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Puzzles or Exercise: Which is Better for the Aging Brain?

10/28/2012

Dementia, or loss of cognitive function (memory, reasoning, confusion, personality changes), is more common than you think. Five percent of people aged 65-74 have it. Shockingly, 50% of those over 85 suffer from dementia and half of admissions to nursing homes are blamed on dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, causes most dementia in older adults and it’s caused by brain cell destruction from the development of plaques, which are clumps of protein. However, it’s well known that the brain also physically shrinks with age.

            In a study published in Neurology, April, 2011, scientists found that older people who exhibited brain shrinkage were more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those whose brains weren’t shrinking. Another study in the same journal showed that vascular disease (risk factors: hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol) increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, probably because of the brain damage caused by vascular disease.

            Fast forward to the October 23 (2012) issue of Neurology and read about whether doing puzzles is better than exercise for delaying brain shrinkage.

http://www.neurology.org/content/79/17/1802.abstract?sid=e573c7aa-3451-4154-a21b-2a0558023ae4

            The author, a Scottish scientist, analyzed the brain structure of 638 people who have been followed since 1947 when, as 11-year-olds, they were given intelligence and mental health tests. Again, at about the age of 70, they were given intelligence tests and they were surveyed regarding their leisurely activities. At 73, they had MRI scans of their brains. The results were astounding.

            The researchers found that those who exercised regularly (several times each week) had brains that had less shrinkage and less brain damage than those who did not exercise. Those who exercised mentally (crossword puzzles, reading, etc.) but did not exercise were more likely to have brain shrinkage. The scientists are now recording brain MRIs of the 638 participants who have now turned 76. They will compare the two MRI scans to see if the link between exercise and brain health is still valid.

            Several years ago I read an article that inferred that rebound exercise (jogging, running, trampoline) increased neuronal growth in the brain. That article (which I can’t find) helped motivate me to keep running. And, even though I’m no scientist, I have observed the mental capacity of many runners in their 70s.

            The most dramatic example I’ve seen is Mike Fremont who, at 90, will attempt to set a new American age record in the marathon at the Marshall University marathon on November 11 in Huntington, West Virginia. When I have the chance to walk with Mike, I marvel at his mental sharpness and his passion for life. He spits out facts and figures faster than a computer and does it with ease and without smugness or sarcasm, two traits I see in a lot of older people.

            Mike embodies valuable LifeNut traits: physical fitness, a sensible plant-based nutrition, strong relationships, a positive attitude, volunteerism, good stress management, an intense life purpose, and a sense of balance. He’s a reader, too, continually stimulating his intellect – even though this recent study shows that physical exercise contributes more than mental exercise to continued mental acuity in the golden years.

            LifeNuts exercise aerobically (cycling, swimming, running, spinning, etc.) for at least six intense hours each week. They have a BMI in the low 20s or high teens. They have robust lung and heart function. Chances are they will be in the 50% of the population over 85 that doesn’t have dementia. Which group do you want to be in?

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If I don’t sleep well, am I at risk for death?

10/22/2012

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One of the most underrated aspects of health is sleep. One would think that sleep would be an automatic part of life – just do it and forget it. But many studies link sleep problems with disease, something that LifeNuts choose to avoid by adopting a proactive lifestyle.

            First of all, what is the ideal amount of sleep? The National Sleep Foundation recommends that most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. Yes, some may require nine while others would need only seven. If you’re trying to get by on seven hours and feel drowsy all day, try getting eight hours and see how you feel. Or, if you can, take a 30-minute nap around midday. Infants and young children take naps since they need much more sleep. Even teenagers need close to nine hours.

            The problem, of course, is that our busy schedules make us cram 25 hours into a 24-hour day. We need an extra hour or two and so we sleep less so that we can accomplish more. However, too little sleep can cause problems. And, for those who think they can sleep five hours a night on weekdays and “catch up”on weekends, that doesn’t work, either. Since the 1960s when the average American slept for eight and a half hours a night, the average amount of sleep has dropped each decade. In 2011 the average American slept less than seven hours a night.

