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New Study Finds 'Mediterranean' Diet Significantly Reduces Brain Shrinkage (bbc.com)
schwit1 writes that 562 elderly research subjects cut their brain shrinkage in half just by changing their diet. (Paywalled article here). The BBC reports:
A study of pensioners in Scotland found that those with a diet rich in fresh fruit, vegetables and olive oil had healthier brains than those with different eating habits. They suffered less brain shrinkage than those who regularly ate meat and dairy products. The study was carried out by University of Edinburgh researchers.... Scientists found that those who adhered most closely to the diet retained significantly greater brain volume after three years than those who did not... Lead researcher Dr Michelle Luciano said: "As we age, the brain shrinks and we lose brain cells, which can affect learning and memory. This study adds to the body of evidence that suggests the Mediterranean diet has a positive impact on brain health."
It starts to remind me of the old times in the East Bloc where "scientists" came up with any sort of revelation every time something was in shortage or for some odd reason there was suddenly a surplus. You could bet your ass that the revelation was that eggs are an important source for any kind of vitamins but meat makes you sick.
Same shit now. What happened, did the olive harvest turn out to be the harvest of the century?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
What about mediterranean people living and eating elsewhere?
Do they exhibit the same effects?
Q. What's the Scottish definition of a salad?
A. Cold chips.
More meat for me.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
The unit cost doesn't begin to capture what's going on here. Meat is amazingly cheap if you consider what a meat animal is: an extraordinarily complex, balky, and inefficient converter of commodity crops like feed corn to concentrated protein. I don't say this because I'm anti-meat -- I love meat and eat a lot of it. But boneless pork chops for $3.99/pound are a by-product of federal agricultural policies that include over twenty billion dollars of subsidies.
The influence of industry political contributions distorts the US food supply, making commodity crops like corn, soy, and sugar beets over-plentiful and cheap and actually discouraging farmers from growing vegetables and fruit to be marketed directly to consumers. So it turns out that high quality produce, which is not subsidized, can actually cost more than meat.
Consider an apple. Unlike a peach (if you've never had an actual ripe peach off the tree you don't know what you're missing), apples ship and store extremely well. So it's not particularly remarkable that a Red Delicious apple cost only 25% as much on a weight basis as a boneless pork chop if you consider the labor inputs. It ought to cost even less.
The real problem is that "Red Delicious" as a term is a triumph of marketing mendacity. A Red Delicious is indeed red, but it tastes like Styrofoam. If you want a good eating apple, say a Honey Crisp, you'll be paying as much on a weight basis as you would for a pork chop. Last year Honey Crisps hit $4.50 a pound. And the tomato -- normal market price is about $0.75 per pound, but if you want a tomato that is marginally tastier than the plastic it's packaged in you've got to go for a hothouse tomato that cost twice that. And for a good tomato you're paying almost as much as you would for a piece of meat.
No wonder people hate vegetables. Very few people will buy a tomato if it costs as much as a pork chop, and since the pork chop is subsidized and tomatoes aren't, that means most people have never tasted a good tomato. Or a really good peach. Many have never even tasted a good apple.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I've been greatly increasing the amount of anti-inflammatory foods over the last many years. It is very good for every part of your body. Doctors who have studied the right mixture of nutrition and diseases can attest that most things are the result of inflammation, including many chronic diseases. People in the Mediterranean areas often have much lower instances of these inflammation related diseases, and that is largely due to their diet of olives and use of (real) extra-virgin olive oil.
I made a tomato sauce with garden tomatoes and it was so strong and acidic that none of the processed-food-eaters could even keep it in their mouths; they would just spit it right out onto the plate!
Of course, people used to eating traditional foods really loved it. That's why Italian pizza has less sauce; you only need to smear it across the bread, you don't need a whole drippy water layer.
That's interesting! Must be why some (people or recipes) call for sweetening the sauce with carrot or even sugar, but I would hate to do that. Not only that I don't like sweet much ; there's just no need, as there isn't much anything acidic in the tomatoes.
I did try some canned "tomato sauce" that was sweetened, contained only tomato, carrot and some starch or syrup (!), and was the lowest end I've ever seen. *That* one was worth spitting out. Small jars with bolognese, napolitan, provençal sauce are very common in supermarkets, are popular and a lot better than the absolute worst I was talking of.. but still worse than cooking with low quality ingredients. :)
I'm sort of craving soup right now..
Tip - blueberries are cheap twice a year in the US. Once when the US harvest comes in (exactly when depends on your latitude) and once when the South American harvest comes in (around now). They drop from $10 per pound to $3.25 per pound and the quality goes way up. Stop mold growth with a vinegar/water rinse and dry thoroughly and they'll keep for a week. Freeze them and they'll be good enough to use for cooking until the next season comes around - but don't expect them to be suitable for snacking.
Also, for anything but snacking, consider buying frozen. I always buy the cherries I use in my breakfast frozen. I can get big, sweet, pitted cherries for $3 per pound any time of the year.