period, but I would want a longer study. Hopefully, they have food diaries on participants that will be analyzed, and perhaps this study will have a long follow-up to assess for [cardiovascular] outcomes, said Gulati.

Though the studys results suggest that egg consumption does not impact cholesterol as much as we once thought, when it comes to diet and cholesterol, it is the entirety of ones diet that ultimately determines heart health.

Nutrition is complicated and we need to be careful about looking at any one food in isolation, said Tomey. The impact of our diet on our health is a product of the totality of our food choices. When we avoid one food, the question comes, how are we replacing it in our diet?

I think dietary guidance is always a bit difficult, added Gulati. It is never one food that causes heart disease, it is the entire diet and the total saturated fat.

As for whether eggs are a safe addition to a daily diet, experts agree that the answer is yesin moderation and as long as the diet is balanced overall.

Eggs are so commonly part of the American diet, and people want to know if they can eat eggs. It is a common clinical question posed to me, said Gulati. My answer is always this: You can consume eggs in moderation, but I need to know more about your diet and if you consume other sources of saturated fats. Because ultimately it is the total saturated fat consumption that will affect your LDL and increase the risk for atherosclerosis.

For people who are looking to make a change to their diet, Tomey said its more important to zoom out and look at the big picture rather than focusing on one ingredient. I would encourage anyone considering a dietary change for health promotion, he said, to evaluate the diet holistically.

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Study: Eating More Than 12 Eggs a Week May Not Impact Cholesterol Levels - Health.com

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Published Apr 7, 2024, 13:36:58 GMT+1Last updated Apr 7, 2024, 13:36:55 GMT+1

At this point, Vera Wang should have played Benjamin Button instead of Brad Pitt.

The bridal wear designer, known for making wedding gowns for the likes of Ariana Grande, Vanessa Hudgens, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham and Kim Kardashian, is 74-years-old and doesn't look a day over 50.

But as well as having good genes, the world wants to know more about her de-aging lifestyle, from her diet to her daily habits.

Now, the New York-born businesswoman has stressed that she is not actually trying to look younger - but is rather just embracing the natural ageing process.

"It's very complimentary and I am very grateful for that," she told BBC 100 Women last year.

"But, I have been asked; what are my 'secrets'. I've been in fashion since I was 19-years-old. Not in front of the camera, behind it.

"I never thought about youth, probably because I work with the most beautiful women in the world on a daily basis.

"And because of that I more envision them as my muses, and maybe it's a way of dealing with ageing that is productive."

In an interview with Page Six Style, however, she opened up about her unique diet, explaining that she still loves a bit of fast food from time-to-time.

"I do eat McDonalds, absolutely," she said. "I order it every day, like two weeks on it, and then Ill change."

She also loves a bit of Dunkin Donuts, adding: "I like the cream-filled, sugar-coated donut. Its like a jelly donut, but its cream inside, vanilla cream. I like the pink with sprinkles, too."

Amid her unconventional approach to dieting, Wang champions both balance and moderation.

She told Harper's Bazaar: "I go through phases with what I eat for lunch.

"I like sashimi with brown rice and vegetables, Chinese steamed broccoli with chicken and rice, or the artichoke salad or fish from Sant Ambroeus.

"At one point I was eating a slice of Ray's pizza every day, and I never gained a pound on it. It's not a bad thing if you squeeze out that excess oil. It's so filling.

"I only drink water - I stopped drinking Diet Coke six years ago. That was the hardest thing I ever gave up."

She also thanks her 'magic elixir' which helps her keep so young.

"I always said that vodka cocktail, a lot of sleep, but work - work is the magic elixir," she added.

I feel like her lifestyle is something a lot of us could get behind.

Topics:Food And Drink, Celebrity, Fashion, Lifestyle

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Vera Wang credits an unusual diet for her ageless looks at 74 years old - LADbible

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In an age where convenience often trumps nutritional value, a growing body of research is raising concerns about the health implications of eating ultra-processed foods. These foods undergo extensive industrial processing, resulting in products that are convenient, hyper-palatable, and potentially detrimental to long-term health.

While processing itself is not inherently negative, (think pasteurized milk or extra virgin olive oil) the extent of processing and its impact on nutrient density are critical factors to consider. Ultra-processed foods, which are commonly defined under a classification known as NOVA, contain additives and undergo significant alterations from their natural state. They tend to be energy-dense, nutrient-poor, and often have long shelf lives.

