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Almond joy
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   Which food has as much protein per ounce as red meat but just might help your heart stay young?  Almonds.
   A one-ounce serving (about 24 whole almond kernels) contains 6 grams of protein.  Incorporating almonds into your diet has been shown to help reduce the risk of heart attack by as much as 50 percent.  This effect is likely due to the good-for-your-heart monounsaturated fats and the antioxidant vitamin E found in almonds.  Monounsaturated fats can decrease your bad LDL cholesterol levels and increase your good HDL cholesterol levels.  Antioxidants can help keep your arteries young.
   Clin Cardiol 7, no. 3 (July 22, 2000): 11-5.

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Before and after your workout
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   What's the latest buzz on honey?  It just may be your best pre-exercise energy source.  Eating as little as three tablespoons of honey about an hour before a workout can help keep you from losing steam during your routine.  Honey appears to give you a more even flow of energy than other sugars.
   Feeling hungry after your workout?  Rigorous exercise may set off reactions in the brain that stimulate hunger and make you crave fat.  But that's no reason to shun your routine.  If you do desire fatty foods after a workout, just be sure to choose foods that contain the healthful, unsaturated fats, such as nuts and seeds or foods made with olive oil.
   J Manipulative Physiol Ther 13, no. 6 (July-August 1990): 322-5.
   Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 12 (December 23, 1999): 1,282-7.

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Eat better, not less
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   A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that a flexible, sensible approach to eating not only results in greater weight loss but also causes less stress.  To achieve good health and maintain a healthy weight, changing your overall dietary pattern is more important than restricting any specific foods.  The study suggests that women should enjoy "eating well" rather than be excessively concerned about monitoring or limiting food intake.  It was found that women who consciously restricted their food intake had higher stress levels.  This caused their bodies to release excessive amounts of the hormone cortisol, which has been associated with health problems such as bone loss, decreased fertility, and heart disease.
   A. J. Clin. Nutr. 73: 7-12

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Take flight
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   Taking the stairs not only helps slim your thighs and tighten your calves but also could reduce your cholesterol.
   How low can it go?  As much as 15 percent lower, according to a recent study that revealed that the benefits can come from as little as six minutes of climbing per day.  What's more, researchers say this simple act of ascension also can make you 10 to 15 percent more fit.  It doesn't matter if you stair step on a machine at your gym or take the stairs in your office or home.  The payoff is about the same.
   Prev Med 4 (April 30, 2000): 277-81.

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Sleep on it
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   Want to avoid middle-aged weight gain?  Getting enough quality sleep may help you steer clear of it.
   A recent study reveals that middle-aged weight gain may be due to a lack of deep sleep, known as slow-wave sleep.  As people age, they tend to get less slow-wave sleep, which can cause a decrease in growth hormone.  Growth hormone deficiencies have been associated with certain kinds of weight gain.
   JAMA 284, no. 7 (August 2000): 861-8.
 

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KEEPING YOUR "NEURO SYSTEM" YOUNG
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The main text of the following article comes from the February/March 2001 issue of Partners magazine.

   When we think of aging, we think of the obvious - wrinkles and achy joints, for example. We usually don't consider things such as worsening vision or memory loss until we are well on our way to senior status. But we should. After all, the disorders that may go along with the aging of the nervous system are some of the most frightening problems we face - dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and macular degeneration, for example. However, there is a way to fight this "neuro aging." Through the use of dietary supplements.

DHA

   DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an essential fatty acid (EFA). EFAs are called "essential" because very little can be synthesized by the body - we must obtain them from our diet. DHA is one of the omega-3 fatty acids, whose perhaps best-known source is fish oil.

   EFAs are necessary for good health, and DHA is well-known as one of the keys to a healthy nervous system. DHA is the building block of human brain tissue - 60 percent of the brain is fat, and DHA is the most abundant fat in the brain, as well as in the retina of the eye. DHA is essential in communication between the brain and nervous system - it plays a role in the cell membrane, where the electrical impulses that are the basis of communication within the nervous system are generated. Without DHA and other fatty acids, communication within this system can break down or become less effective.

   The importance of DHA to the brain and nervous system is seen early in our development. In the first few weeks of embryonic development, the mother's blood supplies the fetus with large amounts of DHA. In the last trimester of a pregnancy, the DHA content of the brain's cerebrum and cerebellum - which contains centers for speech and abstract thought - increases threefold.