            Let’s examine the causes of poor sleep.

1.      Obesity. Excessive fat around the throat makes breathing difficult and can lead to sleep apnea. Solution: get fit.

2.      Genetic. Some people have genes that cause sleep disruption. Researchers have identified some of these and are continuing to look for solutions.

3.      Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol within two hours of bedtime. Yes, that glass of wine right before bed will disrupt the level of sleep, leading to more frequent episodes of REM (rapid eye movement). Alcohol disturbs sleep rhythmns.

4.      Bringing emotional problems to bed. OK, you’ve just argued with your spouse and you’ve gone to bed without having solved the argument. What happens? You toss and turn, dwelling on the problem as your heart pounds. Solution: solve the problem and relax in the last hour before bed.

5.      You’re not tired. One hour of intense exercise, ideally in the morning, afternoon, or early evening, should help to tire you out.

6.      You’ve just finished watching a cops-and-criminals TV show and your heart’s still pounding. Solution: relax one hour before bed.

7.      You like to eat late, often within a few hours of bed. Sorry, digesting a large meal requires energy, which your body uses. At bedtime, you want be relaxed, not energized. If you need a bedtime snack, keep it small and fat-free.

8.      Various bedtimes. Your body likes routine and it likes the same sleep rhythm each day. Changing this rhythm usually causes problems with sleep. However, sometimes in traveling you’ll change time zones, which may affect when darkness falls. If you’ll be in the new location for more than a few days, you may want to switch your bedtime to the new time zone. Typically if I’m out of town and only two or three time zones away, I’ll stay on my same sleep cycle. If I’m gone for more than a week, I’ll switch to the new time zone. But I will always try to go to bed at the same time and get 7-8 hours of sleep (which works for me).

Next, what are problems with too little sleep?

1.      A study revealed that poor sleep causing high levels of insulin resistance can lead to diabetes, especially in teens. In the October issue of the journal Sleep, University of Pittsburgh researchers published a study that examined sleep patterns of 245 high school students. Average nightly sleep was 6.4 hours (less on weekday nights). They found that teens who increased their nightly sleep by one hour became more resistant to diabetes. Teens need about nine hours a night.

2.      Obesity. You’d think that too much sleep would lead to weight gain but the opposite is true. If we’re sleep deprived, our appetite hormones malfunction. Leptin, the hormone that control appetite, decreases and ghrelin, the eating-stimulation hormone rises. Result: we eat more and usually gain weight.

3.      Heart disease. There are many studies connecting high blood pressure and release of stress hormones with too little sleep, leading to heart disease and early death.

4.      Headaches. People who are sleep deprived often have headaches, although the mechanism isn’t clear.

5.      Attention lapses and delayed reaction times. Yes, if we’re sleep deprived and groggy during the day – either on the job or behind the wheel – bad things can happen. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was lined to daytime drowsiness. And, if you’re dead tired driving home, you risk not only your own life but those of others as well.

6.      Researchers in the U.K. published a study in 2010 in the journal Sleep that showed that people who get too little and too much sleep are at risk for an early death. Especially men with sleep apnea.

                        How about too much sleep?

Well, few people have the time to sleep too much these days. With demanding jobs, raising children, or caring for aging parents, Americans are always trying to squeeze more hours out of a day. But an adult getting more than nine hours of sleep may be at risk for the following.

1.      Depression. Only about 15% of depressed people oversleep. Usually it’s insomnia.

2.      Heart disease. The famous Nurses Health Study examined 72,000 women and found that women who slept 9-11 hours a night were 38% more likely to have coronary artery disease than those who slept eight hours a night.

3.      Death. Many studies have shown a connection between more than nine hours of sleep a night with higher death rates.

