Sit up straight and eat your pterostilbene!

[Evermont]

Yeah, that's right I said pterostilbene. Well, actually, I typed it, not really sure how to pronounce it yet.

So what the heck is pterostilbene? Oh yeah, you could google it (and you probably should), but I'll spill it.

Pterostilbene is a phytochemical or phytonutrient. It's one of thousands of antioxidants found in plant foods - which are mostly carbs. That's right carbs. Evil wicked nasty carbs.

Some news of the day:

Berry Compound Reduces Aging Effect

ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2008) — In a new study, aged laboratory animals that ate a diet rich in the berry and grape compound pterostilbene performed better than those in a group that did not eat the enriched diet, scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have reported. Pterostilbene reversed measurable negative effects of aging on brain function and behavioral performance.

...

For the two-part study, the researchers wanted to determine if pterostilbene would be effective in reversing the effects of aging on mature rats.

For the first part of the study, they tested seven stilbene compounds in cell cultures and found that pterostilbene was the most effective at preventing oxidative stress. For the second part of the study, they fed aged rats one of three diets: control, or control adjusted to include either low or high concentrations of pterostilbene.

The results indicated that in aging rats, pterostilbene was effective in reversing cognitive decline and that improved working memory was linked to pterostilbene levels in the hippocampus region of the brain.
...

(link (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081228194218.htm))

So what does brain aging have to do with diabetes? Well, for starters:

"Diabetes is a perfect model for accelerated aging" - Dr. A. Weil


I have issues with those that would suggest avoiding carb laden fresh fruits and vegetables. It would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water IMHO.

[volleyball]

But would it help if you were not consuming bad carbs in the first place? If it only helps lessen the effects of bad carbs, you still lose.
I enjoy healthy carbs so I am not at who this is directed. Eating berries is a good thing, berry pie while delicious, not so good for us.

[fgummett]

I have issues with those that would suggest avoiding carb laden fresh fruits and vegetables. It would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water IMHO.Possibly true... possibly not. There are communities around the World who have survived - apparently healthily - without access to the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables we now enjoy. In the same way that our ancestors did not have the year-round access, nor the variety... and yet somehow the human race has survived ;)

[Evermont]

But would it help if you were not consuming bad carbs in the first place? If it only helps lessen the effects of bad carbs, you still lose.
I enjoy healthy carbs so I am not at who this is directed. Eating berries is a good thing, berry pie while delicious, not so good for us.

Well, I did say "fresh". Heat (a.k.a cooking) is known to destroy antioxidants. That's why raw honey is healthier than pasteurized honey. But then it's a bit riskier too. Berry pies, while admittedly delicious are essentially "dead berry flavored high GI sugar and processed white wheat flour concoctions". I would not argue that "all carbs are good" as I have noted many times before. I'm just swimming against the tide of "all carbs are bad" here. I hear that swimming is great exercise :T

Possibly true... possibly not. There are communities around the World who have survived - apparently healthily - without access to the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables we now enjoy. In the same way that our ancestors did not have the year-round access, nor the variety... and yet somehow the human race has survived ;)

Well, Eskimos survived but I'm not sure how they should get credit for saving the entire human race. I'm aware that the omega-3 rich diets of Eskimo populations has helped them to avoid such nastiness as chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and more. And while I'm certainly no expert on geriatric Eskimo hippocampi or the nutritional food chains including plankton and whale blubber, I'm not aware that Eskimo brains aged any better than anyone else.

To me, survival is necessary but insufficient. I have this pesky need to thrive as well. I want to thrive both physically and mentally. I want to keep learning and applying what I learn.

Your point is noted Frank, though I'm bewildered as to the practical application of it. Just because Eskimos have fewer heart attacks doesn't mean that pterostilbene isn't good for my hippocampus. Besides, I'm a bigger fan of variety including berries than I am of the blubber-only-diet but hey, to each his own.

[xMenace]

Possibly true... possibly not. There are communities around the World who have survived - apparently healthily - without access to the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables we now enjoy. In the same way that our ancestors did not have the year-round access, nor the variety... and yet somehow the human race has survived ;)

I will lay money down that all these societys' diets originated from green chloroform based foods, for example ocean plankton which supply fish which supply seals which supply inuit.

I agree that carb laden fruits and veggies should not be hastily discarded. In their raw forms, they are great foods.

My current diet consists of regular fruits and carb veggies, proteins, and fats. I'm down to less than a loaf of bread a month, and very little, if any, other refined carbs.

[fgummett]

While I was not thinking just of the Inuit, they will suffice as an example.

