HUMANITY HIKER

The other day the title “Tuna Salad Swap” on a food magazine jumped out to me. I wondered if the swap would be hummus for mayonnaise, which I do with my tuna salad. Sure enough, the article featured that “amazing” brain health food swap.

I swap hummus for mayonnaise with everything. Hummus provides the same texture and better nutrition. I also think hummus tastes better, or at least provides a variety of kinds and tastes to the food table.

In a recent entry I mentioned how I swap maple syrup for sugar as a sweetener. This has limitations or requires texture adjustments when substituting a syrup for a powder. I also occasionally swap Parmesan cheese as a more nutritious thickening agent for corn starch or flour. In this case the texture matches but of course taste might matter more here.

I mentioned the use of the spices black pepper, turmeric and ginger for my brain health soup. I actually use this suite of brain health spices for all my soups, sauces and casseroles. Sometimes I swap, sometimes I add these spices. I owe my accidental reputation as a good cook, in shocked amazement to my family, precisely to using these three spices.

I also swap a generous scoop of Tillamook ice cream for cream and sugar in my coffee. The Tillamook brand is extra creamy and uses sugar instead of the more common high fructose corn syrup (check the labels). Not really a brain health food swap, but try it anyways!

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Awareness of lifestyle factors that can enhance brain health includes awareness of the societal factors that make such a lifestyle difficult. An article in Nature elaborates on this:

Exposure to negative physical and social factors accelerate aging.

Usually there are multiple press releases for any “new” finding that comes out (I have been at this so long as to notice that many “new” findings are just repeats of older findings). I cut down on time spent by just looking at the releases by respected publications and universities. I did not have to do that with this finding that social factors accelerate aging. There was only this one release from this well-regarded publication.

I cannot resist sharing this article titled “Brain health redefined as a birth-to-death journey.” In my writings for the Unenlightened Wisdom Project, I use the journey metaphor often in relation to brain health. The article covers a variety of factors that affect brain health over a life time.

Ten years ago I posted “The Alzheimer’s Murder Mystery,” critiquing the emphasis on anti-amyloid research and drugs. My continued curation of brain health updates came up with three articles related to and verifying that post.

My post mentioned donepezil and memantine as anti-amyloid drugs with dubious track records. Ten years later there have been more anti-amyloid drugs, with continued dubious records.

I hinted in the Murder Mystery post that other metabolic pathways should be the focus. I mentioned mitochondria and the immune system back then, which recent research validates as legitimate targets.

While a nasal spray may someday prove to be the best medical answer for dementia, I will never let go of my emphasis on lifestyle factors. An article touting combined mind-body exercise fits this bill. Though focused on people with ADHD, the pathways involved seem to me to be just as legitimate for combating cognitive decline.

I can’t help myself. I love finding out the Murder Mystery post was ten years ahead of the times. Please like and share this content. Encourage your friends to subscribe to the website as well.