Remembering what's great about a good diet

In Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of the book "Jaws," when the police chief of Amity Island, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), gets his f...

Remembering what's great about a good diet

In Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of the book "Jaws," when the police chief of Amity Island, Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), gets his first look at the massive great white predator, he turns to bounty hunter Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) and says, "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat."

Same idea applies for anyone trying to reel in the beastly mass of information that's all around us these days. It's safe to say, you're gonna need a bigger brain.

Fortunately, there's a really tasty and safe way to make sure you have the thinking power you need to manage the oversize packets of data that stream onto your computer daily. And here's a sensible way to get it.

A recent study from Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands has shown that people who eat foods similar to what you get from the Mediterranean diet - fruits, vegetables and healthy fats from fish and little or no red meats, saturated fats or sugary beverages - have larger overall brain volume and more gray and white matter. That translates to more nerve density and a bigger hippocampus, which is the seat of emotions, memory and the autonomic nervous system, which controls everything from your heartbeat and breathing to digestion.

So if you don't want to get swallowed by the rising tide of today's information overload, make sure you get the nutritional power you need to run your bigger brain boat. You'll end up with more great white (and gray) matter between your ears.

© 2018 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Letting worries go

The first time Clevelanders dealt with the loss of LeBron James - to the Miami Heat - they protested in the streets and owner Dan Gilbert called James' decision a cowardly ...

Letting worries go

The first time Clevelanders dealt with the loss of LeBron James - to the Miami Heat - they protested in the streets and owner Dan Gilbert called James' decision a cowardly betrayal. Fast-forward eight years: Although they were sorry to see him go (again!), they didn't start jersey-burning bonfires, and Gilbert's farewell to his star player was wholeheartedly generous: "LeBron ... nothing but appreciation and gratitude for everything you put into every moment you spent in a Cavaliers uniform."

The town, apparently, has learned to recognize when a threat is no longer a threat. Having a team of young players could save ticket buyers money, and could be interesting next year (or the year after) without LeBron. But giving up that feeling of being threatened? That's not so easy for most folks, according to a new study published in Science.

When the researchers investigated people's reactions to threatening faces, they found that once people were exposed to those images, they thought faces with neutral expressions also were threatening. That persistent sense of peril can cause chronically elevated levels of stress hormones, putting you at risk for heart and memory woes, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and more.

You could ease your distress by winning a championship (that worked for a big part of Ohio), but don't overlook these proven de-stressors: taking 900 mg of DHA omega-3; exercising for 30 or more minutes; meditating for 10 minutes daily; eliminating added sugar from your diet; and having fun, like Cleveland will do when it wins another title, maybe in baseball.

© 2018 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Fast food's link to asthma and other allergies

One of American's favorite fast-food flavors is Chinese takeout. And that's good, because (with some attention, so you eliminate sugar-added, d...

Fast food's link to asthma and other allergies

One of American's favorite fast-food flavors is Chinese takeout. And that's good, because (with some attention, so you eliminate sugar-added, deep-fried options) it's a lot easier to order nutritious dishes from Chinese restaurants than from McWhopper drive-thrus. So isn't it ironic that these days in China it's hard to avoid the destructive power of hamburger-driven fast-food joints?

A study funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Science and Technology Foundation of Chengdu Science and the Technology Foundation of Sichuan Province found that American-style fast food - which is becoming ever more common in China - is linked to asthma and other allergic diseases, including allergic rhinitis, severe eczema and severe rhinoconjunctivitis (nasal congestion, runny nose, post-nasal drip, sneezing and red eyes).

You might think that China's air pollution is the real culprit when it comes to the 40 percent increase in that country's asthma cases between 2007 and 2013. However, this new fast-food mega-study (13 cross-sectional and three case-control studies) reveals that what you put inside your body can be just as damaging to your respiratory health as the air you breathe.

The researchers identify the causes of inflammation leading to respiratory and allergic distress as the fast foods' calorie-dense refined carbohydrates, sodium, sugar, cholesterol, additives such as preservatives and colorants, and high concentrations of saturated fat. Maybe both countries should ban trade in those fast foods - and promote mutual enjoyment of bok choy, sauteed green beans and fish with black bean sauce. Then everyone will pay a lower health tariff.

© 2018 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.