Its raising concerns about their role in diet-related health outcomes such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, as our busy lifestyles may push us to reach for easy, quick, or low-cost, rather than cooking and eating more unprocessed or minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts or seeds.

As dieticians, we prefer to talk about the actual foods and nutrients and teach people how to read labels and what to look for, rather than focus on a broad, sweeping category, says Caroline Passerrello, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Often, a particular food may not be a clear cut yes or no. It requires education and label reading and knowing what to look for and what not to look for, she adds.

Consider the level of food processing, the overall nutrient density of foods and your overall dietary patterns, Passarrello suggested. Packaged cookies and sodas are energy dense but lack the nutrients our bodies need. While they may provide some energy and calories, theyre not supplying vitamins or minerals. This may lead to nutrient deficiencies over time, as well as unintended weight gain, according to Passerrello, who is also an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh.

However, theres a spectrum. The way our bodies respond to the calories and nutrients varies, depending on our age, activity level, and overall dietary patterns, she says.

While the NOVA classification system provides the most common framework for understanding the continuum of food processing, several other classification systems, including one from the International Food Information Council, or IFIC, use slightly different criteria to define ultra-processed and processed foods. Generally, however, these guidelines agree that highly processed foods contain high amounts of total and added sugars, fats, and/or salt, low amounts of dietary fiber, use industrial ingredients, whether derived from foods or created in labs, and typically contain little to no whole foods.

Its easy to find these highly processed foods on supermarket shelves:

These are just some products which typically contain artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. These goods are designed for prolonged shelf life, convenience, and profitability, often at the expense of nutritional value.

Research has shown a clear association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and adverse health effects. A recent study in the British Medical Journal highlights a link between ultra-processed diets and increased calorie intake, weight gain, and elevated risk of cardiovascular diseases. Participants consuming ultra-processed diets ate an average of 500 more calories per day compared to those on unprocessed diets, putting on additional pounds over time.

Another reason to cut back consumption of highly processed foods: recent findings from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center suggest that following a healthier diet may slow down the aging process and reduce the likelihood of developing dementia. This underscores the impact dietary choices can have on overall health and cognitive function.

Eating fewer ultra-processed, more nutrient dense foods is especially important for children and older adults, because their changing bodies require different energy needs and higher-quality consumed calories. But dont fret if you splurge on that mac and cheese or ice cream cone once in a while, Passarrello says. Look at eating patterns over the course of a week, rather than day-to-day.

It can be easy to fall into habitual patterns, like relying on food delivery apps, take-out, or convenience foods, and hard to get out of, Passarrello adds. It means making a lifestyle switch of budgeting more time and more money to change behaviors. Start with small steps. For example, whenever possible, find ways to add more nutrient density to meals, like swapping out a side salad for French fries. She also suggested:

According to the NOVA classification system, ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations made entirely or mostly from substances extracted from foods (oils, fats, sugar, starch, and proteins), derived from food constituents (hydrogenated fats and modified starch), or synthesized in laboratories from food substrates or other organic sources (flavor enhancers, colors, and several food additives used to make the product hyper-palatable). Beverages may be ultra processed.

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Ultra-processed foods can undermine your health. Here's how to identify and avoid them - Fortune

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Nicole Chapman is determined that her daughter, Sofia, won't feel negative about her appearance and weight.Courtesy of Nicole Chapman

Nicole Chapman was raised in a household terrified by the numbers on the scale.

Her baby boomer mom influenced her, and she followed some of the same starvation diets she'd tried.

Chapman broke the damaging cycle because she didn't want to pass the habits to her young daughter.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nicole Chapman. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My 4-year-old daughter, Sofia, was due for a bigger car seat earlier this year. I helped her stand on the scale to check if she met the weight requirements.

The scale registered 34 pounds. She weighed enough to make the transition. "Yay," I said. "You're so strong."

Sofia looked delighted. "Look at my muscles!" she said. We celebrated that she'd gotten heavier something I'd never done as a child.

My baby boomer mom raised me to dread getting on the scale, to fear every pound I gained. There was no ill intent we love each other dearly but the effect was damaging.

Motherhood made me break the cycle of disordered eating in our family. I'm determined that Sofia feels proud of her body at any size.

Mom weighed herself every morning. She'd come out of the bathroom and make comments that have stuck with me since I was 6. "I've gained weight," she'd say. She'd poke at her stomach in disgust.

