"Just My thoughts" for Sunday October 29, 2006

"I’ll Eat What I Want"

Hey folks,

Good Sunday morning. If you forgot to set your clocks back an hour, you are REALLY early. {Smile} I was going through the whole process of scanning countless news outlets, both MMD and locals, looking for a topic yesterday, when I found this one. You know, I cringe every time I read an article like this. I just do. Until someone makes up my mind, I will continue to eat and do, whatever I want. What am I talking about?

"Curry may keep elderly minds sharp"

A diet containing curry may help protect the aging brain, according a study of elderly Asians in which increased curry consumption was associated with better cognitive performance on standard tests.

Curcumin, found in the curry spice turmeric, possesses potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

It's known that long-term users of anti-inflammatory drugs have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, although these agents can have harmful effects in the stomach, liver and kidney, limiting their use in the elderly.

Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, have been shown to protect neurons in lab experiments but have had limited success in alleviating cognitive decline in patients with mild-to-moderate dementia.

In their study, Dr. Tze-Pin Ng from National University of Singapore and colleagues compared scores on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) for three categories of regular curry consumption in 1,010 nondemented Asians who were between 60 and 93 years old in 2003.

Most of the study subjects consumed curry at least occasionally (once every 6 months), 43 percent ate curry at least often or very often (between monthly and daily) while 16 percent said they never or rarely ate curry."

So why do I cringe? Simple folks, this is today. Tomorrow? Curry may be found to be BAD for you. Look at Red Wine. One day it is good, then bad, then good.

"The whole story linking red wine and health began in the early nineties when epidemiologists noted that the French had an unexplained low incidence of cardiac deaths. This was particularly puzzling when the diet of the typical Frenchman was examined. The French love to eat, and their diet was rich in fats which should have put them at greater risk than people in near by countries. Other risk factors such as the levels of smoking, exercise, stress all could not be used to explain the low cardiac death rate. This puzzling observation became known as the "French Paradox." With the diet that they were eating the French should have a higher incidence of heart problems, not lower."

Then Chocolate, good , then bad, then good. Coffee?

"Coffee might soon be considered a health drink following a study showing it is a surprisingly rich source of anti-cancer agents.

A study has found that coffee contributes more antioxidants - which have been linked with fighting heart disease and cancer - to the diet than cranberries, apples or tomatoes."

Well that’s great news for me. My coffee at my side this morning "Butterscotch Toffee." I understand and have seen the benefits of Curry. I love Curry. Been eating it since around 1982. I was talking to someone about this article I saw and they said, "Well, think about it. How often do you see an Indian {From India}, or an Island person in a long-term care facility, or with major heath issues. How often do you see overweight Filipinos or Asian folks? Their diets have a lot to do with it." I said, "You know you are right, but, if I said that though, I would most likely be deemed a racist." We both had a good laugh.

But my problem with all these "studies" comes from when these Scientists, Nutritionists, and so called "experts" start telling you things that have always been bad for you are now good for you. Like red meat,

"A new report recommends that all Australians eat 3-4 serves of lean red meat per week.

Federal Health Minister Dr Michael Wooldridge has launched the review focusing on the health benefits offered by red meat, and the risks of low iron intake for all Australians.

The Role of Red Meat in Healthy Australian Diets report—conducted by Australian nutrition experts on behalf of Meat and Livestock Australia—recommends that we eat 3-4 serves per week. This is consistent with the Department of Health nutrition guidelines contained in The Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

The report found that red meat is a rich source of protein, iron, vitamin B12 and zinc; and is low in sodium, and is not a major source of cholesterol or fat.

Professor Geoffrey Cleghorn, associate professor in child health from the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, and a member of the committee which compiled the report, said the results are important for parents. ‘The message for parents is straightforward—iron is essential for kids and lean red meat is an important source of iron.’"

Then you have Nicotine. That’s right folks, what is in cigarettes, could now be GOOD for you. I’m not making this stuff up.

"It has been known since the early 1980's that nicotine - a natural product derived from the tobacco plant - plays an important role in the brain. Researchers think that nicotine acts by stimulating the chemicals which play a fundamental role in transmitting messages between nerves and across the brain - so-called neurochemicals. Says Professor Paul Sanberg of the University of South Florida's Medical School:

"We wanted to look at the interaction of two well-known neurotransmitter systems in the brain because I was studying movement disorders like Parkinson's Disease. If you block one of these transmitters - Dopamine - then you cause Parkinson-like symptoms - twitching and involuntary movements. But when we also gave a small amount of nicotine, we found there was an interesting response. The nicotine seemed to 'exaggerate' the effect of the drug which blocked Dopamine - and caused the animals to become completely immobile."

Nicotine to treat Parkinson’s Disease? I wonder if Michael J Fox will start advertising this?

Yes folks, until the "experts" come together and agree to make up MY mind, I think I will just go ahead and eat and do what I want. Actually, when I think about it, I drink coffee, a lot of coffee, I eat red meat, I love curry, and I smoke. I guess I should live forever according to the "experts."

Just my thoughts on the matter. OH and remember the NBC news story, There is no benefit to Soy? Just something to think about for my Vegetarian heath nutty friends out there . {Smile and wink} Don’t worry, next week it will be good for you again.
Peter

Sources:

Reuters -"Curry may keep elderly minds sharp"
My Doctor
Medical Food News
The Independent- "Coffee found to be high in health-giving antioxidants"
Radio Netherlands- "The Benefits of Nicotine."