Here are 3 easy ways to reduce your risk of serious illness. 5 of the biggest nasties in the UK and USA are Coronary Heart Disease, cancers, stroke, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease, but research suggests that all of these terrible diseases can be helped or avoided to a certain extent by upping our intake of antioxidants. Source your antioxidants from brightly coloured fresh fruit and vegetables. Here are 3 to try this week;

Lower your blood pressure by drinking pomegranate juice; an Israeli study by Dr Aviram showed a 20% decrease in blood pressure by a group drinking pomegranate juice daily. The group also experienced lowering of their unhealthy blood cholesterol and an improvement in the arteries of their heart. Healthy blood pressure reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke and other heart complaints. Team drinking and eating pomegranate with healthy activity and you will protect your heart and circulation. Pomegranates with dark skins and flesh are richer in fruit-chemicals. Make your own juice by rolling the fruit along your chopping board before slicing in two and using an orange juicer. Tesco now sell Pomegreat which also comes with added blueberries for an extra potent punch of antioxidants (see below).

Eating citrus fruits can lower your chances of stroke, cardiovascular disease, cataracts and cancers. Eat Oranges as a snack, drink freshly squeezed juice, keep some tangerines in your bag, juice pink grapefruit or add them to a salad, and squeeze lime and lemon juice over salads and into sparkling water. These fruits contain vitamin C, Folates, fiber, antioxidants, and other chemical goodies. Make sure you eat some citrus every day to reap their health benefits, but don’t be too fussy about the white bits and the rind; these are also packed with goodness. Try not to pick all of the white stuff off your tangerine, or buy some Kumquats which you eat with the skin on. Cook fish with grated lemon and lime rind, or add grated rinds to cakes, salad dressings and marinades.

Blueberries may fight Alzheimer’s disease; lab tests on rats at Tufts University Boston, showed that eating blueberries improved age-related brain degeneration, with aging ‘blueberry rats’ outperforming their younger counterparts who didn’t eat blueberries. Further research suggests that rats with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s, maintained memory function despite developing the disease; it seemed that the blueberries prevented expected memory loss. Many other tests on humans show many beneficial effects of eating blueberries and other dark coloured foods; maintain healthy youthful skin, and guard against heart disease, cancers, cataracts and macular degeneration (age-related sight loss). Buy fresh, frozen and dried blueberries and add them to juices, pies, crumbles, breakfast cereal, fruit puree to eat with yoghurt, and blueberry jam on whole meal toast, snack on a punnet for an ultra-low calorie mega-healthy. Buy a blueberry bush on-line at www.dorset-blueberry.com (in the UK) and grow them yourself!

So these are 3 fruity ways to a long and healthy life. Make sure that you try one of these wonder fruits this week, even the most reluctant fruit-eater must be able to force some blueberry jam down!

Happy eating,
Vikki

Do you have any friends and family who could benefit from getting fitter and feeling better? E-mail getfitter@yahoo.co.uk subject: newsletter request.

Vikki Scovell BA(hons) PG DIP is a fully qualified Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach. She is a qualified Nutrition Adviser and runs successful Community Exercise classes. Vikki is a consultant in Healthy Eating and Exercise initiatives to schools in the independent sector and publishes School and General Healthy Living newsletters.

Related posts

• The Need For Exercise (0)
• Take Care of Your Heart (0)
• Coronary Heart Disease And What You Need To Know (0)
• Why Do You Need To Eat Tomatoes? (0)
• What Are the Functions of Ginkgo Biloba? (0)

Tags: antioxidant, cholesterol, Heart, memory loss, obesity, vitamin c

One could trace back the history of Alzheimer’s disease from a presentation and lecture made by a German psychiatrist in 1906 during 37th Meeting of Southwest German Psychiatrists held in Tübingen.

Dr. Alois Alzheimer presented his findings on a woman who had died after years of having memory problems and confusion.

When Dr. Alzheimer autopsied the patient’s brain, he found thick deposits of neuritic plaques outside and around the nerve cells. He also found a lot of twisted bands of fibers or neurofibrillary tangles inside the nerve cells.

Today, medical specialists need to find the presence of the same plaques and tangles at autopsy in order to have a conclusive diagnosis that Alzheimer’s disease indeed caused the disease. And due to this lecture and achievement in research and studies, the medical community has bestowed the honor of naming the disease after Dr. Alzheimer.

However, Dr. Alzheimer’s work only signaled the start of years of medical research and studies which could only resolve the mysteries of the disease by so much. Up until now, Alzheimer’s disease has still unknown origin and remains to have no cure. At first, the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease was limited for individuals between the ages of 45-65 since the symptoms of pre-senile dementia due to the histopathologic process are more common and prominent during this age.

