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Hello. Now, if you'd like to know which foods can help you | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
live longer, then you're in absolutely the right place, | 0:00:04 | 0:00:06 | |
because today, we'll be identifying some, | 0:00:06 | 0:00:08 | |
as well as finding out if it's true that food can help beat dementia | 0:00:08 | 0:00:13 | |
or even, heaven forbid, make it worse. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:15 | |
The papers are full of headlines claiming both those things, | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
but they don't always tell the whole story, | 0:00:18 | 0:00:20 | |
so that's where we come in. | 0:00:20 | 0:00:21 | |
Every day, we're bombarded with conflicting information | 0:00:25 | 0:00:28 | |
about our favourite foods. | 0:00:28 | 0:00:30 | |
One minute we're told something's good for us, the next, it's not, | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
and we're left feeling guilty about what we're eating. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:39 | |
Well, we've been wading through the confusion | 0:00:41 | 0:00:43 | |
to separate the scare stories from the truth, | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
so you can choose your food with confidence. | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
Hello, and a very, very warm welcome to Food - Truth Or Scare. | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
Now, this is the programme that cuts through all those contradictory | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
news stories about how the foods we eat affect our overall health. | 0:01:04 | 0:01:08 | |
That's right, and today, | 0:01:08 | 0:01:10 | |
we're unpicking food's powers for good and bad, | 0:01:10 | 0:01:13 | |
which isn't always easy when there seems to be another headline | 0:01:13 | 0:01:15 | |
claiming the food we eat could be doing us untold harm, and even | 0:01:15 | 0:01:19 | |
upping the chances of developing some really serious conditions. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:23 | |
But then, turn the page, and you might find just the opposite, | 0:01:23 | 0:01:26 | |
with reports that our meals can help stave off or even cure | 0:01:26 | 0:01:31 | |
the same conditions, and help us live to a ripe old age, hopefully. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:35 | |
So by the end of this programme, | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
you'll have a much better idea of which of those stories | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
that you really need to pay attention to. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 | |
Coming up - does drinking alcohol delay dementia, or even cause it? | 0:01:45 | 0:01:50 | |
The headlines seem to come thick and fast, | 0:01:50 | 0:01:52 | |
but can we believe any of them? | 0:01:52 | 0:01:54 | |
There doesn't seem to be anything definitive coming out. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
Lots of tests, but of headlines, but nothing that says, "This will help". | 0:01:57 | 0:02:01 | |
And, the oldest men in the world live in the Mediterranean, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
and the oldest women live in Japan, | 0:02:05 | 0:02:07 | |
so which of their diets should you follow if you want to live to 100? | 0:02:07 | 0:02:10 | |
Now, here's a shocking revelation for you - | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
more people die from dementia than any other condition. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:22 | |
Look at this headline - "the leading cause of death". | 0:02:22 | 0:02:26 | |
Now, sadly, my sister Lena had it, and I have to tell you, | 0:02:26 | 0:02:28 | |
it's just the most horrible disease. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:30 | |
Because it's so painful, | 0:02:30 | 0:02:32 | |
watching this sister that you've loved for so long | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
almost, like, disappear before your very eyes, | 0:02:35 | 0:02:37 | |
and really disturbing for the family. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:39 | |
It's not something I've had any experience in, fortunately, but it's | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
something we're starting to see a lot more of in the press, isn't it? | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
And I think if you have it in your family, you do worry about it. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
But you're right, it does seem that there's a new story about dementia | 0:02:48 | 0:02:52 | |
every single day. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:53 | |
And while lots of them focus on whether what we eat and drink | 0:02:53 | 0:02:57 | |
could increase our chances of getting it, or more positively, | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
fend it off for good, the arguments rage on, | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
particularly fiercely when it comes to alcohol. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:06 | |
Now, this is the truth - I actually don't drink that much. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:09 | |
But the question is, if I want to avoid developing dementia | 0:03:09 | 0:03:12 | |
like my lovely sister, should I give it up altogether? | 0:03:12 | 0:03:15 | |
For more than 50 years, heart disease was the biggest killer. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:20 | |
But in November 2016, that all changed. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
Dementia has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death | 0:03:23 | 0:03:27 | |
in England and Wales. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:29 | |
By 2025, | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
it's estimated that a million people will have the condition. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
I really hope I won't be one of them, | 0:03:34 | 0:03:36 | |
but it's very easy to see how the odds might be stacked against me, | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
because two-thirds of all people living with the condition | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
are female, and if one of your parents or siblings have or had it, | 0:03:42 | 0:03:46 | |
I've seen reports saying that your chances may be higher, too. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
My sister Lena was seven years older than me, | 0:03:51 | 0:03:53 | |
and she'd lived with dementia for quite a number of years, | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
which was all very disturbing for the family. | 0:03:56 | 0:03:58 | |
And sadly, she died as a result about five years ago. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:01 | |
And I'm absolutely determined to do whatever I can | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
to make sure that I don't develop it as well. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:07 | |
But trying to work out how we can avoid the condition | 0:04:07 | 0:04:10 | |
is a bit of a minefield, because almost every day, | 0:04:10 | 0:04:13 | |
the newspapers tell us that one food or another can either increase | 0:04:13 | 0:04:17 | |
our chances of developing it, or help us beat it. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
And nowhere is the confusion more apparent than in the conflicting | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
headlines about how alcohol affects the condition. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:27 | |
Christina MacDonald from Surrey shares my confusion. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
Now, sadly, her mum Hazel died of dementia in 2016. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:35 | |
My mum was diagnosed officially in 2009, but I think | 0:04:35 | 0:04:38 | |
she'd actually had the condition for a couple of years before that. | 0:04:38 | 0:04:43 | |
Looking back on it, there were signs that things weren't right. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:46 | |
But like a lot of people, she was reluctant to go to the GP. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:50 | |
She could see that there was an issue with her memory, | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
but she blamed it on stress and old age, | 0:04:52 | 0:04:54 | |
so it took a long time to actually get the diagnosis. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
Christina cared for Hazel for seven years after her diagnosis. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
Now that, unfortunately, she's not here any more, | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
it has given me time to reflect and think about the future. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:08 | |
And also think about where I might be in, say, 10, 20 years' time - | 0:05:08 | 0:05:13 | |
is there a risk that I may develop it? | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
My mum had vascular dementia, which is linked to smoking, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:20 | |
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, | 0:05:20 | 0:05:22 | |
