Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D may control brain serotonin, affecting behavior and psychiatric disorders.

In a previous paper published last year, authors Patrick and Ames discussed the implications of their finding that vitamin D regulates the conversion of the essential amino acid tryptophan into serotonin, and how this may influence the development of autism, particularly in developing children with poor vitamin D status.

Here they discuss the relevance of these micronutrients for neuropsychiatric illness. Serotonin affects a wide-range of cognitive functions and behaviors including mood, decision-making, social behavior, impulsive behavior, and even plays a role in social decision-making by keeping in check aggressive social responses or impulsive behavior.

Many clinical disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression share as a unifying attribute low brain serotonin. "In this paper we explain how serotonin is a critical modulator of executive function, impulse control, sensory gating, and pro-social behavior," says Dr. Patrick. "We link serotonin production and function to vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, suggesting one way these important micronutrients help the brain function and affect the way we behave."

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) increases serotonin release from presynaptic neurons by reducing inflammatory signaling molecules in the brain known as E2 series prostaglandins, which inhibit serotonin release and suggests how inflammation may negatively impact serotonin in the brain. EPA, however, is not the only omega-3 that plays a role in the serotonin pathway. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) also influences the action of various serotonin receptors by making them more accessible to serotonin by increasing cell membrane fluidity in postsynaptic neurons.

Their paper illuminates the mechanistic links that explain why low vitamin D, which is mostly produced by the skin when exposed to sun, and marine omega-3 deficiencies interacts with genetic pathways, such as the serotonin pathway, that are important for brain development, social cognition, and decision-making, and how these gene-

micronutrient interactions may influence neuropsychiatric outcomes. "Vitamin D, which is converted to a steroid hormone that controls about 1,000 genes, many in the brain, is a major deficiency in the US and omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies are very common because people don't eat enough fish," said Dr. Ames.

This publication suggests that optimizing intakes of vitamin D, EPA, and DHA would optimize brain serotonin concentrations and function, possibly preventing and ameliorating some of the symptoms associated with these disorders without side effects.
Rhonda P. Patrick And Bruce N. Ames. Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior. FASEB Journal, February 2015

Making Choices that Slow Aging Significantly

Have you heard about telomeres? At the end of your chromosomes or DNA strands, you have protective caps called telomeres (imagine the little caps at the end of your shoelaces).

The length of your telomeres can tell you either how quickly or how slowly you are aging. Telomeres also shed light on the strength of your immune system. Their length indicates your risk of death and disease, including heart disease and cancer. Having short telomeres even points to higher risk of dementia.

In people who are older than 60 researchers have shown that those with shorter telomeres are eight times more likely to die from infectious diseases and three times more likely to die from heart disease. Although all telomeres shorten with age, an unhealthy lifestyle is linked to significantly greater telomere shortening. Researchers studying telomeres believe that lifespan may be increased by as much as five to ten years by changing habits that impact telomere length. Here are the most important choices you can make to protect your telomeres.

Knock out inflammation, and eat an antioxidant rich diet.

Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress caused by free radicals sabotage health, longevity and telomere length. Eating foods that contain lots of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds helps prevent this double whammy of damage.

Be sure your diet includes abundant colorful fruits and vegetables like berries, cherries, pomegranates,  beets, oranges, and apples. And load up on dark green vegetables like collard greens and kale. Choose daily servings of orange veggies like carrots and sweet potato. And enjoy nuts, seeds, beans, fatty fish (salmon, rainbow trout, sardines), herbs, spices, 100% whole grains. Drink green or black tea and cook at low temperatures with extra virgin olive oil.

In terms of supplements, research suggests that vitamin D may improve telomere maintenance. Know your vitamin D levels by getting them checked at your annual check up. In the Sister Study, a daily multivitamin was also linked to longer telomeres in women. And of course if you don’t eat fatty fish at least twice a week, you should take a daily fish oil capsule. In the Heart And Soul study at the University of California, San Francisco involving over 600 outpatients with stable heart disease, individuals with the lowest intakes of marine source omega-3 fats experienced the most rapid rate of telomere shortening, whereas those with the highest intakes experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening. Be sure you get at least 1000 mg daily of the EPA and DHA from cold water fish. And be sure the supplement you choose is tested and found to be free of harmful levels of compounds like mercury, lead, cadmium and PCBs. My fish oil brand is Carlson Laboratories.  Disclosure: I am their Senior Nutritionist and Educator. The folks at Carlson are seriously nice people, lucky me.