A nice dress would tempt her while we were shopping. "I can't wear that until I've lost a few pounds," she'd say. If a special occasion were coming up, like a wedding or vacation, she'd start a fad diet about a month beforehand.

They included the cabbage soup diet and a plan that involved eating only 500 calories on two days of the week.

She hated exercising. If she did it, she wanted to "burn off " calories. Low-calorie food was good. High-calorie food was bad. There was no in-between.

Story continues

Her target weight was always 112 pounds. Her self-esteem was tied to that figure. As I got older. I fell into the same trap.

We did a low carb, high-protein plan together. We both tried shakes. I went on to do a "master cleanse" consisting of lemon juice, salt water and herbal tea.

But none of the diets were sustainable. Like my mom, I'd follow them for a while and then give up. My weight was like a yo-yo between my teenage years and my mid-30s.

By the age of 21, I had a demanding job in the film industry, but I'd force myself to go to the gym five days a week. My motivation to exercise was always to get slimmer. I was a cardio bunny who did a lot of high-intensity interval training. It didn't help my stress levels and I felt burned out at work and at home.

Then, in 2016, I switched careers. I developed an interest in strength training and qualified as a personal trainer. A considered diet and exercise program made me feel physically and emotionally balanced.

But it wasn't until after my daughter was born in the fall of 2019, that I realized how much the disordered eating had taken out of me and my mom.

I weaned Sofia when she was 6 months old. Like many new parents, I kept track of everything she ate by writing it down. After a while, it reminded me of the log that Mom and I kept for our daily calorie intake.

I thought about all the time we wasted worrying about food. I don't blame her her generation was raised to embrace the idea of looking thin, influenced by models such as Twiggy and advertisements for slimming products but I'd inherited my body insecurity from my mom. The habit cycled through our family.

I didn't want to pass it on to Sofia. These days, I shut down negative talk about weight. I'll challenge my mom if she talks about "burning off" calories or "earning" a treat after going to the gym.

If I'm carrying Sofia, and it's hard to manage, I never say, "You're too heavy." Instead, I'll say, "I am not feeling as strong today."

We discuss the concepts of power and strength, like when we weighed Sofia for her new car seat. I'll tell her that her legs allow her to run faster and climb higher. The parts of her body are power tools.

I've created an online fitness program that doesn't involve calorie counting or restriction. It explains how strength training burns fat and makes you strong so daily tasks become easier.

As for my mom, she's 72 now. She's unlikely to stop watching her weight any time soon. But she understands my point of view. She's proud of me, Sofia, and our future as two strong women.

Do you have a powerful story to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com.

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Several fruits and berries are considered superfoods for their physical and mental health benefits such as improved heart health, boosted brain function, lowered symptoms of depression and anti-inflammatory impacts.

On average, people who eat more berries seem to live a little bit longer, Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told The Washington Post. Rimm suggests incorporating fruits and berries to a healthy diet every day to reap benefits.

Here are five superfood fruits and berries with mental and physical health benefits.

Blueberries boast benefit for both mental and physical health. Research shows eating blueberries can improve brain function, lower symptoms of depression and aid in maintaining a healthy heart.

Much of the power of blueberries lies in their colors. The deep-blue hue comes from anthocyanin, a phytochemical whose abilities may help protect the body from heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, offering cancer-fighting benefits, promote gut health and reduce inflammation, reports the Mayo Clinic.

A one-cup serving of blueberries contains 25% of the recommended daily value for vitamin C and 4 grams of dietary fiber, but only 80 calories.

Adding just a handful of blueberries to your daily diet could improve brain function, found a study from Kings College London. Researchers asked participants to consume wild blueberry powder for a duration of 12 weeks. Individuals who consumed the blueberry powder experienced improved memory and increased accuracy on attention tasks.

Regularly eating blueberries can also help relieve anxiety and ease feelings of depression because they are rich in antioxidants, per WebMD. A study from the British Journal of Nutrition found that adolescents who took daily wild blueberry supplements reported lower symptoms of depression.

Despite common misconceptions, avocados are actually single-seeded berries, per Healthline. They are an excellent source of healthy fat, fiber, potassium, magnesium and vitamins B, C, E and K.

Avocados contain several nutrients including carotenoids, monounsaturated fats, potassium, and fiber that have been associated with a reduced risk of chronic diseases, especially when included as part of a balanced nutritious diet, per Harvard Health.

