Older adults who maintain a healthy weight may be preserving their mind and memory at the same time. A study published in the May 2008 issue of Obesity Reviews shows that weight matters when it comes to warding off dementia. Researchers with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore have found that obese people have an 80% increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with normal weight.

But being underweight makes you 36% more likely to develop such cognitive disorders. Scientists have long debated the link between obesity and dementia. Previous findings have been “mixed and inconclusive,” according to information in the journal report.
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You used to eat anything and everything and not gain an ounce. Now it seems that just looking at a Krispy Kreme packs on another 10 pounds. You shrug your shoulders and say, “I’m getting older. My metabolism’s not what it used to be.” You may be right (like it or not, your metabolism does slow down as you get older), but does that mean you have to live with it? Not necessarily. There are things you can do to rev up your metabolism, say nutrition experts — just as there are things that won’t work at all.

Simply stated, your metabolism is the way your body burns up all of the calories from the food that you eat, says Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, LD, CDN. It’s a complex process that includes all of the chemical reactions that take place in your body to keep your organs working and to keep you alive.
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While enjoying a cola or two every day might seem harmless enough, recent research suggests that those tasty drinks could be compromising your bone health. “There is enough evidence that high consumption of soda and carbonated beverages is associated with somewhat lower bone mass in children, and that’s a real concern and people should be aware of it,” said Dr. Lawrence Raisz, director of the University of Connecticut Center for Osteoporosis.

The exact mechanism behind the problem isn’t clear, but experts believe that drinking soda particularly colas affects bone density in several ways. One reason may be that people who drink colas are simply less likely to get enough calcium and vitamin D in their diets, because the soda is replacing more nutritious beverages, such as milk or calcium-fortified juice. Or, it could be related to the caffeine in colas, because caffeine has been linked to a higher risk of osteoporosis.

The third possible explanation focuses on one of the ingredients found in colas: phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid can cause an imbalance in the body as the body seeks to neutralize the acid with calcium. If there isn’t enough calcium in the diet, the body will take calcium from the bones. Read more

You may think of cheese as a party food, but not exactly as a health food. Well, we say it can be both. The 57 calories per half-ounce (about the size of your thumb) is about the same as 2 tablespoons of hummus and it goes much better with a glass of pinot noir, if you ask us. Plus, the handcrafted artisan cheeses were seeing more of on the market are so packed with flavor, you only need a sliver for satisfaction.

You can grate aged cheeses like Parmesan and Asiago to add flavor to dishes for much less fat. And most aged cheeses are lactose-free (the milk sugar drops as cheese ages). Serve up an easy cheese plate at your next party with these tips How: Focus on diversity in texture, in types of milk, even in appearance, says Janet Fletcher, author of The Cheese Course. You could try serving a soft goat cheese with a smoky blue cheese made from cows milk, for example. Or compare similar cheeses from different locations say cheddars from England and California so that you can taste the effect of a particular place on the cheese. Read more

A new class of weight-loss drugs that suppresses appetite by blocking cannabinoid receptors in the brain should be used with caution in children, U.S. scientists report. In research with mice, they found this class of drugs also suppresses the adaptive rewiring of the brain necessary for neural development in young animals. The findings are in the May 8 issue of Neuron.

One such drug is rimonabant (Acomplia), which was developed by Sanofi-Aventis and is awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Other pharmaceutical companies are developing similar drugs. In this study, researchers concluded that a cannabinoid receptor-blocking drug called AM 251 affected experience-dependent cortical plasticity in the brains of juvenile mice. This plasticity is the experience-prompted adaptive rewiring of the brain that plays an critical role in the neural development of young animals. Read more