Great news for people who exercise! Exercises can help generate new neurons within your brain! It has historically been believed that you are born with a certain number of neurons and they basically decrease in number as you age. The Salk Institute for Biological Studies have discovered that this is not the case. Exercise can actually stimulate the growth of new neurons. The study included monitoring people who walked for three hours per week for only three months.

The area of the brain that showed the significant amount of growth was the hippocampus, which is the area that’s involved with cognition and memory. In the study, after only three months, the group that exercised had brain volumes typical of those three years younger.
The authors concluded, “These results suggest that cardiovascular fitness is associated with the sparing of brain tissue in aging humans. Furthermore, these results suggest a strong biological basis for the role of aerobic fitness in maintaining and enhancing central nervous system health and cognitive functioning in older adults.” According to the study’s senior author, Dr. Arthur Kramer, “It’s not just a matter of slowing down the aging process. It’s a matter of reversing it.”

An Asian diet pyramid was developed by Oldways in conjunction with the Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment and the Harvard School of Public Health in 1995. Asian countries have a low incidence of chronic diseases so a pyramid was developed to model the Asian diet. The Asian diet pyramid includes some of the following countries – Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesian, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Each of these countries have distinctions to their particular cuisine but all of them consume rice. Rice represents a significant part of each meal of the day and is prepared differently in each Asian cuisine. Rice is quite versatile and can be made into candy and cakes, fermented to make wine or beer, or can be served steamed or fried.

Asian diets in general tend to consist largely of plant foods like vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, and vegetable oil.

There are many different Asian countries but there are many commonalities amongst the various cuisines.

Diets from nearly every Asian country comprises of many whole foods like fresh produce (fruits and vegetables). By eating a diet rich in produce, the risk for obesity is lessened as well as risks of hear disease, stroke, diabetes and even cancer.

Asian diets tend to be wide in variety. Typical carbohydrates include oatmeal, rice, noodles, corn, peas, potatoes, root vegetables, seeds and beans. Typical proteins include tofu, lean poultry, fish, eggs and nuts. Fresh fruits and vegetables are consumed at nearly every meal and snack in the Asian diet. Dairy is not incredibly common in the Asian diet but some cultures do consume milk and yogurt.

Asian meals typically consist of rice and noodles with every meal but they are balanced with fresh, steamed or sautéed vegetables, including leafy greens and roots.

Asian diets are a great consideration for any looking to lose weight.