4.      Diabetes, obesity, and headaches. All have been linked with sleeping over nine hours a night.

            Now, you may know individuals who claim they get by just fine with four to five hours of sleep. This famous speaker or that well-known best-selling author explains how he or she goes to bed at midnight and gets up at 4 A.M. so that he or she can accomplish so much more in a day. Really? Well the research does not paint a rosy picture for these people and many times all that glitters is not gold. Scientists estimate that five percent of the population can function well on five hours of sleep. But is it in their best interest? LifeNuts sleep well and wake up, energized for a full day.

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Running on the streets of downtown Chicago

10/15/2012

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On these blogs I generally give current or at least relevant research to the LifeNuts lifestyle. However, once in a while, if I think it’s pertinent, I’ll add something personal. Yesterday’s (Oct. 9) experience qualified for a blog.

            A funeral took my wife and me to downtown Chicago on Monday and Tuesday. Urban living, especially for an Ohio boy like me, is a far cry from living in Cincinnati – where traffic’s never really an issue and housing and people aren’t jammed together like sardines in a can.

            On Tuesday morning I decided to run on Lakeshore Drive, Chicago’s busy four-lane street along Lake Michigan and through the heart of the skyscraper section of the city. I turned south, heading away from the lake – I get enough outdoor scenery every week on my runs in my hometown park – and so I shifted gears and headed into the business district – where the street’s name changes to Michigan Avenue, Chicago’s main thoroughfare.

            At eight o’clock I thought I’d see more people. But the sidewalks weren’t crowded, making it delightful to be able to run at an easy pace, not having to dodge people and weave my way through a maze of humanity. As I ran past one glamorous shop after another, past bank buildings, office complexes, hotels with doormen and valet parking attendants, I savored the aroma of one of America’s big cities. Everything seemed to be working in unison: everybody knew where they were going; traffic flowed well; and horn honking was negligible.

            The crisp autumn morning allowed people to dress minimally, although a few folks wore coats. Most were outfitted impeccably. Businessmen wore dapper suits and sported shiny shoes. Young girls must have inhaled to get into trendy pants and dresses while older career ladies seemed more comfortable in traditional power suits. Wearing headphones and eyes glued to mobile phones was common, though more typical of the younger generations.

            As I motored effortlessly down the sidewalks, I noticed waistlines as well, most of which, if not covered by a heavy coat, revealed weight problems. With the exception of the many beautiful young girls with skintight pants (presumably worn to show off their slimness), the great majority was either overweight or obese. Many years ago, before I was exposed to LifeNuts concepts, I would have never noticed these folks. Hell, I was one of them.

            So as I bounded down Chicago’s concrete pathways, I began to feel a sensation I had never experienced previously. It was a sensation that perhaps only another runner or a fit athlete can understand. I felt a sense of freedom, a feeling of being fit and being able to move smoothly through the throngs of my fellow overweight Americans. I didn’t feel superior to them nor did I feel smug; rather, I felt fortunate, almost as if I had been given a gift of fitness that I wanted to share with them, although I’m not sure they would have been interested.

            I wasn’t the only runner on the streets: there were a few others, some slower, some faster. A few smiled at me and I smiled back. And then another thought struck me: the financial part of LifeNuts. How lucky I was to be financially independent and be able to run in downtown Chicago in the midst of so many industrious souls on their way to their jobs. Would they, too, become financially independent someday or would they, like so many older Americans, have to work throughout their golden years? I wondered silently as I ran by them. On streets glittering with shiny BMWs, Mercedes, and other luxury cars and lined with shops touting expensive material possessions (Indeed one store was actually named “Material Possessions”), would these Chicagoans be wise enough to save for a prosperous retirement? Or would they cave into peer pressure, neglecting both their savings accounts and their waistlines.

            Anyway, the experience of feeling fit – both physically and financially – struck me right between the eyes. I’m not sure if I’ve ever experienced those sensations before today. And it made me feel awfully good that I’ve chosen the LifeNuts lifestyle.