Eliminate added sugar, white bread, unhealthy fats and processed meat.

Some foods slow the aging process, others put aging on the fast track. Sugar, refined carbohydrates including white bread cakes cookies and crackers, unhealthy fats particularly trans fats and high omega-6 vegetable oils and processed meats are the most harmful. Based on data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey involving over 5300 adults, drinking one sugar- sweetened soft drink daily accelerated aging as much as smoking. In a study of children and teens in Spain, white bread was the worst habit. In a study in Finland, involving almost 2000 elderly men and women, a high intake of saturated fat was linked to shorter telomeres.

Do whatever you must to stay at a healthy weight for your height.

At St. Thomas Hospital in the UK, obese women had telomeres that were significantly shorter than in lean women of the same age. This was not surprising. Fat cells are biologically active, and not in a good way. Fat secretes hormones that increase inflammation in the body and cause oxidative stress. ( Oh those two again!) Thus telomeres shorten, aging hits the gas pedal, and lifespans are shortened. Eat whole foods, be more active and work to reduce stress to keep your weight within a healthy range.

At the risk of being redundant. Stay active and reduce sitting time.
Moving your body several times everyday provides phenomenal health benefits, not the least of which is slamming the brakes on aging considerably. Daily activity boosts your resistance to infections, guards against chronic inflammation and helps to combat stress. You’ll get slim and you’ll be protecting the length of those all important telomeres. In one study that followed 2,400 twins, being regularly active during leisure time meant significantly longer telomeres (about 10 years younger biologically) compared to persons who were inactive.

Get up out of that chair! How much time you spend sitting also matters. In a 6 month study in Sweden, involving sedentary, overweight men and women, reducing sitting time resulted in significantly longer telomeres. Always aim for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day. Break up sitting time throughout the day and evening too. Sitting equals aging. Here’s an idea. Get up every 30 minutes and drink a small glass of water. (see what I did there?)

Watch your alcohol and never smoke cigarettes. If you smoke now is the time to quit.
Have you ever looked at people who smoke regularly or who drink excessively? They do not paint a pretty picture. They always look older than they should for their age. Heavy drinking and smoking ages you at a cellular level. The American Association for Cancer Research reported that telomere length was dramatically shorter (about half as long) in those who consumed heavy amounts of alcohol compared to those who did not. In a study reported in the UK, telomere shortening caused by smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years was equivalent to the loss of almost 71⁄2 years of life. Bottom line: don’t smoke and if you drink, do so only in moderation (one drink daily for women and two for men).

Defend your quality of sleep vigorously. Getting enough sleep (7 hours or more) and getting good quality sleep are both linked to longer telomeres. The older you are, the more significant this relationship is. Proper sleep helps repair telomeres and protects against damage caused by inflammation. Lack of sleep increases inflammation in the body significantly.

Zen extends life. If you’re chronically stressed out, anxious, lonely or depressed, your telomeres are probably shorter. If you have recently suffered a great loss, you’re also at risk. Stress hormones, like cortisol, make you gain weight around the middle, think belly fat. The hormone also damages cells and hastens aging. In a study involving healthy premenopausal women, those with the highest levels of perceived stress had telomeres shorter on average by the equivalent of at least 10 years of additional aging compared to low stress women. 

In a demonstration of all of the points made here today, a UC study found that telomere shortening was less pronounced  in high stress women if they exercised, ate well and got enough sleep. Good self-care must be a priority. 

There is also good news for meditators. Meditation also benefits telomere health. Om.

UCSF: Paleo Diet Brought Dramatic Health Benefits!

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Researchers from UCSF say that their research has shown people on a diet of high protein and plenty of vegetables show dramatic health improvements, including weight loss without exercising profusely and lower blood pressure. In short it's the diet of our caveman ancestors thousands of years ago who were what is termed "Hunter Gathers".

