Studies at the University of Michigan (using the Yale Food Addiction Scale), reported pizza as the number one addictive food among research participants. The wheat and cheese combination, commonly found in pizza, is almost a guarantee of eating more and more.  Cheese contains casomorphins that bind to opioid receptors in the brain, receptors that also bind with drugs such as morphine. The refined wheat crust triggers a blood-sugar spike in the brain that results in dopamine being released. Dopamine is the “feel better chemical” from which the word “dope” appears to have originated. Refined wheat flour (estimates are that the average American eat about 55 pounds of it every year) is thought to be a main source of calories for many people.

White bread and sugar both trigger similar blood sugar spikes. And it’s not just white flour. Whole wheat is now thought to spike blood sugar more than almost any other food. Most of the carbohydrates in wheat are thought to come in the form of amylopectin A, a substance that is rapidly converted into glucose. According to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating just two slices of whole wheat bread spikes your blood sugar more than drinking a can of soda, eating a candy bar, or helping yourself to six teaspoons of table sugar. Rapid rises or spikes in blood sugar with resulting insulin spikes, promotes inflammation.

Alessio Fasano, MD, pediatric gastroenterologist and researcher, who holds the W. Allan Walker Chair of Pediatric Gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital, reportedly is studying the way in which current wheat products produce inflammation in the human body. Inflammation may underlie many if not most chronic diseases and it is undesirable in the brain.

Not addicted? You might want to re-evaluate that. Studies from the National Institute on Drug Addiction have shown that food addiction is a real thing. 

They may not in the long term. According to Dr. Appleton, author of the book Lick the Sugar Habit, the average American consumes 20 pounds of artificial sweeteners per year. Originally designed for weight loss, research shows that these substances actually increase appetite by stimulating the salivary glands, thus defeating their original purpose. Dietary consultants have told me that one of the first things they recommend to people who want to lose or maintain their weight is to stop using all soft drinks—especially those that are labeled as “diet” drinks.

Research suggests that nutritional products can contribute to your health in a variety of different ways. Potential benefits can include:

• Delaying the onset of symptoms of aging since antioxidants help to fight free radical damage.
• Reducing the incidence of cell mutation and duplication errors. (Superoxide Dismutase is an antioxidant enzyme believed to fight cross-linkage of molecules that can contribute to wrinkling of the skin, high blood pressure, and the development of cancer to name a few).
• Preventing the development of cancer and/or reducing its spread. (Phytochemicals are compounds believed to play a major role in this area).
• Preventing the development of disease. (Chlorophyll—contained in green barley grass, green Kamut, and other green super foods—is highly regarded by natural healing practitioners as a powerful body cleanser, deodorizer, and purifier.)
• Improving the ability of the body to heal itself. Antioxidants such as Vitamins C and E and Beta-Carotene have been associated with improved healing.
• Increasing physical and mental alertness. Lecithin, found in soybean products, contains choline, a substance used by the body to create acetylcholine, the most common brain neurotransmitter. Green super foods such as green barley grass are sources of carbohydrates, renowned for the stamina they can provide.
• Replacing enzymes that are destroyed through heat processing/cooking of food. Green barley grass, milk thistle, dandelion leaf and other herbs can provide enzymes and a variety of trace minerals that help the body to function more effectively; nutrients that can improve health in a variety of different ways.
• Managing stress more effectively. Adaptogens are believed to modulate stress and to improve performance under a wide variety of stressful conditions.

To comprehensively answer this excellent question would require pages. Briefly the brain functions best with a variety of foods prepared in as natural state as possible. Highly processed foods, especially those made with refined white flour, sugar, and fat, are best minimized or avoided. Foods high in sugar tend to trigger a blood sugar high in the brain. What goes up must come down—a blood-sugar high is followed by a blood-sugar low. These highs and lows are not good for brain function. Avocados are being touted as a nutrition powerhouse for the brain: rich in healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals, one avocado is said to contain twice the fiber of a bowl of shredded wheat—minus the sugar. Water is the brain’s preferred nutrient beverage because the brain uses water to generate electricity as well as for chemical processes. Dehydration from drinking too little water each day can cause the water level in the brain cells to fall. This can result in a shrinking of brain tissue. As brain tissue shrinks, it pulls it away from the skull—not a pretty thought. Dehydration with subsequent brain tissue shrinkage is linked with the development of dementia. If you want more information, you may to go to my website and click on LLM Online from the main menu. LLM stands for Longevity Lifestyle Matters—how to stay healthier and younger for longer.

Refined sugar is not brain-friendly. The type of sugar (glucose) that circulates in your blood is critical, and is largely determined by what you eat. An intake of refined sugar can alter your ability to think clearly, and trigger headaches and migraines. It can also suppress immune system function.

