Juice consumption reduced risk of Alzheimer's

Here is a story made my day - according to recent study conducted by Dr. Qi Dai, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease was dramatically reduced for older people who drank fruit or vegetable juices regularly.
The incidence of Alzheimer's was 76% lower for those who drank juice three or more times a week than for those who drank juice less than once a week. It was 16% lower for those drinking juice once or twice a week, according to the report.
It's not the general kind of antioxidants in fruit juices that produce the benefit, according this study. Rather, researcher attributed the effect to polyphenols, a particularly strong antioxidant. Polyphenols are typically found in the outer sections of fruits and vegetables, only in the peel or skin. When you process the whole fruit, they go into the juice.

Studies of the biochemistry of Alzheimer's disease have focused on deposits of beta-amyloid proteins that form in the brain and the potential for antioxidants in the diet to prevent those deposits. Since studies looking at antioxidants such as beta-carotene have been disappointing, so Dr. Qi Dai and the research team turned their attention to polyphenols in fruit juice.

Next time when you drink O.J or apple cider, say Cheers !

Sage help with Alzheimer's disease

No herb garden would be complete without sage. As a herb, sage do well outdoors in milder climates, and considered by many as one of the culinary basics. Sage has received many scientific scrutiny over the years: it improved both mood and cognitive functioning in a 2005 study, reported researchers in Neuropsychopharmacology.

Patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease who were given sage extract scored significantly better on cognitive tests than a comparison group given a placebo, according to a study published in 2003 in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.

Curry spice inhibit Alzheimer's disease

Here is another research demonstrated that curcumin, a staple ingredient in curry, is good for the brain. Tze-Pin Ng and colleagues at the National University of Singapore have discovered that curry eating seems to boost brain power in elderly people.
Tze-Pin Ng's reports have suggested that curcumin, an antioxidant, inhibits the build-up of amyloid plaques in people with Alzheimer's. Researcher looked at the curry-eating habits of 1010 Asian people unaffected by Alzheimer's and aged between 60 and 93, and compared their performance in a standard test of cognitive function, the Mini Mental State Examination. Those people who consumed curry "occasionally" (once or more in 6 months but less than once a month) and "often" (more than once a month) had better MMSE results than those who only ate curry "never or rarely".

What is remarkable is that apparently one needs only to consume curry once in a while for the better cognitive performance to be evidenced.

Curry preserve brain function

People at India have low rate of Alzheimers disease. Since curries are a dietary staple there, it is natural for researchers to study the medical effect of curry on humans mental health.
It turned out that curry contains a spice called curcumin, which gives curry its yellow color, can curb mental decline and even slow the effects of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease.
Firstly, people found curcumin may activate a key enzyme that protects the brain against natural cellular oxidation. Cellular oxidation causes inflammation, which causes cell death, then disease, and then neurodegeneration.
Secondly, Doctors at UCLA's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center have found that curcumin has one additional property not shared by most spices. It directly inhibits the production of amyloid plaques, the sticky substances that directly causes Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin, in fact, seems to cut the number of amyloid plaques in half.
I heard India food has been the most popular international food in UK for the last 2-3 years. In my hometown, I see several India restaurants opened in the last 2 years as well. A healthy trend!

15 Ways to live longer

According to Forbes, here are 15 Ways to Live Longer:
1. Don't oversleep
2. Be optimistic
3. Have more sex
4. Get a pet
5. Get a VAP(Vertical Auto Profile, a medical test)
6. Be rich
7. Stop smoking
8. Chill out
9. Eat your antioxidants
10. Marry well
11. Exercise
12. Laugh a little
13. Lose weight
14. Manage stress
15. Meditate

Yes, eat more antioxidants !
From warding off heart disease to slowing degeneration diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's and cancer, talk of the health benefits of antioxidants are quite common today. Antioxidants work by neutralizing highly reactive, destructive compounds called free radicals. Research shows that certain types of beans (kidney, pinto, black) are among the best sources of antioxidants, while blueberries and other berries follow close behind