Getting A Buzz Now & Then Maybe Good For The Brain Part 3

Sajish points out that the stress response that takes place in human cells is just about identical to the protective response resveratrol stimulates in plant cells. It's an ancient cellular mechanism that is shared by many species.

Just for the record, a glass or two of wine every day constitutes a lot of drinking. Others disagree. Officially, medical authorities consider it moderate drinking. Wine in that quantity has both benefits and drawbacks. The biggest concern is the large amount of sugar consumed. To be on the safe side, take resveratrol supplements, and enjoy wine maybe a couple of times a week, but no more.

Getting A Buzz Now & Then Maybe Good For The Brain Part 2

Old Brains

The rats that were tested in this research are considered senior citizens by the time they are more than 20 months old. Under normal circumstances, beyond that age, their ability to learn and remember things like how to negotiate mazes begins to slip. But resveratrol helped their learning abilities stay sharper.

"The results of the study were striking," says researcher Ashok K. Shetty. "They indicated that for the control rats who did not receive resveratrol, spatial learning ability was largely maintained but ability to make new spatial memories significantly declined between 22 and 25 months. By contrast, both spatial learning and memory improved in the resveratrol-treated rats."

Ancient Response

Ironically, while stress in your daily life is considered detrimental to your health, a significant way resveratrol can improve the health of individual cells is by inducing an ancient stress response on a cellular level.

"This stress response represents a layer of biology that has been largely overlooked, and resveratrol turns out to activate it at much lower concentrations than those used in prior studies," says researcher Paul Schimmel, who is with the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at The Scripps Research Institute.

According to Schmimel and his colleagues, resveratrol latches on to a protein in the cell nucleus called PARP-1, a substance that takes part in stress responses and increases life expectancy by helping to repair DNA. By activating PARP-1, resveratrol sets off a chain reaction of DNA-protection in each cell.ⁱⁱ

And you don't need to consume much resveratrol to enjoy its benefits. As a matter of fact, the Scripps scientists think it is better not to get too much.

"Based on these results, it is conceivable that moderate consumption of a couple glasses of red wine (rich in resveratrol) would give a person enough resveratrol to evoke a protective effect via this pathway," says researcher Mathew Sajish.

Getting A Buzz Now & Then Maybe Good For The Brain Part 1

Getting a buzz now and then might be good for your brain. . . Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine say that you can actually drink to improve your memory.

That's right. According to their research, drinking the right amount of the right alcoholic beverage can both improve your memory and protect your brain as you age.

The secret ingredient, they say, is resveratrol, the substance in red wine that other scientists say can improve your heart health. Now additional research suggests resveratrol is a good cancer-fighter, too. Long story short, it’s a powerful antioxidant.

The right amount to consume is no more than a glass or two of wine a day. Enough to give most of us a buzz.

Brain Booster

According to the studies in Texas, resveratrol promotes the health of the brain's hippocampus, the area where much of your learning and remembering takes place. The scientists performing these studies believe resveratrol may be useful for people whose neurons are degenerating as they get older. It might even be good for fighting Alzheimer's disease.ⁱ

In lab tests, research animals that were approaching the end of their lifespans were fed resveratrol while a control group was not. In the brains of those that consumed resveratrol, the growth of new neurons (a process called neurogenesis) was twice as prevalent as in those animals that didn't receive the nutrient. Resveratrol also increased the development of microvasculature (small blood vessels) that supply the brain with beneficial blood flow.

Foods To Eat If Feeling Bloated or Gassy

If you are feeling bloated or gassy, some foods can help calm your stomach. Try these three:
 

1.    Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). The seeds, leaves, and roots of the fennel plant are readily available in many forms including plain seeds, sugar-coated seeds, extract, oil, and capsules. All offer a natural way to help relieve gas. When shopping, note that fresh fennel seeds should have a strong aroma, and other forms should have a freshness date. Simply chew and swallow one-half to one teaspoon of fennel seeds after eating, whenever distended from gas, or as recommended by product label. Children can take half the adult dose.

2.    Baked potatoes. They are easy to digest, making them a good choice for an upset stomach when you are still hungry. Plus these universally loved vegetables are loaded with vitamins C and B-6, potassium and fiber. 

3.    Eggs. The protein in eggs can help to soothe a gassy stomach. Choose organic, free-range eggs, and poach or hard-boil them for the most benefit.

Beet Juice & Blueberries For Reducing High Blood Pressure

Two new studies have shown that drinking beet juice (known as beetroot juice in Great Britain) or eating blueberries can help reduce blood pressure. One of these studies comes from researchers in London who report that drinking a daily dose of beetroot juice lowered blood pressure in people with hypertension. The beverage also reduced arterial stiffness among the participants. The investigators credit the nitrate in the juice with the changes. They randomly divided 68 people with high blood pressure into two groups and assigned one group to drink 250 mL (just over a cup) of beetroot juice daily and the other group to drink a similar tasting beverage that contained no nitrate. The study lasted for four weeks.  The blueberry study comes from Florida State University where researchers randomly divided 40 postmenopausal women with high blood pressure into two groups. Those in one group were assigned to eat 22 grams of freeze-dried blueberry powder (equivalent to a cup of blueberries) every day for eight weeks. The women in the other group were given a placebo that looked and tasted like the blueberry powder. Results showed a 5.1 percent decrease in systolic blood pressure (the top number) and a 6.3 percent decrease in diastolic pressure in the blueberry group. Here, levels of nitric oxide, known to be involved in relaxing and widening blood vessels, increased significantly in the blueberry eaters. No blood pressure changes occurred among the women in the placebo group.