Archived News of the Week

Gene Expressions of the Aged: Part IV

Plus BPA and Women and Fiber

The "Why Am I Here?" Gene: This is neither an ontological discourse nor is it a deeply disturbing existential exploration. This is also not Buddhist Empty Mind nor is it the sudden attainment of enlightenment, but merely one of those aging fugue states that usually appear sometime in your sixties. The "Why Am I Here?" gene is the expression, or rather the non-expression, of a space/time event where the brain has neglected to secure in your memory bank the memo you gave it maybe 10 seconds ago.

Example: You find yourself standing in front of the refrigerator poised to open the door but you realize that your mind is empty and vacuous, possessing no knowledge of how or why you came to be in front of the refrigerator. You open the door hoping that this might jog your memory a bit. You stare at the shelves with such intense concentration that the casual onlooker would imagine that you were waiting for God's face to appear in the jar of mayonnaise. But, alas, neither do you find God nor do you understand why you are in front of the refrigerator. Finally, as a last resort, you retrace the steps you took to get to the refrigerator and suddenly: You remember - easy peasy! - that you wanted to put more creamer in your coffee and you now purposefully and happily reach for the Organic Valley Half n' Half immediatley forgetting how really witless you just acted.

This particular gene is related to and is a cousin of, the "Wheresit?" Gene: There are many examples of the expression of this gene, but perhaps the most familiar one concerns your car in the Costco parking lot. Lately you find that you have come out of Costco asking yourself too many times - "Wheresit?" - referring to your car, of course. After too many "Wheresits?" events and stupid trompings through the lot with your big cart, you train yourself to landmark your car - like next to the big silver Denali in the row just to the left and at a 45 degree angle to the exit of Costco. All well and good unless the Denali leaves before you do.

But then you become more cunning in your landmarking and you leave transitory objects (like Denali's) out of your mapping equation. You think very cleverly about adding a red bandanna to your antenna but then you remember they stopped putting antennae on cars about 20 years ago. And, all the while, you remember fondly when you didn't have to landmark your car, but would effortlessly Marco Polo your way to it without even thinking, your wonderfully limpid brain with its magnetic GPS chips painlessly taking you to your car.

An advanced breakdown of the "Why Am I Here?/Wheresit?" gene would be forgetting your usual route to McGuckin's, the one where you wind down this street then that one, then the alley behind Rubicon then left on Walnut to the right on Folsom. You rationalize this forgetfulness by saying you didn't sleep well last night or you forgot your brain food this morning or perhaps you were distracted because you we re-imagining Hegelian Dialectics in Farsi whilst driving. Never would the chilling "A" word pop into your mind. Take heed, younger folk: Something weird happens to the GPS system in the brain after age 60, so start training yourself now, before it's too late.

Bisphenol A: This hormone disrupting chemical, found largely in can linings, has been in the news a lot lately. It gets more and more problematic every time I run across an article about it. It is prevalent in all canned goods (unless it says "BPA-free" on the label), baby foods and cash register receipts. Yes, like Whole Foods receipts. It seems that there is BPA resin on the receipts that we absorb through touching. Circulation magazine (3/12) showed research that an increase in BPA leads to an increase in heart disease. The on line journal, PLoS showed that even small doses of BPA increase the possibility of heart arrhythmias which can cause sudden cardiac death and finally JAMA showed that people who ate 1 can of Progresso soup for lunch experienced a 1,000% increase jump in bodily BPA levels compared to those who ate can-free soups. How best can you avoid ingesting BPA? 1) no cans unless BPA-free 2) no baby foods 3) refuse cash register receipts 4) avoid plastics and don't wash what you have in the dishwasher - it's too hot in there and could leave a lovely plastic cloud in your kitchen.

Women and Fiber: Details: A study at Lund University in Sweden engaging 20,000 residents of Malmo, ages 44-73, 8,000 men and 12,000 women testing the effects of higher fiber levels on all health but especially cardiovascular health. "Women who ate a diet high in fiber had a 25% lower risk of suffering from CVD." Men reacted differently to increased fiber: In men, the high fiber reduced the risk of stroke, a Venus and Mars thing yet again. Here are the top 12 low carb/high fiber foods to include in your diets: 1) Avocados contain a whopping 12 grams of fiber 2) Artichokes, 10g 3) Raspberries, 8g/cup 4) Blackberries, 8g/cup 5) Lentils, 8g/1/2 cup 6) Black Beans, 7g/1/2 cup 7) Broccoli, 6g/1 cup 8) Veggie Soup, about 7g in every cup 9) Pear, 4-5 g/medium pear 10) Apples, 4g/medium apple 11) Oatmeal, 4g/cup 12) Barley, 3g/1/2 cup. Increased fiber will also protect you against abdominal obesity which presages a lot of bad health stuff like insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and uncomfortably tight pants.

No statement or content in this web site shall be construed as offering diagnosis, cure, mitigation or prevention of any disease. Anyone having questions regarding the content of this site should contact their own health care provider for verification.