To use a common metaphor, many people go through life flying by the seat of their pants rather than having a plan. Sometimes they get it right and are successful. Other times they are unsuccessful. Either way, they may have difficulty figuring out what they did to achieve a successful outcome or failed to do that contributed to a negative outcome. Studies related to maximizing brain function, to slowing down the impact of aging on the brain, and to keeping your brain in good working condition for as long of possible have provided a great deal of information on how to accomplish this. Following a plan that incorporates many of these steps constitutes taking care of your brain “by design.” For example, studies of centenarians have shown that 16 health habits and lifestyle factors strongly predict who will live to be 100 years old and still be able to live independently (and about half of the centenarians can). Michael E. Howard, PhD discusses those 16 factors in his book entitled How to Live to 100: 16 Lifestyle Characteristics of the Oldest and Healthiest People in the World. You may want to think about these factors, especially around the holiday season, and implement as many of them as possible.

1. Have low blood sugar (less than 100 mg/dL fasting)
2. Have low blood pressure (target is 115/75 mg Hg)
3. Have low total blood cholesterol (less than 200 mg/dL)
4. Keep weight low and steady (BMI from 18.5 to 25)
5. Eat fewer calories
6. Eat mostly a vegetarian “Mediterranean diet”
7. Supplement food intake with vitamins
8. Exercise regularly (be active and stay busy after retirement)
9. Do not smoke
10. Minimize alcohol intake
11. Get regular and restful sleep
12. Have healthy gums
13. Challenge your mind
14. Maintain a positive attitude and avoid anxiety and depression
15. Shed stressors, have daily structure, and be resilient
16. Stay socially connected with serenity and a purpose to life

Dr. Bruce Miller, a Dallas dentist who majored in nutrition and biochemistry and is a member of the International Academy of Preventive medicine, lists these characteristics:

• They are made from the finest quality, natural, raw ingredients
• They have a strong enzymatic action to aid nutrient metabolism
• They contain both known and unknown nutrients in nature’s balance

Because of the sweet taste, diet sodas trick the pancreas into believing you are ingesting sugar. In response, the pancreas releases insulin. However, there is no sugar for the insulin to manage. Eventually, this can lead to insulin resistance that is linked with Type 2 Diabetes. After drinking a diet soda, a sugar craving usually results as the insulin reduces glucose levels. Consequently, you might eat ice cream, cookies, candy, or a chocolate bar, which can contribute to obesity and that may trigger the pancreas to release even more insulin. Make pure water your beverage of choice and avoid triggering the pancreas to release insulin.

Change what? That extra pounds are not bad for your health?  

You cannot change that extra weight and yo-yo weight changes are hard on the body. The body works best in balance as compared to a weight roller-coaster. An over-weight body is no help to your health much less your brain. Carrying around extra pounds can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular problems, a number of chronic diseases including cancer, and even dementia. 

Change what? The pattern of yo-yo weight gain and loss?  

Now, that is something you can alter. 

I agree with a recent quote by Dr. Daniel Amen: “Most weight problems occur between the ears…in your brain.” Pretty much everything starts and ends in the brain. This includes altering your behavioral patterns. 

I suggest you explore what is different for you around the holidays, what beliefs you have absorbed about eating during these seasons, and expectations of yourself or others that may be impacting your behaviors.  

There are some articles on my website that you may find helpful. Here are two: 

Escape the Diet Trap (Weight Management section) 

Holiday Frazzled? Choose to Live Defrazzled! (Stress section)

The body’s immune system may not be fully developed until about the age of six. Consequently, judicious use of nutritional products may be as important for growing children as for mature adults.

Insulin is a hormone that is produced by cells in the pancreas known as the Islets of Langerhans. Their job is to secrete the hormone insulin into the blood stream to help regulate the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. It is critical to human life. Think of it as a key or gate that moves glucose (sugar) from the blood stream into the cells to create energy.

I think this may be an example of misinformation that may be circulated when conclusions are not carefully analyzed and compared with other known information. If you’re referring to the same study I read, the researchers compared brain alertness in two groups of participants: one group who had only ice cold water to drink first thing in the morning and one group who ate three scoops of ice cream. The brain works best when it is cooler. Both ice cream and water cool down the body and brain slightly—at least initially, until the body turns up the heat to warm ice-cold to body temperature. While your brain and body definitely need nutrition, and water is a nutrient, it does not provide calories for energy, so naturally it would not increase alertness beyond making sure that the brain was well hydrated.

Your brain needs nutrition first thing in the morning in order to boot up because it’s been on a ‘fast’ while you slept. That’s what the term breakfast means: you break your fast. There are high quality nutrients, however, and poor quality nutrients.

