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CNN Live At Daybreak
Breakfast With DAYBREAK: Brain Food
Aired February 19, 2003 - 06:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk a little health news now. If you think you eat healthy, consider this, fat equals smart. Could be. A new study dealing with fats and the brain finds that some fats may just keep your mind sharp.
Lisa Drayer of DietWatch.com joins us live from New York.
Lisa, this is really food for thought, isn't it?
LISA DRAYER, REGISTERED DIETITIAN, DIETWATCH.COM: It absolutely is. This latest study from the archives of dirology (ph) showed that in addition to protecting against heart disease, consuming the good fats and avoiding the bad fats is associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Now the researchers looked at over 1,800 individuals aged 65 years or older. None of them had Alzheimer's at baseline. Then they were asked to fill out a food frequency questionnaire about their eating habits. And what they found at follow up was that 131 developed the disease, but those who had the most saturated fat in their diet, this is the bad fat, those had a two-times greater risk of developing Alzheimer's as compared to those who had the least amount...
COSTELLO: OK.
DRAYER: ... of this saturated fat in the diet.
COSTELLO: OK, I do have a question before we get to what's...
DRAYER: Sure.
COSTELLO: ... a good fat and what's a bad fat. How early do you have to eat the good fat to enjoy the results later on in life?
DRAYER: Well, you know the researchers only studied those starting at age 65. However, it is a good idea to start as early as possible. In addition to protecting against Alzheimer's, eating the good fats and avoiding the bad can also help protect us against high cholesterol levels, which increase risk for heart disease. So we may as well start as soon as possible.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. OK, so tell us a good fatty food and bad fatty food.
DRAYER: Absolutely. The good fats, those are found in polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. The monos are what we think of as olive oil, canola oil, avocado, also nuts, even peanut butter. And polyunsaturated fats, these are also good, they're found in the fatty fish. Remember we talked about salmon in the past? But they're also found in vegetable oils such as safflower and sunflower oil. And it was these specific polyunsaturated fats in the study that were associated with the greatest reduction in risk, about a 70 percent decreased risk.
Also, coline (ph) is an important nutrient for brain health.
COSTELLO: What?
DRAYER: It's found in eggs. It's called coline. It is an important nutrient because it serves as a precursor, that is it helps to make asedocoline (ph), which is a brain chemical involved in memory. And we can get that from eggs, also fish and also nuts and spinach.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll keep all of that in mind. I'm sure everyone has written those foods down.
Lisa Drayer, many thanks to you. We'll check back with you next week.
DRAYER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 19, 2003 - 06:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk a little health news now. If you think you eat healthy, consider this, fat equals smart. Could be. A new study dealing with fats and the brain finds that some fats may just keep your mind sharp.
Lisa Drayer of DietWatch.com joins us live from New York.
Lisa, this is really food for thought, isn't it?
LISA DRAYER, REGISTERED DIETITIAN, DIETWATCH.COM: It absolutely is. This latest study from the archives of dirology (ph) showed that in addition to protecting against heart disease, consuming the good fats and avoiding the bad fats is associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Now the researchers looked at over 1,800 individuals aged 65 years or older. None of them had Alzheimer's at baseline. Then they were asked to fill out a food frequency questionnaire about their eating habits. And what they found at follow up was that 131 developed the disease, but those who had the most saturated fat in their diet, this is the bad fat, those had a two-times greater risk of developing Alzheimer's as compared to those who had the least amount...
COSTELLO: OK.
DRAYER: ... of this saturated fat in the diet.
COSTELLO: OK, I do have a question before we get to what's...
DRAYER: Sure.
COSTELLO: ... a good fat and what's a bad fat. How early do you have to eat the good fat to enjoy the results later on in life?
DRAYER: Well, you know the researchers only studied those starting at age 65. However, it is a good idea to start as early as possible. In addition to protecting against Alzheimer's, eating the good fats and avoiding the bad can also help protect us against high cholesterol levels, which increase risk for heart disease. So we may as well start as soon as possible.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. OK, so tell us a good fatty food and bad fatty food.
DRAYER: Absolutely. The good fats, those are found in polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. The monos are what we think of as olive oil, canola oil, avocado, also nuts, even peanut butter. And polyunsaturated fats, these are also good, they're found in the fatty fish. Remember we talked about salmon in the past? But they're also found in vegetable oils such as safflower and sunflower oil. And it was these specific polyunsaturated fats in the study that were associated with the greatest reduction in risk, about a 70 percent decreased risk.
Also, coline (ph) is an important nutrient for brain health.
COSTELLO: What?
DRAYER: It's found in eggs. It's called coline. It is an important nutrient because it serves as a precursor, that is it helps to make asedocoline (ph), which is a brain chemical involved in memory. And we can get that from eggs, also fish and also nuts and spinach.
COSTELLO: OK, we'll keep all of that in mind. I'm sure everyone has written those foods down.
Lisa Drayer, many thanks to you. We'll check back with you next week.
DRAYER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
