Beauty Health for Life

While Omega-3 essential fatty acids—found in foods like wild fish and grass-fed livestock—are necessary for human body functioning, their effects on the working memory of healthy young adults have not been studied until now.

In the first study of its kind, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have determined that healthy young adults ages 18-25 can improve their working memory even further by increasing their Omega-3 fatty acid intake. Their findings have been published online in PLOS One.

“Before seeing this data, I would have said it was impossible to move young healthy individuals above their cognitive best,” said Bita Moghaddam, project investigator and professor of neuroscience. “We found that members of this population can enhance their working memory performance even further, despite their already being at the top of their cognitive game.”

Led by Rajesh Narendarn, project principal investigator and associate professor of radiology, the Pitt research team sought healthy young men and women from all ethnicities to boost their Omega-3 intake with supplements for six months. They were monitored monthly through phone calls and outpatient procedures.

Before they began taking the supplements, all participants underwent positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, and their blood samples were analyzed. They were then asked to perform a working memory test in which they were shown a series of letters and numbers. The young adults had to keep track of what appeared one, two, and three times prior, known as a simple “n-back test.”

“What was particularly interesting about the presupplementation n-back test was that it correlated positively with plasma Omega-3,” said Moghaddam. “This means that the Omega-3s they were getting from their diet already positively correlated with their working memory.”

After six months of taking Lovaza—an Omega-3 supplement approved by the Federal Drug Administration—the participants were asked to complete this series of outpatient procedures again. It was during this last stage, during the working memory test and blood sampling, that the improved working memory of this population was revealed.

“So many of the previous studies have been done with the elderly or people with medical conditions, leaving this unique population of young adults unaddressed,” said Matthew Muldoon, project coinvestigator and associate professor of medicine at Pitt. “But what about our highest-functioning periods? Can we help the brain achieve its full potential by adapting our healthy behaviors in our young adult life? We found that we absolutely can.”

Although the effects of Omega-3s on young people were a focus, the Pitt team was also hoping to determine the brain mechanism associated with Omega-3 regulation. Previous rodent studies suggested that removing Omega-3 from the diet might reduce dopamine storage (the neurotransmitter associated with mood as well as working memory) and decrease density in the striatal vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (commonly erred to as VMAT2, a protein associated with decision making). Theore, the Pitt researchers posited that increasing VMAT2 protein was the mechanism of action that boosted cognitive performance. Unfortunately, PET imaging revealed this was not the case.

“It is really interesting that diets enriched with Omega-3 fatty acid can enhance cognition in highly functional young individuals,” said Narendarn. “Nevertheless, it was a bit disappointing that our imaging studies were unable to clarify the mechanisms by which it enhances working memory.”

Ongoing animal modeling studies in the Moghaddam lab indicate that brain mechanisms that are affected by Omega-3s may be differently influenced in adolescents and young adults than they are in older adults. With this in mind, the Pitt team will continue to evaluate the effect of Omega-3 fatty acids in this younger population to find the mechanism that improves cognition.

Other Pitt researchers involved in the project include William G. Frankle, professor of psychiatry, and Neal S. Mason, research assistant professor of radiology.

The paper, “Improved Working Memory but No Effect on Striatal Vesicular Monoamine Transporter Type 2 after Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation” was published online Oct. 3 by PLOS One and supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009.

If youve ever tried to eat healthy, and if youre reading this you probably have, then youve noticed the gaping hole in your wallet.  Real food can be expensive; naturally raised meat, fresh organic produce, extra virgin olive oil, nuts... healthy food aint cheap.  The cost has been one of the main obstacles for me in eating a real food, paleo-style diet.  Even though I make food a high priority in my life, Im still a poor college student.  I cant always afford top-quality food.

But luckily, there are healthy, dirt-cheap foods out there that even I can afford.  Sure, youve gotta make some compromises; you just cant eat optimally on a budget.  But you can make a damn good stab at it. Not poor you say?  Just looking to save some money on food to keep fueling your hookers and cocaine habit?  No problem.  Im here to help.  Here are 5 healthy, inexpensive foods that you can base your diet around.

1. Kale
$0.99/lb
$0.25/serving
Kale is everyones darling health food.  Some say its even the most nutrient-dense food on the planet.  I wouldnt go that far, but its a great food nonetheless.  Fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, lutein, zeaxanthin, calcium... Kale covers all of your vegetable needs in one little package, and at a great price.  Its versatile too.  You can steam it and eat it on its own, put it in your eggs, add it to a smoothie, or use it in a stir fry.  It works in everything.  You can even eat it raw in a salad if youre up to it, although I personally dont like the taste unless its cooked.  But maybe thats just me.  Give it a try!  (If you really hate kale, substitute it with another green like swiss chard or collard greens, the difference is negligible.)


White potatoes have been getting a bad rap lately, but its completely unfounded.  Just because theyre white doesnt make them bad; its a case of nutritional racism I say.  In fact, according to Mat Lalondes nutrient density scale, theyre even more nutrient dense than sweet potatoes!  And they come in many varieties...  Russet, Yukon gold, red, theyre all good. You can mash them, roast them, bake them, or just stick one in the microwave for a quick meal.  Throw some butter on it and youre all set.  Theyre full of a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, especially potassium... screw bananas, potatoes are an even better source of potassium.  And if all that isnt enough, research shows that theyre one of the most satiating foods around, meaning theyll fill you up with fewer calories.  Perfect budget weight loss food?  Perhaps.


