It’s blueberry season and that means an abundant source of yummy, anti-aging nutrients at my local farmers market.  Besides the fact that they’re sweet and delicious, blueberries are loaded with compounds that fight oxidation and inflammation, which are associated with age-related deficits such as memory and motor function. Specifically, they contain a special compound called polyphenols, which help brain cells talk to each other.

As nutritionist and author Dr. Johnny Bowden explains in his latest book (see review below), the blueberry is just one example of  a “superstar” food that has scored high on the ORAC test, which measures a food’s oxygen radical absorbance capacity. This test, conducted by scientists at the USDA, reveals a food’s true age-fighting potential.  Here’s a list of the top performing, high antioxidant (high-ORAC) foods that Bowden says “will help protect us from a virtual encyclopedia of syndromes and diseases associated with aging:

• Prunes
• Raisins
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Kale
• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Rasberries
• Yellow squash
• Brussel Sprouts

Bowden offers this nutritional advice for anti-aging:  ”Shop so your grocery basket looks colorful.  You’ll automatically be eating a ton of high-antioxidant (high-ORAC) foods.”

The information summarized here was taken from Johnny Bowden’s latest book, “The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Do to Prevent Disease, Feel Great, and Have Optimum Health and Longevity.  A more detailed review can be found in last week’s blogpost below.

If you have a favorite recipe using any of these foods, I’d love to hear from you. You can copy and paste the recipe in the comment box below.

Oxidative Damage: You may have heard about “free radicals,” which Bowden describes as “dangerous molecules created from oxygen that attack your cells and damage your DNA and slowly wear you down, aging you from within.” He recommends eating plenty of vegetables and fruits, all high in ANTI-oxidants.  Berries, apples, prunes and green leafy vegetables are especially good for you.

Inflammation: We need some inflammation to heal an injury or irriation, but too much can be detrimental to  your health. Bowden explains that inflammation  ”damages the vascular walls and is a factor in every single degenerative disease including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer and obesity.”  His prescription includes supplementing daily with fish oil, “one of the great natural anti-inflammatory agents on the planet.”  He also recommends getting a high-sensitivity CRP test (C-Reactive Protein) the next time you have blood work done.  ”It’s the most reliable measure of inflammation now available.

Glycation: The third “horseman of aging” occurs when sugar molecules “glom onto protein or fat molecules, causing “sticky proteins that gum up the works and age your body and all its systems.  These sticky proteins accumulate everywhere in your body and are implicated in many of the diseases of aging,”  he explains.  Bowden recommends supplementing your diet with Carsonine, which he describes as the “ultimate anti-aging nutrient” to help prevent glycation from happening in the first place.

Stress:  Another insult to our bodies, says Bowden, is “any physical, mental or emotional factor that causes mental tension or bodily harm.” Stress produces hormonal reactions that can be detrimental to our health in many ways and make recovery from illness much more difficult.  His prescription includes meditation, relaxation, recuperative sleep and gentle excercise such as Yoga or Quigong.

Before you take any supplements, I urge you to consult an integrative medicine specialist, or naturopathic doctor to help you determine which supplements you should (or should not) be taking and in what dosages.

Some grocery stores are now carrying Monterey Mushrooms’s Sun Bella Mushrooms, or Dole’s Portobello Mushrooms, which both contain the current recommended amount of Vitamin D (400 IU/daily) per 3-oz. serving.  (The daily RDA of Vitamin D is likely to be revised upward later this year).  Apparently, mushrooms have the ability to convert the sun’s rays into Vitamin D just as humans do.  So both growers have exposed their mushroom crops to ultra-violet light to synthesize enough Vitamin D to make it beneficial for us.  According to the Monterey Mushrooms website, increasing the mushrooms’ Vitamin D content “does not involve any additives, supplements or chemicals. The Vitamin D is stable, maintaining its nutritional value even after cooking or freezing.”

Not all mushrooms are alike, so check labels to be sure you’re getting the ones that are enriched with Vitamin D.   The Monterey Mushrooms website also has a U.S. map that shows where their Sun Bella line can be purchased.

“They were instructed in a protocol of 22 Yoga poses that are believed to have positive effects on abdominal and pelvic muscle tone, digestion, joint function and mood. Each participant filled out a standard sexual-function questionnaire at the beginning and end of the 12-week program, which featured an hour of yoga practice each day, followed by breathing and relaxation. At the end of the program, researchers found improvements in the women’s sexual-function scores in the six domains that were assessed (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, pain and overall satisfaction), particularly among women over age 45, who showed the greatest improvement in arousal, lubrication and pain. Nearly 75 percent of the women said they were more satisfied with their sexual life following the yoga training.”

If this study piques your interest and you want to test this hypothesis yourself, check out the complete list of the 22 poses (asanas) that were practiced in the study.  Here are just a few of them:

• cat’s posture (marjariasana) (shown above)
• triangle pose (Trikonasana);
• the snake (bhujangasana); and
• half spinal twist (ardha matsyendra mudra
• breath control (pranayama)

(The results of the study were published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine (11/12/09) and was the source of the HWHW newsletter story that I summarize here).