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Why do LifeNuts eat a plant-based diet?

10/7/2012

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A recent Wall Street Journal article (9-18-12) pitted two professors of nutrition on the subject of eating – plants vs. meat and dairy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444184704577587174077811182.html

I’d recommend reading it and then looking at the comments that other readers have made. This is the comment I left.

We will be launching LifeNuts, a community-based vitality program, at the Marshall University marathon on November 11. The person whose life inspired LifeNuts will be attempting to set a new American record for the marathon (26.2 miles) for his age. Mike Fremont is 90. How does this relate to diet? You can watch a YouTube video of Mike at www.lifenuts.org.

Well, Mike eats mostly a plant-based diet, avoiding meat and dairy, and his health has improved dramatically since he made this nutritional change about 20 years ago at the age of 70. Those who think that vegans don’t get enough protein or calcium should adjust their thinking, based on Mike’s ability to run a marathon, indeed even set a new American marathon record. Mike and I will be speaking at the marathon’s expo on Nov. 10. Please come visit us!

And Mike’s not the only example. Scott Jurek, arguably the best American ultramarathon (distances greater than the standard 26.2 miles) runner switched to a vegan diet many years ago for one reason – to improve his running performance. After he changed his eating habits, he became a champion. He’s documented all this in his book, Eat & Run.

Another endurance athlete, Brendan Brazier, is a professional ironman and a champion as well. In case you’re not familiar with the ironman triathlon, it’s a swim of 2.4 miles, a bike ride of 112 miles, and, if you’re still breathing, a running marathon of 26.2 miles. Brendan does this for a living and eats a plant-based diet. And he wins. His book is Thrive.

Now, here are three examples, young and old, of athletes who not only survive but excel in athletic competitions that require hours of endurance. And they do so without eating meat or dairy. They are not alone.

On the other hand, Americans, who mostly die of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, eat a diet rich in meat and dairy. It’s no coincidence that America’s major health concern is the rapid increase in both adult and child obesity. Compare us to the Japanese who live, on the average, more than four years longer than we do. They eat mostly a plant-based diet. Japanese women, where thin is still in, lead the world in longevity with a life expectancy of 86.1 years.

Much research has been done on populations, such as the Japanese, throughout the world where significant numbers of people live past 100. Invariably, their diets are mostly plant-based. The China Study, possibly the largest nutritional analysis of a population ever done, showed that the rural Chinese (who did not have much access to meat or dairy) lived longer than the urban Chinese (who did eat meat and dairy). These city dwellers died of western diseases: heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

So, with this information, why are Americans reluctant to adopt a plant-based diet. One word – taste. Americans enjoy their lifestyle, which revolves a lot around food. And food must taste “good” in order to satisfy. Restaurant owners know this. Food manufacturers know this. The hip phrase is now “comfort food.”

The good news is that the LifeNuts program involves more than a diet; it involves a new lifestyle, one committed to longevity and happiness. Let’s face it: it’s no fun to have heart disease, cancer, or diabetes, is it? One of the main obstacles in changing lifestyles is taste. Interestingly, when one moves away from a meat-and-dairy diet to a plant-based diet, his or her taste will change. This change takes from two to six weeks. A book, The Engine 2 Diet, offers a simple challenge: try their plant-based diet for 28 days and, if it doesn’t work, forget it. Developed by a Texas firefighter for his buddies, the program is easy to use.

So, the next time you read about or hear about America’s massive health care burden or the rising cost of obesity, think about what we eat. And don’t be afraid to change.

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LifeNut Finances. What’s your net worth?

10/3/2012

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While LifeNuts and longevity go hand-in-hand, the connection between the two is not simply diet and exercise. Accordingly, my blogs will focus on all aspects of being a LifeNut, one of which is financial management.

            Financial health is just as important to a LifeNut as having a low BMI. What happens if you can’t pay your mortgage or the rent? Or what if the interest on your credit card bills gives you headaches when you’re trying to get to sleep? Those credit card collectors won’t stop calling, you know.

