Foods linked to better brainpower

Just as there is no magic pill to prevent cognitive decline, no single food can ensure a sharp brain as you age. Nutritionists emphasize that the most important strategy is to follow a healthy dietary pattern that includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Try to get protein from plant sources and fish and choose healthy fats, such as olive oil or canola, rather than saturated fats. 

That said, certain foods in this overall scheme are particularly rich in healthful components like omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and antioxidants, which are known to support brain health. Incorporating many of these foods into a healthy diet on a regular basis can improve the health of your brain, which could translate into better mental function. 

Research shows that the best foods for your brain are the same ones that protect your heart and blood vessels, and they include the following: 

Green, leafy vegetables. Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, collards, and broccoli are rich in brain-healthy nutrients like vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta carotene. Research suggests these plant-based foods may help slow cognitive decline. 

Fatty fish. Fatty fish are abundant sources of omega-3 fatty acids, healthy unsaturated fats that have been linked to lower blood levels of beta-amyloid—the protein that forms damaging clumps in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. Try to eat fish at least twice a week, but choose varieties that are low in mercury, such as salmon, cod, canned light tuna, and pollack. If you're not a fan of fish, ask your doctor about taking an omega-3 supplement, or choose terrestrial omega-3 sources such as flaxseeds, avocados, and walnuts. 

Berries. Flavonoids, the natural plant pigments that give berries their brilliant hues, also help improve memory, research shows. In a 2012 study published in Annals of Neurology, researchers at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital found that women who consumed two or more servings of strawberries and blueberries each week delayed memory decline by up to two-and-a-half years. 

Tea and coffee. The caffeine in your morning cup of coffee or tea might offer more than just a short-term concentration boost. In a 2014 study published in The Journal of Nutrition, participants with higher caffeine consumption scored better on tests of mental function. Caffeine might also help solidify new memories, according to other research. Investigators at Johns Hopkins University asked participants to study a series of images and then take either a placebo or a 200-milligram caffeine tablet. More members of the caffeine group were able to correctly identify the images on the following day. 

Walnuts. Nuts are excellent sources of protein and healthy fats, and one type of nut in particular might also improve memory. A 2015 study from UCLA linked higher walnut consumption to improved cognitive test scores. Walnuts are high in a type of omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which helps lower blood pressure and protects arteries. That's good for both the heart and brain.

Are Supportive Environments the Chance we have at eradicating the suicide Epidemic?

Not long ago, on the south pacific Islands of Micronesia, a seventeen year old boy named Sima got into an argument with his father. He was staying with his family at his grandfather’s house when his father- a stern and demanding man- ordered him out of bed one morning and told him to find a bamboo pole-knife to harvest breadfruit. Sima spent hours in the village, looking without success for a pole knife, and when he returned empty-handed his father was furious. The family would now go hungry, he told his son waiving a machete in rage. “Get out of here and go find somewhere else to live.

Sima left his grandfather’s house and walked back to his home village. Along the way he ran into his fourteen-year old brother and borrowed a pen. Two hours later, curious about where Sima had gone, his brother went looking for him. He returned to the now empty family house and peered in the window. In the middle of a dark room, hanging slack and still from a noose, was Sima. He was dead. His suicide note read:

My life is coming to an end at this time. Now today is a day of sorrow for myself, also a day of suffering for me. But it is a day of celebration for Papa. Today, Papa sent me away. Thank you for loving me so little. Sima.

Give my farewell to Mama. Mama you won’t have any more frustrations or trouble from your boy. Much love from Sima

People who end their lives or attempt suicide might be trying to escape feelings of rejection, hurt, or loss. Others might feel angry, ashamed, or guilty about something. Some people may be worried about disappointing friends or family members. And some may feel unwanted, unloved, victimized, or like they're a burden to others.

We all feel overwhelmed by difficult emotions or situations sometimes. But most people get through it or can put their problems in perspective and find a way to carry on with determination and hope. So why does one person try suicide when another person in the same tough situation does not? What makes some people more resilient than others? What makes a person unable to see another way out of a bad situation besides ending his or her life?

Resilience is the capacity to cope with, and bounce back after, the ongoing demands and challenges of life, and to learn from them in a positive way. In the presence of a supportive community and access to valued resources, a person is assumed to be the best judge of what they want in life and should have the power to both define and determine the outcomes of their lives and be resourceful in the community. If someone is not resourceful at any one time it could be because of; poverty, past or present mental illness or sexual abuse. In many places suicide is a common place, triggered by the smallest of incidences .Sima took his own life because his father yelled at him. In many societies, teens commit suicide because their parents refuse to give them a little more money for recreation or because they saw their girlfriends with another boy.

Many young people feel the world does not respond to what they have to offer or that they don’t have the competencies to fulfill the world’s expectations or requirements. They feel badly about themselves – they have low self esteem or self-efficacy and their overall sense of the world is negative. It would be reasonable to guess that many of the young people committing suicide also feel marginalized, isolated, not listened to, and inadequately supported.

Sima will almost have had a significant degree of latent resourcefulness- of potential inner strength. What was needed for Sima was an appropriate and supportive resourcing environment which would have allowed him to realize and experience this resourcefulness.