all of which she had. | 0:05:22 | 0:05:23 | |
And if you read some reports, you'll also see headlines like this one, | 0:05:24 | 0:05:28 | |
saying there's a very clear link between dementia and alcohol. | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
It's a suggestion that's made a big impression on Christina. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
I've heard that, you know, there is a risk of developing dementia | 0:05:35 | 0:05:42 | |
pretty much solely through excessive abuse of alcohol, | 0:05:42 | 0:05:46 | |
and actually you'd be better off abstaining altogether. | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
Now, neither Christina nor I drink excessively, | 0:05:49 | 0:05:53 | |
but should we really stop having ANY? | 0:05:53 | 0:05:55 | |
Professor Margaret Rayman from the University of Surrey has analysed | 0:05:55 | 0:05:59 | |
the results of over 700 scientific studies | 0:05:59 | 0:06:01 | |
into the effects of food and drink on dementia. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:05 | |
So we're hoping she can set the record straight | 0:06:05 | 0:06:08 | |
on whether alcohol DOES present a risk. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
And she totally understands the confusion. | 0:06:10 | 0:06:13 | |
All the headlines, for the average person who picks up the paper every day, they're always conflicting - | 0:06:13 | 0:06:18 | |
you know, have a glass of wine a day, don't have any alcohol at all. | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
It is very confusing for the average reader. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
I know. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
It just seems to be one of those subjects that is just... | 0:06:24 | 0:06:27 | |
Every study or report that you read, or headline, | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
will tell you something different, | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
so I think people are probably confused about it. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
I've gone through reviews which are so-called systematic reviews, | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
where they look at all the studies that were ever done on such and such a thing - | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
in this case, sort of alcohol and dementia - | 0:06:41 | 0:06:43 | |
and I've looked at all of those that there have been over the last, | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
I don't know, 10 or 20 years, | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
and most of them are saying the same thing. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
-What's the conclusion? -And the conclusion is, | 0:06:52 | 0:06:54 | |
light to moderate drinking is good, and is associated... | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
I see a bottle of wine over there, are you going to show me what light to moderate is? | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
Well, that's 87.5 millilitres. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
That's half of a 175ml glass, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:05 | |
which would be a normal glass of wine in a pub. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:09 | |
Margaret says studies suggest that drinking this modest amount of wine daily | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
appears to have a beneficial effect on the brain's | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
thinking power. But I'm afraid it's definitely NOT the case | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
that the more you have, the better. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:24 | |
So if you consistently had more than that per day, | 0:07:24 | 0:07:26 | |
would that significantly increase your risk? | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
There was quite a nice Swedish study which looked at twins, | 0:07:29 | 0:07:31 | |
and what they found was that more than 12g of alcohol a day | 0:07:31 | 0:07:36 | |
began to give you disbenefit. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:39 | |
Now, what I've poured here is actually 12g. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
But what I find interesting is that | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
it's better to have a small glass of wine than have nothing at all. | 0:07:44 | 0:07:48 | |
In virtually every single study I saw, | 0:07:48 | 0:07:52 | |
some wine was better than no wine. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:53 | |
But while Margaret's certain that a small amount of alcohol | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
can have a protective effect against dementia, | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
others say that the evidence isn't so clear. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:02 | |
Dr Clare Walton from the Alzheimer's Society | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
is keen to focus on the damage that TOO much can do. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
What we know for sure is that drinking too much is bad for your brain. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:13 | |
If you drink in excess, | 0:08:13 | 0:08:15 | |
you actually can develop a condition called alcohol-related brain damage. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:19 | |
That is a slightly different form of dementia, | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
although the symptoms are very similar. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
If you stop drinking, in most cases you can bounce back, | 0:08:23 | 0:08:27 | |
-and you will recover. -Really? | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
So for people that are heavy drinkers | 0:08:29 | 0:08:30 | |
and their dementia might be caused by heavy drinking, | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
they definitely should stop drinking. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:34 | |
But after hearing what Professor Rayman said about the potential | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
benefits of light to moderate drinking, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
Christina wants to know if the few glasses of wine she has each week | 0:08:40 | 0:08:44 | |
are helping her to delay dementia, or possibly even speeding it up. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:48 | |
I've read conflicting information about alcohol, | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
so I just wondered what your view is, | 0:08:53 | 0:08:54 | |
because I'm quite confused by it. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:56 | |
When you get down to the low, | 0:08:56 | 0:08:58 | |
kind of moderate levels within the guidelines, | 0:08:58 | 0:09:00 | |
the literature is very unclear, | 0:09:00 | 0:09:02 | |
so it's very difficult to pick this apart. | 0:09:02 | 0:09:05 | |
As far as the Alzheimer's Society is concerned, | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
there simply isn't enough research to prove whether | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
a small glass of wine really is going to help keep dementia at bay. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:16 | |
But reassuringly for Christina, | 0:09:16 | 0:09:18 | |
the Society doesn't suggest giving up completely. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:21 | |
Our recommendation at Alzheimer's Society is that you definitely | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
should not drink above the recommended limits, | 0:09:24 | 0:09:27 | |
because of the damage that we know about. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:29 | |
But if you drink within the safe limits, you shouldn't stop, | 0:09:29 | 0:09:32 | |
thinking that you're creating damage. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
But you also shouldn't start drinking in order to protect | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
your brain, cos there's no really strong evidence for that, either. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
While it's a relief for both of us | 0:09:41 | 0:09:44 | |
to hear that we CAN still enjoy a small glass of wine, | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
I'm struck by the fact that in general, | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
there's a lot of confusion and very little clarity | 0:09:48 | 0:09:51 | |
about what might contribute to dementia. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:53 | |
I think a lot of us who have dementia or Alzheimer's | 0:09:55 | 0:09:57 | |
in our families are feeling a bit depressed in a way. | 0:09:57 | 0:10:00 | |
I don't know whether you'd agree, actually. | 0:10:00 | 0:10:02 | |
Because there doesn't seem to be anything definitive coming out. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:05 | |
Lots of tests, lots of headlines, | 0:10:05 | 0:10:07 | |
but nothing that says, "This will help". | 0:10:07 | 0:10:09 | |
Are you way, way behind | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
when it comes to dementia and Alzheimer's research? | 0:10:11 | 0:10:15 | |
