Nutrition News by Charlyn Fargo

We've all been touched by Dementia, Alzheimer's or forgetfulness in some way — a parent, a friend, someone we know. Many of us worry it could affect us, especially if there's a genetic history. The worry comes when we simply start forgetting things — is this an early sign? The big question remains, what can we do to keep our brain healthy?

A new study, published in Neurology, finds overall good health and maintaining a normal weight may be good not only for your body but also for your brain. A 10-year study of 6,401 British civil servants, initially ages 39 to 63 years, found an association between being overweight or obese and impaired cognitive function. Combined with other health issues, such as diabetes or high cholesterol, extra weight also increased the odds of mental decline over time.

The study's lead researcher, Archana Singh-Manoux of Hopital Paul Brousse in Villejuif, France, and colleagues compared body-mass index and various metabolic conditions with cognitive function at baseline and after five and 10 years. Participants were assessed using reasoning, memory and semantic fluency. In addition to reporting BMI, participants were asked about other health factors and were classified as "metabolically abnormal" if they had two or more conditions such as high cholesterol or triglycerides, high blood pressure, low "good" HDL cholesterol, high glucose or diabetes. Overall 38.2 percent of participants were overweight and 9.1 percent were obese. Among all participants, 31 percent were categorized as metabolically abnormal, while among the obese, that rate was 60.1 percent.

The researchers reported that lower BMI was associated with better cognition at the study's start. Over time, those with metabolic abnormality were more likely to develop impaired cognitive function. In follow-up mental testing, those who were both obese and metabolically abnormal were significantly more likely to show a faster rate of cognitive decline.

Why? Researchers speculated that vascular problems associated with weight might affect brain function, along with fat-related secretions that impact the aging brain.

The bottom line is keeping a healthy weight is important for so many reasons.

Information courtesy of the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter.

Q and A

Q: What exactly is a "plant-based diet"? I get confused about what people are specifically recommending when they talk about this?

A: In general, there's a good chance when you hear the phrase "plant-based diet" it means that the majority of what you eat comes from plant foods — vegetables, fruits, grain products, beans, nuts and seeds.

Some people or groups really mean a vegetarian diet (with no meat or poultry), or even a vegan diet (with no animal products at all). A predominantly plant-based diet — whether or not it's vegetarian — is at the heart of nutrition recommendations to promote overall health and reduce cancer risk. This allows us to get plenty of the plant foods that supply dietary fiber and antioxidant nutrients and phytochemicals, while more easily managing our weight as we fill up on foods that are not very concentrated in calories. If someone chooses to include meat, fish or dairy products, these foods play a supporting, rather than starring, role. Although highly processed foods like chips, crackers and pastries may technically be plant-based, these foods won't provide the health benefits from whole and minimally processed foods and can lead to eating more calories than you need. So, choose a balanced, predominantly whole-foods, plant-based diet to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Information courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Recipe

Here's a recipe for Shrimp Tortellini Marinara, from Publix Super Market, that combines a few of my son's favorite foods — shrimp and pasta. It also is a quick, healthy dinner.

Shrimp Tortellini Mariana

—1/2 pint cherry tomatoes

—1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

—1 pound large peeled/deveined shrimp

—19-20 ounce refrigerated (or frozen) cheese tortellini

—1 3/4 cups tomato pasta sauce (marinara)

—1/2 cup white wine

—4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

—1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

—1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

—1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat large saute pan on medium-high 2-3 minutes. Place oil in pan, then add shrimp; cook 1-2 minutes or just until shrimp turns pink and opaque. Cook tortellini following package directions. Stir marinara sauce into shrimp, then stir in remaining ingredients (including tomatoes). Cook 1-2 more minutes or until thoroughly heated. Drain tortellini; then stir into marinara sauce. Serve. Makes six servings.

Per serving: 450 calories, 27 g protein, 58 g carbohdyrate, 11 g fat, 150 mg cholesterol, 5 g fiber, 910 mg sodium.

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian from Springfield, Ill. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com or follow her on Twitter @NutritionRD. To find out more about Charlyn Fargo and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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