And you also need sodium to live.

As for antioxidants, I trust carrot juice because I can feel it working. Vitamin A is amazing. Thank you Costco for making it affordable!

Big difference between "supplements" of antioxidants and whole foods containing antioxidants...

The study seems to be about supplements.. so why the big photo of blueberries?

When I phased out of my frozen blueberry addiction... I found carrot juice.. Why is it so delicious?

I mix it with everything, especially good quality OJ. I just wish it came in a high-pulp version.

1/3 Carrot juice, 1/3 OJ, 1/3 milk or kefir and some vanilla tastes like an Orange Julius/Push-Up popsicle.

Mmmmmm. Thanks....

In a routine CT a kidney artery was found to be 70-80% blocked. The nephrologist I was sent to blamed it on oxidized due to smoking and suggested anti-oxidants. He didn't specify any special one, just one to counter oxidation effects smoking causes. My daughter an ER trauma nurse suggested krill oil due to its high anti-oxidant properties. The next 2 CTs over the following 2yr period showed the blockage reduced to 60-70% and the most recent CT showed no blockage. Annual CTs have been done following a AAA aneurysms growth rate.

I can't think of anything other than the krill oil to cause the partial blockage to disappear. I don't believe in most OTC or herbs, but having this result has me scratching my head and rethinking my views.

that some one food is magic and will cure everything, or that some one food is poison and no one, absolutely no one should eat it.

Now, if you're severely allergic to a food (or several foods) then yes, for you that food is poison and you better not eat it. But some of us have no food allergies and can eat anything we want. Really.

The best kind of eating you can do is to eat a balanced diet of varied foods. Honest.

more at link: https://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/cgi-bin/wordpress/2011/07/diet-and-neurogenesis/


Vitamins, Nutrients, and Foods that promote Neurogenesis^

Another line of research on diet and neurogenesis has investigated the effect of dietary nutrients on the birth of new neurons. Several antioxidants, such as flavonoids, vitamin E, and curcumin, increase neurogenesis in rodent brains. Antioxidants are chemicals that prevent damage from free radicals, and thus might promote neurogenesis by protecting new neurons, among other things (Gómez-Pinilla, 2008). Flavonoids, found in cocoa and blueberries, are chemicals that increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus of stressed rats, possibly by increasing levels of BDNF (Stangl and Thuret, 2009), and/or by improving blood flow to the brain, which can increase hippocampal neurogenesis (Spencer, 2009). Vitamin E, abundant in vegetable oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables, aids neurological performance in aging mice (Gómez-Pinilla, 2008). Curcumin, found in yellow curry spice, may increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus of rodents by activating certain cell signaling pathways known to increase neurogenesis and decrease stress responses (Stangl and Thuret, 2009). For more information on curcumin, click here.

Another antioxidant, found in green tea, goes one step further than the others. The chemical (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (called EGCG) promotes neurogenesis in the hippocampus (Yoo et al., 2010), and has been shown to reduce the damage from oxidative stress in other neurodegenerative diseases (Ehrnhoefer et al., 2006). When flies with a form of HD were treated with EGCG, their control over their movements improved (Ehrnhoefer et al., 2006). EGCG might also directly fight the damage of HD, as it has been shown to slow the rate at which the mutant form of the huntingtin protein forms the plaques that are thought to hurt the brain (Ehrnhoefer et al., 2006).

In addition to antioxidants, other nutrients have also been shown to play a role in neurogenesis. Omega-3 fatty acids, present in fish and flaxseed, might also promote neurogenesis, and have been shown to decrease cognitive decline seen with aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s (Yurko-Mauro et al, 2010). For more information, click here. Vitamins might stimulate the birth of new neurons since, in some cases, vitamin deficiency can inhibit neurogenesis. For example, deficits in zinc inhibit neurogenesis in the hippocampus of rodents. Zinc, a vitamin essential for normal brain development, promotes the survival and proliferation of neural stem cells, which are the main cell type capable of generating neurons (Adamo and Oteiza, 2010). Therefore, zinc deficiency inhibits neurogenesis in the hippocampus of rodents. Similarly, a deficiency of retinoic acid, a metabolite of vitamin A found in animal foods such as milk, inhibits hippocampal neurogenesis (Stangl and Thuret, 2009).

Altogether, research on diet and neurogenesis is not conclusive. It is difficult to study nutrients effectively: studying a nutrient in isolation ignores many of the complex interactions the nutrient may have in the body. However, there are a few relatively consistent messages that emerge. A vitamin-rich, low-fat diet aids neurogenesis in experiments with rodents, and a low-calorie diet mitigates the effects of neurogenerative disease in mice. As for humans, this diet has not been shown to directly help neurogenesis or ameliorate the problems of HD (Huntington Study group, 2008; Block et al., 2011), but healthy diets have a vast number of other physical and mental benefits: longer life, elevated mood, and higher energy levels, to name a few. In conclusion, eating healthy might promote neurogenesis – but even if it does not, a healthy diet certainly will not hurt.

Obviously anyone who says something different becomes woo.