If you compare dementia to cancer, for example, | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
we're about 25, 30 years behind. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:20 | |
-Behind. -But that's because we've only been doing research | 0:10:20 | 0:10:23 | |
for a much shorter period of time. Thankfully, the funding | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
has increased and we are making progress, but I think | 0:10:26 | 0:10:29 | |
that's why we still need to do a lot more research. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:31 | |
In the meantime, as you might imagine, | 0:10:31 | 0:10:34 | |
Clare shares our frustration that every piece of research | 0:10:34 | 0:10:36 | |
so very quickly becomes a headline suggesting concrete proof of a link | 0:10:36 | 0:10:41 | |
to dementia, before the truth has been definitely established. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:45 | |
What we try to do is look across all the studies that have been done | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
into one topic, and summarise them to give people kind of... | 0:10:48 | 0:10:51 | |
..what the truth is as far as the evidence tells us. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:55 | |
So my advice is don't respond to a headline - | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
you know, a headline is not medical advice. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
Go to more reputable sources like the Alzheimer's Society or the NHS website, | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
and try to look across the board | 0:11:04 | 0:11:06 | |
what that evidence is for that particular food or drink | 0:11:06 | 0:11:10 | |
and how it links to dementia. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:12 | |
Later in the programme, Christina and I will be unpicking the truth | 0:11:12 | 0:11:15 | |
behind some of the other headlines around food and dementia, | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
and we'll be going shopping for foods that some say | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
we should eat more of to avoid the condition, | 0:11:22 | 0:11:24 | |
but others suggest we should cut out altogether. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
You know, it's an awful thing to say, | 0:11:38 | 0:11:40 | |
but we're all living so much longer than anyone used to | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
that our chances of developing Alzheimer's or dementia are so much greater. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:47 | |
So, if there's anything at all I can do to stop it coming on, | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
I'm definitely going to give it a go. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
But trying to find out what to eat to help you live longer | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
isn't as simple as you might think, because here, again, | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
what you read doesn't always give you the same advice. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:59 | |
Here it's saying a Mediterranean diet is best for you. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
But it seems there's stiff competition from other parts of | 0:12:02 | 0:12:05 | |
the globe, for whose cuisine is the healthiest. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
If you want to live to a ripe old age, | 0:12:11 | 0:12:13 | |
it's no surprise that what you eat will play a big part. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
And the diet we've long been told is the healthiest | 0:12:19 | 0:12:21 | |
comes from the Mediterranean. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:23 | |
Some headlines claim if we all followed the Med diet, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:25 | |
it could save thousands of lives in Britain every year. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
But others say the secret to long life is an entirely different diet | 0:12:34 | 0:12:38 | |
from the other side of the world - Japan. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:42 | |
So if I want to live to 100, which cuisine is the one to go for? | 0:12:42 | 0:12:46 | |
Well, to settle the argument | 0:12:47 | 0:12:48 | |
and to see which really IS the healthiest in the world, | 0:12:48 | 0:12:51 | |
I've called in registered nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed, | 0:12:51 | 0:12:54 | |
who reckons it's going to be a close race to call. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:57 | |
The Japanese diet is held to be a good one, | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
and possibly reducing the risk of early death as well. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
The average lifespan of a Japanese female is up to about 87 years old. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:09 | |
In UK here I believe it's around about 81, | 0:13:09 | 0:13:11 | |
so they do have a very long life expectancy | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
compared to a lot of other countries. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:15 | |
But what about the Med diet? | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
The Mediterranean diet is backed up by a huge amount of research. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:21 | |
So we know that there are lots of components of the Mediterranean diet | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
that are very healthy and that lead us to improve our health | 0:13:24 | 0:13:26 | |
if we follow it too. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:28 | |
What's interesting here is that the headlines on either side of | 0:13:28 | 0:13:31 | |
this sandwich board both came from the same newspaper, | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
printed just six months apart. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:36 | |
One proclaims that Japanese food is the key to a long and healthy life, | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
while the other says it's following | 0:13:41 | 0:13:43 | |
the Mediterranean diet that saves lives. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
So which message has really got through to the public? | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
We're going to see which of the two diets these shoppers think is the healthiest. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:55 | |
Come and grab the flag that you agree with the most. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:58 | |
Who wants to go first? | 0:13:58 | 0:13:59 | |
Oh, interesting, that is quite a mix. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
50-50. | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
What is it about Japanese food that you think's healthy? | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
For me, it's the emphasis on the fresh produce, | 0:14:11 | 0:14:14 | |
-particularly the amount of fish they eat. -OK. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:17 | |
I know that Japanese people live in general longer than a lot of other populations. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:22 | |
'As for those who went for the Mediterranean diet...' | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
You do genuinely believe that the Mediterranean diet is healthier? | 0:14:25 | 0:14:29 | |
I think it's more about, you eat because it's good and because you... | 0:14:29 | 0:14:34 | |
You take pleasure in what you eat, | 0:14:34 | 0:14:35 | |
-rather than just to fill your stomach. -Absolutely. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
The mix between ingredients and way of cooking. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:42 | |
Just like the papers, this lot are split down the middle. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
So which of them is right? | 0:14:46 | 0:14:48 | |
Well, to find out what makes these two diets so good for us, | 0:14:48 | 0:14:52 | |
I'm off to do some shopping, and I'll catch up with Charlotte later. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
-Good luck! -Thank you very much, everyone, All the best. | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
Now, you can understand why scientists and newspapers | 0:15:02 | 0:15:05 | |
can't seem to decide between the Mediterranean and Japanese diets. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:09 | |
One landmark study found that while the oldest women in the world lived in Okinawa in Japan, | 0:15:10 | 0:15:15 | |
the oldest MEN came from Sardinia, in Italy. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:19 | |
Clearly for both, what they ate was a major factor in their good health. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
So what exactly is it about these two diets | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
that makes them so good for us? | 0:15:27 | 0:15:30 | |
I'm starting with my personal favourite, the Mediterranean diet. | 0:15:30 | 0:15:34 | |
It's reported to stave off cancer, protect against heart disease, | 0:15:34 | 0:15:38 | |
