Health and Wellness Tips
Feed Your Head
A slow decline into absentmindedness used to be considered as inevitable as crow's feet. Watching what you eat might let you avoid a heart attack, even cancer. But keep you quick witted?
Amazingly, a growing body of research is showing that the very processes that clog your heart's arteries and cause cancerous changes in your cells can also damage the delicate communication network in your brain.
Here's another way to protect your brain and help you to keep your wits about you as you age, according to an article in HEALTH, May 1999: Walk down the produce market isle and fill your cart with the succulent berries, vibrant greens, and other fruits and vegetables that give spring and summer their special flavor. All of a sudden there's a whole new meaning to the phrase "eating wisely."
The brain needs the antioxidants, found in fruits and vegetables. These antioxidants are powerful chemicals that disarm free radicals--those harmful molecules created when the body converts food into energy and when it breaks down toxic substances. Left unchecked, free radicals can injure brain cells and hamper the ability of chemical messengers to do their job. Worse, as you age, your body's defenses weaken, so the marauders are more destructive. That's why the reinforcements delivered by fruits, veggies and vitamin supplements are vital.
