posted
The following article was reprinted in the November 2010 issue of �The Herbal Dispatch� � a monthly newsletter put out by The Medical Botanicals Program at Mountain State University in Beckley, West Virginia.
I did not know that an MRI could be used to measure brain hypoperfusion, but apparently it is possible if the radiologists know how to interpret it. The research was done at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and appears reputable. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. L. Baker, NaturalNews, November 16, 2010
Daily Dose of Beet Juice promotes Brain Health in Older Adults
The memory and mind-destroying disease known as Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are often seen as terrifying consequences of aging that strike out of the blue -- and supposedly little can be done to prevent or treat these horrible conditions. But while Big Pharma has consistently failed to come up with drugs that halt or reverse cognitive decline, at least for long, research into natural therapies continues to provide tangible evidence that much can be done to fight dementia using exercise, diet and supplements.
For example, vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to declining mental abilities and researchers have also found that ancient meditation and exercise techniques, including qigong and Tai Chi, slow physical, mental and psychological decline in people with dementia.
And now, for the first time, scientists have discovered that drinking beet juice can increase blood flow to the brain in older adults and may combat the progression of Alzheimer's and related conditions.
For the new study, which is slated for publication in Nitric Oxide: Biology and Chemistry, the peer-reviewed journal of the Nitric Oxide Society, scientists at Wake ForestUniversity's Translational Science Center looked at how dietary nitrates affected 14 adults age 70 and older over a period of four days.
High concentrations of nitrates are found in beets and other foods including celery, cabbage, spinach and some kinds of lettuce. When a person eats high nitrate foods, the beneficial "good" bacteria in the mouth transform the nitrates into nitrites. And researchers have found that nitrites then naturally open up the blood vessels in the body. This increases blood flow and helps oxygen get specifically to places in the body where oxygen is lacking.
"There have been several very high-profile studies showing that drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure, but we wanted to show that drinking beet juice also increases perfusion, or blood flow, to the brain," Daniel Kim-Shapiro, director of the Translational Science Center, said in a press statement. "There are areas in the brain that become poorly perfuse as you age, and that's believed to be associated with dementia and poor cognition."
On the first day, the research volunteers reported to the lab after a 10 hour fast, completed a health status report, and then drank either a high or low nitrate breakfast. The high nitrate breakfast included 16 ounces of beet juice. Then the study participants went home with lunch, dinner and snacks conforming to their specifically assigned diets.
The following day, after another 10 hour fast, the volunteers went back to the lab where they ate their assigned breakfasts. Blood samples were taken before and after breakfast to measure nitrite levels in their bodies. Then, one hour after eating, an MRI was performed to record the blood flow in each individual subject's brain. On the third and fourth days of the study, the scientists switched the diets and repeated the process for each subject.
The results of the MRIs showed conclusively that after the older adults ate a high nitrate diet, they experienced increased blood flow to the white matter of the frontal lobes -- the very area of the brain commonly associated with degeneration linked to dementia and other cognitive conditions.
"I think these results are consistent and encouraging -- that good diet consisting of a lot of fruits and vegetables can contribute to overall good health," Gary Miller, associate professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and one of the senior investigators on the project, said in a press statement.
------------------------------------------------ A word of caution � The quote below is something I found in a herb book titled �Herbal Defense � on page 336.
Quote: Beet juice is the king of liver detoxifying root vegetables; in fact, it is so powerful that it must be used carefully. It detoxifies the liver so quickly that it must be mixed with other juices so that excess toxins don�t get blasted into your bloodstream all at once.
Karta Purkh remembers one time he happened to bump into someone who wasn�t aware of this. In the checkout line in an Asian grocery, a young woman was chatting with the checkout clerk. She was wielding an empty container and proudly announcing, �I just drank sixteen ounces of beet juice!� Karta Purkh turned to the clerk and asked, �Do you have a bed or couch somewhere in the store?� The clerk responded, bewildered, �Sure, why?� Karta Purkh explained, indicating the woman, �Because she�s going to faint.�
Right then, the woman slumped to the floor, caught just in time by the clerk. She slept for an hour in a back room of the grocery. The problem was that such a large quantity of pure beet juice stimulated her liver to dump accumulated toxins and wastes into her bloodstream that couldn�t be eliminated all at once. Endquote
--------------------------------------------- I did try giving hubby some beet juice powder once I got at the health food store. I think we only used a teaspoon at a time. I wonder if the powdered beet juice would work the same as the bottled juice? Anyone know what the nitrite content of either is?
Next week when I go the health food store I definitely plan to be on the lookout for beet juice. Beets are actually one of the few veggies hubby does not like � but I can probably sneak some of the juice into his V8 juice.
If anyone tries this please post and let us know if you think it helps with cognitive issues and/or hypoperfusion.
Bea Seibert
Posts: 7306 | From Martinsville,VA,USA | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I stumbled upon this 'remedy' late this summer as I visited a local farmer's market and was given some beets.
As a result of eating beets (for the first time in many many years) I got chills --a babesia herx!! my llmd was stumped. I connected the dots a month or two later.
After that I did begin juicing. It definitely helps with cognitive issues. Also helps with a number of other things. As you know, you have to go slow.
The greens are better to juice and/or saute with garlic & oil. They are a powerful anti-inflammatory.
The beet root is a very mild inflammatory food. I do not have the link right now, but you can just google it.
In answer to your question: YES, I have noticed personal benefits from juicing/eating beets.
Posts: 797 | From New York | Registered: Feb 2008
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This second link talks abt varicose veins, perhaps that's a similar mechanism by which hypoperfusion in the brain is reduced.
Posts: 797 | From New York | Registered: Feb 2008
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