and as that headline said, could apparently save tens of thousands | 0:15:38 | 0:15:42 | |
of lives every year if we all ate like our cousins around the Med. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
But as much as I love it, there is something that I've always wondered. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:51 | |
OK, I get it, the Mediterranean diet is healthy - | 0:15:51 | 0:15:53 | |
we've got lots of veg, we've got lots of fruit, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:55 | |
we've got lots of fish. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:56 | |
But we've also got lots of pasta, lasagne, carbonara, | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
processed meat, and pizza. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
So maybe it's not all quite as healthy as we think. | 0:16:02 | 0:16:05 | |
Well, of course, the reality is that while some people might like to | 0:16:05 | 0:16:09 | |
think those creamy pastas and pizzas are central to the Med diet, | 0:16:09 | 0:16:13 | |
they're not, so don't kid yourself. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
The truth is, it's a diet that relies on fresh, | 0:16:15 | 0:16:19 | |
simple and seasonal ingredients, | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
the sort of things this Italian market is full of, | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
and the man in charge is Andrea Rasca. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:27 | |
So we've got lots of lovely things here, | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
but if we're eating a traditional, authentic Mediterranean diet, | 0:16:30 | 0:16:34 | |
one that's good for us, what sort of things should we be buying? | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
I would start with a tomato, for instance. | 0:16:37 | 0:16:39 | |
Tomato is the base of the Italian diet, | 0:16:39 | 0:16:41 | |
-and the Mediterranean diet as a whole. -Yes. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:44 | |
-Yeah, we'll have some of those. -Some tomato, please. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:47 | |
What comes to mind immediately with tomato, and tomato sauce - pasta. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:51 | |
OK, I'm huge fan of pasta, but is it healthy? | 0:16:51 | 0:16:53 | |
-Is it good for us? -It's freshly made, there are no preservatives, | 0:16:53 | 0:16:57 | |
no colourants, it's totally natural. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
You can add cheese, you can add spinach, you can add meat, | 0:17:00 | 0:17:02 | |
but they all come from an incredibly good selection of ingredients. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:07 | |
-Thank you. -So what other ingredients do we need | 0:17:07 | 0:17:10 | |
to make an authentic, traditional Mediterranean diet? | 0:17:10 | 0:17:13 | |
Well, there is the king of all cheeses. | 0:17:13 | 0:17:16 | |
-Cheddar? -The Parmigiano-Reggiano. -Oh! | 0:17:16 | 0:17:20 | |
I love cheddar, by the way. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
But Parmigiano-Reggiano has got such a long history and tradition, and the taste is just amazing. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
Along with that lot, Andrea adds to my basket | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
more of the building blocks that make the Med diet so healthy. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:34 | |
Another pillar of the Mediterranean diet - the olive oil. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:39 | |
-Yes. -You use it in so many different ways. | 0:17:39 | 0:17:42 | |
But the most important ingredients in our diet are | 0:17:42 | 0:17:46 | |
-lentils and all kind of legumes, and pulses. -Yeah. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:49 | |
It's an incredibly important part of our diet. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:53 | |
'Andrea tells me legumes like lentils, beans and pulses are cheap, | 0:17:53 | 0:17:57 | |
'nutritious and so full of protein | 0:17:57 | 0:17:59 | |
'that they're often used instead of meat and fish.' | 0:17:59 | 0:18:01 | |
We have a full menu here, | 0:18:01 | 0:18:03 | |
so what is missing now is something to drink, that goes along with this, | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
which a glass of red wine. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:08 | |
Red wine is, again, another of the pillars of the Mediterranean diet. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:12 | |
'Some might quibble over that one, but you won't find me arguing. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:16 | |
'And Andrea's not finished yet. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:18 | |
'For him, there's one final, fundamental part of the Med diet, | 0:18:18 | 0:18:22 | |
'and it isn't actually an ingredient at all.' | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
The joy of eating together, this is part of the Mediterranean diet. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:29 | |
And it makes you feel better when you eat it, | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
and while you eat it with your friends. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:35 | |
That's probably the most important ingredient. | 0:18:35 | 0:18:37 | |
Well, even with the wine, by anyone's standards, | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
I've certainly come away with a basket full of healthy looking stuff | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
to show Charlotte. And as a greengrocer, | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
I know just how good for you some of this lot is. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
But the question is, is it going to be better | 0:18:51 | 0:18:54 | |
than what I'd be eating if I was following the Japanese diet? | 0:18:54 | 0:18:58 | |
Yuki Gomi is a Japanese food writer. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:04 | |
And, just like Andrea, | 0:19:06 | 0:19:08 | |
she's keen to stress that her diet is based around simple, fresh, | 0:19:08 | 0:19:13 | |
nutritious ingredients. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:14 | |
It's like, really nice, simple, super healthy, Japanese everyday. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:18 | |
I'm not totally surprised to see that first on Yuki's list is rice. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:24 | |
-Look at this big bag! -Yes. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:26 | |
-So it obviously makes up a big part of Japanese diet. -Yeah. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:32 | |
But is it healthy? | 0:19:32 | 0:19:33 | |
-I think so. -Yeah? | 0:19:33 | 0:19:35 | |
First of all you need a balanced diet. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:37 | |
So you need some carbohydrates, and vegetables or protein | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
like meat or fish. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
So you have to have that nice carbohydrate from the rice. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
OK. We'll put that one in. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:48 | |
'Up next, something else I was expecting - fish.' | 0:19:48 | 0:19:52 | |
Any particular type of fish? | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
Yeah, we do a lot of different types of fish. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:56 | |
-Especially mackerel is great, in season now. -Right. | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
And salmon is very common. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:01 | |
-So they're good oily fishes, aren't they? -Oh, yeah. -You know, mackerel, salmon... | 0:20:01 | 0:20:05 | |
Oily fish, and the Omega-3 fatty acids it contains, | 0:20:06 | 0:20:09 | |
can help protect against heart disease. And as we'll see later, | 0:20:09 | 0:20:13 | |
some studies suggest they can even help fight the onset of dementia. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
So with the Japanese eating almost 30 kilos of fish every year, | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
it just has to be one of the reasons they're healthier in old age. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:25 | |
'Also into the basket go mushrooms...' | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
Really nice, nice aroma. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
'..tofu...' | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
It's great for protein, and high protein in it. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:38 | |
It's really good for you. | 0:20:38 | 0:20:39 | |
-'..miso...' -It's high protein. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
So far the Japanese diet IS looking as if it's particularly healthy, | 0:20:42 | 0:20:45 | |
-isn't it? -Yeah. -And you're in better shape than I, | 0:20:45 | 0:20:47 | |
so I think maybe it's... Maybe it is. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:50 | |
'..and seaweed.' | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
A lot of minerals, and fibres. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:56 | |
