Posted on 10/16/2021 6:40:54 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
Four weeks on a diet of highly processed food led to a strong inflammatory response in the brains of aging rats that was accompanied by behavioral signs of memory loss, a new study has found.
Researchers also found that supplementing the processed diet with the omega-3 fatty acid DHA prevented memory problems and reduced the inflammatory effects almost entirely in older rats.
Neuroinflammation and cognitive problems were not detected in young adult rats that ate the processed diet.
The study diet mimicked ready-to-eat human foods that are often packaged for long shelf lives, such as potato chips and other snacks, frozen entrees like pasta dishes and pizzas, and deli meats containing preservatives.
Activation of genes linked to a powerful pro-inflammatory protein and other markers of inflammation was significantly elevated in the hippocampus and amygdala of the older rats that ate the processed diet alone compared to young rats on any diet and aged rats that ate the DHA-supplemented processed food.
The older rats on the processed diet also showed signs of memory loss in behavioral experiments that weren't evident in the young rats. They forgot having spent time in an unfamiliar space within a few days, a sign of problems with contextual memory in the hippocampus, and did not display anticipatory fear behavior to a danger cue, which suggested there were abnormalities in the amygdala.
"The amygdala in humans has been implicated in memories associated with emotional -- fear and anxiety-producing -- events. If this region of the brain is dysfunctional, cues that predict danger may be missed and could lead to bad decisions," Barrientos said.
The results also showed that DHA supplementation of the processed-food diets consumed by the older rats effectively prevented the elevated inflammatory response in the brain as well as behavioral signs of memory loss.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
I don’t know if it will make me live longer
It will.
Anyone remember being force-fed Cod Liver Oil as a kid?
I expect eating fish that tastes good to be better.
If the benefit was vitamin d, maybe it was the right thing to do in places with little sunlight
canned and processed food have their merits and places though
emergency supplies and longer term safe food supplies
and many side effects can be reduced by supplements
For a few years, we had this primary care doc, who had a very simple approach to most of this.
1. Only buy fresh food around the edges of the grocery store: Fresh Produce, fresh meat, fresh poultry, fresh seafood, real milk, real butter and real olive oil.
2. Most Frozen veggies and most flash frozen food was okay.
3. Most canned food unless it was processed was okay.
4. Never buy any processed food or food with long syllables in the ingredients.
5. Most food in boxes like cereals/cookies and other food were big in the processed stuff with added long syllables. Don’t buy them.
He is still at the same weight that he weighed as a 3 star Pac 10 jock, 40 plus years ago.
One of the smartest things I’ve done in life was to go to culinary school — not because I’m a chef, but because we eat like kings and queens every night with fresh ingredients and wonderful blends of flavor.”
One of our sons went to a good culinary school, and he taught my wife some of his top recipes. He and a doctor friend taught me how to shop for good fresh food.
His motto was/is only buy fresh and real foods in season and don’t use poly syllable anything when cooking.
Olive oil, fresh Meyer Lemon from our tree, sea salt and fresh ground pepper are his basics in seasoning.
He taught my wife how to oven cook complete meals on parchment paper on/in a single cookie metal sheet. As the pot and dishwasher, I appreciate this. After dinner, throw the used parchment paper into the recycle container and wipe off the cookie sheet/pan, and load the other dishes into the dish washer.
My food is nearly 100% processed and probably always will be, but I do take Omega 3/6/9 (fish, flax, and borage oils) daily. Makes my triglycerides drop like a rock, too.
“Make your own snacks at home and never buy death off the shelf.”
That is actually a way to get around it but you’ll have to shoot your own meat and pick your own fruits and veggies. Don’t shoot any bats.
wy69
Also, Lion’s Mane herb (Hericium Erinaceus mushroom) has nothing less than spectacular effects on certain types of memory deficit (especially recall).
Sheet pan meals are a fantastic way to blend flavors and make for a quick and easy meal that feeds several. (By the way, I demoted my wife to pot and dishwasher after I went to culinary school. It seemed less demeaning than to fire her completely.)
Having fresh herbs on hand are another way to really amp up your meals. We have a continuous supply of sage, thyme, rosemary, chives, oregano, and peppermint (a great substitute for anything asking for parsley, dill, or cilantro) in our house to feed my recipes. One thing I learned from reading Jamie Oliver's methods before I went to school myself is to throw out the measuring cups and spoons for herbs. Simply chop up a handful and toss them in -- and the more the merrier. We also make our own sourdough bread which adds a wonderful touch to meals, especially breakfast.
It's a shame that we don't spend more effort teaching our children to cook and eat fine foods. Eating is one of the great sensations of life, right up there with sex. It's a myth that it's more expensive to eat well, and it's a talent -- like learning a musical instrument -- that will follow one through life to the grave.
We introduced our kids from very young ages to fine restaurants, lots of ethnic foods, and lots of home cooking. It’s amazing the meals and dishes they remember at specific restaurants around the country. Both of our girls (the older ones) are excellent cooks. Our oldest and her boyfriend love taking cooking classes together and make us some wonderful meals. All of the kids were brought up making pancakes from scratch and they will love to do that — no store-bought mix. Our youngest (our son) took a culinary class in high school, and he and his girlfriend love to cook together. She’s Peruvian, so lots of great Peruvian food.
“Having fresh herbs on hand are another way to really amp up your meals. We have a continuous supply of sage, thyme, rosemary, chives, oregano, and peppermint (a great substitute for anything asking for parsley, dill, or cilantro) in our house to feed my recipes. One thing I learned from reading Jamie Oliver’s methods before I went to school myself is to throw out the measuring cups and spoons for herbs. Simply chop up a handful and toss them in — and the more the merrier. We also make our own sourdough bread which adds a wonderful touch to meals, especially breakfast.”
This year, we planted herbs in the watering troughs, we use as planter boxes. Basil, Rosemary, and oregano in the troughs with tomato plants.
Rosemary is the local wild weed. It grows everywhere. Basil planted in good soil with water will grow like a weed.
I have a couple of pots with herbs by my charcoal grill. Often, I will pull off a handful or cut the herbs and just throw them on the grill with the main course.
We like our mint sun tea with our afternoon figs. So we grow mint in with the fig tree.
We buy most of our herbs to plant at our grocery store in the produce department. The herb bunches have the roots and grow well with a little tlc.
One of our sons is a double major engineer, and he has become a good indoor chef as well as a back yard grill master.
Being an engineer, he measures/weighs everything he grills or cooks in his kitchen.
His Mother,Bro, his son and I with most herbs do it by the handful and guesstimate. His daughter, an RN, measures everything like it is special RX drug. My wife, also, an RN used to measure every herb like a potent drug. Now she asks for a handful and she gets a handful from my extra large hands to someone’s medium hands. It still works with fresh herbs like basil or rosemary.
I never take the recommended dose on supplements. They’re supplements, not replacements. It saves me money long term by extending the life of the purchase, and I’m not literally pissing away physiologically unused product.
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