LiveLongAgeWell

In honor of our mothers, let’s consider some advice many of them have given—perhaps your own mother said “eat your carrots…you’ll see better at night”—now let’s just update that with the latest information. It’s a nice coincidence because a few days before Mother’s Day, the journal Ophthalmology came out with a report on the best (nutritional) advice to prevent macular degeneration, the progressive loss of function in the retina of the eye and the most common cause of adult visual loss. (Click on this link for a “macular degeneration simulator”.)

One reason macular degeneration is so worrisome is that it’s so common: 10% of people over 65 are affected, and that rises to 30% for people over 75. Your risk is higher if you have a history of smoking, and with a close relative with macular degeneration, your lifetime risk rises to 50%. So it’s good to know there is something you can do to help diminish this threat as we get older besides a carrot-a-day…

Here’s what the analysis of the diets of over 4000 people in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study suggested to keep your vision good as you get older:

1. Eat a low-glycemic index diet. The glycemic index is a rating of how foods spike your blood sugar once they are absorbed, and the less the spike, the better. Slow absorbing foods are best. Particularly bad are white bread, starchy foods such as potatoes, and sugary pastries. Best are whole-grain breads, nuts, proteins, and vegetables.

2. Try to get a wide range of antioxidants from fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and perhaps eggs. Especially good are green leafy vegetables, spinach, kale, broccoli, and when you buy lettuce, stick to the dark green romaine style rather than the wimpy pale “head lettuce” or “American lettuce”. Other good sources of the vision-beneficial antioxidants are eggs, beans (especially black), and again, nuts and whole grains.

3. Try to get lots of vitamin C from citrus fruits.

4. Omega-3 fatty acids are great for your eyes (as well as your brain), and you can best get those from fatty fish, such as salmon.

So go ahead and eat a carrot-a-day, it’s great advice, but if you are really concerned about keeping your vision intact as you get older, and particularly if you have a positive family history, there are plenty of other dietary measures you can take. Don’t wait…add to your shopping list: oranges, broccoli, spinach, whole-grain bread, romaine lettuce, nuts, and salmon!

Last post we discussed research showing that people who eat more red meat have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. During this ten year study, those who ate the most (red) meat had a significantly higher risk of dying of any disease.

Still, many people enjoy eating red meat, and there are some nutritional benefits. Red meat is a great complete protein and vitamin B12 source, both of which are difficult to obtain from vegetables (but fish for example provides both).  This study and others have shown that those who eat “white” meats such as poultry and particularly fish, have a lower risk of heart disease and cancer, so switching from red to white is the first thing to consider for meat eaters. Here are some other measures red meat eaters can take to diminish the risks:

1. Eat smaller quantities less often. Try to limit to two- to three times per week and keep to about 6 ounces per serving (the size of a deck of cards).

2. If you eat processed meats (like hot dogs and bacon), look for nitrate-free products, as nitrates are a known carcinogen (be aware though that nitrate-free meats need more careful refrigeration, as nitrates are normally used as a preservative to decrease bacterial growth).

3. Don’t char meat! Cooking meats at high temperature—especially on a grill—giving a black crust, forms many carcinogenic substances. Cook (thoroughly to avoid bacterial problems) at more medium temperatures.

4. Look at the sell-by date when you buy. Buy the freshest you can, avoiding oxidized, brown-tinged pieces.

5. Buy the leanest cuts to avoid saturated fat, known to increase the risk of breast and colon cancer. Bison, leaner than beef, is a good alternative. The fat in meat is where any pesticide residue or hormones are concentrated.

6. Consider buying organic, grass-fed beef. It may be safer as you avoid any risk of extraneous chemicals, and it is said grass-fed beef contains a higher concentration of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

7. At the same meal you have red meat, make sure you also eat several different vegetables, which may counteract the cancer-causing properties in the meat. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts have especially been shown to be cancer-fighters.

8. Consider drinking a glass of red wine along with a red meat meal. Red wine is full of cancer-fighting polyphenol compounds, and some data suggests these might minimize absorption of the carcinogenic substances in the saturated fats of meat.

Last week I wrote about how a major research study showed that vitamin C and E supplements were ineffective for reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer. In general, these two vitamins, particularly vitamin E, are falling out of favor in the medical literature. But several others, particularly vitamins D and B12, are gaining more positive reviews in recent research. An interesting study from Oxford University, published in the journal Neurology, showed that individuals with a higher B12 level in their blood had significantly less brain shrinkage as they got older, than people with a lower B12 blood level. (Brain size was measured by serial MRI scans.)