And the good thing is, it's no calories. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:58 | |
You know, so perfect for diet. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
Let's get some of that! | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
'Altogether, that makes a really tempting, and again, I must say, | 0:21:03 | 0:21:07 | |
'a very healthy looking basket of food.' | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
-Arigato. -Arigato. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:11 | |
'Shopping trip complete,' | 0:21:11 | 0:21:14 | |
'it's time to head back to nutritionist Charlotte to analyse | 0:21:14 | 0:21:17 | |
'and compare my Japanese and Mediterranean baskets.' | 0:21:17 | 0:21:19 | |
It looks like you've been really, really busy. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
'And laid out in front of us like this, | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
'it's obvious these two diets have a lot in common.' | 0:21:28 | 0:21:31 | |
When you look at these diets, | 0:21:31 | 0:21:34 | |
you'll find that what a lot of these diets do have in common is things like fresh fruits and vegetables. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:38 | |
Pulses and beans and lentils make up a fairly large part of the diet. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:42 | |
Neither Yuki or Andrea chose to add meat to my basket, both of them | 0:21:44 | 0:21:48 | |
opting for traditionally cheaper alternatives instead. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:52 | |
Yuki's tofu and Andrea's lentils are great doses of protein - | 0:21:52 | 0:21:56 | |
and because they're plant-based, | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
they're lower in saturated fat and higher in fibre than meat, | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
so they're good for the heart. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:03 | |
The same can be said for the fish that Yuki chose, | 0:22:03 | 0:22:06 | |
so Charlotte thinks Andrea should have picked it too. | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
Oily fish, I would say, | 0:22:11 | 0:22:12 | |
is actually a component of both the Mediterranean and the Japanese diet, | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
and it's full of good protein, | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
it's full of healthy fats like Omega-3 fatty acids, | 0:22:18 | 0:22:21 | |
as well as vitamins and minerals. | 0:22:21 | 0:22:23 | |
And alongside the lovely fresh veg, | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
mushrooms from Yuki, and these tomatoes from Andrea, | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
Charlotte says the starchy carbs like rice and pasta | 0:22:30 | 0:22:33 | |
have their place too. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:34 | |
Carbohydrates get a bad name, but actually | 0:22:36 | 0:22:38 | |
carbohydrates do contribute a significant proportion of nutrients to our diet. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:42 | |
So for example, they give us plenty of energy, | 0:22:42 | 0:22:44 | |
they do tend to give us B-vitamins, | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
we also tend to get fibre from our carbohydrate food groups as well. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:50 | |
So from that point of view, they are very important. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
I think what I see, certainly, in my practice | 0:22:53 | 0:22:56 | |
is that what we tend to do in the UK | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
is we overeat our carbohydrates. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
-OK. Cheese? -We're often told to restrict cheese, | 0:23:01 | 0:23:05 | |
and that is because of the high saturated fat content in cheese. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
What I would say is, though, they do include Parmesan in the | 0:23:08 | 0:23:11 | |
Mediterranean diet quite regularly - it tends to be a small amount. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:15 | |
I'm going to push you for an answer - | 0:23:15 | 0:23:16 | |
what are we saying? Is the Japanese or is the Mediterranean diet the healthier diet? | 0:23:16 | 0:23:21 | |
If I had to choose based on what we've got here in front of us, | 0:23:21 | 0:23:24 | |
I'd probably say, yes, the Japanese diet is ticking the boxes. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
But actually, the Mediterranean diet has been researched very thoroughly, | 0:23:28 | 0:23:32 | |
and always come out trumps in a lot of studies | 0:23:32 | 0:23:34 | |
so we know that there is something about this Mediterranean diet | 0:23:34 | 0:23:37 | |
that is very beneficial. | 0:23:37 | 0:23:38 | |
Well, if it sounds like Charlotte's slightly sitting on the fence, | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
the truth is you don't have to follow any one country's diet. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:48 | |
And it's common sense, really - the key to living a long life | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
is just eating a balance of fresh and healthy foods. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
It's about context, | 0:23:56 | 0:23:57 | |
it's about the way that we eat as well as what we are eating... | 0:23:57 | 0:24:01 | |
There's no single foods that we can add into a diet that are going to | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
have magic improvements, because it is about our diet as a whole. | 0:24:05 | 0:24:09 | |
And it's all about variety, | 0:24:09 | 0:24:10 | |
so we've got lots of different foods in front of us here, | 0:24:10 | 0:24:13 | |
and that's what really good diets are about. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:17 | |
If you'd like recipes and ideas | 0:24:25 | 0:24:27 | |
for quick and simple Mediterranean dishes, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
you can find them, along with more information from the series, at... | 0:24:29 | 0:24:33 | |
And still to come - | 0:24:38 | 0:24:39 | |
how cutting out just two foods stopped the debilitating migraines | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
that one woman had suffered for 25 years. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:46 | |
I just could not raise my head, I couldn't get out of bed. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
It was really, really bad. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:51 | |
But first, earlier in the programme | 0:24:57 | 0:24:58 | |
I investigated those confusing headlines about alcohol in relation to dementia. | 0:24:58 | 0:25:03 | |
But alcohol is just the tip of the iceberg, | 0:25:03 | 0:25:07 | |
because there are dozens of reports about foods | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
also said to have an impact on the condition. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
It's been declared that soup, white rice, coffee, yoghurt, | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
carbs and much more can beat dementia, | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
while we're also told that fried foods, sugar | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
and processed meats could do just the opposite, and speed it up. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:25 | |
Earlier we met Christina MacDonald, whose mum died of vascular dementia, | 0:25:25 | 0:25:29 | |
which is linked to high blood pressure, smoking and cholesterol. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:33 | |
Very keen to avoid the same fate, | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
Christina made changes to her own lifestyle and diet. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
But it's not easy to know what advice to follow. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:42 | |
I'm trying to kind of be aware of, you know, what I should be eating, | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
but there's so many mixed messages out there that it's difficult to kind of make sense of everything. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:50 | |
I've got to say, I'm confused as well. | 0:25:51 | 0:25:53 | |
So Christina and I are going shopping. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
We've gathered together some information - I mean, there have been so many headlines, | 0:25:56 | 0:25:59 | |
let's see if there is any truth behind them. | 0:25:59 | 0:26:01 | |
I've got a little shopping list - not too many things on my list - | 0:26:01 | 0:26:04 | |
but I thought maybe we would go off and do a bit of shopping. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
My list is full of foods that the papers say could slow down dementia, | 0:26:07 | 0:26:11 | |
and top of the list of those reported to keep it at bay | 0:26:11 | 0:26:14 | |
is oily fish. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
I am a big fan of oily fish, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
and I do subscribe to the fact that it could be beneficial for reducing dementia risk. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:22 | |
Next, we're going for coffee, | 0:26:22 | 0:26:24 | |
