More on the Mediterranean Diet

Check out the attached link to a short article about a study suggesting that the Mediterranean Diet may prevent brain tissue damage.

I LOVE Mooseworld

We had a baby moose hang out on our front porch in Park City, Utah, one winter. Cleaning up our yard in the Spring was a drag!! Moose are really unpredictable and really strong! They walk down the middle of my parents' street in Red Lodge, Montana.

Diversification, Chickens and Broccoli

•Can diversification save species? Yes. When an epidemic, pandemic, plague, or pest threatens a species, a gene mutation may provide just enough diversification to create immunity sufficient to survive and reproduce.

•Do you vote for the chicken or the egg? I vote for the egg. I think genetic mutations giving rise to the first chicken would have occurred when genetic material was replicating, recombining, etc., rather than as the result of a post-incubation exposure causing genetic change in a fully formed creature.

•“I always eat my broccoli!” I do, I really do. Both of my kids would rather eat broccoli than carrots, corn or potatoes. Yea!

Human Evolution - Pictures of our relatives and a family tree

Check out this link.

Can We Raise Our Dopamine Levels Ourselves?

I did a quick Google search to see what the web would tell me in answer to this question. I was not surprised to several articles suggesting methods for raising dopamine naturally. These articles discuss the need for regular sleep and exercise. They discuss methods of lowering stress. They suggest that by eating foods containing tryptophan, a precursor to dopamine production, one can raise dopamine levels. If a person adopts these strategies and practices, I believe that (s)he will feel better, but I am not convinced that dopamine levels will be higher.

I consulted a few sources to see what the experts have to say about raising dopamine levels. In Nutrition and Mental Illness, The Brain Diet, and The Brain Chemistry Plan, I did not find any suggestions of how to raise dopamine levels.

Animal experiments published in the European Journal of Pharmacology (2005) and the Journal of Ethnoparmacology (200), the behavioral effects of turmeric were comparable to the antidepressent drug fluoxetine (Prozac). Turmeric can help prevent the breakdown of important neurotransmitters, particularly serotonin and dopamine. According to Alan C. Logan, author of The Brain Diet, deficiencies in omega-3 fatty acids in animals can lead to alterations in the levels and functioning of serotonin and dopamine. But these research findings do not suggest that we can raise our dopamine levels through nutrition.

In his book Feeding the Brain, Dr. C. Keith Connors points out that it is logical to think that by eating foods high in tyrosine we can produce more dopamine. But he believes that this approach is too simplistic. He points out that inadequate levels of neurotransmitters in the brain probably reflects abnormalities in the brain itself or in the ability of nerve receptors to respond properly to the neurotransmitter. In reviewing studies, he points out that even where increased levels of tyrosine are found in the blood, the studies do not show how much of the tyrosine made it to the brain. Dr. Logan also notes that the brain has a feedback system which tells it to stop manufacturing some neurotransmitters as soon as enough is produced. "Only if the brain neurons are actually firing (and thus using up the neurotransmitters) will the brain allow production of these neurotransmistters from additional tyrosine." Thus, if we experience high stress and have high levels of tyrosine in our blood, we might raise our dopamine levels . . . Doesn't seem like a very good plan to me.

How Did Chimps and Humans Diverge as a Species?

Nobody knows!! I enjoyed the article by David Perlman that we discussed in class. It makes sense to me that humans and chimps shared common ancestors. As chromosomal changes occurred, interbreeding continued but sometimes produced sterile offspring. Perhaps over time, the groups looked different and preferred different environments and that made individuals within one group attractive and compatible to each other but not to the other group. If attractive and compatible individuals continued to breed within the group that looked and lived most alike and not with the members of the other group, then the gene pools would lose some of their similarities. Eventually, predominantly sterile offspring might be produced by interbreeding, and the common ancestor's line would die out.

There Is a Drug for Just About Everything!

In America, financial success can be achieved by determining what the majority of Americans want their bodies and minds to do and then selling a pill, an injection, a drink (used to be a tonic, now it's a tea), a plan, etc., that purports to produce the effect. With advertising and the placebo-effect in the mix, I doubt that it's difficult to achieve success. In fact, pharmaceutical companies sell drugs with one active ingredient marketed as a treatment for a condition, then change inactive ingredients and market it again for a different condition. Even if a drug does not cure a condition, consumers will purchase it to "address" a condition or alleviate the effects of a condition.