Entry 1/17/09

From News Max Health:

Drinking Coffee Slashes Risk of Alzheimer’s

Drinking coffee during midlife can slash your risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. A Finnish study found that those who drank coffee at midlife had a lower risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease in late-life than those who drank no coffee at all. Those who drank three to five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk by 65 percent.

“We aimed to study the association between coffee and tea consumption at midlife and dementia/AD risk in late-life, because the long-term impact of caffeine on the central nervous system was still unknown, and as the pathologic processes leading to Alzheimer’s disease may start decades before the clinical manifestation of the disease,” says lead researcher, associate professor Miia Kivipelto from the University of Kuopio, Finland and Karloinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Coffee-drinking was categorized into three groups: low (0 to 2 cups daily), moderate (3 to 5 cups) and high (more than 5 cups). Tea-drinking was categorized into two groups: those not drinking tea and those who drank at least one cup daily. While all coffee drinkers had a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than non-drinkers, those who drank moderate amounts of coffee lowered their risk by a surprising 65 percent. Drinking tea had no impact on the risk of developing dementia.

“Given the large amount of coffee consumption globally, the results might have important implications for the prevention of or delaying the onset of dementia/AD. The finding needs to be confirmed by other studies, but it opens the possibility that dietary interventions could modify the risk of dementia/AD,” wrote Kivipelto. “Also, identification of mechanisms of how coffee exerts its protection against dementia/AD might help in the development of new therapies for these diseases.”

Weight: 237 lbs. Whoa! wrong direction. I have had the flu and taking Benydrl and not really caring what I eat. I don't know if antihistamines makes one retain water. I'll research that.

Breakfast: Two slices of whole wheat toast with tablespoon of peanut butter spread on them. 2 cups of coffe with half & half and sweetener. Peanut butter is not the best form of protein but it was fast and that is what I wanted this morning. I don't feel very well.

Snack: About 4 cups of popcorn that I popped for my Granddaughter. She loves to watch it pop.

Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, 8 oz skim milk. Wasn't too concerned about eating "right" today. I feel too bad. I just ate what I wanted.

Dinner: Went out to celebrate my baby's 24th birthday. Wish I had felt better. Had two chicken enchiladas with chili sauce, 1/2 cup of beans, 1/2 cup of rice and 3671 corn chips with salsa. That is the problem with me going to Mexican restaurants, I can't eat just one chip.Finished off my wife's margarita. She gets giddy after one sip of any drink.

Entry 01/16/09

Weight: 236lbs..... I forgot to weigh before eating breakfast as I usually do. This is a half pound gain from yesterday. Breakfast and 2 cups of coffee. Two cups of coffee weighs approximately 1 pound. (A gallon of water weighs weighs 8.3 pounds. There is 16 cups in a gallon. 8.3 lbs divided by is 16 cups is approximately .5 lbs. 2 cups = 1 pound). I have worked out with weights 2 days this week so I should have gained a little muscle which weighs more than fat for the same volume. This is confirmed somewhat by my 38 in. waist pants fit slightly looser yesterday. So my point in all this is that I am not alarmed that I weighed more today.

Breakfast: Two fried eggs in margarine, 2 slices of toast with a little strawberry jam and margarize, 10 blueberries. 2 cups of coffee with half & half. If you have more motivation to lose weight you should fry your eggs in a little canola oil spray and leave the strawberry jam and margarine off your toast.

In planning your meals I would suggest going to mypyramid.gov . It is a free site. There you can determine how may calories you need to eat each day how many calories in each food. Look in the sidebar of this blog under "Basics" to determine how many calories you need reduce to lose fat. Remember cutting out too many calories can produce the opposite result.

Entry 01/15/09

Weight: 235.5

Breakfast: 2 slices of bacon (only the lean part), 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of toast coffee with half & half.
I usually take 1 to 2 fish oil capsules with breakfast - definitely when I consume any animal fat or eggs.

Snack: 10 blueberries

Lunch: Double Cheese burger and Diet coke

Snack: 2 walnuts

Dinner: Tuna helper and 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 7 oz milk

Exercise: None....I'll be glad when spring comes and I can get out to walk and jog. I could go to the track at the Rec center but it is so boring. Makes me feel like a hamster running in his wheel.

Entry 01/14/09

Weight: 235.5

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs. 2 slices of whole wheat toast. Coffee with half & half.

Snack: 10 blueberries (good source of antioxidants)

Lunch: Grilled chicken thigh and drumstick, grilled vegatables, beans, Pica de Gallo
and diet coke.

Snack: 5 walnuts (good source of omega 3)

Dinner: 2 pieces of fried fish and cole slaw, diet pepsi

Snack: 10 blueberries

Exercise: Weight workout with 5 minute warm up and 10 minute cool down walks. Total time 1hr 20 min. Max heart rate 138 beats per minute and Avg HR of 111 bpm. 103 bpm is the low end of the fat burning range for a man 61 yrs old, 119 is the top of the range.

Entry 01/10/09

Exercise: Couldn't work it in today. I really need to. It is important to weight loss. Not as important as eating correctly but there is some interdependence between the two. I find this especially true as I age. I need exercise to counteract the normal muscle atrophy of aging and the decrease in metabolism. Muscle is very important to burning calories. The more muscle we have the more calories burned even while we sleep. Exercise also helps us avoid negative emotions which can lead to eating to make us feel good.

After our early twenties, our bodies begin aging. All our joints and organs are past their prime. Exercise helps slow the onset of arthritis and other joint problems. Joint cartilage depends on synovial fluid for its nutrition since it has no blood vessels. Synovial fluid is forced into the cartilage surfaces when the joint is loaded, as in physical activity. Joint cartilage functions in an elastic manner during short term loading. The cartilage becomes temporarily deformed when long term loading forces water out of the cartilage. It returns to its original shape when unloaded, when water is again drawn into the cartilage. The alternate compression and decompression along with the pumping of synovial fluid due to physical activity is partly responsible for nutrition to the cartilage.

Breakfast: Boiled egg, 2 slices of toast with margarine and tiny bit of strawberry preserves. Coffee, with creamer and sweetener.

Lunch: Bowl of Chilli and Bologna sandwich, 6 oz. skim milk

Entry 01/09/09

Breakfast: Cup of multigrain Cheerios with skim milk. Not my first choice of cereal but all that was on hand. Cheerios have a glycemic index (how quickly converted to glucose) over 55.I try to avoid foods over 55. Oh well, I wanted cereal this morning. Tired of eggs. Coffee with creamer and sweetener.

Lunch: 2 pieces of fried fish, Cole slaw, diet Pepsi.

Snacks: 5 walnuts, Medium apple

Dinner: Salmon, steamed veggies. Lipton Diet green tea.

Snack: Bowl of Ice cream. Shouldn't have but I did. It was "emotional eating" eating as an escape from emotional pain. A lot is going on with my mother and children. Best thing to prevent this is to have only healthy food in the house.

Entry 01/07/09

Breakfast: Two slices of toast with peanut butter, coffee with cream and Equal. Food scientist Dr. Woodrow Monte states that a sweetener should be out 20 years and deemed safe before you use it. There's a new one on the market. I can't think of the name but it is supposed to be all natural like Stevia, which taste like a root to me. I'll be 81 yrs. old in 20 years. I'll let you know what I think about it then. NOT! I'm going to try it as soon as I find it in the super market.

Lunch: 5 oz. turkey breast, creamed spinach, green beans, water with lemon.

Snack: 5 walnuts.

Dinner: A few nacho my daughter did not eat and a tuna fish sandwich, green tea.

No exercise today. I really missed walking on such a fine day but I had a full plate today.