Have you had your oatmeal today? How about Cheerios? Did you eat any other breakfast cereal, especially those with high fiber content?
If you are over 70 and the answer is no, you may want to rethink your nutrition program.
One of the biggest surprises I received when I first started monitoring my mother’s mental status and nutrition was that there is a “normal” level of brain “shrinkage” as we age. I found this to be quite disturbing since I wondered at what point there would be too few brain cells left to keep us going.
As it turns out, some studies have shown that the human brain can shrink as much as 1 percent per year depending on a variety of circumstances one of which is nutrition.
If you read my book Granny Snatching, you are familiar with the story of how my mother was nearly confined in a nursing home against her will and how she ultimately was forced to stand trial in Albany (New York) Supreme Court where she easily convinced the judge that she was competent. As part of the preparation for that marathon legal battle she was examined for even the slightest physical or mental flaw in her armor.
As part of that exhaustive review of her being Mom’s doctor ordered a Magnetic Resonance Imaging procedure which scanned her brain looking for myriad things including signs of stroke. There were no signs of strokes but the results also said she had “normal” brain shrinkage for a woman of (at that time) 92 years.
That was my first encounter with the concept of brain shrinkage.
What does this have to do with oatmeal? Well, it turns out that while the studies on brain shrinkage have not helped discover a way to stop or reverse the deterioration of our intellectual tools, they have discovered that B vitamins can significantly slow the shrinkage. If you’re 85 and expect to live another decade, that difference can be a major factor in your ability to enjoy your surroundings.
There are eight different B vitamins but we’re especially interested in vitamin B6, Vitamin B9 also known as folic acid, and vitamin B12, the last two of which control levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood. Studies on Alzheimer’s disease note that high levels of homocysteine seem to go hand-in-hand with increased incidences of that debilitating disease.
More to the point, we need about 6 micrograms of Vitamin B12 every day, and one of the best places to get it is from fortified breakfast cereals. In fact you can get a full day’s supply of Vitamin B12, which plays a major role in cognitive functioning, from a single bowl of a fortified cereal.
There are other places where you can get more, such as from a serving of beef liver. (Yuck, and I don’t care who knows it. I haven’t been able to stomach liver since my mother served it once or twice a month back when I was a kid. Liver and onions. Double yuck. That is my least favorite meal of all time. I’d rather eat Brussels sprouts.)
Clams and trout also are excellent sources of Vitamin B12, but as with liver, if you are a vegetarian neither food is an option, so we’ll go with oatmeal. If you want to boost your vitamin B12 levels a good place to find it is in fortified cereals. Cereals with high fiber content also are good because they help regulate the digestive system which is often an issue for the elderly.
In my home we make a point of including a vitamin-mineral tablet as part of our daily nutrition program. But to make sure that you get the best balance we also include fruits, vegetables, grains and other “natural” sources of vitamins and minerals. There is no substitute for a well-balanced nutrition program, but please remember, see your doctor for an in-depth review of your nutrition program before making any changes.
British Columbia Update
For several months now I have been writing about the fate of Kathleen Palamarek the 88-year-old British Columbia resident who is confined at the Broadmead Lodge in Saanich, part of Greater Victoria on the island of Vancouver in the Canadian provide of British Columbia. Her daughter and son-in-law Lois and Gil Sampson have been fighting to have her released, but Broadmead and other family members say she should stay confined for her own welfare.
Lois Sampson maintains that her mother is in good shape, well aware of what is going on around her, and except for some shaking evident in her hands – a possible side affect of drugs she was prescribed – Mrs. Palamarek is more than capable of living outside the facility with her daughter. Now there is a You Tube video to support that contention.
The video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrzngkyy6Ds
As Lois Sampsons notes, the video “directly and completely contradicts the sworn affidavit submitted to the BC Supreme Court by Dr. David Leishman, the geriatric psychiatrist for VIHA’s (Vancouver Island Health Authority) Elder Outreach Services. Leishman described Mom (Kathleen Palamarek) as having “no understanding or appreciation for what is going on around her.”
Kathleen Palamarek
Before you watch the video, please read the blurb that appears beneath the video – just click on “Show More” to see the full text. There’s an explanation of some of what the video shows, things that might not otherwise be apparent to the viewer or might be confusing to the viewer.
We want this video to have the best impact possible on people who might think Mom is someone who lies in a bed all day, oblivious to life around her, like many of the people in her ward do. We put this video up on You Tube as a form of protection for Mom.
Mom has been the victim of malicious attempts by Broadmead Lodge staff and doctors to misrepresent her state of health and capability. If more people get to see for themselves how she really is now, then that will lessen the chances that Broadmead staff/doctors/lawyers can mislead people, and claim she is “suffering from a number of serious conditions” as their lawyer Rusk claimed in his last letter (March 15, 2011).