which hit the front pages with claims that drinking it every day | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
could help reduce the risk of developing dementia. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:30 | |
So, do you drink tea and coffee? | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
I just drink coffee, but for me that's good news if it's true, | 0:26:32 | 0:26:35 | |
because I do like coffee. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:37 | |
Also going into our basket are other foods reported to be | 0:26:37 | 0:26:40 | |
dementia busters - rapeseed oil, olive oil, tea, | 0:26:40 | 0:26:44 | |
and even something that lots of us would love to have a reason | 0:26:44 | 0:26:47 | |
to eat more of - dark chocolate. | 0:26:47 | 0:26:49 | |
Now, I've heard a lot about dark chocolate, | 0:26:49 | 0:26:52 | |
and one of the headlines in the paper said that dark chocolate is really good for the brain. | 0:26:52 | 0:26:55 | |
It sounds too good to be true. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
Generally, with chocolate I try to steer clear, | 0:26:58 | 0:27:00 | |
because I'm trying to maintain a healthy body weight. | 0:27:00 | 0:27:03 | |
Well, while Christina isn't convinced about the chocolate, | 0:27:03 | 0:27:05 | |
next on my shopping list are berries, | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
which we're both fairly sure have to be good for us. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
Blueberries in particular are widely reported to be loaded with a type of | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
antioxidant believed to protect the brain from the condition. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:18 | |
What's your feeling about this? | 0:27:19 | 0:27:21 | |
I'd be interested to hear more about it. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:23 | |
I've heard that there is a chemical in berries, particularly, | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
that can actually help reduce dementia risk. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:28 | |
But it's just understanding, what does that chemical do? | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
If, indeed, it actually works. | 0:27:31 | 0:27:33 | |
So, according to the newspapers, | 0:27:33 | 0:27:36 | |
everything in our basket is potentially dementia-busting. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:39 | |
But are the claims actually true? | 0:27:39 | 0:27:41 | |
Well, we asked Professor Margaret Rayman at the University of Surrey | 0:27:45 | 0:27:48 | |
to look through our basket of food, | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
to see if any of them were as good for us as the headlines made out. | 0:27:50 | 0:27:54 | |
The thing that perturbs me is that nothing seems to be definitive. | 0:27:55 | 0:27:58 | |
There isn't much that's definitive. There are probably... | 0:27:58 | 0:28:02 | |
maybe up to half a dozen definitive things that you could talk about. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:06 | |
There's vitamin E, but it's vitamin E from foods, not from supplements. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:10 | |
-How do you get that? -Well, I think I can see vitamin E sources here - | 0:28:10 | 0:28:14 | |
that, I think, is... | 0:28:14 | 0:28:16 | |
-The rapeseed. -Rapeseed oil? -Rapeseed, yes. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
And then this, which is extra virgin olive oil. | 0:28:18 | 0:28:20 | |
This is what you want to use on your salads. | 0:28:20 | 0:28:23 | |
Margaret tells us that both olive oil and rapeseed oil | 0:28:23 | 0:28:26 | |
have beneficial components that are likely to reduce the risk of dementia. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:30 | |
-How does this resonate with you? -I mean, I'm finding it encouraging. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:34 | |
I'm certainly not an expert on nutrition, | 0:28:34 | 0:28:36 | |
but it is encouraging to hear... | 0:28:36 | 0:28:38 | |
-That there are things... -Yes. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:40 | |
And you're quoting results - you know, very concrete information. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:43 | |
Exactly. Exactly. It's good quality evidence. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
And Margaret's very pleased to see that there's oily fish in our basket, | 0:28:46 | 0:28:50 | |
because there's good evidence that it can help delay dementia. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:53 | |
One of the components of fish oil is definitely important, | 0:28:53 | 0:28:57 | |
the evidence is good. Very good. | 0:28:57 | 0:28:59 | |
And so you will obviously get that from oily fish, | 0:28:59 | 0:29:02 | |
such as the salmon that we've got here, or mackerel, or herring, or sardines, or... | 0:29:02 | 0:29:07 | |
Fish, oily or not, | 0:29:07 | 0:29:09 | |
seems to be associated clearly with reduced risk. | 0:29:09 | 0:29:13 | |
Margaret says there's evidence, too, that three portions a week | 0:29:13 | 0:29:17 | |
of the berries we chose could have a positive effect. | 0:29:17 | 0:29:20 | |
But it seems that Christina was right to be a bit sceptical about | 0:29:20 | 0:29:23 | |
the chocolate. Or at least, about how much we should be eating. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:27 | |
This one is a dark chocolate, which I got at the House of Lords. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:30 | |
And the reason I asked if I could take it away | 0:29:30 | 0:29:33 | |
is because I suspected it was exactly the amount | 0:29:33 | 0:29:36 | |
you're supposed to have every day for optimum effect. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:40 | |
And when I got it home and weighed it, it was indeed 10g of chocolate. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:44 | |
10g of chocolate was the most beneficial in reducing risk. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:48 | |
And then if you go above that, the risk will rise. | 0:29:48 | 0:29:52 | |
There's a similarly mixed message with the coffee. | 0:29:53 | 0:29:55 | |
While Margaret believes that a couple of cups a day could have | 0:29:55 | 0:29:58 | |
a beneficial effect, other experts aren't convinced, | 0:29:58 | 0:30:01 | |
and some say too much coffee could be a problem. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:04 | |
But overall, the message from Margaret is one that | 0:30:05 | 0:30:08 | |
we've heard before - while making small changes to your diet | 0:30:08 | 0:30:11 | |
is a good first step, leading a healthier lifestyle | 0:30:11 | 0:30:14 | |
is really the key to helping delay dementia. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:16 | |
And in Christina's case, | 0:30:17 | 0:30:19 | |
the positive changes she made in her 40s came at just the right time. | 0:30:19 | 0:30:23 | |
If dementia's well advanced, | 0:30:24 | 0:30:26 | |
it's been going on in the body for perhaps 20 years, | 0:30:26 | 0:30:30 | |
maybe 30 years, it's too late to intervene at that stage. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:34 | |
So the message for all of us, really, | 0:30:34 | 0:30:35 | |
is that the sooner we get a healthy diet, | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
-the more chance there is that we might not get dementia in older age. -Yes. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:42 | |
While research into the foods that could delay dementia continues, | 0:30:42 | 0:30:47 | |
at the Alzheimer's Society, | 0:30:47 | 0:30:48 | |
Dr Clare Walton agrees with Margaret that a substantial number | 0:30:48 | 0:30:52 | |
of dementia cases could be avoided if we all led healthier lifestyles. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:56 | |
We think about 30% of cases of dementia might be due to lifestyle | 0:30:58 | 0:31:02 | |
risk factors. And that's really positive news for the public. | 0:31:02 | 0:31:05 | |
We aren't at the stage where we can prescribe individual foods or | 0:31:05 | 0:31:09 | |
individual, you know, lifestyle choices that will reduce your risk. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:13 | |
But try and keep physically active - | 0:31:13 | 0:31:14 | |
that doesn't mean go to the gym, | 0:31:14 | 0:31:15 | |
you know, walk regularly or do something that you can try and keep yourself physically active. | 0:31:15 | 0:31:21 | |
And then generally, with keeping your heart healthy, | 0:31:21 | 0:31:23 | |
try to eat a balanced diet that is somewhat around | 0:31:23 | 0:31:26 | |
the Mediterranean-style, so high in fish, high in olive oil, | 0:31:26 | 0:31:31 | |
lots of fresh fruit and veg, and then maybe, you know, | 0:31:31 | 0:31:33 | |
cut back a bit on the saturated fats, the processed sugars, and the | 0:31:33 | 0:31:36 | |
red meat. You know, what's good for your heart is good for your head, | 0:31:36 | 0:31:39 | |
but we want people to know that there ARE things you can do | 0:31:39 | 0:31:41 | |
to reduce your risk, and they are generally the things that would keep | 0:31:41 | 0:31:44 | |
your heart healthy. So people shouldn't think, | 0:31:44 | 0:31:46 | |
