Forgetful? Try eating memory-boosting foods

In another study, the phytochemicals, anthocyanin and quercetin, actually reversed some of the age-related memory deficits in laboratory animals. Some of the memory-boosting foods are:

1. Some of the best cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and bok choy.
2. Some of the best leafy green vegetables: spinach, collard and mustard greens, kale and Swiss chard.
3. Some of the best foods for anthocyanin: Berries (all varieties), cherries, black currents, eggplant, red, black, and purple grapes, plums, rhubarb, red onion, red apples, red/purple cabbage, and red beets.
4. Some of the best foods for quercetin: Onions (red, yellow, white), kale, leeks, cherry tomato, broccoli, blueberries, black currants, elderberries, apricots, apple with skin (Red Delicious), and red, purple, and black grapes. 

Source credit: today dot com

Wagyu cattle and its rearing story

- do wagyu cows listen to music daily, and eat apples and receive massage?
- world popular wagyu cattle is bred and how is the beef graded?
- a farm has about 1500 top-grade wagyu cattle (black wagyu cattle) in Kagoshima, Japan
- 7am in the morning and 7 deg C in the streets
- sun sets at 4.30pm in Autumn

- before entering the farm, everyone has to gear up from head to toe in white caps and robes
- the robes are meant to ward off external diseases and illnesses
- workers wear uniforms that they can't take out of the farm

- the Japanese shower wagyu cattle with devoted care in rearing them
- they provide the cattle with a comfortable environment to grow 24/7 and 365 days a year
- the wagyu cattle listen to music and feel relaxed, which improves the beef texture and becomes more tender
- to breed superb wagyu beef, even the water for the cattle's consumption is monitored

- the cattle eat organic hay
- grains made from natural ingredients and protein-rich wheat and feed are fed to the cattle
- the cattle is strong and healthy

Biofactors for Young Children

- on average, children grow 5-6 cm per year during their preschool and early school years
- most healthy children also gain between 2-3 kg each year

- as young children grow, they’re building “bone mass”—the bone tissue in their skeleton
- most bone mass accumulates during childhood and adolescence
- helping bones reach maximum strength and density reduces the risk of childhood fractures and adult osteoporosis—a disease that causes bones to become fragile and break easily

- calcium is essential to developing bone mass
- studies indicate that young children often consume less calcium than is recommended

- calcium, along with biofactors that promote its absorption
- besides fortified with vitamin D, a balanced addition of phosphorus and low saturated fat levels
- too much phosphorus can interfere with calcium absorption, as can saturated fat

- zinc is another biofactor that is important for growth
- specifically, zinc triggers reactions for more than 300 body enzymes involved in growth, and there are studies that have found a positive link between zinc and gains in weight and height

Postpartum Depression (PND)

What is Postpartum Depression?
- commonly referred to as “postnatal blues” or “baby blues”
- defined as part of the psychological disturbance & usually occurs a few days after delivery
- lasts 2 to 3 days
- PND is characterized by mood swings, tearfulness, lack of confidence, self-reproach, poor sleep, changes in appetite and loss of libido

- depression can follow PND
- mother suffering from PND may feel depressed, irritable, worthless, helpless, tired and lacking in drive
- the mother may even perceive her infant as being difficult baby & is unable to cope with the demands of a newborn

How can Postpartum Depression be managed?

Expose baby to new flavours

- studies show that if a mother eats a diet rich in garlic, their milk tasted and smelled like garlic
- babies who drank the milk will not have any digestive problems, and preferred the garlicky milk to the unflavoured milk
- by eating a variety of foods while you are breastfeeding provides your baby a more adventurous diet eg. black bean and bulghur salad with parsley and lemon
- by drinking carrot juice during pregnancy, baby will be more likely to accept the juice after birth

Infant stimulation

- during the first year, 1-year old baby's brain will have reached 70% of its adult weight.
- 70-85% of all the previously set down brain cells will be completely developed.
- 45% of your baby's brain growth takes place during the first year!
- this crucial time from conception to 1 year old of age as the period of the "brain growth spurt".

- introduce a form of play that challenges your baby's mind and satisfies his/her newly discovered preferences
- best that your baby is presented with experiences that foster learning and growth, not by force-feeding knowledge but rather through an interactive loving relationship that pleases your baby.

    * Your child's environment has the strongest impact on his brain during the growth spurt period
    * Interaction is more valuable than observation
    * Curiosity: stimulation begets stimulation
    * Baby's attentiveness is vital
    * Baby learns through repetition
    * Baby's position makes a difference in stimulation
    * Baby needs to experience warmth and love
    * Being sensitive to baby's cues is important

(adapted from Dr Ludington's studies, 1985)

Consumption of grains vs beef_Climate Change

12 pounds = 5.4545 kg ; 1 pound = 0.4545 kg

- Michael Klaper, M.D. shared his knowledge with students regularly
- 12 pounds of grains is equivalent to 54 bowls of cornflakes or 12 loaves of bread
- 12 pounds of grains is equivalent to 1 pound of minced beef (if you feed the cows with the grains and get the meat from the cows)
- every cow consumes on average more than 30 kg (66 pounds or 5.5 loaves of bread) of grains and greens daily
- farming of grains needs 1/6 acre of land, which is equivalent to 2 acres of land (12 times more) needed if the grains are used for feeding / rearing the cows

- Studies showed that Singaporeans consume more than 20 000 metric tonnes of beef a year (emission of methane from farming is more than CO2 emisson).
- the most expensive beef in the world is the Japanese wagyu beef which has made Japanese cuisine world-famous
- in luxury restaurants beef from Kagoshima could fetch as much as S$100 per 100g (if only 1% of serving is donated to charity/ needy or ppl in the developing world countries)
- in hawker centres a slab of beef cost S$6 (equivalent amount of beef in restaurants cost $74 = 12.3333 times more expensive)

- very soon, prices will increase further with the GST hike to 10% + inflation (on ave 40% of mthly expenditure is spent on groceries/marketing and food)
- From Jan - Sep last year alone, Singapore imports more than 8800 kg of frozen Kagoshima beef (= wt of a large dumper truck)
- Japanese wagyu beef has such fine texture, some being graded A5, some B3, a total of 15 grades in all

According to ST newspaper dated 17 Oct 2009 "The Face of Hungry" page C20:
- 1 in 6 ppl in the world goes hungry (spiralling food prices have added to hardships where the poor can barely afford a single meal a day in the world's most desperate countries)
- 1.02 billion ppl across the world are hungry (the no. will increase if governments do not spend on agriculture)
- estimated 3.5 million ppl die annually from malnutrition
- with the lack of access to nutrients, starving ppl are more vulnerable to diseases and death

- on ave, 1 person dies every second as a result of starvation
- more than 60% of chronically hungry people are women
- lack of Vitamin A kills 1 million infants a year
- 1 billion ppl live on less than US$1 a day

Another ST article said:
- 1 child dies every 6 sec of malnutrition; 1 in 5 children in Somalia is acutely malnourished, a trend seen in impoverished countries across Africa
- UN Food and Agriculture Organistion (FAO) revealed that 30 countries now require emergency aid, including 20 in Africa (World Food Day 2009 report)