There have been several studies to investigate the effects of diet and exercise on the development of Alzheimer’s. One study performed by Temple University School of Medicine researchers showed that eating high levels of an amino acid found in many protein sources might increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers didn’t stop there, though, according to an article in Medical News Today. A recent follow-up study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology indicates that even once memory and cognitive function begin to decrease, a change in diet can improve symptoms of the disease. The results indicated that, at least in mice, a positive improvement in diet–in this case, a change from a diet high in the amino acid methionine to one lower in methionine–can slow or reverse changes in memory and cognitive abilities caused by Alzheimer’s.

The take-away message here is that our brains are clearly influenced by our diets. Not only that, but positive changes in our diets can have a positive influence on our brain’s function. Remember, a healthy diet isn’t just about what our body looks like. It is also about how well our mind works. For a healthy mind and body, strive to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet now and in the future.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Do you tend to trip, falter or lose your balance? If so, you might want to consider starting a regular exercise routine. A recent study published online in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine looked at the types of activities people are doing when they fall, and examined what influence, if any, fitness might have on fall frequency.

The study showed that young people fall as much as older people, and for those people who fall while walking (about 15% of those studied), increased fitness may decrease the chance of a fall. This fitness influence only seemed to apply for men, however. Physical fitness did not seem to decrease the risk of falls for women.

The researchers suggest that two hours of physical activity a week can decrease the risk of a fall. Those who exercised less or didn’t exercise at all did not seem to have any decreased risk of a fall.

While the study didn’t show any decrease in falls for women who exercise regularly, that doesn’t mean exercise doesn’t help balance and strength. Whether you’re a man or woman, younger or older, if you’re already exercising, keep it up. And if you don’t have a regular exercise routine yet, consider this just another reason to get started.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

You may have heard that having a pet can improve your mood, decrease your risk for depression and lower your level of stress. Now there’s research that having a dog could help you get fit and improve your overall health.

A recent study presented at this year’s annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine suggested that people who walked a dog on a regular basis sat less during the day, had a lower body mass index (BMI), smoked less, had fewer chronic illnesses, and were less depressed. Like having a workout buddy who motivates you to get (and keep) moving, having a dog encourages you to take more frequent walks. And as we all know, walking is a great form of exercise, and walking for a total of just 30 each day (or three 10-minute walks with Fido) can have a positive effect on your health and well-being.

If you’ve considered getting a new pet, you might want to think about making it a dog. Turns out man’s best friend is also a great workout partner.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

According to a recent article at Medical News Today, a study published in the Journal of Obesity is causing concern in the medical and research arenas. The study “concluded that overweight and obese people experience no adverse health effects until they turn 40, and that between the ages of 25 and 70 there is little difference in the health of normal compared with overweight people.”

The findings of this study clearly contradict much of the evidence that has come before it, which generally links obesity with chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. While there are certainly cases of overweight and obese people who do not develop chronic illnesses and live a relatively healthy life, past research strongly suggests that being obese or overweight is a serious risk factor for developing chronic health problems at some point in one’s life.

It might be nice to believe that we can eat as much as we like and exercise as little as we choose and still live a healthy, happy life. But the overwhelming evidence just doesn’t indicate that this is the case. And one study that suggests it might be won’t change what so many studies before it point to: being overweight is bad for your health.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Here at Feed the Soul, we always encourage readers and clients to eat more whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat breads and pastas, whole grain cereals, etc.) and fewer refined grains (white rice, breads and pastas, etc.). There’s plenty of research to back up this recommendation, because whole grains contain more nutrients and eating more whole grains is associated with a decrease in heart disease risk. And now there’s another study that suggests switching to brown rice and other whole grains can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study, published in the 14 June online issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that eating whole grains like brown rice can slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream, making it easier to control blood sugar levels. If you’re at risk for developing diabetes or if you have diabetes now, you may want to consider switching your grains. Try these four simple switches to get more whole grains in your diet:

• Replace white rice with brown rice.
• Try whole wheat pastas.
• Buy bread made from whole wheat flour.
• Replace your morning cereal with oatmeal.

