Looking to lose more weight? How about reducing your risk of diabetes? And wouldn’t it be nice if you could not only remember where you put the car keys – but where you the parked the car?
This week we have super food news that can help you do all three!
Remembering to use some soy Tempe in your cooking could help you remember a lot more! That’s the finding of a new study out of Indonesia where researchers discovered the key to a memory that stays vivid and sharp through the years might lie in the fermented soy product known as “Tempe” ( or Tempeh).
Reporting in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, doctors from Great Britain and Indonesia say they used a food questionnaire to analyze the soy intake of 719 people between the ages of 52 and 98. This was followed by word learning tests used to diagnose dementia.
The result: Those who had a high intake of the fermented soy compound known as Tempe ( it can be fried and served as a dish on it's own, or used as a protein-boosting ingredient in other dishes) had an increased memory score by over 12 points.
Interestingly however, those who had a high intake of tofu – a different type of soy product popular in the United States - showed a decrease in memory by almost 20 points! This was particularly true in folks over age 68.
Although no one is certain what the link between tofu and bad memory might be, some researchers theorize that the phytoestrogens found in soy – (a weak form of plant estrogens) may promote a type of oxidative stress in the brain associated with dementia.
Tempe also contains high levels of phytoestrogens, but experts say the fermentation process used in creating this food also results in high levels of folate, a B vitamin that has protective effects against oxidative stress.
While this study backs up findings from earlier research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers hesitate to issue a caution about eating tofu until more evidence is in.
Writing in the journal report they say: “It is unclear whether these negative associations could be attributed to potential toxins (in the soy products) or to the phyoestrogen levels.”
In research just published in the journal Appetite, a group of Icelandic doctors write that supplements containing long chain omega-3 fatty acids appear to control appetite even on a reduced calorie diet. Moreover, the higher the dose of omega 3 supplementation, the easier it was for folks to stick to their diet, simply because they weren’t as hungry.
The study involved 232 overweight and obese patients on a calorie restricted diet for 8 weeks. One group was randomly assigned to daily supplements containing 260mg of omega-3 fatty acids, while the other group consumed 1300 mg daily.
During the last two weeks of the program doctors measured appetite.
The result: Those folks who consumed the highest dose of omega 3 supplementation had fewer hunger pangs immediately after their test meal, and remained feeling full two hours later, then those who took the lower dose.
Moreover, follow-up blood tests showed a higher omega 3 concentration, plus a better ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids were both consistent with better appetite control and a lesser desire to snack.
Foods naturally high in omega 3 fatty acids include flax seed, walnuts, salmon, cooked soybeans, halibut, shrimp and winter squash.
But now, an 18-year study of over 70,000 women offers new evidence that an increased intake of whole fruits and green leafy vegetables may also help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes - in some gals by up to 18%.
Conversely, a daily intake of fruit juice could increase your risk of diabetes by up to 18%.
The research, conducted at Tulane University in New Orleans and just published in the journal Diabetes Care looked at women aged 38 to 63. They all initially answered an extensive questionnaire to establish dietary habits – and then agreed to follow up questionnaires every 4 years for a total of 18 years. None of the women had diabetes, heart disease or cancer at the start of the study.
The result: Over the 18 years some 4,500 women developed type 2 diabetes. Correlating dietary habits with the risk of this disease the researchers discovered the following:
* An increase of one serving per day of leafy greens reduced diabetes risks by 9 percent – with some evidence showing that the more salad you eat, the lower your risks may go.
* 3 servings per day of whole fruit reduced diabetes risk by some 18 %
* 3 servings per day of fruit juice increased the risk of diabetes by about 18%.
Despite study limitations – including the use of memory-dependent food questionnaires- the research joins a growing body of evidence linking a reduction in diabetes risks to vegetables and now, whole fruits.
According to a newly released US government report, some 57 million Americans are now considered at risk for diabetes. Currently, some 20 million are already diagnosed with this disease.
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