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Seared Sea Scallops

Zola Gorgon on

Brain Function and Carbohydrates...

You won’t catch me eating an entire cookie or cupcake anymore. Ever since I decided to keep my carbohydrate consumption to less than 20 percent of my daily intake I can’t eat things like that. I might take a bite but I’d never attempt to eat the entire thing because I get so dizzy. The last time I tried to eat a whole chocolate-chocolate chip cookie I ended up sitting on a curb holding my head and groaning.

The same goes for pasta, bread, and potatoes among other things. My body just won’t tolerate them in any quantity anymore.

Seems the newest science has revealed that the consumption of carbohydrates can not only make you dizzy it can affect how your brain functions; or doesn’t.

I am going to reprint here (in part) an article that originally appeared in USA Today. It describes a study done by the Mayo Clinic. Here goes:

Older people who load up their plates with carbohydrates have nearly four times the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a new study finds.

Sugars also played a role in the development of MCI, which is often a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, says the report in the newest Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Eating more proteins and fats offers some protection from MCI.

Mayo Clinic researchers tracked 1,230 people ages 70 to 89 and asked them to provide information on what they ate the previous year. Among that group, only the 940 people who showed no signs of cognitive impairment were asked to return for follow-ups every 15 months.

By the study’s fourth year, 200 of the 940 were beginning to show mild cognitive impairment — problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment. Compared with people who rank in the bottom 20 percent for carbohydrate consumption, those in the highest 20 percent had a 3.68 times greater risk of MCI, the study found. Overall, about six in every 100 people develop MCI in their lifetime.

Not everyone with MCI develops Alzheimer’s disease, but many do, says lead author Rosebud Roberts, a professor in the department of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Alzheimer’s affects 5.2 million U.S. adults, numbers that are expected to triple by 2050.

“If we can stop people from developing MCI, we hope we can stop people from developing dementia. Once you hit the dementia stage, it’s irreversible,” says Roberts.

Among foods regarded as complex carbohydrates: rice, pasta, bread and cereals. The digestive system turns them into sugars. Fruits, vegetables and milk products are simple carbs.

Roberts says high glucose levels might affect the brain’s blood vessels and play a role in the development of beta amyloid plaques, proteins toxic to brain health that are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Researchers don’t know what causes the disease, but they suspect the buildup of beta amyloid is a leading cause.

Also among the study’s findings:

Those whose diets were highest in fat (nuts, healthy oils) were 42 percent less likely to get cognitive impairment, while those who had the highest intake of protein (chicken, meat, fish) had a reduced risk of 21 percent.

Eric Westman of Duke University Health System, who is author of The New Atkins for a New You, called this “a provocative, preliminary study that suggests that we can add the loss of mental function in older age to the list of medical problems caused by excessive carbohydrate consumption. This is not proof that a low-carb diet will fix dementia, but it is a good argument for conducting studies to determine if it can.”

 

I hope this article gets people to think – while they still can.

With Plan Z, we recommend as you go into ZLife (after you’ve lost the weight you need to lose) that you keep your diet in a ratio of 40/40/20. That means 40 percent fat, 40 percent protein and 20 percent (or less) of carbohydrates.

Most current diets would tell you 40/40/20 also. But they mean 40 percent carbohydrates, 40 percent protein and 20 percent fat. I think that’s just plain wrong and if you absorb the information in the article I just laid out you are more likely to start drifting in my direction of thought.

My job is to get you not only to think but to understand WHY you need to change your diet and what benefit it will give you for a longer, healthier life.

Seared Sea Scallops
Serves 4

There are a few secrets to perfectly seared sea scallops. I’ll show you the tricks the professional chefs have shared with me. This dish is simple but fancy.

2 Tbl of regular flour
1/2 tsp of grated sea salt
1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning (or any seasoning. You can do these with cumin for an Indian food feel. They can be done with cayenne for some zip. You can just do them plain or sprinkle on any favorite meat rub).
24 oz of sea scallops
Olive oil spray
Balsamic reduction (optional). If you don’t have balsamic reduction (pictured) you can also do something like a tomato sauce or even a salsa on the side. Specialty stores carry balsamic reduction.

First secret: Wash and rinse your scallops. Then lay them out on a cloth towel. Dab lightly at the top with paper towels and let them sit for about 15 minutes. Don’t leave them out too long or you risk food poisoning. I leave them out just the 15 minutes. The secret is you want to have dry scallops before you fry them. If you don’t they will be mushy. You also want them to come closer to room temp rather than refrigerator cold.

Preheat your pan on medium high. That’s secret #2. You want the pan HOT before you put in the scallops to get a good sear.

While the pan is heating, put the flour, salt and seasoning in a large baggie. Toss half of the scallops and take them out. Toss the other half. This is a very small portion of flour so the carbs won’t add up to much.

When the pan is HOT take it off the heat for a second and spray with olive oil. This is for safety. Then place back on the heat and add each scallop by hand. Secret number three is to make sure none of the scallops touch each other. If they do that will produce moisture too and they’ll be mushy. You want a nicely seared scallop.

I cook them three minutes and then turn over. That gives me a nice firmness to the outside and the inside stays moist. You can cook them longer or shorter as you choose but I like mine cooked all the way through but not to the rubbery point. Three minutes on the other side does the trick. Use the rule of thumb of seven minutes per inch of thickness for any fish and it will be done if the heat is high enough.

The last secret? Serve right away. If you don’t, they will get soft and they cool off quickly.

In the picture, you’ll notice I served them on butter lettuce leaves with the balsamic drizzle.

Cheers,
Zola


 

 

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