Skip the dessert, but drink coffee after lunch. This can be useful not only for your waistline, but also for your brain.
The idea has come from Italy, where yet another study on “caloric restriction” was conducted in an effort to once again confirm the theory that hunger improves health and prolongs life. Of course, nothing new was told to us now, and the scientists have long known that the less you chew, the more you live. But this time they decided to focus on the question of what other bonuses this way of life gives, except a decent appearance.
Dr. Giovambattista Pani from Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Rome has conducted the studies of CREB1 protein, which is crucial for the functions of human memory and learning ability. During the experiments with mice, it has been proved that reducing calorie intake in their diet activates this protein produced in the brain. The calories in the food of the mice were reduced by 25-20%, which corresponds to about 600 calories per day for a man, or no piece of cake on the menu.
Coffee or tea, drunk after lunch or dinner, can also be useful. The recent studies of their basic component – caffeine – have shown that it increases the production of CREB1 in the body.
What is the benefit for us? Of course, you know that the Earth’s population is aging rapidly. This discovery is of great importance for the development of future therapies that will keep your brain young and healthy as long as possible. Italian scientists hope that very soon they will be able to develop a way to activate CREB1 using drugs. They are already testing a few medications on animals. So, in the nearest future Alzheimer’s disease might be defeated, and there will be created a pill that will deter the aging process and degeneration of the brain, and thus we will not have to stick to a strict diet.