However, during the 1970s and early 1980s, the term Alzheimer’s disease began to be used to refer to patients of all ages that manifest the same symptoms.

Statistics show that around 350,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s disease are being diagnosed each year. It is estimated that by 2050, there are 4.5 million Americans afflicted by the disease. Recent studies have shown that there is an increase risk of contracting and developing Alzheimer’s as one grows older.

It has been reported that 5 percent of Americans between the ages of 65 to 74 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Also, half of those in the 85 years and older age group are more likely to have the disease.

Generics have also been seen as a factor in the development of the disease. Scientists have found out that mutations on chromosomes 9 and 19 have been associated with the later stages of Alzheimer’s. However, not everyone that manifests the mutations results to having the disease. Up until now, the relationship between genetics and late-onset Alzheimer’s is still a grey area.

Meanwhile, other research have associated trauma as a factor that increases the risk of acquiring the disease. There are also evidences which suggest that lack of exercise increases the risk factor of Alzheimer’s. It is important to avoid high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and low levels folate in order to decrease the risk of developing the disease.

There are basically three stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Stage 1 or Mild Stage is the early of the disease. At this stage patients become less energetic and will experience slight memory loss. Often times, the symptoms at this stage are either go unnoticed or are ignored as but trivial or normal occurrences.

At Stage 2 or Moderate stage, the patient needs to be assisted in some complicated tasks and memory loss is no highly noticeable. The final stage is the severest stage. Because the disease already progresses too far this point, the patient is unable to perform simple tasks and will lose the ability to walk or eat without help.

For more great information on

Related posts

• Your Weight, Will It Cost You? (0)
• Why Eat Fiber? (0)
• What You Should Know Before Buying Any Nutritional Supplements (0)
• What Are the Functions of Ginkgo Biloba? (0)
• The Truth About Poor Memory And Bad Nutrition? (0)

Tags: cholesterol, cialis, memory loss

When it comes to enhancing memory there are many approaches one can take with varying benefit. Looking for powerful ways to boost your brain doesn’t have to be complicated. With advances in modern medicine and our understanding of how the brain works, we are armed with greater knowledge of what an individual can do to strengthen their brain while enhancing memory.

There are some obvious things one can do, whether you’re enhancing short term memory or long term. The most basic step is usage. The old adage of “use it or loose it” does apply when talking about enhancing memory. The more you perform tasks or projects that require you to actively work your memory the stronger that part of your brain becomes. Studies have shown that adults that actively work word or memory puzzles into their later years continue to have better recall than those who don’t actively work their memory.

Exercise, both physical and mental is a memory enhancing necessity. Exercise promotes blood circulation which provides much needed oxygen to the brain keeping it functioning well. Mental exercise, not just the regular usage mentioned above, but continuing to stretch your mind, learn new things, read difficult books, etc. all help to stimulate the brain and keep it healthy. Enhancing memory requires that you continuously work on improving your overall thinking skills and cognitive function.

Enhancing short term memory may also require basic repetition. It is not without reason that we tend to repeat phone numbers, etc. many times over after we hear them. It is part of the natural way that our brains help retain the information and eventually move it to longer term memory.

Memory enhancing may also benefit from some less well known help. One of the increasingly popular and beneficial ways that people are enhancing memory is by the use of brain focused supplements. With the increase in our understanding of how the brain works and the growth of the natural supplement industry many manufacturers are making supplements that target specific factors of brain health. The key ingredients in supplements of quality by enhancing short term memory and long term memory by supporting brain health, increasing blood flow and boosting cellular functioning in the brain.

Supplements that focus on memory enhancing will contain key ingredients like: B complex vitamins which help the body provide energy to cells and supports nervous system cell health, compounds like Phosphatidyl Choline which helps the body produce acetylcholine a neurotransmitter that allows nerve cells to function and herbs such as Ginkgo Biloba and Ginseng which improves blood flow to the brain and antioxidant protection of cells. When looking for supplements for enhancing memory it is important that they contain these ingredients at a minimum. Look also for companies with a solid history, using pure ingredients.

Supplements have become safer and more effective as research has allowed manufacturers to refine their products. However, as with anything that relates to your health it may be wise to consult with a doctor familiar with natural supplements when considering what to add to your diet. memory-enhancement-guide.com/memory_supplements.html Enhancing short term memory through active use of your memory, exercise and the use of brain focused supplements will put you well on your way to securing your memory and mental ability.