If you’re even more adventurous, you might want to give other whole grains a try:

• Quinoa (pronounced: keen-wah) – A whole grain that is high in protein. Use wherever you might use rice or other grains.
• Sorghum (or milo) – A cereal grain that is gluten-free, sorghum flour can be used in baked goods. You can also make a delicious salad using the whole grain.
• Bulgur – A parboiled grain that is often found in Middle Eastern dishes. Try this tabbouleh recipe for a refreshing summer dish.
• Barley – A very versitile whole grain. Use it in soups or salads, use barley flour in baked goods, or eat it for breakfast like you would oatmeal.

You may need to look in specialty or health food stores to find some of these grains, but more and more grocery stores are beginning to carry a variety of grains. Look in the organic sections or where you would find rice and other grains. Enjoy exploring and experimenting with whole grains. You might find you’re pleasantly surprised by the flavor and texture variety.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Around here, we hate to talk about diets. Feed the Soul is of the school that diets shouldn’t be restrictive and temporary. They should be about moderation and should be sustainable for a lifetime. Otherwise, they’re pointless. That’s why Intuitive Eating is one of the healthy living strategies we encourage clients to try.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Basically, intuitive eating is the practice of paying close attention to your body’s hunger signals and giving it what it needs. According to the Intuitive Eating website:

Intuitive eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body–where you ultimately become the expert of your own body. You learn how  to distinguish between physical and emotional feelings, and gain a sense of body wisdom. It’s also a process of making peace with food—so that you no longer have constant “food worry” thoughts. It’s knowing that your health and your worth as a person does not change because you ate a so-called “bad” or “fattening” food.

For more information, you can check out the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating or read Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD and Elyse Resch, MS, RD, FADA.

What are the benefits?

Intuitive eating allows you to break the cycle of yo-yo dieting, silence the food judges (in your head and in your life), and teach you new ways to approach food and eating. Practiced regularly, it can improve your relationship with food, allow you to ditch your food scales and calorie counters, and still help you to lose weight.

Unlike diets, intuitive eating focuses on connecting with your body and its signals. It takes time to learn to trust what your body is telling you, but eventually, with practice, you can learn to eat when you’re physically hungry and stop when you’re satisfied. Intuitive eating can help you separate emotional eating from eating for physical nourishment.

How can you eat more intuitively?

Learning to eat intuitively will take time and conscious effort, but it will be worth it. To practice eating intuitively, try some of these basic strategies:

• Before eating anything, check in with your body and ask yourself if you are really hungry.
• Use a hunger scale (try this one from MIT) to gauge how hungry you really are before and after you eat.
• Eat mindfully. Put your food on a plate and sit at a table. Look at your food and pay attention to its colors, texture and smell. Chew slowly and really taste each bite.

If you really want to try eating intuitively or learn more about the process, pick up the Intuitive Eating book. Remember, it will take time to overcome your current eating mindset and habits, but learning to eat intuitively will mean saying good-bye to diets. Forever.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

You keep hearing about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). One day you read a report that says it’s linked to weight gain and obesity, and the next there’s one that says it’s no worse than regular sugar. The truth is, no matter what the research says, HFCS should be treated like what it is.

What is HFCS then?

As it’s name suggests, HFCS a sweetener made from corn. Because it is much cheaper to produce than cane sugar, it is extremely common and is used in almost all of the processed foods available today. In fact, HFCS is so common that it’s in foods that you might not even suspect, like salad dressings, breads, processed meats and fast food.

But what’s the big deal?

Sugar is sugar, whether it’s table sugar you put in your coffee or the HFCS in the cereal you eat for breakfast. But because HFCS is often “hiding” in foods you might not suspect, you may be eating more sugar than you think. Whether it’s HFCS or another form of sugar, limiting your sugar intake should be your goal if you want to live a healthy life. And added sugar, no matter where it comes from, can mean added calories–which can mean added pounds in the long run.

So what should you do?

To decrease you HFCS and overall sugar consumption, try to center your diet around natural, whole foods and limit the processed and packaged foods you eat. If you do choose processed or packaged foods, look for products that have fewer total grams of sugar. Read nutrition labels. Check the ingredients for HFCS and note how early it appears in the list. The higher on the list it appears, the more of it is in the product.