3. Bananas
$0.69/lb
$0.20/serving
Okay I know I just said screw bananas.  Dont take that literally.  But really, you shouldnt shun them completely, because they too are a cheap source of good calories.  At just $0.20 for the average banana, they make a great snack, or even a simple addition to your breakfast.  Bananas are surprisingly nutrient-dense as well, chock full of vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium, and manganese.  You dont even have to worry about buying them organic, since we dont eat the peel. No pesticide concerns there.  Have at it, hoss.



4. Eggs
$1.99/dozen
$0.17/egg
Gotta get your animal foods in on this Poor Man Diet.  Animal foods are typically more expensive, so that leaves our options few and far between.  But eggs provide far and away the most nutritional bang for your buck.  Weve got healthy fats, vitamin A, choline, selenium, and much more. Theyre a little low on B12 and iron for an animal food, but we can get that from the occasional red meat.  Were poor here, remember?  Oh, and remember back when eggs killed you?  Well dont worry about that anymore.  If theres one high cholesterol, high saturated fat food that we can all agree is healthy, its eggs.  Even WebMD agrees, eggs are no longer a nutritional no-no.  Have no fear, the egg is here.  Hard-boil em, scramble em, whatever you want to do.  Just eat them.


5. White Rice
$8.99/20 lb bag
$0.04/serving
Yes, white rice.  I choose white, not brown.  Brown rice may be posh right now, but dont let the hype fool you... brown rice contains higher amounts of arsenic, and it depletes the body of minerals.  Let go of your brown rice bias, just do it.  Is white rice high a nutrient-dense food?  No, of course not.  But therere a few minerals in there, and the white rice of today is fortified with B vitamins.  But thats not why Im recommending it.  Would you look at the price??  Its 4 cents per serving for crying out loud!  This is by far the number one budget food... not even close.  It may not be nutrient-dense, but its a good source of calories for your Poor Man Diet. You do have to eat something after all.  On top of that, its incredibly versatile.  You can eat it on its own as a side dish, incorporate it into a stir fry, use it as a stuffing.  Just use your imagination, you can do it.  Oh wait, we dont use imaginations anymore, we use Google instead.  So Google it.  Or ask your resident Asian.


There you have it.  Five inexpensive foods you can base your healthy diet on.  Now you have no excuse.  

Coming up next week, look out for the next step... 10 cheap supplemental foods for your Poor Man Diet. These will fill in the nutritional holes of the base foods, although I have to say these do a pretty decent job of covering everything considering the circumstances.  Stay tuned!

Obese, postmenopausal women are at greater risk for developing breast cancer and their cancers tend to be more aggressive than those in lean counterparts. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the December issue of the journal Cancer Research shows how this risk might be prevented.

“By using nutrient tracers for fat and sugar, we tracked where the body stored excess calories. In lean models, excess fat and glucose were taken up by the liver, mammary and skeletal tissues. In obese models, excess fat and glucose were taken up by tumors, fueling their growth,” says Erin Giles, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at the CU Cancer Center and the paper’s lead author.

In short, if you are lean, excess calories go to healthy tissue. If you are obese, excess calories feed the tumor.

“This implies that the menopausal window may be an opportunity for women to control their breast cancer risk through weight management,” Giles says.

In this study, Giles worked with a team of scientists including postdoctoral fellows Elizabeth Wellberg and Sonali Jindal, as well as faculty members Steve Anderson, Pepper Schedin, Ann Thor and Paul Maclean. Their study also showed that tumors from obese animals had increased levels of the progesterone receptor, and this receptor appears to give tumors a metabolic advantage for growth. To extend their findings to humans, they recruited gene analysis experts David Astling and Aik-Choon Tan who analyzed 585 human breast cancers and found that human tumors expressing the progesterone receptor had the same metabolic advantage.

“Basically, we saw an abnormal metabolic response to fat and sugar in the obese that, in many ways, mirrors the response to fat and sugar in Type II diabetes,” Giles says. Noticing this similarity, the group tested the use of the common Type II diabetes drug, Metformin, in their model of postmenopausal breast cancer.

“With treatment, tumor size was dramatically decreased in the obese, and tumors showed reduced expression of the progesterone receptor,” Giles says.

Using a pre-clinical model, the investigators found that weight gain during menopause is particularly bad for those who are obese when entering menopause. Together, the results of this study suggest that the combination of obesity and weight gain during menopause can impact breast cancer in two ways. First, tumors that arise in obese women appear to have a metabolic advantage, and second, the inability to store excess calories in healthy tissues may further fuel tumor growth.

“While drugs may be useful in controlling breast cancer risk in obese, postmenopausal women, our results imply that a combination of diet and exercise may be equally if not more beneficial,” Giles says.

The group’s ongoing studies are testing whether interventions such as diet and exercise, during the period of menopausal weight gain, can improve tumor outcomes.