An honest talk on mental health in kenya

Kindly find in;
Honest talk on mental health

12 Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones; Part one

Hormones have profound effects on your mental, physical and emotional health. These chemical messengers play a major role in controlling your appetite, weight and mood, among other things. Normally, your endocrine glands produce the precise amount of each hormone needed for various processes in your body. However, hormonal imbalances have become increasingly common with today’s fast-paced modern lifestyle. In addition, certain hormones decline with age, and some people experience a more dramatic decrease than others. Fortunately, a nutritious diet and other healthy lifestyle behaviors may help improve your hormonal health and allow you to feel and perform your best. The following are 12 natural ways to balance your hormones.

1. Eat Enough Protein at Every Meal

Consuming an adequate amount of protein is extremely important. Dietary protein provides essential amino acids that your body can’t make on its own and must be consumed every day in order to maintain muscle, bone and skin health. In addition, protein influences the release of hormones that control appetite and food intake. Research has shown that eating protein decreases levels of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin and stimulates the production of hormones that help you feel full, including PYY and GLP-1 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).

In one study, men produced 20% more GLP-1 and 14% more PYY after eating a high-protein meal than after eating a meal that contained a normal amount of protein. What’s more, participants’ hunger ratings decreased by 25% more after the high-protein meal compared to the normal-protein meal (6). In another study, women who consumed a diet containing 30% protein experienced an increase in GLP-1 and greater feelings of fullness than when they ate a diet containing 10% protein. What’s more, they experienced an increase in metabolism and fat burning (7). To optimize hormone health, experts recommend consuming a minimum of 20–30 grams of protein per meal (8). This is easy to do by including a serving of these high-protein foods at each meal.

Summary: Consuming adequate protein triggers the production of hormones that suppress appetite and help you feel full. Aim for a minimum of 20–30 grams of protein per meal.

2. Engage in Regular Exercise

Physical activity can strongly influence hormonal health. A major benefit of exercise is its ability to reduce insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity. Insulin is a hormone that has several functions. One is allowing cells to take up sugar and amino acids from the bloodstream, which are then used for energy and maintaining muscle. However, a little insulin goes a long way. Too much can be downright dangerous. High insulin levels have been linked to inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. What’s more, they are connected to insulin resistance, a condition in which your cells don’t respond properly to insulin’s signals (9).

Many types of physical activity have been found to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce insulin levels, including aerobic exercise, strength training and endurance exercise (10, 11, 12, 13, 14). In a 24-week study of obese women, exercise increased participants’ insulin sensitivity and levels of adiponectin, a hormone that has anti-inflammatory effects and helps regulate metabolism (14). Being physically active may also help boost levels of muscle-maintaining hormones that decline with age, such as testosterone, IGF-1, DHEA and growth hormone (15, 16, 17, 18). For people who are unable to perform vigorous exercise, even regular walking may increase these hormone levels, potentially improving strength and quality of life (19). Although a combination of resistance and aerobic training seems to provide the best results, engaging in any type of physical activity on a regular basis is beneficial.

Summary: Performing strength training, aerobics, walking or other forms of physical activity can modify hormone levels in a way that reduces the risk of disease and protects muscle mass during the aging process.

3. Avoid Sugar and Refined Carbs

Sugar and refined carbs have been linked to a number of health problems. Indeed, avoiding or minimizing these foods may be instrumental in optimizing hormone function and avoiding obesity, diabetes and other diseases. Studies have consistently shown that fructose can increase insulin levels and promote insulin resistance, especially in overweight and obese people with pre diabetes or diabetes (20, 21, 22, 23). Importantly, fructose makes up at least half of all types of sugar. This includes natural forms like honey and maple syrup, in addition to high-fructose corn syrup and refined table sugar.

In one study, people with prediabetes experienced similar increases in insulin levels and insulin resistance whether they consumed 1.8 ounces (50 grams) of honey, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup (23). In addition, diets high in refined carbs like white bread and pretzels may promote insulin resistance in a large portion of adults and adolescents (24, 25).

By contrast, following a low- or moderate-carb diet based on whole foods may reduce insulin levels in overweight and obese people with pre diabetes and other insulin-resistant conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (26, 27, 28).

Summary: Diets high in sugar and refined carbs have been shown to drive insulin resistance. Avoiding these foods and reducing overall carb intake may decrease insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity.

4. Learn to Manage Stress

Stress can wreak havoc on your hormones. Two major hormones affected by stress are cortisol and adrenaline, which is also called epinephrine. Cortisol is known as “the stress hormone” because it helps your body cope with stress over the long term. Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is the “fight-or-flight” hormone that provides your body with a surge of energy to respond to immediate danger. However, unlike hundreds of years ago when these hormones were mainly triggered by threats from predators, today they’re usually triggered by people’s busy, often overwhelming lifestyles. Unfortunately, chronic stress causes cortisol levels to remain elevated, which can lead to excessive calorie intake and obesity, including increased belly fat (29, 30, 31). Elevated adrenaline levels can cause high blood pressure, rapid heart rate and anxiety. However, these symptoms are usually fairly short-lived because, unlike cortisol, adrenaline is less likely to become chronically elevated.