Frequently eating avocados is heart-healthy, according to a 30-year study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers found that those who regularly ate avocados experienced a significantly reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease compared to individuals who rarely ate avocados.

The study also noted that individuals who ate avocados at least twice per week experienced a 21% lower risk of coronary heart disease, compared to those who rarely or never eat avocados.

Professional athletes report drinking tart cherry juice to aid in reduced inflammation and muscle pain, per The Washington Post. Studies show that tart cherries and tart cherry juice have a similar impact to anti-inflammatory drugs.

The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of cherries work like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen for reducing or preventing pain, registered dietitian Carly Sedlacek told Cleveland Clinic.

A study from the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that runners who consumed cherry juice throughout the week before a race experienced significantly less muscle pain.

Tart and sweet cherries may also improve sleep. A review from the journal Nutrients found that cherries high levels of melatonin, serotonin and tryptophan aided in increasing quality and quantity of sleep.

Acai is a nutrient-dense berry loaded with antioxidants. Research shows these unique berries improve cholesterol, protect cognitive function, reduce cancer risk and support liver health.

Acai berries are one of the richest natural sources of anthocyanins, the antioxidant that give the berries their deep purple color.

Anthocyanins (provide) anti-inflammatory effects in the body, (and) may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, registered dietitian Kristen Nicolai told Everyday Health. They also protect against free radical damage known as oxidative stress, which can lead to chronic and acute conditions.

Eating acai berries could protect the brain as it ages. One animal study reported that acai might help improve memory while aging. Another study, published in the journal Molecular Neurobiology, found that acai berries might have an anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective impact on Parkinsons disease. Researchers found that acai supplements were able to mitigate Parkinsons disease through reducing the loss of dopamine.

Oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, clementines and pomelos are all citrus fruits. These zesty fruits offer a great source of fiber, may protect against cancer, boost heart health, improve cognitive function in older adults and aid in maintaining a healthy heart.

Citrus fruits are also one of the best dietary sources of vitamin C.

Citrus fruits, including oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits and clementines, are an excellent source of vitamin C. And vitamin C supports your immune system, which plays a role in maintaining healthy skin, bones and blood vessels, reports the Mayo Clinic. Citrus fruits contain soluble and insoluble fiber, both of which provide great benefits.

A study from the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine linked the consumption of vitamin C found in citrus fruits with decreased duration and severity of the common cold. Researchers found that those who took vitamin C supplements while suffering from a common cold experienced shortened illness by 8% in adults and 14% in children.

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Superfood fruits and berries with mental and physical health benefits to add to your diet - Deseret News

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Summary: A new pilot study presents a compelling case for the ketogenic diet as a dual-action treatment for individuals with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, who often suffer metabolic side effects from their medication. The research shows how adopting a ketogenic diet not only mitigates these metabolic issues but also significantly improves psychiatric conditions.

Participants adhering to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet experienced weight loss, reversed metabolic syndrome, and saw a 31% improvement in psychiatric assessments. This innovative approach underscores the potential of dietary interventions in enhancing both physical and mental health, offering hope for a more holistic treatment strategy.

Key Facts:

Source: Stanford

For people living with serious mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, standard treatment with antipsychotic medications can be a double-edged sword. While these drugs help regulate brain chemistry, they often cause metabolic side effects such as insulin resistance and obesity, which are distressing enough that many patients stop taking the medications.

Now, a pilot study led by Stanford Medicine researchers has found that a ketogenic diet not only restores metabolic health in these patients as they continue their medications, but it further improves their psychiatric conditions.

The results,publishedMarch 27 inPsychiatry Research, suggest that a dietary intervention can be a powerful aid in treating mental illness.

Its very promising and very encouraging that you can take back control of your illness in some way, aside from the usual standard of care, saidShebani Sethi, MD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the first author of the new paper.

The senior author of the paper is Laura Saslow, PhD, associate professor of health behavior and biological sciences at the University of Michigan.

Making the connection

Sethi, who is board certified in obesity and psychiatry, remembers when she first noticed the connection. As a medical student working in an obesity clinic, she saw a patient with treatment-resistant schizophrenia whose auditory hallucinations quieted on a ketogenic diet.

That prompted her to dig into the medical literature. There were only a few, decades-old case reports on using the ketogenic diet to treat schizophrenia, but there was a long track record of success in using ketogenic diets to treat epileptic seizures.

