Food for Thought

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Food for Thought

• Jenn Betancourt
• 01.20.09

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Aphrodisiacs

• May enhance sexual desire/arousal
• Examples
• Coffee caffeine
• Chocolate flavinoids
• Watermelon citrulline
• Chili Peppers

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Capsaicin

• Produced by chili peppers in glands near stem
• Roles
• Topical ointment used for pain relief
• Release of endorphins from hypothalamus

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Foods that may enhance memory and/or prevent the
aging process

• Sage extract oil enhances memory recall
• Blueberries improves spatial memory in aged
  subjects
• Red wine may inhibit the aging process of the
  brain

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Sage S. lavandulaefolia

• Prevents breakdown of Acetylcholine
• ACh a neurotransmitter involved in learning,
  memory and attention.

• Result Sage immediately improved word recall in
  young adults

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Blueberry V. spp

• Flavanols and anthocyanins
• Increased BDNF levels in hippocampus
• Correlates with better spatial memory performance

• Result Blueberries may reverse age-related
  memory loss

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Resveratrol

• Phytoalexin found in the skin of red grapes and
  in red wine
• Implicated beneficial effects
• Cardiovascular disease
• Anti-cancer
• Anti-aging antioxidant

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Alzheimers Disease

• Beginning Stage Symptoms
• Short term memory loss
• Confusion
• Late Stage Symptoms
• Long term memory loss
• Language difficulty
• Degradation of senses
• Loss of Bodily function

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Neurological Symptoms

• Loss of neurons and synapses
• Atrophy in frontal, temporal and parietal lobes
• Amyloid plaques
• neurofibrillary tangles

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A glass of wine a day keeps the Alzheimers
away???

• Resveratrol may be able to reduce plaques in
  specific regions of the brain

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Summary

• Certain foods may have health benefits by
  affecting specific regions of the nervous system.
• Pain
• Arousal
• Learning and memory
• More research must be done in the approach for a
  cure for Alzheimers Disease