J. Wall has an avid interest in natural remedies for the treatment of memory loss. He is a regular contributor to memory-enhancement-guide.com Memory Improvement Guide, a site dedicated to improving memory and concentration.

Related posts

• Using Foods to Improve Memory (0)
• The Top Fruits for Antioxidant Value (0)
• Several Foods That Improve Memory (0)
• Discover Herbs and Brain Boosting Nutrients (0)
• Combating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Naturally (0)

Tags: antioxidant, diet, memory loss

People who get plenty of folate, a common B vitamin found in foods and dietary supplements, may be at reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York report. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that various vitamins and other nutrients may be key to brain health. It is still too early to say, however, whether folate—also called folic acid—or other nutrients may actually prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. The research appeared in the Archives of Neurology, a journal published by the American Medical Association.

Folate and other B vitamins, including B12 and B6, are important in the body’s processing of homocysteine, an amino acid that has been linked to inflammation. Increasingly, doctors recognize that inflammation may play a key role in heart disease and strokes. Inflammation may also lead to damage to the blood vessels in the brain, increasing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Getting plenty of folate may alleviate inflammation and thereby lower the risk of Alzheimer’s.

In the study, doctors surveyed 965 seniors about what they ate and any multivitamins or other dietary supplements they took over a six-year period. All were free from serious memory problems or other symptoms of Alzheimer’s at the start of the study. Their average age was 75, and they included White, African-American, and Hispanic subjects.

During the follow-up period, 192 of the study participants developed Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that overall, those who got the most folate, through a combination of both foods and supplements, were least likely to come down with Alzheimer’s disease.

Getting more folate through either diet or supplements alone, however, did not lower the risk. This could mean that higher levels of folate (resulting from a combination of diet and supplement intake) were required to affect the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Or, it could mean that folate in combination with some other food-derived nutrient was required.

The doctors considered other factors as well, including other ailments the seniors may have had. They also looked at intake of vitamins B12 and B6, but these were not linked to lower Alzheimer’s risk.

Higher folate intake was modestly correlated with lower homocysteine levels, “indirectly suggesting that a lower homocysteine level is a potential mechanism for the association between higher folate intake and a lower Alzheimer’s disease risk,” the authors write.

More Study Needed

The authors caution that more studies are needed to prove that what you eat may have a direct impact on whether you develop Alzheimer’s disease. Dietary surveys are difficult to assess and may be unreliable. In addition, many factors play a role in the onset of Alzhiemer’s, including genes, advancing age, and other factors.

Still, some earlier studies suggest that B vitamins, including folic acid, may be good for the brain. In 2005, for example, researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that seniors who regularly consume the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 400 micrograms of folic acid through foods and supplements cut their risk of developing Alzheimer’s by over 50 percent.

Folic acid is plentiful in green vegetables such as broccoli, asparagus, peas, and lettuce, as well as beans, whole grains, and orange juice. Breads, pastas, rice, and flour are also commonly fortified with the nutrient. Folic acid has long been urged for pregnant women to prevent birth defects.

Many people, particularly seniors, do not get enough folic acid. Folic acid supplements, often taken as part of a multivitamin, may therefore be an important addition to a daily regimen. Many adults also take folic acid supplements to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

It is still too early to say, though, whether adults should routinely take higher doses of folic acid or other nutrients as a preventive measure against memory loss or Alzheimer’s. However, no one should take more than 1,000 micrograms of folic acid as a supplement. One problem with taking folic acid is that it can mask some of the symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency, which is common in the elderly. This can be avoided by asking your doctor to check your vitamin B-12 levels and by taking folic acid in combination with other B vitamins, including B-12. Consult your doctor before taking folic acid or other supplements.

Your best bet may be to follow a heart-healthy diet low in fats and rich in fruits and vegetables and whole grains to help maintain the brain and preserve the memory. A sound diet helps to maintain the health of the blood vessels, including those that supply oxygen and nutrients to the brain. In addition, regular exercise and mental and social stimulation is thought to be critical to keeping the mind active and alert into old age. For more on Alzheimer’s and preserving the memory, visit www.alzinfo.org, the Alzheimer’s Information Site, for news, updates, and background health reports.

Related posts

• What Are the Symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Is There a Cure? (0)
• The Aspartame Report (0)
• Relief From Alzheimer’s Disease With Vitamins (0)
• Omega 3 Fish Oil- Benefits of Consuming Omega 3 Fish Oil (0)
• Lipitor Fatigue: Are You Constantly Tired? Could It Be Your Statin Drug? (0)

Tags: diet, Heart, memory loss