Nutritional data on ice cream for typical one-scoop show that on average a 3.5-ounce serving of vanilla ice cream contains 125 calories, 7 grams of fat and 14 grams of sugar. (At 4-5 grams of sugar in one teaspoon, that would be 8-10 teaspoons of sugar). Three scoops would provide 375 calories, 21 grams of fat, and 42 grams of sugar. Even though ice cream is considered poor quality nutrition, some is better than none. However, sugar is a toxin to the brain and tends to spike blood sugar levels, which is not good for brain function. Both the sugar and fat tend to increase your risk of gaining weight. Therefore, while ice cream did increase alertness because it contained calories—and ice water did not—the ice cream failed to provide high quality nutrition. On the other hand, old-fashioned oatmeal and fresh fruit would provide high quality nutrition.

You are correct. I never drink ice-cold water or water that contains ice cubes. Ice cubes are often not as clean as one would wish, some having been found to contain bacteria and fungi in restaurants as well as in homes. Various reports connect drinking ice water with potential problems including:

• Increased risk of a headache (more common in females)
• A potential link with migraines
• Increased risk of a sore throat
• Increased expenditure of energy as the body’s core temperature needs to be raised to the average of 98.6 F. or 37 C. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11442559)

Each morning I drink two glasses of very warm-to-hot water containing a tablespoon or two of lemon juice (and often ¼ tsp of capsicum). Studies have shown many benefits:

• Boots up metabolism and increases the rate at which the body burns calories
• Dissolves phlegm and helps clear nasal congestion
• Soothes abdominal muscles
• Helps flush waste from the body
• Aids cellular repair that can improve skin elasticity
• Flushes toxins out through pores in the skin
• Activates receptors found in the stomach, esophagus, intestines and mouth that stimulate Brain Reward System
• Helps break down fat deposits in the body and blood stream, et cetera

I can think of several reasons.

First, diets do not work well in the long term as the body dislikes deprivation. Refraining from gaining weight is always better than trying to lose it once the pounds have packed on. You have heard me say Prevention Beats Cure Every Time.

Second, a Keto diet recommends keeping an intake of carbohydrates to an absolute minimum. This results in the body burning fat rather than carbs for energy, which helps lose weight. However, if you don’t change your lifestyle, studies show that most people gain back all they lost—and more—within a period of about three years. Unfortunately, this comes back as a higher percentage of body fat and less muscle.

Third, burning fat for energy produces ketones, an acid that reportedly has some benefits but that can negatively impact bone tissue over time. Some of the foods included in a keto diet (e.g., cheese, eggs, fish, and meat) are acid-forming. As acidity increases in the body, the volume, strength, density, and thickness of bones can be reduced, which can lead to bone fractures.

Fourth, and most important in my brain’s opinion, the brain needs glucose to power its myriad chemical processes and to create energy. It prefers to get this glucose from carbohydrates—hopefully the healthiest carbs available. There is some concern about the quality of a person’s brain function over time when the brain receives an insufficient amount of healthy carbs.

As you know, a pre-diabetic condition indicates that a person tends to have higher than normal blood sugar levels but has not yet been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If her blood sugar falls too low—that can be dangerous to one’s brain function—drinking a glass of orange juice typically raises the blood sugar. In individuals without links to diabetes, the orange juice will also raise blood sugar. They are better off eating an orange. The whole fruit contains fiber and other ingredients that help to prevent a sugar spike. Blood sugar highs and lows are not good for the brain. Think about riding a roller coaster that you do not enjoy. Well, your brain is riding a roller coaster that it does not enjoy.

hriving is a goal beyond surviving. A high-level-wellness lifestyle, in combination with appropriate supplements can help to provide the physical, mental, achieving, cleansing, healing, sexual, and longevity energies to enable you not only to thrive individually, but to make significant contributions to family, school, business, church, clubs, and society, as well. Carefully selected nutritional products can help to ensure that you ingest sufficient levels of micronutrients to maintain optimum health.

You would need to ask your nutritionist for the reasoning behind that recommendation. Perhaps it is because dairy milk contains 12 grams of sugar for every 8 ounces of milk, which includes low-fat, whole-fat, and lactose-free options. That equates to nearly a tablespoon of sugar. You can double that for chocolate milk. I read labels and opt for unsweetened varieties of non-dairy plant-based milk.

Not really. A nutritionist once answered a similar question this way. Imagine that you have ten cups of whole wheat flour. You process this flour to remove the fiber, minerals, and vitamins—equal to about two cups.

Deciding that you need to enrich the eight remaining cups of carbohydrates, you replace one tablespoon of the fiber, minerals and vitamins you just removed. Is the flour now more nutritious? Certainly. Is it anywhere near as nutritious as it was before you removed the fiber, minerals, and vitamins to begin with? Of course not!

