Alzheimer’s Diet

New research shows restricting calorie intake can help fight disease.

A new study directed by Mount Sinai School of Medicine extends and strengthens the research that experimental dietary regimens might halt or even reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The study, which will be published in the November 2006 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, demonstrates the potential beneficial role of calorie restriction in Alzheimer’s disease type brain damage in monkeys. Restricting caloric intake may prevent Alzheimer’s disease by triggering activity in the brain associated with longevity.

“The present study strengthens the possibility that calorie restriction may exert beneficial effects on delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease … in humans, similar to that observed in squirrel monkey and rodent models of Alzheimer’s disease,” reported Mount Sinai researcher Dr. Pasinetti and his colleagues, who published their study, showing how restricting caloric intake based on a low-carbohydrate diet may prevent Alzheimer’s disease in an experimental mouse model, in the July 2006 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

“This new breakthrough brings great anticipation for further human study of caloric restriction, for Alzheimer’s disease investigators and for those physicians who treat millions of people suffering with this disease” says Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “The findings offer a glimmer of hope that there may someday be a way to prevent and stop this devastating disease in its tracks.”

Alzheimer’s disease is a rapidly growing public health concern with potentially devastating effects. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. Presently, there are no known cures or effective preventive strategies. While genetic factors are responsible in early-onset cases, they appear to play less of a role in late-onset-sporadic Alzheimer’s disease cases, the most common form of the disease.

In this new study, Dr. Pasinetti at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in collaboration with Dr. Donald Ingram at the Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, maintained the Squirrel Monkeys on calorie restrictive or normal diets throughout their entire lifespan until they died of natural causes. The researchers found that approximately 30 percent calorie restriction resulted in reduced Alzheimer’s disease type amyloid neuropathology in the temporal cortex relative to control fed monkeys. The decreased Alzheimer’s disease type damage correlated with increased longevity of related protein SIRT1, located in the same brain region that influences a variety of functions including aging related diseases.

Obesity killing Asia

Bird Flu is expected to be one of the top items discussed for the third straight year at the World Health Organization’s annual Asia-Pacific regional meeting. However, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark stresses on Monday that Asia-Pacific nations must not overlook obesity and tobacco as major killers when focusing on infectious diseases such as SARS and Bird Flu that affect the region.

“Obesity is a time bomb for New Zealand and the Pacific,” Clark, a former health Minister, said at the opening of the WHO meeting in Auckland. “It is posing huge challenges to our health systems, as we grapple with increasing rates of the associated diabetes, renal and eye disease and joint problems,” Clark added.

Over the next decade, deaths from chronic diseases are expected to jump 20 percent, with diabetes-related deaths alone increasing 51 percent, said Anders Nordstrom, the World Health Organization’s acting director general. “Most of this can be prevented through healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoidance of tobacco products,” he said.

Tobacco is responsible for more than 3,000 deaths a day in the Asia-Pacific. China alone has more than 300 million adult smokers and the Asia-Pacific region has the fastest growing number of children who smoke, Nordstrom said. “Smoking causes utterly preventable death, disease and disability,” said Clark. “It cheats our people of the good health to which we all have a right. It is a scourge the World could do without.”

New water log added to Mikibo food diary

We have added two new features to the food diary. The first is a water logging feature and indicator so that you can ensure you are being adequately hydrated.
The second feature is called Quickfoods and allows you to add foods that you consume regularly in one step. This should save you time when entering your foods each day.

To join Mikibo for free please visit: www.mikibo.com

European Union Plans for Obesity

The European Commission has presented the results of a public consultation on promoting healthy diets and physical activity, with a focus on the prevention of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases. With around 14 million children in Europe currently overweight, of which more than 3 million are obese, this is now seen as an urgent public health issue requiring co-ordinated action by the European Union (EU) and its member states. Given the complexity of the issue, contributors called for a multi-sector approach. Contributors also called for special attention to be paid to children and youth where fast increases in obesity are being observed. There were also calls for better consumer information on nutrition.

Overweight and obesity levels are increasing at an alarming rate, with up to 27% of European men and 38% of women now considered obese depending on the EU member state concerned. The number of overweight children is also growing rapidly, rising by 400,000 a year. Obesity is a risk factor for many serious conditions including heart disease, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and certain types of cancer. Obesity related illnesses are estimated to account for as much as 7% of total healthcare costs in the EU.

Most respondents agreed that the EU should foster a multi-sector approach, which involves other EU policies such as agriculture, education, transport and urban planning and a range of different stakeholders across national, regional and local levels.

Respondents believe that consumer information, including labelling, should be clear, consistent and based on evidence, and broadly disseminated. While respondents from industry favour self-regulation, healthcare professionals, consumer organisations and NGOs are sceptical about the impact of self-regulation on advertising of foods high in calories but poor in nutrients.

To help consumers make healthy dietary choices, respondents suggest to: encourage fruit and vegetable consumption; limit total fat and/or saturated fat intake; promote a balanced diet; increase consumption of whole grain, starchy or fibre-rich products; reduce consumption of sugar and soft drinks; reduce salt intake; and reduce portion sizes.

Respondents believed that best practice for improving the nutritional value of school meals are: education programmes for healthy diet for children, offering free or subsidized fruit, vegetables and drinking water; training of kitchen staff and general guidelines and/or standards for school meals including regular control enforcement.

European Union Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said: “The prevalence of obesity has been rising fast in Europe and there is already evidence that this is leading to increasing rates of conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The results of the consultation provide us with valuable feedback from all interested parties and will inform our strategy to promote healthy lifestyles. The European Commission’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Network, as well as the EU Platform on Diet, Physical Activity and Health will be key forums to discuss these issues further with government, industry and civil society and to identify ways to engage stakeholders and make progress on these issues. The Commission will now further consider which policy options to adopt, and fine-tune its action with the right balance between voluntary agreements and legislative action.”

Mikibo Launches Health Professional System

Mikibo has launched a new system to allow health professionals (doctors, dietitians, trainers etc) to monitor their clients nutritions and exercise, leave messages and set training programs via Mikibo. To visit the Mikibo Professional page click ‘Your health professionals’ under Personal Settings on the left of the homepage.
This service is currently in a free beta trial so if you are a health professional please contact Mikibo.
If you would like your health professional to monitor you through Mikibo please ask them to Mikibo.
To join Mikibo please visit www.mikibo.com

New Heart Foundation Steps Log

In association with the National Heart Foundation of Australia, Mikibo has added a new step log function for those of you who use pedometers. This is a great way to ensure you are getting enough exercise each day. You will find the link to the step log in the bottom left corner of the home page (once you have logged in).

To join Mikibo for free visit www.mikibo.com

Add missing foods system updated.

We have made a long awaited update to the add missing foods system. You can now add foods to the Mikibo food database in a variety of units as well as per serve (if you don’t know the weight or volume). We hope this makes it easier for you to add missing foods.

To join Mikibobo visit www.mikibo.com