B12 in the diet comes only from animal sources such as meat, including chicken; fish; milk; and eggs. (Strict vegetarians—vegans—require B12 supplements.) Many nutritional experts believe that especially as people are eating less meat, there is a growing crisis of B12 deficiency, and that middle-agers and above need to pay much more attention to B12 intake, either through diet or supplements. I will take up supplements in a later post, but the concern about B12 deficiency is another great reason to regularly eat fish! Salmon in particular is rich in B12. (For much more detail on this vitamin, go to the Nutrition section in the LLAW right sidebar, then click Linus Pauling Institute>Vitamins>Vitamin B12.)

In the next week I will discuss some other ways to help prevent brain shrinkage, at any age, and not through diet or supplements.

In a word, yes. They are one of the best supplements you can take for your overall health. Unlike many supplements that are poor substitutes for “real food”, good-quality fish oil pills should give you much of the health benefit of the actual fish they are standing in for.

In my last post I discussed how eating fish can improve your mood and brain function. Beyond that, many recent studies have shown benefits beyond the brain, particularly in decreasing atherosclerosis and cutting the risk of heart attack, keeping triglycerides, blood pressure, and inflammation under control, cutting the risk of macular degeneration in the eyes, and newer studies suggest the omega-3s in fish oil may decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. For a more detailed critical look along with numerous references, check out this issue of Nutrition Action Health Letter.

There seems to be few risks in taking fish oil pills, and lots of potential upside. On days that I don’t eat omega-3-rich fish, I take a one-gram supplement twice a day. Here are some key points:

•    A good dose is 1 gram of a combined EPA and DHA omega-3 fish oil capsule once- to twice-a-day.  A dose over 2 grams per day could cause bleeding problems in some people.
•    Find a high-quality supplement that has been purified and is free of mercury, PCB and dioxin contaminants (this is an advantage of the pills over some fish, which might be contaminated). This Environmental Defense Fund site should help you choose a safe product.
•    Fish oil can cause burping, nausea, even diarrhea in sensitive people. If that occurs, start at a lower dose, maybe one pill every several days, and see if you can build up to one or two pills a day. Try taking it after meals or at bedtime, and sometimes freezing the gelatin capsule will stop the side effects. If side effects persist, try different brands, or just eat more omega-3 rich fish instead.
•    Especially if you have significant heart disease or blood clotting concerns, are pregnant or about to have surgery, check with your doctor before taking this supplement. Fish oil thins your blood a bit (for most people, this is a good thing), but is a concern if you bleed easily or are already on blood thinners.  If you are a vegetarian who does not eat fish, look for omega-3 supplements derived from algae.

As I write this, the American economy may be in its worst crisis since the Great Depression. So a few days ago a friend asked if a “natural” herbal remedy he was taking was good to calm his nerves and help his mood. I recommended he consider, as a supplement, fish oil. Wednesday we will talk about fish oil capsules, but today let’s consider how fish is a “brain food”, and might help your mood.

That fish is good for your brain makes sense when you realize that your brain cell membranes are mostly “lipids”…fat…and here we are talking about the particular type of fat called “omega-3 fatty acids”. These omega-3s you get in your diet from fish as well as some nuts and soy, but the best source is fish. Brain tissue nourished with more omega-3s seems to function better because the individual brain cells then communicate easier via the various neurotransmitters. It’s almost as if omega-3s act as a lubricant to make your brain work more efficiently.

In the typically poor, processed American diet, most people don’t get enough of these good omega-3 fats but rather consume too much of the unhealthy saturated fats. Various studies have shown that countries with high fish consumption, like some Asian countries, have a much lower depression rate than countries with lower fish intakes. That alone is not proof that fish is the reason, but there have also been numerous “double-blind clinical trials” that show a positive effect from omega-3s on helping depression and possibly anxiety.

So particularly during these stressful times, we should make sure to eat fish at least two, preferably three, times per week. The best fish with the highest levels of omega-3s yet lowest mercury content are salmon, sardines, herring, and wild trout. Tuna is a good source, but contains more mercury. If you like canned tuna, try instead the healthier canned salmon. GotMercury.org has a convenient fish mercury calculator, and if you have heart disease, talk to your doctor and read this information from the American Heart Association before eating lots of fish.

Finally, everyone should avoid deep-fried or fast food fish, and don’t depend on fish as a quick cure for the blues…but over the long-term, adding fish to your regular diet, perhaps more than any other food, can boost your mood and make your brain work better too!