The ketogenic diet has been proven to be effective for treatment-resistant epileptic seizures by reducing the excitability of neurons in the brain, Sethi said. We thought it would be worth exploring this treatment in psychiatric conditions.

A few years later, Sethi coined the term metabolic psychiatry, a new field that approaches mental health from an energy conversion perspective.

Meat and vegetables

In the four-month pilot trial, Sethis team followed 21 adult participants who were diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, taking antipsychotic medications, and had a metabolic abnormality such as weight gain, insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, dyslipidemia or impaired glucose tolerance.

The participants were instructed to follow a ketogenic diet, with approximately 10% of the calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 60% from fat. They were not told to count calories.

The focus of eating is on whole non-processed foods including protein and non-starchy vegetables, and not restricting fats, said Sethi, who shared keto-friendly meal ideas with the participants. They were also given keto cookbooks and access to a health coach.

The research team tracked how well the participants followed the diet through weekly measures of blood ketone levels. (Ketones are acids produced when the body breaks down fat instead of glucose for energy.)

By the end of the trial, 14 patients had been fully adherent, six were semi-adherent and only one was non-adherent.

Feeling better

The participants underwent a variety of psychiatric and metabolic assessments throughout the trial.

Before the trial, 29% of the participants met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, defined as having at least three of five conditions: abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, elevated blood pressure and elevated fasting glucose levels. After four months on a ketogenic diet, none of the participants had metabolic syndrome.

On average, the participants lost 10% of their body weight; reduced their waist circumference by 11% percent; and had lower blood pressure, body mass index, triglycerides, blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.

Were seeing huge changes, Sethi said. Even if youre on antipsychotic drugs, we can still reverse the obesity, the metabolic syndrome, the insulin resistance. I think thats very encouraging for patients.

The psychiatric benefits were also striking. On average, the participants improved 31% on a psychiatrist rating of mental illness known as the clinical global impressions scale, with three-quarters of the group showing clinically meaningful improvement. Overall, the participants also reported better sleep and greater life satisfaction.

The participants reported improvements in their energy, sleep, mood and quality of life, Sethi said. They feel healthier and more hopeful.

The researchers were impressed that most of the participants stuck with the diet. We saw more benefit with the adherent group compared with the semi-adherent group, indicating a potential dose-response relationship, Sethi said.

Alternative fuel for the brain

There is increasing evidence that psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder stem from metabolic deficits in the brain, which affect the excitability of neurons, Sethi said.

The researchers hypothesize that just as a ketogenic diet improves the rest of the bodys metabolism, it also improves the brains metabolism.

Anything that improves metabolic health in general is probably going to improve brain health anyway, Sethi said. But the ketogenic diet can provide ketones as an alternative fuel to glucose for a brain with energy dysfunction.

Likely there are multiple mechanisms at work, she added, and the main purpose of the small pilot trial is to help researchers detect signals that will guide the design of larger, more robust studies.

As a physician, Sethi cares for many patients with both serious mental illness and obesity or metabolic syndrome, but few studies have focused on this undertreated population.

She is founder and director of themetabolic psychiatry clinicat Stanford Medicine

Many of my patients suffer from both illnesses, so my desire was to see if metabolic interventions could help them, she said. They are seeking more help. They are looking to just feel better.

Researchers from the University of Michigan; the University of California, San Francisco; and Duke University contributed to the study.

Funding: The study was supported by Baszucki Group Research Fund, Keun Lau Fund and the Obesity Treatment Foundation.

Author: Nina Bai Source: Stanford Contact: Nina Bai Stanford Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial by Shebani Sethi et al. Psychiatric Research

Abstract

Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial

The ketogenic diet (KD, also known as metabolic therapy) has been successful in the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and epilepsy. More recently, this treatment has shown promise in the treatment of psychiatric illness.

We conducted a 4month pilot study to investigate the effects of a KD on individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with existing metabolic abnormalities. Twentythree participants were enrolled in a singlearm trial.

Results showcased improvements in metabolic health, with no participants meeting metabolic syndrome criteria by study conclusion. Adherent individuals experienced significant reduction in weight (12 %), BMI (12 %), waist circumference (13 %), and visceral adipose tissue (36 %).

Observed biomarker enhancements in this population include a 27 % decrease in HOMAIR, and a 25 % drop in triglyceride levels. In psychiatric measurements, participants with schizophrenia showed a 32 % reduction in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores.