I'm not sure I would classify the last several hundred thousands of years of human existence as just "surviving"... I like to think there was at least some "thriving" going on before the nutritionists discovered all these wonderful new micro-nutrients that will enhance if not actually save our lives... most likely marketed in the form of a supplement :cool:

My point is, that our forbears did OK for hundreds of thousands of years before nutritionism came along to tell us what we need to stay healthy. We can probably learn more from our Great-Grand-Parents :)

I agree that we need fresh raw food... but the current focus on just the micro-constituents of that food tends to lead to packaged substitutes rather that the real stuff... meantime the quality of the real stuff is going downwards.

[Evermont]

While I was not thinking just of the Inuit, they will suffice as an example.

I'm not sure I would classify the last several hundred thousands of years of human existence as just "surviving"... I like to think there was at least some "thriving" going on before the nutritionists discovered all these wonderful new micro-nutrients that will enhance if not actually save our lives... most likely marketed in the form of a supplement :cool:

My point is, that our forbears did OK for hundreds of thousands of years before nutritionism came along to tell us what we need to stay healthy. We can probably learn more from our Great-Grand-Parents :)

I have a much better chance of learning from you Frank than I have of learning from my Great-Grand-Parents, sadly they're all dead. I have this nifty photo of me with my great grandfather on his 90th birthday. He was cutting his birthday cake. I wonder if it had that old traditional lard+sugar frosting. :eek:

OK, so to your point about before the nutritionists discovered all these wonderful new micro-nutrients that will enhance if not actually save our lives... most likely marketed in the form of a supplement :cool:

I say that these are things that we are beginning to understand. They are however not new. Phytonutrients predate humans. My Great-Grand-Father ate plenty of blueberries no doubt. They may have helped him (and his father who also survived the Civil War) though he was unaware of it. I'm sure you're right that some huckster will be pushing a pill someday with pterostilbene as a featured ingredient. This kind of quasi scientific reductionism cum capitalism is misleading and mostly just bad, but that doesn't make berries less healthful. I'm not pushing pills, so far as I know such pills don't exist yet. Often these thousands of compounds work in concert with each other in ways that we are far from yet understanding. Isolating one poorly understood compound with some evidence that it is helpful in rats, then selling a pill which allegedly contains some form of that one compound to people silly enough to swallow it is my Afghanistan, alas, I'm still mired in the Iraq of good carbs versus evil-doing carbs. Give me time, I'll get to it.

So you say that "our fathers did OK". Are you saying that we shouldn't strive to do yet better? I would have to disagree with that. I want to outlive all of my ancestors, though many of them lived into their 90's. I want to out-thrive them too. I hope that "good" science keeps marching forward and give my grandson and his an even better understanding of the world and hence a better chance than I have of thriving as well as just surviving.

My Great Grand Father was an inventor. His son, my grandfather was a yet more successful inventor. I have surpassed them both as a successful inventor and I'm not done yet. Can you site any Inuit thriving? Any great thinkers in the bunch? What of the other examples you elude to, I wonder if any of my role models could count themselves among the ranks of the "we don't need no stinkin' pterostilbene" club.

[volleyball]

Our diets would seem to need to evolve as our living conditions have. Some traditional diets were great for their circumstance. The "traditional Japanese diet" that never existed as it was so regionalized, is assumed to be high in rice but low diabetes. Well the rice husk is also suppose to contain a nutrient that helps with BS control. Also, what is probably what I think the most important key, is that the caloric intake was low, a days worth of food was less than a typical super size meal. Manual labor is the norm for all ages. While most were not doing hard labor, walking, sweeping, gardening and such all day exceeds the more modern typical day exercise by a large extent.
Modern civilization in it's rush to beat Mother Nature, has taken lots of short cuts and we are slowly realizing that Mom has put in place the stuff to keep us healthy, we just have to learn to live with her, not in spite of her and we will be rewarded with a fuller life

[Mich]

Hey Keith and all,

I've been having a nice enjoyable glass or two of Pterostilbene most evenings for years. I particularly like a Pinot or a nice Cabernet. :cool:

Mich

[Evermont]

Hey Keith and all,

I've been having a nice enjoyable glass or two of Pterostilbene most evenings for years. I particularly like a Pinot or a nice Cabernet. :cool:

Mich

Excellent! Would you like some resveratrol (http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/resveratrol/) with that?

[Mich]

:) According to google, it's in wine. No carbs either.:)

Thanks, Keith. More support for the glass of wine theory.

[ShottleBop]

I don't see too many no-carbers. There are plenty of low-carbers, though. Walnuts, almonds, berries, and greens (both leaf and things like broccoli and brussels sprouts), with the occasional bite of apple or small clementine and very high cacao-content chocolate, are pretty much my carbs of choice.