"Oh, my granny had it, I'm going to get it too." That's not the case. | 0:31:46 | 0:31:50 | |
That's good news for you and me, then, isn't it? | 0:31:50 | 0:31:52 | |
I love that phrase, | 0:32:01 | 0:32:02 | |
it's so simple - what's good for your heart is good for your head. | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
Now, Christina and I came away from those interviews really encouraged, | 0:32:05 | 0:32:09 | |
and of course I know that the evidence isn't exactly overwhelming. | 0:32:09 | 0:32:13 | |
But the chance that changing what you eat or drink can help stave off | 0:32:13 | 0:32:17 | |
or even just delay dementia, I think, is a really positive message. | 0:32:17 | 0:32:21 | |
Now, while changing what you eat to boost your chances of living longer | 0:32:21 | 0:32:25 | |
could have some really big benefits later on in life, | 0:32:25 | 0:32:28 | |
day-to-day it might take a while before you start to notice any difference. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:31 | |
But there's one condition where, if you believe some reports, | 0:32:31 | 0:32:35 | |
simply cutting out a few foods could change your life overnight. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:38 | |
And you know, that's absolutely correct, | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
because about eight million people in Britain get migraines - | 0:32:40 | 0:32:43 | |
by the way, three times as many women as men - | 0:32:43 | 0:32:47 | |
and it's long been thought that food can be a key cause. | 0:32:47 | 0:32:50 | |
The Paralympian Danny Crates is one of those sufferers. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:53 | |
In fact, there are certain foods and particular situations that he thinks | 0:32:53 | 0:32:56 | |
are more likely to trigger a migraine - | 0:32:56 | 0:32:59 | |
and I'm afraid to tell you, it includes a night out. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:02 | |
I'm at the Sports Aid sports ball tonight. | 0:33:07 | 0:33:11 | |
Which means a very late night, and maybe a little bit of red wine. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:15 | |
So if anything's going to trigger a migraine, it could be tonight. | 0:33:15 | 0:33:20 | |
Well, it's the morning after the night before, | 0:33:27 | 0:33:29 | |
and having had a very late night - I had one two glasses of red wine - | 0:33:29 | 0:33:32 | |
as expected, I'm now suffering with a migraine. | 0:33:32 | 0:33:35 | |
I get them in the back of my right eye, it's a throbbing sensation, | 0:33:35 | 0:33:38 | |
it'll start off in the morning and gradually get worse during the day. | 0:33:38 | 0:33:41 | |
That's paired with tightness down the back of my neck and a sick feeling in my stomach. | 0:33:41 | 0:33:45 | |
Usually, a good night's sleep is all I need to knock it on the head. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:51 | |
Which means I get off lightly, | 0:33:51 | 0:33:52 | |
because some sufferers say their migraines can last up to 72 hours. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:56 | |
Now, I think I know what brings on my attacks, but there are | 0:33:57 | 0:34:01 | |
millions of sufferers out there in the UK that have no idea | 0:34:01 | 0:34:04 | |
what triggers this often debilitating condition. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:08 | |
You only have to take a quick look online to realise how much | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
conflicting information there is out there. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:13 | |
While it's long been thought that what we eat can trigger a migraine, | 0:34:13 | 0:34:17 | |
the papers can't seem to agree on whether some foods, like chocolate, | 0:34:17 | 0:34:21 | |
cheese and wine, will cause or even cure them. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:25 | |
But then I spotted a headline that did seem to have the answer. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:29 | |
It reported one woman's 25-year battle with migraines, | 0:34:29 | 0:34:33 | |
that suddenly stopped when she changed what she ate. | 0:34:33 | 0:34:36 | |
And now, she says, they're cured. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:37 | |
-Hi! -Hi, Andrea. How are you doing? -Yeah, good, thanks. Come on in. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:41 | |
'Andrea Henson didn't just have the occasional migraine. | 0:34:41 | 0:34:45 | |
'She says they were every week.' | 0:34:45 | 0:34:48 | |
So what would your kind of symptoms be from your migraines? | 0:34:48 | 0:34:51 | |
If it were one that lasts for days, | 0:34:51 | 0:34:54 | |
it would start off slow and then just increase. | 0:34:54 | 0:34:58 | |
I'd probably take medication for it, but it wouldn't necessarily work. | 0:34:58 | 0:35:02 | |
It might dampen it a little bit, but it would still continue. You know, | 0:35:02 | 0:35:05 | |
you'd wake up the next day and you think, "Oh, not again." | 0:35:05 | 0:35:07 | |
And Andrea's migraines went from bad to worse. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:11 | |
One day, she was even admitted to hospital. | 0:35:11 | 0:35:14 | |
It came from absolutely nowhere, there was no warning. | 0:35:14 | 0:35:17 | |
And it was like a stabbing pain, but all over my head. | 0:35:17 | 0:35:20 | |
I'd never had anything else like it. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:22 | |
So a very, very scary time for you and your family. | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
I had a really bad three months where, for a good six weeks, | 0:35:25 | 0:35:29 | |
I just could not raise my head, I couldn't get out of bed. | 0:35:29 | 0:35:32 | |
It was really, really bad. | 0:35:32 | 0:35:33 | |
Andrea, like me, is aware of the most common foods | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
that are supposed to trigger migraines, | 0:35:37 | 0:35:39 | |
but cutting those foods out did nothing to stop HER attacks. | 0:35:39 | 0:35:42 | |
Initially I thought it might be chocolate, | 0:35:43 | 0:35:45 | |
cos I rather like chocolate. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:47 | |
So I would stop eating chocolate, but that didn't help. | 0:35:48 | 0:35:51 | |
I cut out having fruit juices, because I thought it might be that, | 0:35:51 | 0:35:54 | |
but there was no improvement. | 0:35:54 | 0:35:56 | |
Kids, tea's up! | 0:35:56 | 0:35:57 | |
Andrea's whole family would suffer because of the agony she went through. | 0:35:57 | 0:36:01 | |
It was terrible to see your wife in pain, | 0:36:01 | 0:36:04 | |
There was nothing you could do for her, | 0:36:04 | 0:36:05 | |
there was nothing I could do to help her. | 0:36:05 | 0:36:08 | |
She needed the tablets to make her feel better, | 0:36:08 | 0:36:10 | |
but the tablets basically knocked her out. Knocked her for six. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:13 | |
It was only by chance that Andrea stumbled upon the first thing | 0:36:14 | 0:36:18 | |
that had really helped her migraines in years. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:21 | |
Andrea and her husband Andrew run a catering business, | 0:36:21 | 0:36:24 | |
and when clients asked them to cater for people with food intolerances, | 0:36:24 | 0:36:27 | |
the couple began to investigate. | 0:36:27 | 0:36:29 | |
That's when we decided to have an intolerance test. | 0:36:30 | 0:36:33 | |
And the test showed up...? | 0:36:33 | 0:36:35 | |
That I was intolerant to cow's milk and corn maize. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:40 | |
After the test, she cut out those foods from her diet. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:44 | |
Three months later, her migraines have stopped completely, | 0:36:44 | 0:36:48 | |
and so far, they haven't come back. | 0:36:48 | 0:36:50 | |
We are six months down the road, and now I haven't had one, | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
I don't carry any migraine relief or pain relief around with me, | 0:36:54 | 0:36:57 | |
I don't even think about it. It's life-changing for me personally. | 0:36:57 | 0:37:01 | |
You get used to feeling unwell, and when that's taken away, | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
it was brilliant. I feel so much better. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
Andrea's very lucky. | 0:37:07 | 0:37:09 | |
Simply avoiding two foods has changed her life, but the chance | 0:37:09 | 0:37:12 | |
that those same foods will be the cause of anyone else's migraines | 0:37:12 | 0:37:16 | |
is very slim, because our individual triggers are all different. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:20 | |
Of course, that doesn't stop the papers making bold claims | 0:37:22 | 0:37:25 | |
about which foods can reportedly help beat a migraine, | 0:37:25 | 0:37:29 | |
and which can bring one on. | 0:37:29 | 0:37:30 | |
These types of reports come up time and again, | 0:37:30 | 0:37:33 | |
and are often entirely contradictory. | 0:37:33 | 0:37:35 | |
The idea that so-called "trigger foods" can cause migraines | 0:37:36 | 0:37:40 | |
is not a new one. | 0:37:40 | 0:37:41 | |
Previously, the most common triggers were known as the five Cs - | 0:37:41 | 0:37:45 | |
citrus, coffee, cheese, chocolate, and claret. | 0:37:45 | 0:37:49 | |