Overall Clinical Global Impression (CGI) severity improved by an average of 31 %, and the proportion of participants that started with elevated symptomatology improved at least 1point on CGI (79 %). Psychiatric outcomes across the cohort encompassed increased life satisfaction (17 %) and enhanced sleep quality (19 %).

This pilot trial underscores the potential advantages of adjunctive ketogenic dietary treatment in individuals grappling with serious mental illness.

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Keto Diet May Improve Mental Health Symptoms - Neuroscience News

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An article published recently in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine documents whats believed to be the first evidence that Alzheimers disease can be transmitted from person to person.

The finding arose from long-term follow-up of patients who received human growth hormone (hGH) that was taken from brain tissue of deceased donors.

Preparations of donated hGH were used in medicine to treat a variety of conditions from 1959 onwards including in Australia from the mid-60s.

The practice stopped in 1985 when it was discovered about 200 patients worldwide who had received these donations went on to develop Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which causes a rapidly progressive dementia. This is an otherwise extremely rare condition, affecting roughly one person in a million.

CJD is caused by prions infective particles that are neither bacterial or viral, but consist of abnormally folded proteins that can be transmitted from cell to cell.

Other prion diseases include kuru, a dementia seen in New Guinea tribespeople caused by eating human tissue, scrapie (a disease of sheep), and variant CJD or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease. This raised public health concerns over the eating of beef products in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

Read more: People who lived in the UK in the 'mad cow disease' years may now be able to give blood. The risk of vCJD is tiny

Human growth hormone (hGH) is produced in the brain by the pituitary gland. Treatments were originally prepared from purified human pituitary tissue.

But because the amount of hGH contained in a single gland is extremely small, any single dose given to any one patient could contain material from about16,000 donated glands.

An average course of hGH treatment lasts about four years, so the chances of receiving contaminated material even for a very rare condition such as CJD became quite high for such people.

hGH is now manufactured synthetically in a laboratory, rather than from human tissue. So this particular mode of CJD transmission is no longer a risk.

The Nature Medicine paper provides the first evidence that transmission of Alzheimers disease can occur via human-to-human transmission.

The authors examined the outcomes of people who received donated hGH until 1985. They found five such recipients had developed early-onset Alzheimers disease.

They considered other explanations for the findings, but concluded donated hGH was the likely cause.

Given Alzheimers disease is a much more common illness than CJD, the authors presume those who received donated hGH before 1985 may be at higher risk of developing Alzheimers disease.

Alzheimers disease is caused by presence of two abnormally folded proteins,amyloid and tau. Theres increasing evidence these proteins spread in the brain in a similar way to prion diseases. So the mode of transmission the authors propose is certainly plausible.

However, given the amyloid protein deposits in the brain at least 20 years before clinical Alzheimers disease develops, theres likely to be a considerable time lag before cases that might arise from the receipt of donated hGH become evident.

Read more: Size of brain area linked with cognitive decline even in people with no other warning signs of Alzheimers disease

In Australia, donated pituitary material was used from 1967 to 1985 to treat people with short stature and infertility.

More than 2000 people received such treatment. Four developed CJD, the last case identified in 1991. All four cases were likely linked to a single contaminated batch.

The risks of any other cases of CJD developing now in pituitary material recipients, so long after the occurrence of the last identified case in Australia, are considered to be incredibly small.

Early-onset Alzheimers disease (defined as occurring before the age of 65) is uncommon, accounting for about 5% of all cases. Below the age of 50 its rare and likely to have a genetic contribution.

The Nature Medicine paper identified five cases that were diagnosed in people aged 38 to 55. This is more than could be expected by chance, but still very low in comparison to the total number of patients treated worldwide.

Although the long incubation period of Alzheimers disease may mean more similar cases may be identified in the future, the absolute risk remains very low. The main scientific interest of the article lies in the fact its first to demonstrate that Alzheimers disease can be transmitted from person to person in a similar way to prion diseases, rather than in any public health risk.

The authors were keen to emphasise, as I will, that Alzheimers cannot be contracted via contact with, or providing care to, people with Alzheimers disease.

Read more: Young-onset Alzheimers can be diagnosed from as early as 30 and the symptoms are often different

This article originally appeared on The Conversation.

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Alzheimer's may have once spread from person to person, but the risk today is low - Monash Lens

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