FOODS FOR LIFELONG THOUGHT
Roughly 4.5 million Americans now have Alzheimer’s disease—the most common form of dementia, which causes a decline in mental abilities. That number has more than doubled since 1980, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. And by 2050, that number could skyrocket as high as 16 million.
Doctors aren’t sure what causes Alzheimer’s disease. What is known is that in people who have this condition, portions of the brain shrivel and shrink, twisted tangles of protein develop within brain cells, and other deposits of protein develop between brain cells.
Since no cure for Alzheimer’s has been found yet, some researchers have focused their attention on nutrition. “I think it’s worthwhile to consider diet as a potential factor in Alzheimer’s,” says James G. Penland, PhD, a research psychologist at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Research has uncovered evidence that free radicals, which are harmful oxygen molecules that damage tissues throughout the body, including in the brain, may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
Even though the body produces protective substances called antioxidants that help control free radicals, there aren’t always enough of them to stop the onslaught. But you can get more antioxidants into your body simply by eating foods, such as fruits and vegetables, that contain antioxidant substances.
Researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville and the University of South Florida in Tampa did a study involving more than 1,800 men and women and found that those who drank fruit and vegetable juices at least three times a week had a 76 percent lower chance of developing suspected Alzheimer’s disease than people who drank juice less than once a week. The researchers concluded that “fruit and vegetable juices may play an important role in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Researchers are also investigating B vitamins as a way of treating Alzheimer’s disease. The body uses B vitamins to help maintain the protective covering on nerves and to manufacture chemicals that nerves use to communicate. When levels of B vitamins decline, mental performance may suffer, says Dr. Penland. In addition, an increased level of homocysteine—an amino acid— may raise your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. B vitamins help lower your homocysteine level by breaking it down.
An Australian study gave 299 older men either a placebo (dummy pill) or supplemental folate (a B vitamin), B6, and B12 for 2 years. The men who took the B vitamins had smaller increases of a substance that’s found within the damaging deposits in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Thus, B vitamins may play a role in preventing Alzheimer’s disease, according to the researchers.
Good sources of thiamin, a B vitamin, include pork, sunflower seeds, and enriched grain products. For vitamin B12, meats such as turkey, chicken livers, and lamb, and seafood such as steamed clams, bluefin tuna, and sardines, are all good sources. For folate, good sources include enriched cereals and enriched flour. For B6, toss some chickpeas, potatoes, chicken, and bananas into your shopping cart.
According to the National Institute on Aging, two of the most important steps you can take to possibly lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease are to lower your cholesterol and homocys-teine levels. A diet rich in folate and vitamins B6 and B12 can lower your blood levels of homocysteine. Eating a diet low in saturated fat (found in meat and full-fat dairy foods), dietary cholesterol (found in animal foods), and trans fat (processed foods are a significant source) can improve your cholesterol.
Among some Alzheimer’s researchers, interest is brewing in a natural substance called acetyl-L-carnitine, which resembles amino acids found in dairy foods, kidney beans, eggs, and red meats. Research suggests that carnitine, which helps carry fats into brain cells, may help slow the progression of the disease.
British researchers compiled the results of multiple studies on acetyl-L-carnitine that looked at the substance’s effect on mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s disease. They found that the substance had a “beneficial effect” after just 3 months, and the improvement got even better over time.
The so-called Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits and vegetables, fish, whole grains, and unsaturated fats such as olive oil and canola oil, may help protect you from Alzheimer’s, as well as heart disease and cancer. Researchers from Columbia University in New York City tracked the eating habits and cognitive health of 2,258 New Yorkers for 4 years and found that those who most closely followed the Mediterranean eating style were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than the people whose eating habits least resembled the Mediterranean diet.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, researchers in the 1960s suspected that aluminum may play a role in the disease. Since then, however, research has uncovered so much conflicting information about whether or not the metal is connected with the disease that it’s hard to say with any certainty that it plays a role. Nowadays, most scientists conclude that if aluminum plays any role in Alzheimer’s, it’s a small one, the association says.
According to the National Institutes of Health, it’s hard to avoid aluminum, since it’s one of the most abundant elements found in the environment. However, if you do want to reduce your exposure, just to be on the safe side, the following steps will help:
Brush both sides of the pork chops with the mustard and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, apples, and salt; toss well.
In a large covered skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil over medium-low heat. Add the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 10 to 15 seconds. Stir in the cabbage mixture and the maple syrup. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the ingredients are softened and cooked through, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the pork in a single layer. Cook, turning halfway through, until the pork is no longer pink in the center, about 9 minutes.
Uncover the cabbage, stir in the vinegar, and increase the heat to medium. Cook until the liquid is nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Serve each chop with a mound of cabbage.
Makes 4 servings
Calories: 280
Total fat: 11 g
Saturated fat: 2.5 g
Cholesterol: 70 mg
Sodium: 316 mg
Dietary fiber: 4 g