CONNECTIONS: Food for Age Related Problems

Here's the latest research on medicinal uses for the foods we already eat.

VEGGIES PRESERVE MUSCLE MASS
Conventional wisdom holds that building and preserving muscle mass requires protein. But scientists have now discovered that vegetables play at least an equal if not a more important role in keeping our
bodies strong and shapely.
To determine the impact of different foods on lean body mass, researchers at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston focused on two types of diets: alkaline, or vegetable-centered; and acid-producing, the more typical American diet, rich in animal protein, cereal grains, and sugary foods. Working with 400 volunteers aged 65 or older over the course of three years, the researchers found that the protein-rich diet generates tiny amounts of acid, triggering "metabolic acidosis" - a muscle-wasting response. A potassium-rich, alkaline diet that the researchers established, however, neutralizes acids in the body and helps preserve valuable muscle mass.

CELERY AND GREEN PEPPER FIGHT INFLAMMATION
Inflammation is part of the body's immune response, reducing injury and promoting healing. But when it goes awry, the consequences can be serious. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that a plant compound called luteolin, found in abundance in celery and green peppers, can disrupt the inflammatory response in the brain and protect vital cognitive functions, such as memory and learning. The study was done with mice, but the scientists are hopeful that luteolin or other bioactive compounds found in plants could be useful in the near future to prevent or treat diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

ANOTHER GOOD REASON TO EAT YOUR BROCCOLI
Though it's been known for some time that free radicals play a key role in aging and age-related diseases, the attention of most research has been on the mechanisms that produce free radicals, rather than on natural substances that might help the body suppress them. UCLA researchers report that sulphoraphane, a chemical found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, can switch on a set of antioxidant genes and enzymes in specific immune cells, which then combat the injurious effects of free radicals. Free radicals are a supercharged form of oxygen - renegade molecules that have long been implicated in premature aging and age-related diseases.
Monika Rice