However, there is debate over their reliability due to a lack of industry standardization, according to the WSJ article.  One physician, for example, who is a noted proponent of Hormone Replacement Therapy, called the Saliva Test “a pure waste of dollars,” and further dismissed it by explaining that a saliva test is “not needed since doctors treat the symptoms of hormone deficiency by starting with a low dose of hormone replacement and increasing it if symptoms don’t resolve.”  That may be his preferred approach to hormone imbalances, but clearly not every woman can and wants to take hormones.

In a “clinical policy bulletin“, the insurance company, Aetna, states that “salivary hormone tests, while medically necessary for diagnosing Cushing’s syndrome, have not been proven to be valid alternatives to serum (blood) tests for the screening, diagnosis or monitoring of menopause or diseases related to aging,” and thus does not include them in their coverage.  On the other hand, the website of the late Dr. John Lee, who advocated the use of natural hormones, states that “research indicates that the most accurate way to measure your hormone levels is through saliva.”

ZRT Labs, which sells Saliva Testing Kits to doctors only, offers information about “oral fluid testing” and video instruction for collecting a saliva sample.  Their website also features a directory of health care providers that you can use to identify one in your area who can prescribe the test and review the results with you.

That’s one question I hope is addressed in a Webinar this Saturday, May 15th at 10 am PDT.  It’s sponsored and led by the Los Angeles-based Fibroid Treatment Collective, which is described on their website as “a medical group of fibroid experts dedicated to curing fibroids with minimally invasive therapy.”   That means that you’ll hear a lot about embolization.

Even if you’re unable to listen-in, you’ll find helpful information about fibroids on the FTC website including types, symptoms, and treatment options.

@Vicky Laney tweets on whole nutrition for improved immune function and natural healing of chronic disease.

@FitMenu promotes healthy eating at restaurants.

@womenshealth is from the Federal government’s resource for women’s health information.

@thpeppermntleaf is written by someone with a degree in biochemistry. She tweets about vegan, pilates and bagpipes!

@dancinginlife has lots of information about Gluten-free nutrition

If you scroll down the page, you’ll also see some other nifty articles such as “”Top 50 Yoga Blogs for a Healthy Mind and Body,” “Fifty Simple Fitness Tests to See Where You Stack Up,” and “10 Healthy and Delicious Foods that are Illegal in the U.S.”

It’s great when someone else does all the research for you!  Thanks Jeanne.

Staness wrote The Menopause Makeover: The Ultimate Guide to Taking Control of Your Health and Beauty During Menopause with Dr.Wendy Klein, described as a national leader in women’s health, who co-founded the Women’s Health Residency Program at Virginia Commonwealth University.  So if you’re thinking that any book with the word makeover in the title is too lightweight for your taste, rest assured that you’re getting substantive information that’s well packaged and useful to women at all stages of the menopausal transition.

The book is divided into three parts.  It begins with “The Survival Guide,” an overview of the 8-step program. Staness and Dr. Klein use this section to explain what happens in a woman’s body before, during and after menopause. You’ll learn about treatment options, complementary therapies that could help, and how to fight off the “menopause middle.” They provide a diet and exercise plan and  include their version of what a food pyramid should look like for menopausal women.  Part two is called “Your Menopause Makeover: Planning your Transformation,” which provides the blueprint for creating a personalized makeover. This is where you set personal goals for a 12 week makeover.  The final section, the “Menopause Makeover Essential Planner,” is a hands on workbook that includes forms, planners, journal pages and progress reports along with recipes and suggested menus.

If you’re just entering the peri-menopause phase of the mid-life transition, you’ll learn a lot from the overview of the symptoms and physical changes that typically occur as a result of hormonal changes.  I was glad to see that she included many that aren’t often mentioned  in “top ten symptoms” type of articles and that catch women by surprise, such as heart palpitations, migraine headaches, incontinence  and changes to skin and hair.  Also important to know are the many tests that are available to help your doctor prescribe the right treatment options.  For post-menopausal women still complaining of belly fat they can’t get rid of, moodiness, or fuzzy thinking,  Staness’ approach just might be the key to a breakthrough.  She attributes her own makeover success to good medical advice, documenting her journey and  charting her progress to keep her motivated.   If it worked for her, it’s worth modeling her success if you’re wallowing in your own menopause misery.

Staness will be appearing on The Today Show on Tuesday morning (4/27) in the 10 am hour.

Both of these studies, recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, contribute to growing evidence that physical activity is crucial to the quality of  life in our later years and starting at any age will be beneficial.

I recently wrote about some excellent online resources to help you get started with an exercise routine.  I also recommend Joan Pagano’s Strength Training for Women, an illustrated step-by-step guide for women at all levels of experience.  I bring this book with me to the gym on my weight-training days and consider her my very own personal trainer.

If you also have an exercise book or DVD that you want to recommend, let us know in the comment box below.
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• Black Tea
  
• Dark chocolate
• Yogurt
• Cinnamon
• Ground flaxseed
• Rice bran and oat bran
• Barley
• Avocado
• Macadamia nuts
• Hazelnuts
• Sunflower oil and canola oil
• Egg whites

Because of the correlation between declining estrogen and rising cholesterol levels, it’s not unusual for women in their forties and fifties to experience rising cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease later in life.   If you haven’t hit the danger zone yet and you want to reverse this trend, diet and exercise could help. Of course, if your physician has recommended prescription drug therapy, it would be wise to add exercise and a diet rich in these foods to your regimen.  It could reduce the amount of time that a statin drug is necessary.