The Greatest Legacy

Today, August 26, 2009, Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy died. Senator Kennedy spent his entire career attempting to make the United States (and the World) a place where everyone, not just the privileged few, would have a bright, healthy future.

The United States has become a much better, more open society thanks to the efforts of Senator Kennedy. A society where everyone has the opportunity to make contributions is one that is more creative and dynamic. One that will be able to continue to lead the world in the 21st century as it did in the 20th.

Unfortunately, there is a segment of US society that wishes to limit access; that wishes to maintain their status quo. Sadly, they do not appear to understand that societies that do these things stagnate, wither, and die. Creativity and change are necessary for a dynamic, growing society.

If the United States is to be the world leader that it has been in the past, more change, more opportunities for all its citizens will be required. The greatest legacy that Senator Kennedy would wish to leave to all citizens of the United States would be universal health care.

Tens of millions of Americans have either no or limited health insurance which means they receive inadequate health care. Failure to provide adequate insurance and health care to all of it citizens means that the United States is failing to reach for the future. As much as some of us might wish to hold on to the past, it slips away. If the United States is not to slip into the past, and become a has-been, a backwater, changes must be made.

The Greatest Legacy will be when the Congress passes the health care bill championed by Senator Kennedy. Then all the citizens of the United States will be given the opportunity to achieve a Bright, Healthy Future.

Brain Power

US News and World Report just published an article on “America’s 10 Brainiest States.” Degree of braininess was based on population surveys concerning the following indicators of brain health:

· Eat a Healthy Diet:
o Low saturated fat and cholesterol
o Five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables
o Daily intake of omega-3 fatty acids, especially from eating fatty fish
o Breast feed infants

· Exercise at least 30 minutes each day.
· Watch your weight.
· Do not smoke.
· Sleep around 7 - 8 hours each night.
· Mental Stimulation:
o Read every day.
o Play mentally challenging games.
o Learn new things.
· Get involved:
o Volunteer
o Join clubs
o Stay in touch with family and friends

State rankings were based on the analysis of these factors. You can read more about the methodology of the study here: http://www.lifesdha.com/brainindex/About--i-lifesDHA--i--Index-of-Brain-Health.aspx (Washington, DC was included as a state for the purposes of this research.)

According to the researchers, the top 10 brainiest states/polities are: District of Columbia, Maryland, Washington (state), Vermont, Connecticut, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maine, and New Hampshire. The 10 lowest-ranking states are: North Dakota, South Carolina, Indiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Louisiana.

I found this distribution rather intriguing and wanted to explore it further, so I compared this ranking of state brainpower with the map of the Electoral College distribution from the 2008 Presidential Election.

All of the top 10 brainiest states are Blue States. All of the lowest ranking states, except for Indiana, are Red States. Further examination showed that of the top 25 brainiest states, only 7 (Georgia, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, and Alaska) are Red States. The other 18 are Blue States. And of those 7 Red States, all are in the West except for Georgia.

Now, as we know, Correlation does not equal Causation. But it is an intriguing distribution worthy of further thought.

A correlation that, in this case, does equal causation is that the indicators of brain health listed above match with the AnthroHealth Way to Health and Well-Being about which I’ve been writing since 2002. http://www.anthrohealth.net/aharchives.htm

So keep eating those sardines!

The Brain Health research website also includes a brief on-line survey you can take to see if you are living a brain healthy lifestyle: http://www.lifesdha.com/50-States/View-All-Rankings/tabid/330/Default.aspx

I want to hear what you think about the Blue State/Brainy State correlation, so please add comments to this blog.

Don’t Drink It!!

New research has been published stating that drinking milk will help prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Oh, please! That is like saying that red meat is heart healthy. Milk is loaded with saturated fat. Leave a glass of milk sitting on the counter and watch the clumps of fat appear. Saturated fat is NOT good for you.

Why would these researchers conclude that it is? Well, I did a little sleuthing and found out (surprise, surprise) that at least one of the researchers, Dr. Ian Givens, is associated with the British Dairy Industry [Centre for Dairy Research]. http://www.feedforhealth.org/default.asp?ZNT=S0T1O734

Givens et al. state that compared to men (in Britain) who did not ingest any dairy products, those who did drink milk or eat other dairy products were healthier. This research evidently has yet to be published in a journal, so I do not know how the study was conducted.

However, since the vast majority of adults in the world cannot process dairy products past weaning age due to lack of the enzyme lactase, it seems highly improbable that those adults who drink and eat saturated dairy fat (primarily those of northern European ancestry) would have less CHD and strokes than does the rest of the world’s populations.

On the up side, not all fats are bad for the heart. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as salmon and sardines are good for the heart. And the brain. [See my blog Vegging Out below.] And, according to new research, the eyes: eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids helps prevent age-related macular degeneration and blindness. http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/abstract/175/2/799

So, forget the milk and cheese. They don’t do a body good. Instead, add sardines, salmon, and even walnuts to your diet if you are really interested in helping your heart and preventing strokes.

Salud!