Research has shown that you may be able to lower your cortisol levels by engaging in stress-reducing techniques like meditation, yoga, massage and listening to relaxing music (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37). A 2005 review of studies found that massage therapy not only reduced cortisol levels by an average of 31%, but also increased levels of the mood-boosting hormone serotonin by 28% and dopamine by 31%, on average (37). Try to devote at least 10–15 minutes per day to stress-reducing activities, even if you don’t feel you have the time.

Summary: Engaging in stress-reduction behaviors like meditation, yoga, massage and listening to soothing music can help normalize your levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

5. Consume Healthy Fats

Including high-quality natural fats in your diet may help reduce insulin resistance and appetite. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are unique fats that are taken up directly by the liver for immediate use as energy. They have been shown to reduce insulin resistance in overweight and obese people, as well as in people with diabetes (38, 39). MCTs are found in coconut oil, palm oil and pure MCT oil.

Dairy fats and monounsaturated fat in olive oil and nuts also seem to increase insulin sensitivity, based on studies in healthy adults and those with diabetes, prediabetes, fatty liver and elevated triglycerides (40, 41, 42, 43, 44). Additionally, studies have shown that consuming healthy fat at meals triggers the release of hormones that help you feel full and satisfied, including GLP-1, PYY and cholecystokinin (CCK) (44, 45, 46). On the other hand, trans fats have been found to promote insulin resistance and increase the storage of belly fat (47, 48). To optimize hormone health, consume a healthy fat source at each meal.

Summary: Including healthy natural fats in your diet and avoiding unhealthy trans fats can help reduce insulin resistance and stimulate the production of hormones that help control appetite.

Article courtesy of  Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE

Request For Expression of Interest (EOI) for Youth-led Mental Health Initiatives in Kenya (citiesRISE)

About citiesRISE

The citiesRISE youth platform was created to support youth to become the agents of change for mental health. As part of this global initiative, citiesRISE is supporting practical action on the ground and a growing mental health movement in Kenya.

citiesRISE is looking for initiatives that are largely devised and implemented by youth (age 18-35). We recognize that young people may not have organizational backing, and thus, are open to youth-led efforts that are hosted in other organizations. Host organizations can be from public, private, and non-profit actors, as well as schools and social enterprises. citiesRISE will also support, encourage, and facilitate youth leaders in the award process to receive incubation support from the Center for Public Health and Development which is their local partner in Kenya. The EOI will be used to ensure that appropriate organizations/individuals are aware of the opportunity and to gather information that will serve to inform the evolution of the project.

All projects will be considered for sponsorship to attend a youth symposium at the end of 2017 to get exposure to learn more about the citiesRISE platform as well as be considered for future challenge awards.


How to Apply

If you or anyone you know within your network fits the description, kindly follow this link to get information on how to apply. All applications must be submitted by email to joyce.kingori@basicneeds.org and lian.zeitz@globaldevincubator.org on or before 16th JUNE 2017.

4 science-backed ways toward better learning

We have all done it. We are reading something we want to remember later and out comes the highlighter. Green, yellow, blue, sometimes multiple colors at once to differentiate the importance of words in sentences.

Even though highlighting is a widespread practice to help us learn and remember information, it actually does very little. In fact, in some situations highlighting can prevent us from using knowledge to make inferences in the future. Highlighting, it turns out, isn’t the only common strategy that doesn’t really help you learn. Others include underlining and rereading, which are popular study tools but are not effective.

So, what is a learner to do? Recent journal articles and the book Make It Stick point us in the direction of effective learning strategies. Here are four of them.

1.      Quiz yourself frequently on the material you read. Make flashcards of important topics you read. Generate questions and answers from the material and regularly quiz yourself. Keep retrieving knowledge from your memory. It will prevent forgetting and allow you to identify areas you do not know to focus future study.

2.      Space out your studying and quizzes. Spread out when you quiz yourself by hours, days, weeks, and months. As you gain mastery over the material, keep spacing the quizzes further apart.

3.      Quiz yourself on different topics in each study session. For example, if you are studying for a biology test, don’t just study the chapters in order. Mix in questions from different chapters as you study. Interleaving, or alternating topics, will improve your ability to remember and apply information in the future.

4.      Ask yourself questions while you are reading. These can include “Why?” questions. Why is this happening? Why does this make sense? Or why does this not make sense? Asking why will help you process the information you are reading and apply it in future situations. Questions can also help you process and make meaning of the information you have just read. For example, you can ask yourself, “What new facts did I just learn?” after reading a paragraph. “How do these new facts relate to facts I already know?” “What were the main themes of what I read?” “Why are these themes important?” “What further questions do I have?”

So, keep this article handy and use it to practice these methods. Quiz yourself on what you’ve just read, space out self-quizzes, keep quizzing yourself on the definitions of different strategies along with other information you are trying to learn, and ask yourself questions about the content, meaning, and applicability of the material while you are reading.

But please, put down the highlighter!

Article courtesy of David R. Topor, Contributor Harvard health publications