Knowing what foods have HFCS in them is important in helping you figure out where your sugar intake is coming from, an positive step toward maintaining or losing weight. And watching HFCS intake is especially important for people who are at risk for or already diagnosed with diabetes, because just like any other sugar, HFCS can seriously impact blood sugar levels.

While HFCS isn’t an evil ingredient, you shoud do your best to be aware of what foods contain it and limit how much of those foods you eat. Just like everything else, moderation is key.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Yesterday was National Start! Walking Day, sponsored by the American Heart Association. The goal of the day was to get American’s moving toward an active and healthy lifestyle. With obesity rates rising fast, increasing physical activity is important for so many Americans, but especially for those who spend their workdays sitting behind a desk.

Just because National Start! Walking Day is over, doesn’t mean the American Heart Association’s Start! movement stops, though. They’re just getting started (no pun intended). Based on research that has shown physical activity can improve heart health and increase life expectancy, the mission of the movement is to get people to walk more and eat well so that they’ll live longer.

This may seem like a simple goal, but with more and more of us working long hours at desk jobs, making time for physical activity has become difficult. That’s where Start! comes in, encouraging Americans to wear or take walking shoes to work and take frequent breaks to get in at least 30 minutes of walking every day. All it takes is two or three 10-minute walking breaks to have a positive impact on your health.

If you’re interested in joining the Start! movement, you’ll find plenty of resources at their website, including tools to develop a personalized walking plan and track your activity and meals. Don’t want to walk alone? There are also resources for getting your company and co-workers involved in the movement. But if your HR department isn’t ready to Start!, don’t get discouraged. You can still enlist a work friend or two to Start! with you. Ask around and you might find others at your company who want to get active and Start! moving more, too!

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

Are you ready to shed those extra pounds once and for all? Are you motivated to feel healthy and be well?

Then it’s time to Cre8 A New You! Join Nicole Garnsey, MA, RD, CDN, CDE and Brigit O’Donnell, MS, RD, CDN of Feed the Soul Nutrition, Inc. as we teach and empower you to meet your nutrition and health goals.

Cre8 A New You© is our unique 8-week program, created to teach you the skills you need to take control of your health and well-being through gradual behavior change.

Sign up for this spring’s session, beginning April 19th and running through June 7th, and for just $199 you’ll receive:

• a baseline health assessment
• eight 1-hour educational and motivational sessions
• weekly weigh-ins
• a follow-up reunion upon completion of the program

Classes will be held Monday evenings from 5:30-6:30pm in two locations:

Feed the Soul Nutrition, Inc.
727 Washington St., Watertown, NY

OR

Northern Physical Therapy
Clayton, NY

If you’re interested, sign up fast! Space is limited and classes start soon!

To sign up for the Watertown class, contact Nicole at (315) 783-6810 or kngarnsey@yahoo.com. To sign up for the Clayton class, contact Brigit at (315) 767-8926 or eathealthy09@hotmail.com.

If you’re still not convinced that the Cre8 A New You program is for you, check out our series of posts highlighting some of the topics covered during the eight week instructional sessions.

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."

According to an article in The New York Times published last fall, a recent study indicates that brain power is improved by exercise. And the harder you work, the more your brain may benefit. The study, completed with mice, showed that those mice who were challenged with a more difficult “workout” (on a mini-treadmill) demonstrated significant cognitive improvements in comparison to the mice who were allowed to do their usual “workout” (on their running wheel).

What does this mean for you and I? Well first, it means that if you’re doing moderate exercise on a regular basis, you’re probably improving your smarts. It also looks like if we challenge ourselves, the improvements may increase. If you’re always doing the same exercise or stick to a typical exercise routine, you might want to consider mixing things up. Push yourself a little harder on the treadmill or elliptical. Try a circuit workout. Take a spinning class.

While the study was on mice, and the results may not translate perfectly to humans, shaking up your workouts and increasing the intensity certainly can’t hurt. Even if it doesn’t boost your IQ to genius level, just think about all those extra calories you’ll be burning!

"Eat well. Live well. Be well."