Nutrition Videos

Hi! I'm Stelios Pantazis. I'm a doctor and I specialize in medical nutrition and metabolic disorders. Today, I'd like to try a new form of videos for YouTube and Facebook. Tell me if you like it in the comment section. I'd like to present a subject using a presentation and I'd really like to see if you like this form and want to see it again in the future. Today, I'd like to talk about five changes in your lifestyle that you can make today, in order to significantly reduce the chance to develop Alzheimer's disease or dementia, which is used with the same meaning in this case, although it's not exactly the same. The presentation is based on a study that was published a few years ago. It was carried out in Chicago. It's worth mentioning what the principal researcher of the study said. He said that the aim of the study is to motivate people to introduce a healthier lifestyle and, it this way, to protect their cognitive function in old age. The study is based on two groups of populations, who had been monitored for many years. In total, almost 3,000 people were monitored for almost six years. The average age was 73 years old in the first group and 81 years old in the second group approximately. Two out of three participants were women. They were monitored for six years. They measured five risk factors. They recorded if the patients were smoking or not, if they were involved in any form of activity, for at least 150 minutes a week, if women often consumed over 15 gr of alcohol, and men over 30 gr. You can see the equivalent beer or wine next to it. We'll talk about these factors a bit more at the end of the presentation, in a few minutes. High-quality diet, as we discuss together all the time. And of course, participation in activities that demand thinking, such as writing, reading, chess etc., and certainly not TV. What was found out was that those that checked 2 or 3 factors during monitoring had 37% fewer chances to develop dementia compared to those that checked 0-1 positive factor, namely they checked at least 4 negative factors, while those that checked 4 or 5 factors had 60% fewer chances to develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease. That's a quite significant percentage. Let's see these factors one-by-one in the next few minutes. The first and maybe most important factor, quitting smoking. I know that negotiations will start now. Is it okay to smoke 3 or 5 cigarettes? Are 2 cigarettes too many? Is one packet a month okay? This study doesn't answer these questions. The answer in this study was "Yes" or "No". Do you smoke? Yes. No. Nothing else. Is this a problem? It is. I'd prefer to tell you that 3.5 cigarettes a day are okay, while 5.5 are not. The study didn't work like that. The study answers "Yes" or "No". Therefore, the best thing you can do is answer "Yes", if you haven't done so already. Let's go to the second risk factor that was studied, whether the participants did intense or moderate exercise. The minimum was 150 minutes a week. What does moderate and intense mean? Moderate exercise increases the energy expenditure by 3-6 times compared to sitting down. It is estimated that, when we sit down, we burn about 1 calorie per kg of weight. If you're 80 kg, you burn about 80 calories an hour when you do nothing at all. To do moderate exercise, the energy expenditure must be three times this amount, namely at least 240 calories an hour. This means 120 calories per 30 minutes. You may have a watch that records calories or your mobile phone, there are many activity trackers, many mobile phone applications, plain watches that count, they're not absolutely accurate, but they're close. You burn 3-6 times more than while sitting when you do 6 km/hour racewalking, not walking, strolling, trudging on Ermou St. etc. Conscious and lively racewalking. 6 km/hour. Or when you cycle at a speed of 15-20 km/hour. It requires some effort. It doesn't mean pedaling occasionally and letting the bicycle move on its own. It requires conscious pedaling. Intense exercise means 6 times more calories than while sitting. For someone who's 80 kg, this means more than 480 calories. This happens when you run at a speed of over 10 km/hour or you cycle at a speed of over 20 km/hour or when you participate in a team sport, such as basketball, football, or an individual sport such as tennis, namely when you do some sport where you try to win, to achieve a result. That's all about exercise. Most people don't take part in a physical activity and this poses a problem. Therefore, it must be dealt with. The other factor is alcohol. This is a sore subject. Fortunately, most people don't consume too much alcohol. At my office, I discuss with tens of people every day and few of them say that they consume alcohol daily. More people say that they consume alcohol once or twice a week, a little more. Fortunately, Greek culture does not favour the overconsumption of alcohol, neither in single cases nor daily. This is a problem I don't see often. However, our alcohol tolerance is low, 15 gr/day for women, 30 gr/day for men. 15 gr/day with beer with 5% ABV, namely standard beers available in the market, means 30 ml, a little less than a can. For men, it's 600 ml, a little more than half a litre of draft. For wine, using 12% as an average, there's a range of 11-13.5%, it's a 120-ml glass of wine for women, a little more for men, double this amount, which is 240. This is a big glass or two half glasses. Anyway, the exact number is 240 ml. Because glass confuses people, they don't know how much it contains. And when people tell me they drink one glass, I don't know what they mean. This is why I say 120 ml for women, 240 ml for men. With alcoholic drinks with 40% ABV, such as whiskey, vodka, ouzo, standardized tsipouro, only 40 ml for women and 80 ml for men. This is a little more than one third of a pitcher for men and about one fifth of a pitcher for women. This is a very small amount. You may easily drink excessively, therefore you have to be very careful. The fourth factor is my specialty, high-quality diet. The researchers certainly mean the Mediterranean diet, as well as the DASH diet, which is a diet based on a large amount of plant-based foods, salads, fruit, leafy vegetables, nutritious vegetables, which means not potatoes, tomatoes etc. Mediterranean diet means many greens, many salads, legumes, vegetable dishes cooked in olive oil, all these traditional Greek dishes. Mediterranean diet doesn't mean too much cheese, but this little cheese should be feta cheese, the traditional Greek cheese, or anthotyro or something similar. Not aged cheese etc. This is what defines the Mediterranean diet, but, above all, the Mediterranean diet is rich in non-processed foods. Non-processed foods. This is the most important thing that defines the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet and healthy diet in general. Non-processed foods. Nothing else. Finally, activities that require thinking. Some examples? Handwriting, reading, keeping a diary, board games such as chess, draughts, backgammon, crossword puzzles, sudoku, even digital games on the PC seem to help, therefore don't let the kids play, play yourselves, or at least play together, knitting, handcraft, woodcraft, embroidery, pottery etc., all these are great ideas. You have to make sure you learn new things. A new language, a new art, something new. Even new routes, don't walk automatically with GPS. Try to think, when you have the time. When we think, our brain is working. Brain is a muscle. When you use it, it grows strong. When you don't use it, it weakens. It doesn't help at all to passively watch TV. As an attending doctor at the hospital used to say, turn off the TV. I agree with him. Music, dancing, learning a new instrument, one of the most complex and demanding mental activities you can do. It combines ears, eyes, fingers. It's certainly worth it. These are some of the activities that require thinking and that help. These activities benefit our brain a lot. They strengthen and protect it. These were the five changes you can make in your lifestyle today, in order to reduce the chances to develop dementia. You can also recommend them to someone for whom you care and worry. You can also do something of the above together with them. This will help them even more. You should know that. If you thought this was interesting, please give us a thumbs up. 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