   DHA is recognized as extremely important - so much so that the World Health Organization has recommended that DHA be added to infant formulas.  Many health practitioners also recommend it for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

   DHA supplementation may be especially important as we grow older. The body's ability to synthesize DHA, which is limited in all people, may decline even further with age. This is compounded by the small amounts of DHA we get in our diet, especially those who strive for a vegetarian diet - the richest sources of DHA are red meats, animal organs, and eggs.

   Research indicates that low levels of DHA may be involved in a number of health problems relating to the nervous system.

DEPRESSION

   Depression is on the rise in North America. This is often attributed to the ups and downs of our lives and is often seen among the aging population. However, recent research indicates that there may be a physiological aspect to depression that relates to nutrition.

   A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (62 (July 1995): 1-9) presents research indicating that omega-3 fatty acids, specifically DHA, may reduce the risk of depression. The authors associate the increase in depression in North America in the past century with the decline in consumption of DHA during the same period. To lend support to this idea, the authors also note that there are lower rates of major depression in those societies that consume large amounts of fish, a key dietary source of DHA, are consumed.

DEMENTIA AND ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

   DHA is also being considered as a factor in dementia and Alzheimer's disease. In 1997, a link between low levels of DHA and Alzheimer's disease and memory loss was the subject of a conference at the New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center's Nutrition Information Center. Among the finding discussed at the conference was that a low level of DHA is a significant risk factor for dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.  Further support for this comes from Australia.  In a letter published in the Medical Journal of Australia (153; November 5, 1990: 563-64), Dr. Robert Peers suggests that an imbalance between an excessive intake of omega-6 fatty acids (from vegetable oils and margarine) and a deficient intake of omega-3 fatty acids may be a factor in Alzheimer's disease.

   The Japan Functional Food Research Association has also investigated DHA and dementia. The association notes that those with senile dementia achieved positive results when taking DHA: in 10 of 13 cerebral vascular dementia cases and five of five senile dementia cases, the patients showed more than slight improvements in psychiatric symptoms such as communications, will power, motivation, delirium, the tendency to wander, emotional disorders, and mental depression (www.jafra.gr.jp/DHA2-e.htm).

VISION

   DHA is also the major fat in retinal tissue. It plays a strong role in the photoreceptor cells of the retina, suggesting an essential role for DHA in vision. DHA deficiency in laboratory animals showed a marked decrease in proper functioning of the visual cycle.

   In a recent study looking at fish oil, which contains DHA, and macular degeneration, researchers found that more frequent consumption of fish appeared to protect against late age-related macular degeneration. Only a moderate intake of fish was necessary for the protective effect (Archives of Ophthalmology 118 (March 2000): 401-404).

[For more information on essential fatty acids, including DHA, there is an excellent article in the May 1999 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, entitled, "The Skinny on Fat."  You may read this article online at http://www.findarticles.com/m1189/3_271/54574656/p1/article.jhtml.]

BILBERRY

   In addition to DHA, bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) is good support for a healthy nervous system. It is closely related to American blueberry, cranberry, and huckleberry.  Although its fruit is creamy white instead of purple, it is used in jams, pies, cobblers, and cakes.  It was bilberry jam that first spurred medical interest in this fruit. During the Second World War, British and American fighter pilots hailed bilberry jam as a secret weapon for improved night vision.

   Bilberry extracts are rich in a chemical known as anthocyanoside.  These chemicals are powerful antioxidants that appear to have a special affinity for the eyes.  Bilberry's effect may also be related to increased generation of rhodopsin, a purple pigment essential for helping the eye adapt to light and dark.  Bilberry appears especially useful in reducing eyestrain and improving night vision - ideal for those who need better "low light" vision and those who do a lot of reading - students and computer operators, for example.

[You can read more about the herb bilberry at http://www.herbphoto.com/education/monograph/bilberry.html.]

LUTEIN AND ZEAXANTHIN

   Lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids found in green, leafy vegetables, are also good for the eyes. Like other carotenoids, they are antioxidants. What is unique about these two is that they are the only carotenoids found in the eyes - in the macula (the part of the retina responsible for detailed vision) and the lens. Current research is investigating what function they may serve, and recent studies have found that diets rich in lutein and zeaxanthin may play a role in reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts - two problems that are usually a result of the aging process.

[You may learn more about lutein in an article posted on the USDA website at http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/data/000006/92/0000069264.html.  There is another interesting article on lutein, discussing a study presented to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, in 1999.  You may read this article at http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/selz-dcl041699.html.]

MACULAR DEGENERATION

   Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of legal blindness among the elderly in the United States and other developed countries. In AMD, the retinal tissue breaks down. It is the retina that converts light into the electrochemical energy needed to produce vision.