Contrast to our diet today?

We eat whatever and whenever we want, and generally speaking the food is heavily processed and high in sugar and salt.

The team selected people who were unhealthy in one way or another. They were given a specific diet of lean meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables. The diet includes only healthy fats, such as those in the fish and in nuts and seeds.

What happened? Everyone's blood pressure went down. In two weeks the entire group’s cholesterol and triglycerides got better.  The average drop was 30 points ... That's the kind of cholesterol result you get by taking Statins for six months.

People on the diet have experienced a regression of their diabetes as a result, to the point they are effectively cured.

Rupert Shepherd B.Sc. "Eat Like A Caveman To Lose Weight." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 Nov. 2011

Inherited Alzheimer's May be Detected 20 Years before the Onset of Dementia.

It soon may be possible for doctors to identify persons who have Alzheimer’s decades before dementia is present, allowing earlier intervention to protect the brain. This breakthrough in identification methods was reported on July 20 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris. The new insights come from an ongoing study: the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Network (DIAN), an international study of inherited forms of Alzheimer’s.

Based on what is seen in the study group, brain chemistry changes can be detected up to 20 years before the expected age of detectable symptoms.  The Alzheimer’s-related changes can be specifically targeted for prevention trials in patients with inherited forms of Alzheimer’s.

The doctors are looking specifically at the value of disease indicators from cerebrospinal fluid analyses. DIAN researchers are studying members of families who have mutations in one of three genes: amyloid precursor protein, presenilin 1 or presenilin 2. Participants with these mutations are certain to develop Alzheimer’s disease early, with symptoms beginning in their 50s, 40s, or, in some rare cases, 30s.

Participants who carry the mutations but are still asymptomatic have significantly lower levels of amyloid beta and higher levels of tau protein in their cerebrospinal fluid than participants without the mutations.

Amyloid beta normally is cleared from the brain and into the spinal fluid. Scientists theorize that decreases in spinal fluid levels of amyloid beta reflect a buildup of this sticky protein fragment in the brain, where it forms Alzheimer’s plaques. Tau protein is a structural component of central nervous system cells. Its increase in cerebrospinal fluid is thought to be a byproduct of damage to brain cells.


DIAN is supported by funding from the National Institute on Aging. One hopes that our contentious political climate will not result in a loss of funding for this important work.

National Institutes of Health Article Here

Lifestyle factors that are protective against amyloid and tau accumulation in the brain include fish and fish oil consumption, it is especially important to get adequate DHA which is specifically protective against the increases of amyloid.

More than just your eyesight...vitamin A supports gene expression...

Study Indicates Vitamin A Plays Key Role in the Human Body

More direct role for Vitamin A than previously believed in sperm cell production, development of central nervous system, and other vital physiological functions.

The study provided evidence to show that Vitamin A, or retinol, the most common dietary form of the vitamin and the parental compound of the retinoid group, is directly involved in nuclear receptor signaling pathways -- a process which activates genes in the human body.

Van Andel Research Institute (2011, March 18). Vitamin A plays key role in the human body, study suggests. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 22, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/03/110317131038.htm

The Power of Your Plate...

Biologists Show How Veggies Work in Cancer-Fighting Diet

Did you know: vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage are filled with compounds that could help reverse or prevent cancers and other aging-related diseases? It's called "epigenetics"...and some amazing things have emerged from this work...such as...

Compounds in some veggies and foods suppress gene aberrations that over time cause fatal diseases.

and...these foods actually reverse harmful genetic developments...

for instance...sipping tea compounds called polyphenols in daily amounts that are equivalent to approximately three cups of green tea has been shown to reverse breast cancer in laboratory mice by suppressing the gene that triggers the disease. 

Similarly, a daily cup of broccoli sprouts, which has sulforaphane as an active compound, has been shown to reduce the risk of developing many different cancers. You can get broccoli sprouts at places like Whole Foods and Sprouts Farmers Market, among others...

So have more of these: soybeans, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage. Broccoli sprouts...Green tea, fava beans, kale, grapes and the spice turmeric.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/uab-biologists-show-how-veggies-work-in-cancer-fighting-diet