            Many Americans lose sleep, gain weight, get divorced, lose their jobs, and suffer from countless other troubles because they lack financial expertise. LifeNuts, on the other hand, take responsibility for their financial decisions and they learn from their mistakes.

            A story in the New York Times (9-20-12) commented on the shrinking life expectancy for the least-educated segment of our society, especially women without a high school diploma. The writer posed possible reasons, “The reasons for the decline remain unclear, but researchers offered possible explanations, including a spike in prescription drug overdoses among young whites, higher rates of smoking among less educated white women, rising obesity, and a steady increase in the number of the least educated Americans who lack health insurance.” Ironically there’s no mention of financial ineptitude.

            Yet, without adequate finances, it’s difficult to survive, let alone thrive. Even high-income wage earners suffer from this dilemma. You know, it’s the keep-up-with-the-Joneses syndrome. I need to have that new car, a boat, a condo in Florida, a house in Aspen. The list never ends.

            Problem: Most folks go through high school and college with little or no financial education. Once they get a good job, they want the high life, which of course costs money. Some people who earn more than $500,000 a year live from paycheck to paycheck. Hard to believe, but it’s true. I’ve known some. There are some people with masters and doctoral degrees who will never be able to retire because their net worth is so low. Yes, they’re educated in certain fields but they lack financial and investing skills.

            What happens during financial turbulence? If you’ve studied our website or read LifeNuts, you know that any kind of stress (financial pressure is one type) leads to a biochemical reaction in the body. One notable chemical, cortisol, has been shown to lower one’s immune response, resulting in diseases ranging from the common cold to cancer. Cortisol, if it hangs around for a long time, is not your friend.

            Solution #1: Live within your means and save at least 15% from each monthly paycheck. Put this amount into a “power account.” It’s called a power account because, if you fund it each month, it will give you financial independence one day. Obviously the younger you are, the better. Many baby boomers will need to work for the rest of their lives because they did not accumulate significant savings. If you’re young and smart, you’ll heed this warning.

            Solution #2: Become an investor. This topic scares people. And, with the ups and downs – especially the downs – of the stock market in the past two decades, being scared is not an unusual reaction for most people. Read the section on financial management in LifeNuts. Read Barrons and other weekly financial publications. Read books on investing. But don’t get sucked into the day trading dog fight. Unless you’re on the floor of the stock exchange, you’re at a disadvantage here. Diversify. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. And, for goodness sake, don’t let someone manage your money for you. I can’t believe how many people I know who have entrusted their life’s savings to someone and lost huge amounts. Avoid sharks … especially ones like Bernie Madoff.

            Solution #3. Set financial goals. What will your net worth be at age 30? At 40? At 60? Begin when you’re young. Believe me, time flies and old age doesn’t wait for anyone. It comes knocking sooner than you would expect.

            If you feel you’re not good with numbers, consider the case of a poor, high-school educated coffee shop waitress. This young lady decided she was going to become a millionaire and set a goal of accumulating that figure by age 40. When she reached her goal, she adopted a child – as a reward to her and her husband. She had very little, if any, financial education. She didn’t have a college degree. No affluent parents. But she had determination and she read and learned, teaching herself. She’s rented a home for the past several years and is almost ready to buy one … but not until the market bottoms, which it will eventually. You can read about this millionaire mommy next door at: http://millionairemommynextdoor.com/2010/04/wait-until-2012-to-buy-a-home/
         Jen Smith was making minimum wage, had only a high school diploma, and was a woman in a man’s working world. If she can do it, so can you. Get started now and join the LifeNuts club!

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Puzzles or Exercise: Which is Better for the Aging Brain?

If I don’t sleep well, am I at risk for death?

Running on the streets of downtown Chicago

Why do LifeNuts eat a plant-based diet?

LifeNut Finances. What’s your net worth?

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