Score one for fatty food: Eating standard American fare may be bad
for the body, but it's good for the brain.
Surprising as it seems, research suggests that the Western diet's
high levels of fat and protein protect against stroke-related memory
loss. What's more, they offer better protection than the Asian diet,
generally held up as a model for health precisely because it contains
less fat and protein.
Webster Ross, M.D., of the Department of Veterans Affairs in
Honolulu, followed Japanese-American subjects who migrated to the United
States in 1965. Those who started eating mostly Western food were far
less likely to suffer memory loss after stroke than those who stuck to
Asian fare. "Something about the Asian diet's low protein, low fat and
high complex carbohydrates that speeds up the process seems to lead to
certain kinds of strokes," says Ross.
A caveat: Ross believes that men in his study who eat American fare
still consume less fat than other Americans. "We're not talking about the
average suburbanite who goes to McDonald's three nights a week," he says.
"We're talking about Japanese immigrants who had no fat in their diet
when they moved here. A piece of bacon or a hamburger every two weeks was
a tremendous increase for them. We probably need some animal fat and
protein for healthy blood vessels, but I don't think that fat should be
40% of our diet, which is what's in the Western diet."
Meanwhile, another study casts cholesterol, a staple of the
American diet, against type--not as the heart-disease villain, but as a
heroic defender against depression and anxiety. Edward Suarez, Ph.D., a
psychologist at Duke University Medical Center, found that young women
with low levels of total cholesterol (below 160 mg/dl) are at greater
risk for developing depression than those with normal or elevated
cholesterol (180mg/dl and above), even if they have no history of the
mood disorder. But, like Ross, Suarez is quick to state that his research
is no license for a blues-busting diet of Big Macs. Better, he says, are
cold water fish like salmon and tuna, fish oils or flaxseed oil, rich
sources of omega-3 fatty acids, an essential form of fat that is good for
the heart. According to Suarez, low cholesterol levels reflect a more
critical shortage of omega-3s, shown in other studies to play a key role
in mood disorders. When levels of omega-3s dip, less cholesterol
circulates in the body, hampering brain cells from using the
mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin, which in turn may lead to
depression or anxiety.
"In countries like China and Japan, where fish is a staple,
depression rates are lower than in the United States," Suarez says.
"Since they also have lower rates of cholesterol, people may be eating
enough essential fatty acids" but skipping less nutritious forms of
cholesterol like french fries and brownies.
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