   Those with the greatest risk for AMD tend to have a lower amount of lutein and zeaxanthin in the eyes than those without AMD. In the mid-1990s, one large epidemiological study (a study that looks at a population and charts its general risk) reported that increased consumption of lutein and zeaxanthin reduces the risk of AMD (JAMA 272, no. 18 (1994): 1,410-23).

   A study published in November 2000 supports this. In this 140-day study, it was shown that lutein supplementation increases macular pigment - this is important because macular pigment may protect against AMD (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 41 (November 2000): 3,322-26). This is further confirmed in a report that notes in the abstract that "Some observational studies have shown that generous intakes of lutein and zeaxanthin, particularly from certain xanthophyll-rich foods like spinach, broccoli, and eggs, are associated with a significant reduction in the risk for cataract (up to 20 percent) and for age-related macular degeneration (up to 40 percent)." The author goes on to note that further research is necessary (J Am Coll Nutr 5 Suppl (October 19, 2000): 522S-527S).

CATARACTS

   Cataracts are the leading cause of vision impairment in the United States and other developed countries. In cataracts, the lens of the eye, which is normally colorless and clear, grows cloudy. The lens is then unable to focus accurately on the retina, which makes seeing more difficult. Interestingly, lutein and zeaxanthin are the only carotenoids generally found in the lens.

   There have been three epidemiological studies looking at the correlation between dietary lutein and zeaxanthin and the risk of cataracts. These found a trend toward reduced risk of cataracts and cataract surgery with increased intake of lutein and zeaxanthin (Am J Clin Nut 70, no. 4 (1999): 517-24; Am J Epidemiol 149, no. 9: 801-9; Optom Vis Sce 77: 499-504).

GINKGO

   Ginkgo biloba is another supplement that fights neuro aging. It is perhaps the best-known of the natural substances addressed here.  It has also been extensively researched, with studies showing that ginkgo does help maintain mental acuity.

   This is largely due to its effect on circulation. Ginkgo increases blood flow to the extremities and the brain - there is actually an increase in cerebral blood flow. It stands to reason that if you get an increase of blood flow to the brain, the brain is going to get more oxygen and more glucose. It is this increased flow of oxygen and nutrients that is the reason why there is significant improvement in patients with some form of dementia.

   Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) has been studied since the 1950s, and studies reveal positive results for what is known as "cerebral insufficiency": a collection of symptoms that include difficulties in concentration and memory, absentmindedness, confusion, lack of energy, tiredness, decreased physical performance, depressive mood, anxiety, dizziness, tinnitus, and headache. The German Commission E - a group of physicians, pharmacists, and toxicologist who evaluate herbs for safety and efficacy - notes that GBE does lead to an improvement in memory performance and learning capacity.

   Since October 1997, when the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that GBE may be beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Ginkgo has received increased attention. In 1998 and 1999, analyses of previous ginkgo studies noted that ginkgo does positively affect cognitive functions to some degree. A more recent study (Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 11, no. 4 (July-August): 230-7), looked at ginkgo and dementia in a 26-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The abstract notes that "In comparison to the baseline values, the placebo group showed a statistically significant worsening in all domains of assessment, while the group receiving GBE was considered slightly improved on the cognitive assessment and the daily living and social behavior."

[The American Botanical Council maintains an educational website.  You may learn more about ginkgo on this informational site at http://www.herbalgram.org/botanicalbooks/ginkgo.html.]

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The AIM Company has just released a new product called GinkgoSense(tm) which combines all the above elements (DHA, bilberry, lutein, zeaxanthin, and ginkgo) in one capsule.  Go to http://www.healthyperspective.com/order.html for price and ordering information.

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THIS MONTH'S DISCOUNT
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Through the end of May, receive a $3.00 savings off the retail price of the new product, AIM GinkgoSense(tm).  You may also receive this and/or any other products on the Healthy Perspective website with FREE SHIPPING (within the U.S.) through the end of May.  To take advantage of these savings go to http://www.healthyperspective.com/order.html.  When you place your order, type "APR YHP" in the "comments" section of the online order form.  You will receive your discount at the time your credit card is processed (the savings will not show up on your initial e-mail Order Confirmation, but an amended Order Confirmation will be sent to you via e-mail).

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COMING NEXT MONTH
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We're quite excited about a revolutionary new weight loss system.  It addresses metabolic as well as nutritional issues.  If you are concerned about such things (the majority of us are!) you won't want to miss next month's Your Healthy Perspective.
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"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well."
3 John:2 (NIV)

God bless you,
-Rev. Clarence Russell, Kimberly and Nicole
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