ESSENTIAL DIETS

Diet lowers risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.

The MIND Diet, which is an abbreviation for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, was created, studied and reported on by researchers at Rush University Medical Centre. It’s similar to two other healthy meal plans: the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet. 

But the MIND diet specifically includes foods and nutrients that medical literature and data have shown to be good for the brain such as berries.  One study showed that people who stuck to the MIND diet lowered their risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 54% and those that followed the diet only part of the time still cut their risk of the disease by about 35%. 

The diet includes Green leafy vegetables (like spinach and salad greens) and other vegetables, Nuts, Berries, Beans, Fish, and Olive oil and includes a glass of wine a day. It also advises the reduction of certain foods such red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets and fried and fast foods.

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Evidence is mounting linking Diabetes with dementia. A Japanese study in 2011 looked at 1000 men and women over the age of 64 and found that people with diabetes were more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease within the next 15 years than the general population as well as 1.75 times more likely to develop other forms of dementia. It is known that high blood glucose results in increased oxidative damage to all cells, which can prematurely age brain cells and increase atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), leading to vascular dementia. Hyperinsulinaemia also causes inflammation which is now linked to impaired cerebral function including dementia. The link between a high carbohydrate diet, particularly refined carbohydrates, and diabetes is now well established. Proper brain function requires anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids and monosaturated fats as well as an abundance of the fat soluble vitamins, notably Vit A, D, E and K. Dietary advice of increasing carbohyd...

The role of foods, preservatives and artificial colourings in ADHD remains controversial. A study in the Annals of Allergy 1994, evaluated 26 children who met the criteria for ADHD. Treatment with a multiple item elimination diet showed 19 children (73%) responded favorably to the diet. When challenged with the foods, all 19 children reacted to many foods, dyes, and/or preservatives. A double-blind placebo controlled food challenge was completed in 16 children. There was a significant improvement on the “clean diet” compared with challenge days. Children with general allergies such as eczema and asthma and with ADHD had a significantly higher reaction than those without allergies. The study demonstrated a beneficial effect of eliminating reactive foods and artificial colours in children with ADHD.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8179235

The Feingold Diet was developed by Dr. Ben Feingold in the 1970s and was based on eliminating natural and unnatural food additives, particularly salic...

Recently we did a trip to Japan and we were quite surprised  by the lack of a obesity in the community. Although genetics and exercise must play a part in the Japanese physique, we made some observations of their eating style that may have been contributing to this lack of obesity. 

We were amazed by the variety of foods presented at each meal,  including breakfast . For example, our breakfast consisted of small bowls of miso soup, fermented vegetables,a  small omelette, potato with bacon, fermented soybeans, a small piece of salmon, pumpkin and rice .  The key here was the diversity of the foods presented in small quantities . The breakfast was typical of a traditional Japanese meal. This usually consists of vegetables which are rich in fibre and antioxidants, seafood which contains lots of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, fermented foods which help with the proliferation of beneficial gut bacteria, soy based products that contain phyto-oestrogens  helping both male and fem...

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We have often been told that diet plays no role in acne. The myth that chocolate played a part was debunked in poorly controlled past investigations but several recent studies have shown that low carbohydrate diets can have a significant effect on acne and its aggravation.

A 2007, a partially Australian researched study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology with 43 male participants concluded that a low glycemic load diet had a significant beneficial effect on total lesion counts of acne. A 2010 review of studies from 2000 to 20101 by Bowe also published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology concluded, “Dermatologists can no longer dismiss the association between diet and acne.

Compelling evidence exists that high glycemic load diets may exacerbate acne” although the study was limited by the lack of randomized controlled studies. The mechanism of the high carbohydrate and particularly high glycemic index diets, is that the excessive release...

A review published in the Yale Journal Of Biology and Medicine in 2010 cited several large studies that indicated the use of artificial sweeteners failed to show benefits in weight loss. The studies included The Antonio Heart Study which studied 3,682 adults over a 7 to 8 year period in the 1980’s and The American Cancer Society study from the 1980’s which included 78,694 women and the Nurses’ Health Study in the 1970’s consisting of the health habits of 31,940 women. Experiments have shown that artificial sweeteners, despite their low calorie content can enhance appetite because the body has been primed by the sweeteners to receive a calorie load and is not content until they are consumed. Addictive behaviour for sugar consumption, that can occur after long-term diets containing sugar, can continue with artificial sweeteners with the metabolic consequences, such as the release of the weight controlling hormones leptin and insulin, unchanged. The commonest sweeteners used are aspartame...

This short video explains how the Victus Integrated Nutrition Plan works