Tea it Up

I hear many people complain that they feel like they can’t do or eat anything as it seems that everything in this world is bad for their health.  In writing these articles it’s easy to fall into that same trap and report on all the things that detract from health.  So when I come across something that actually promotes health and longevity, I try to take notice and bring it to your attention.  One of those things is Green Tea!

I hope that by now, you’ve heard that green tea can be effective at reducing the risk of numerous forms of cancer.  Studies vary, but on average drinking five cups daily of the antioxidant extract can reduce general cancer risk by around 50%.  You may have even heard that drinking green tea can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.  And with diabetes being the fastest growing form of chronic disease, you may want to take note that green tea helps with insulin resistance which is the very mechanism of type II diabetes.  For me, that alone is enough to seek out the stuff and drink it down.  However, recent research has discovered that green tea also has the potential to prevent and possibly even reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.  Alzheimer’s occurs as the result of your brain cells being impaired and killed from something called amyloid plaques.  Like every other degenerative process in the body, these plaques are the result of oxidative stress and free radical damage that are directly related to inflammatory diet, stress, and lack of exercise.  Before this study, the only proven method of preventing Alzheimer’s was physical exercise and consuming excessive fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant benefits.  There are only five drugs that treat the disease, but they only partially treat some of the symptoms temporarily for about half the patients who take them.  Scientist have found that green tea not only prevents the formation of amyloid plaques but can actually break down existing plaques in early development and can even promote the production of new nerve cells in the brain (which was thought to be impossible not too long ago).  These new cells were noticed in the part of the brain known as the hippocampus which is known to convert short-term information into long-term memory.  Through the use of functional MRI, the scientists of a European study were able to see changes in the brain cells with just a single dose of green tea or with just one week of green tea supplements!

I would like to clarify that the green tea we’re talking about here is not the stuff you buy at the gas station that is loaded with high fructose corn syrup.  You need to get the real thing.  In researching this, the types that consistently came up with the highest level of anti-oxidants were brands of Lonjing or Dragon Well teas.  However, I did find results from a UCLA study that claimed even the Celestial Seasonings and Lipton green teas were considered high in these same anti-oxidant levels.  In my search, I was unable to determine which brand is the best for sure, but one thing I know is that I’m going to start drinking some form of Dragon Well tea right away!

Fight the Fire

If there were one thing that every person could do to promote health and prevent all forms of disease it would be to “deflame”.  Nearly all experts agree that the common denominator of every disease is inflammation in the body.  Chronic inflammation will cause everything from pain and arthritis to cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.  Knowing strategies to decrease general inflammation can make all the difference

While there are several strategies to get the job done, reducing inflammation should start with diet.  Stated simply, we need to increase the foods that decrease inflammation and decrease the foods that promote inflammation.  One surprising food that promotes inflammation is grains.  Grains contain two ingredients that are the source of the problem.  Gluten is a protein found in most grains that will often cause a type of allergic reaction in the body that begins in the bowel.  Grains also contain a substance called phytic acid that will reduce the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc.  This phytic acid will cause the pH of our body to become more acidic which is known to cause inflammation.  Sugar has a similar effect in the body.  Excessive amounts of protein can also increase inflammation because in digestion, protein gets broken down to amino acids that must be neutralized.

Strategies for reducing inflammation through diet are much simpler.  We must ingest the minerals that neutralize our internal pH and bring us back to a slightly alkaline state.  Minerals come from the earth and are found in foods that grow in the ground.  This means virtually every fruit and vegetable will normalize pH and act as nature’s anti-inflammatory.  Commit to fruits and vegetables every day or ideally every meal.

Increasing exercise and minimizing the stress response are also critical for fighting inflammation, but if the diet is still out of skew, these strategies won’t get you as far.

Hard Habits

I once attended a wellness seminar where the presenter made an argument that we are all dopamine addicts.  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that gives us a feeling of pleasure.  The problem is that dopamine doesn’t accumulate and it doesn’t last very long.  For this reason we are always seeking out our next dose of dopamine from anything that can provide to us that feeling of pleasure.

One of the ways we gain pleasure is through food.  This is what makes changing eating habits a tremendous challenge to many people.  From an early age we are conditioned to associate unhealthy food with reward.  This could be in the form of a birthday cake, a piece of candy for a good deed, or going out for pizza for good grades.  Unfortunately, this behavior often carries on into adulthood and many of our bad eating habits are based on so-called “comfort” foods for a quick dopamine fix.  Once this connection is made in the brain, it’s very difficult to disconnect the association which is precisely what makes old habits hard to break.

While it may be true that disconnecting a feeling of pleasure can be difficult, you can always make a new association.  The same speaker who taught about dopamine shared with me a strategy that he uses with clients to make this new association.  You merely need to take your favorite self-sabotaging “comfort” food and eat it in front of a mirror while watching yourself.  Oh . . . and you will want to do this naked!  That’s right, totally nude.  How many servings of Rocky Road in the buff do you believe it would take to make you lose some pleasure in the tasty treat?  This may sound like a bizarre tactic, but it is based in science and basic brain chemistry.  Give it a try and I would love to know your results (rivertownchriowellness@gmail.com).