This same analogy can applied to the idea of relying on a supplement to make up for poor health habits. No doubt the greatest benefits can be realized when appropriate nutritional products are used in conjunction with a balanced high-level-wellness lifestyle.

Blood sugar highs and lows are not good for the brain. If glucose gets too low in the brain it cannot function appropriately. If there is a real low-glucose episode, the person often is given orange juice because it is high in glucose and can help to rebalance the blood sugar level quickly. Ordinarily drinking juice can cause its own blood sugar high.

The RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) are broad guidelines established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. Based on an intake of about 2000 calories per day, dosages are designed to prevent definite deficiency conditions (e.g., scurvy, pellagra, beriberi) not to promote optimum health.

RDA guidelines do not, however, take into account variations for individual needs, eating patterns, or conditions that place people at increased risk for deficiencies.

Enough for what? Reasonably nutritious meals may not be good enough to support your brain and immune system. According to dietitian, Elizabeth Somer, speaking at the Nutrition Alert ’96 conference in New York City,

Only one in nine people consumes the recommended number of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Somer recommended nutritional products as a viable option since so few people are meeting even the RDA for most essential nutrients. According to a Harris poll, seventy-seven (77) million Americans use nutritional products.

There are good reasons for including appropriate nutritional products as part of your high-level-wellness lifestyle.

• As the body ages, it tends to absorb vitamins and other nutrients less efficiently

• With exceptionally busy/stressful lives, people sometimes skip meals, eat on the run, or settle for fast foods—all of which can contribute to a decrease in sufficient nutrients

• High levels of unmanaged stress cause the body to burn copious amounts of specific nutrients

• Chemical pollution in the world can help to deplete the body of specific nutrients.

• Depleted or contaminated soil conditions can contribute to the production of less nutritious food supplies

• Many foods are refined, ove-processed, or cookedmeasures that destroy enzymes and other nutrients (cooking can account for food-value losses of up to 50% according to USDA Bulletin #2)

• Some individuals (especially females) limit calories judiciously in an effort to maintain desired weight limits, and thus may not ingest sufficient nutrients on a daily basis

• Even nutritious meals (so-called) may not contain the variety of foods needed to obtain the necessary enzymes and other nutrients required for optimum wellness.

Reduce what, the beans or the undesirable side effects? (Smile) Beans and other legumes such as lentils can offer some pretty desirable quality nutrition to one’s meals such as plant-based protein and fiber. This is what I do.

Bring a pan of water to boil and then add the dried peas or lentils or beans and boil them for two-three minutes only. Turn off the heat and let them sit for one hour. Drain and rinse well, then start over again with fresh water and cook until desired softness is achieved. I’ve found it’s worth thinking ahead to do that bit of extra work. Someone told me the other day that doing this can reduce the undesirable side effects by something like eighty percent—I’m looking for that in writing.

Some have asked if they could do the first part in the evening and then rinse in the morning and finish the cooking—to save time. I haven’t personally tried doing this the night before, yet, but plan to do so in the near future. Just be sure to start with plenty of water as the beans really do plump up!

Thank you for your questions. Reportedly, Donald Watson coined the term “vegan” in 1944 when he co-founded the Vegan Society in the UK. He did so because, as he put it: “We can see quite plainly that our present civilization is built on the exploitation of animals, just as past civilizations were built on the exploitation of slaves, and we believe the spiritual destiny of man is such that in time he will view with abhorrence the idea that men once fed on the products of animals’ bodies.”

Yes. I have been eating vegan style for more than a decade and my health has definitely improved. In fact, my surgeon once commented that had I been vegan for most of my life, I might possibly have avoided hip-replacement surgery. Apparently, my body does not much like “dairy” products—although my taste buds used to love them—and we grew up eating a lot of dairy products (especially cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and cheese blintzes with wild blueberries), my parents believing they were excellent sources of protein. Maybe so for calves, but not for someone with Scoliosis Syndrome. (Smile)

There are some helpful and interesting sites that explain the benefits and also provide statistics on countries that are making a shift toward veganism. Here are some, and no doubt you can easily find more.

https://veganliftz.com/veganism-on-the-rise/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Watson

Commonly a nutrient is defined as a substance that nourishes a living being. Water as a nutrient, nourishes not only living beings but also living plants. Some sources list water as one of six main types of nutrients that the body acquires from food, the other five being carbohydrates (including fiber), proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Of all these nutrients, lack of water is the most immediate concern for survival, because dehydration can become life threatening in a matter of days. Typically you can go longer without food than you can without water. According to Claude Piantadosi of Duke University, you can go about 100 hours without drinking water if the temperature outdoors is average. If it’s cooler, you can go a little longer. If you are exposed to direct sunlight, it’s less. Water is so important that dehydration causing a loss of more than 10 percent of your body weight is considered a medical emergency.