Strict Diet could Save Brain from Aging

Eating Less may keep the Mind Young

Eating less may keep the mind young, according to Italian scientists who reported Monday they have discovered the molecular process by which a strict diet may save the brain from the ravages of age.

The research, published in the US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on a study of mice that were fed a diet of about 70 percent of the food they normally consumed.

Scientists found the calorie-restricted diet triggered a protein molecule, CREB1, that activates a host of genes linked to longevity and good brain function.

"Our hope is to find a way to activate CREB1, for example through new drugs, so to keep the brain young without the need of a strict diet," said lead author Giovambattista Pani, researcher at the Institute of General Pathology, Faculty of Medicine at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome.

Researchers have previously discovered that mice on diets showed better cognitive abilities and memory, less aggression, and tended to avoid or delay Alzheimer's disease. But they have not known exactly why.

"CREB1 is known to regulate important brain functions as memory, learning and anxiety control, and its activity is reduced or physiologically compromised by aging," said the study.

Mice that were genetically altered to lack CREB1 showed none of the same memory benefits if they were on a low-calorie diet as mice that had the molecule, and showed the same brain disabilities as mice that were overfed.

"Thus, our findings identify for the first time an important mediator of the effects of diet on the brain," Pani said.

"This discovery has important implications to develop future therapies to keep our brain young and prevent brain degeneration and the aging process."

According to Marc Gordon, chief of neurology at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, the findings could shed new light on why some people who are obese in middle age encounter cognitive problems later in life.

"Mid-life obesity has been associated with late-life dementia. However, the physiological basis for this association remains unclear," said Gordon, who was not part of the study.

"These investigators have studied the effects of limiting caloric intake in mice, and have identified a biochemical pathway that may mediate at least some of the brain's responses to dietary restriction."

Easy Ways to Lose Weight without Dieting

Easy Ways to Lose Weight without Dieting

If you want to lose weight without feeling deprived of food, there is some advice that you need to follow. In any case, going on a diet is known to be ineffective as people tend to regain their lost weight over a period of time. It is much better to know how to eat instead of not eating at all. You need to inculcate new eating habits and avoid deprivation or any sort of extremes.

• Learn to chew more – Your brain receives signals from your stomach that it is full. The longer you spend time chewing your food, the more these signals register in your brain. Moreover, you are able to digest much more by chewing as your saliva has enzymes that help in digestion.
• Never forget your breakfast – Your breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you skip it, the pangs of hunger will keep nagging you for the rest of the day. This will make you make food choices that are not the best with regards to health. Missing breakfast brings down your rate of metabolism. Moreover, you should have a good breakfast and eat your fill with healthy foods such as low-fat dairy and whole wheat cereal. 
• Substitute healthy foods for unhealthy ones – Substitute your pastas and other white flour foods with vegetables. Especially when you are inclined to have many food items in your plate, it is advisable to include at least two green vegetables. Your fetish for eating a variety of foods would also be gratified along without any health concerns.
• Insist on food cooked at home – This is a good way of keeping yourself healthy as by taking food from home, you can ensure that only healthy stuff is always available for you at work. Do not depend on the cafeteria food. You should cook at home and if this is too difficult in the rush of morning, prepare for it at night.
• Smaller more frequent meals – If you keep eating small amount of foods at every 2 to 4 hour interval, it has an effect on your metabolism. It works at an increased level all through the day. This helps you lose weight. The problem in this trick is that you can be inclined to overeat. So, watch out!
• Early dinner – Have your dinner before 8 o clock. It not only prevents you from having heavy before dinner evening snack or after dinner snack, but also ensures that whatever you eat gets absorbed in the body. Having herbal tea or simply brushing your teeth after dinner can help to get rid of your idea of eating.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad can help Lose Weight

Cucumber and Tomato Salad can help Lose Weight

Cucumber and Tomato salads can stimulate weight loss. Both of them are diuretic and have high water content. This helps body to get rid of excess accumulated toxins and stimulate its natural process. Below mentioned are some of the useful features of cucumber and tomato salad that helps to lose weight:

High Water Content

The main factor that makes cucumber and tomato ‘food for weight loss’ is that they give longer feeling of fullness. As a result person eats less. According to the Centre of Disease Control,  water content of food influence how full the person feels.

High Fibre Content

Another way through which tomato and cucumber salad contribute to feeling of being ‘full’ is through their high fibre content. They provide high volume (low calories in ratio of their weight), take longer to digest and keep you away from consuming more calories. According to the Centre of Disease Control- dietary fibre are extremely effective for weight loss.

High Nutrition Level

Tomatoes are extremely effective at burning extra fat. They help to reduce inflammation and reverse leptin resistance. As a result you can easily get rid of excess weight. Tomatoes are rich source of folic acid, potassium, little protein, Vitamin A, C and E. It is for this reason that tomatoes are use in almost all the Fat Resistance Diet. 

Cucumbers are great food for metabolism as well as weight loss. They are quite satisfying and low in calories.

Low Energy Density

An effective way to lose weight is to consume food that is low in ‘energy density’. According to the Mayo Clinic food that has high volume and low energy density is good for weight loss. Cucumber and tomato have high volume yet low energy density.

Low in Carbohydrates

Combination of cucumber and tomatoes in salad is perfect low carb- diet. This is because both of them are low in carbohydrates.  According to the University of Illinois Extension, one cup of tomatoes has only 5.3 g and 12 unpeeled cucumber slices have 2 g of carbohydrates.

Here is how you can lose weight by eating cucumber and tomato salad:

• Replace your high-calorie food such as cheese, crackers and chips with cucumber and tomato salad.
• You can either eat tomato and cucumber salad before your meal or between the meals to get benefited by its fibre content.