Tag Archives: MIND diet

MIND diet – Similar research results

The MIND Diet, , , ,

 

  •  Healthy Lifestyles Reduce the Incidence of Chronic Diseases and Dementia: Evidence from the Caerphilly Cohort Study
    This study was conducted in Wales over 30 years. The researchers followed the health habits of over 1000 men. The food-related factors assessed were whether the participants ate three or more portions of fruit and/or vegetables a day, ate a diet that contained less than 30% of calories from fat; drank three or fewer servings of alcohol per day, and had a BMI between 18 and 25 kg/m2 (the range defined as healthy by the CDC).  The researchers also recorded physical activity and smoking. They then rated the men on how many of the six health behaviors they followed and found that those who followed the healthy behaviors had about a 60% reduction in cognitive impairment and dementia.

About ME – why I am interested in the MIND diet

The MIND Diet, ,

I really want to avoid developing Alzheimer’s Disease. I have seen what it has done to some family members whom I loved.

I remember the worst Christmas Eve of my life when I recognized that one member of my family had Alzheimer’s.  She was always the one who made the oyster stew. She had done that for at least 15 years for our family on Christmas Eve. We had been getting clues that she had been having memory problems, but we didn’t realize the extent. When she arrived on this Christmas Eve, my mother said something like “We are waiting for you to make the oyster stew” and she said ” I have never made oyster stew! I don’t know how!” I remember it like the day President Kennedy was shot and the day the World Trade Center was hit.

That was the moment of acute grief that I remember, but then there was the 10 years that she spent in a nursing home before she died. Another family member was also in a nursing home for 10 years due to Alzheimer’s. And, now the next generation is getting older and some are in the same place.

I have a family history of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, but the disease that scares me the most is Alzheimer’s.  I would rather be diagnosed with cancer and die within 3 months like my mother did than develop Alzheimer’s Disease.

I am almost 70 years old and in good health. I am able to teach a college class and manage the accounting for my husband’s business.  But, every time I can’t remember something, I worry.

I know all the things to do to prevent or at least delay Alzheimer’s.  I keep my brain active; I exercise; I have been trying to eat a health diet most based on what is good for my heart and blood vessels. However, when I saw the MIND diet and the research that supports its effectiveness, I realized that this was something more specific that I could do.

The good news is that by eating healthy for my heart, I had been following the MIND diet fairly closely already.  I do have to work harder to include more nuts, beans, and whole grains.

I hope that by sharing what I am learning about the MIND diet and how to follow it that I can help others follow it also.

NUTS! I’m afraid to eat NUTS

Nuts, ,

 

Why am I afraid to eat nuts?

Am I allergic to nuts?  No, I’ve never had any allergic symptoms

Am I afraid I will choke on nuts?  No, I know that’s a eager but I have good teeth and I chew them well.

Why then?  It’s because they are so irresistible and calorie-dense. I could eat a whole can of cashews or just about any kind of nuts at one sitting.

cashews

I need some strategies for eating nuts in moderation. I did a little brainstorming and here are some ideas:

  • Mix them into whole grain muffins so that each muffin has a serving
  • Use them in coating on chicken
  • Buy really small snack bags and divvy them out
  • Paste a photo of the fat me on the top of the can
  • Don’t buy too many nuts at one time. Enough for 6 to 7 servings for the week
  • Print out this list of nut nutrients and place it on the cabinet where you store nuts
  • Weigh or measure you serving and put the rest away
  • Find something else to crunch on — celery or carrots?
  • Eat them on oatmeal
  • Make a sign:  it’s NUTS to eat too many nuts.But, how much is a serving of nuts?

I have not found a good answer to that. The articles about the MIND diet study do not list serving sizes. It looks like 1 oz is a frequent amount for which nutrition data is given, but 1 oz of most nuts contains lots of calories.

I don’t think it relates to serving side exactly, but the USDA says that 1/2 ounce of nuts is an ounce equivalent in the Protein Food Group.

Here is an interesting post about the anti-aging effects of walnuts. It seems to support the MIND diet study’s inclusion of nuts, but does not refer to that study specifically.

One good thing about eating nuts is that you don’t really need a recipe. You can just eat them as they are. However, there are lots of good-looking recipes available.

By the way, Peanuts are not nuts! I didn’t really think so but I did a bit of a search. I think a place called the “Peanut Institute” should know. They say that peanuts are legumes. Does that mean we can count them in our bean intake?

 

 

 

4th of July – the perfect time to eat BERRIES

Berries, , ,

Berries on Dessert

Berries on Dessert

I got this photo from the Pillsbury site. I am not providing the link because I really don’t want you to go there. It is full of things that fit the AVOID category: Pastries and Sweets.

But, it gave me an idea for the 4th of July picnic I need to bring something to.  For sure, I will be using the blueberrries and strawberries. It’s what I am putting underneath that will be different. I am going to use Sugar-Free Strawberry Jello and put Strawberries in it. I have a glass 9×13 dish that will look pretty good. I am going to “frost” it with Fat-free Cool Whip. With that as a base, I will make the flag as shown in the photo (except my stripes will be strawberries because my husband hates raspberries.

Question:  I know that SF Jello and FF Cool Whip are probably not the best nutrition sources. The MIND diet does not address them specifically and I wouldn’t put them in the Pastries and Sweets category. They have served me well in my weight loss journey, so I am going to use them. The question: How do they affect the possibility of Alzheimer’s?  I will have to research that at some point.

Another thought on Blueberries and Strawberries: They are on sale quite often these days. I am going to buy up some, wash them, and put them in small zip-lock bags to freeze.