A GOOD


MIDLIFE DIET A


PROLONGS HEALTH IN LATER YEARS


Harvard Medi- cal School study


found that how well women age in their 70s is linked to the way they ate earlier in life. Researchers started with 10,670 healthy women in their late 50s and


followed them for 15 years. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the results saw fewer chronic diseas- es among women that followed diets heavy in plant-based foods during mid- life; these women were also 34 percent more likely to live past 70. Those that ate most similarly to the Mediterranean diet had even better outcomes—a 46 percent greater likelihood of living past 70 without chronic diseases. Eleven percent of the subjects quali-


fied as healthy agers, which researchers defined as having no major chronic diseases, physical impairments, mental health problems or trouble with thinking and memory. According to lead author Cecilia Samieri, Ph.D., midlife exposures are thought to be a particularly relevant period because most health conditions develop slowly over many years.


Mindfulness Meditation Reduces the Urge to Light Up M


indfulness meditation training may help people overcome addiction by activating the brain cen-


ters involved in self-control and addictive tendencies, suggests research from the psychology departments of Texas Tech University and the University of Oregon. Scientists led by Yi-Yuan Tang, Ph.D., studied 61


volunteers, including 27 smokers, randomly divided into groups that either received mindfulness meditation training or relaxation training. Two weeks later, after five hours of training, smoking among those in the meditative group decreased by 60 percent, while no significant reduction occurred in the relaxation group.


Brain imaging scans determined that the mindfulness meditation training pro- duced increased activity in the anterior cingulate and the prefrontal cortex; regions associated with self-control. Past research led by Tang showed that smokers and those with other addictions exhibited less activity in these areas than those free of addictions. The current study previously determined that myelin and brain cell matter in these two brain regions increases through mindfulness meditation.


Beets Beat Down Blood Pressure T


wo small studies have linked beets with lower blood pressure. A study from the University of Reading, in England, served beet-fortified bread or bread without beets to 23 healthy men. Those that ate the fortified bread experienced reduced diastolic blood pressure and less artery stiffness during the six hours afterwards. Australia’s Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute


studied 15 women and 15 men, divided randomly into groups that consumed either 500 grams of a place-


bo juice or beets with apple juice. During the 24 hours after consumption, the researchers noted a statistically significant reduction in systolic blood pressure of four to five points among the men drinking the beet juice.


Don’t let your dreams


be dreams. ~Jack Johnson


natural awakenings June 2014


9


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