But a recent study in America has revealed | 0:37:49 | 0:37:52 | |
that eating cheese and chocolate, and some of the more common triggers, | 0:37:52 | 0:37:55 | |
could actually reduce your chances of having a migraine attack. | 0:37:55 | 0:37:59 | |
It's easy to see why migraine sufferers can end up | 0:37:59 | 0:38:02 | |
completely bewildered about what they should or shouldn't be eating. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:05 | |
Neurologist Professor Peter Goadsby from King's College London | 0:38:05 | 0:38:09 | |
has agreed to make sense of it. | 0:38:09 | 0:38:11 | |
-Hi. -Hi, how are you doing? -Welcome. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
'He says, although there IS a clear link between food and migraines, | 0:38:13 | 0:38:16 | |
'it's not as straightforward as you might think.' | 0:38:16 | 0:38:19 | |
So, Peter, in front of us | 0:38:19 | 0:38:21 | |
we have some of the trigger foods associated with migraines, | 0:38:21 | 0:38:24 | |
or as the headlines would call them, "the dirty dozen". | 0:38:24 | 0:38:27 | |
What are your thoughts on food and triggers to migraines? | 0:38:27 | 0:38:30 | |
What's emerged from research in the last five to seven years is that | 0:38:30 | 0:38:33 | |
some things we've traditionally thought of to be food triggers | 0:38:33 | 0:38:36 | |
are actually the beginnings of the attack. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:38 | |
Professor Goadsby says that in some cases, a migraine sufferer | 0:38:38 | 0:38:42 | |
might eat one food or another because their brain is craving it. | 0:38:42 | 0:38:46 | |
That craving is actually a symptom of a migraine | 0:38:46 | 0:38:48 | |
that's already started in the brain. | 0:38:48 | 0:38:50 | |
So the food simply feeds the migraine, but doesn't trigger it. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:55 | |
For example, they're driven to eat chocolate. | 0:38:55 | 0:38:57 | |
Five, six, seven hours later | 0:38:57 | 0:38:58 | |
they have a migraine, and they ascribe the two together. | 0:38:58 | 0:39:01 | |
Whereas in fact, the migraine had already started. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:03 | |
So if I'm understanding it right, whether I eat the chocolate or not, | 0:39:03 | 0:39:06 | |
the attack is going to happen? | 0:39:06 | 0:39:08 | |
Yes. That's the unfortunate part about it, | 0:39:08 | 0:39:10 | |
because the attack's actually started. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:12 | |
If you can recognise the early phase of the attack, | 0:39:12 | 0:39:15 | |
what it allows you to do perhaps is change your behaviour. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:17 | |
So if an attack's coming, you don't stay up late, you don't skip meals, | 0:39:17 | 0:39:22 | |
you certainly don't go out and have some alcohol. | 0:39:22 | 0:39:25 | |
You avoid the more classic triggers, | 0:39:25 | 0:39:28 | |
that will more or less ensure that the attack goes ahead. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:31 | |
Professor Goadsby says it's not that food DOESN'T trigger migraines, | 0:39:31 | 0:39:35 | |
but it usually only does so when combined with other factors, | 0:39:35 | 0:39:38 | |
like stress or lack of sleep. | 0:39:38 | 0:39:41 | |
So, if a combination of factors | 0:39:41 | 0:39:44 | |
ARE responsible, what does the Professor make of the headlines | 0:39:44 | 0:39:46 | |
that put the blame on particular foods? | 0:39:46 | 0:39:49 | |
"What triggers your migraines? | 0:39:50 | 0:39:52 | |
"Common culprits like coffee, chocolate and cheese | 0:39:52 | 0:39:54 | |
"may NOT be to blame, and could actually prevent an attack." | 0:39:54 | 0:39:59 | |
I wouldn't say that cheese and chocolate can prevent an attack, | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
but I... It is true that caffeine has... | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
There's a yin and yang, caffeine's been shown to have some | 0:40:06 | 0:40:08 | |
analgesical, pain-controlling properties, so that wouldn't surprise me. | 0:40:08 | 0:40:12 | |
OK, and another headline. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:14 | |
"Scientists think they've found why chocolates and wine cause migraines | 0:40:14 | 0:40:17 | |
"for some very unlucky people." | 0:40:17 | 0:40:19 | |
If scientists have found what's in chocolate causes migraine, | 0:40:19 | 0:40:23 | |
then that would be a remarkable thing, given that it's pretty | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
clearly established that chocolate doesn't trigger migraine. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:30 | |
'So there's a lot more to understand in migraines than meets the eye. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:34 | |
'And that's because whatever might cause one person's migraines | 0:40:34 | 0:40:37 | |
'probably has nothing to do with someone else's. | 0:40:37 | 0:40:40 | |
'There's no catch-all cause, and equally, no universal cure.' | 0:40:40 | 0:40:45 | |
But Charis Morgan from London has found a simple solution | 0:40:46 | 0:40:49 | |
to her migraines. She has been suffering with them | 0:40:49 | 0:40:52 | |
since she was a child, and it's been a mystery her whole life | 0:40:52 | 0:40:54 | |
as to what brought them on. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:56 | |
I had a feeling that kind of food, certain foods were a problem, | 0:40:58 | 0:41:00 | |
but it wasn't really until recently that I kind of came to understand | 0:41:00 | 0:41:05 | |
how food affected me a lot better. | 0:41:05 | 0:41:09 | |
When her migraines got especially bad, | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
she contacted a national migraine charity for help. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:15 | |
And they found that it was not to do with WHAT she ate, but how often. | 0:41:15 | 0:41:19 | |
The team identified that if Charis went too long without eating, | 0:41:19 | 0:41:22 | |
it could see her blood sugar drop, and that could be her trigger. | 0:41:22 | 0:41:27 | |
She now eats smaller meals and snacks at regular intervals, | 0:41:27 | 0:41:30 | |
and it's transformed her life. | 0:41:30 | 0:41:32 | |
It's had a real improvement, and it's really helped me | 0:41:32 | 0:41:34 | |
sort of have a sense of control over my headaches. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:37 | |
And the experts here at the Migraine Centre | 0:41:38 | 0:41:39 | |
believe the same could be true for other sufferers too. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:43 | |
Because, though everybody's triggers are different, | 0:41:43 | 0:41:46 | |
lowered blood sugar is a key trigger that can easily be controlled. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:49 | |
When I started this film, I thought the relationship | 0:41:49 | 0:41:52 | |
between migraines and food was an obvious one, | 0:41:52 | 0:41:55 | |
but I was wrong - it's clearly a much bigger picture. | 0:41:55 | 0:41:59 | |
So Peter, what's your top tips to help avoid an attack? | 0:41:59 | 0:42:03 | |
First tip is not to worry too much about food, | 0:42:03 | 0:42:05 | |
from a triggering point of view. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
The second thing is to think about regularity - | 0:42:07 | 0:42:10 | |
so regular sleep, | 0:42:10 | 0:42:12 | |
regular meals, regular exercise, | 0:42:12 | 0:42:14 | |
not too much stress, not too little. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:18 | |
And then the only thing one shouldn't be too regular about is alcohol. | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
So maybe I wasn't too far off the mark | 0:42:22 | 0:42:24 | |
in thinking a night out could be behind MY migraines - | 0:42:24 | 0:42:28 | |
even if the cause isn't quite as simple as just too much red wine. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:32 | |
Do you know what? | 0:42:38 | 0:42:40 | |
I have to say, today's programme has really surprised me. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:42 | |
Obviously I know what we eat does have an EFFECT on our health, | 0:42:42 | 0:42:45 | |
but I always a bit sceptical about | 0:42:45 | 0:42:47 | |
how much diet might influence conditions | 0:42:47 | 0:42:50 | |
like migraines, or even dementia. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:52 | |
But it's great to know that our meals can actually be medicinal. | 0:42:52 | 0:42:55 | |
I know, I think that's a really interesting point. | 0:42:55 | 0:42:57 | |
But what I take away from today's programme is that at least strides | 0:42:57 | 0:43:01 | |
are being made to help DELAY the onset of dementia. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:04 | |
Nothing, of course, is definitive yet, but the main message is that | 0:43:04 | 0:43:08 | |
you should start earlier, so that's you, Chris. | 0:43:08 | 0:43:10 | |
Shall do. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:11 | |
But I'm afraid that's where we have to leave it for today - | 0:43:11 | 0:43:14 | |
thank you so much for your company, | 0:43:14 | 0:43:15 | |
and we'll see you again very soon to debunk more of those headlines. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:19 | |
-But for now, from both of us, bye-bye. -Goodbye. | 0:43:19 | 0:43:21 |