A few years ago I started a food blog here on WordPress, The Food Nazi,  and found that trying to keep up with more than one blog was a daunting endeavor…..so I let it go….I do however from time to time invoke the memory of that blog and post something on food…….

First, for all you heat freaks……I know the hot sauce du jour is that crap from (wherever)….Sriracha……but that is for wimps and posers……you really want heat then sack up and try some Harissa…. you will not be disappointed.

These days there seems to be a diet of some sort for every type of eater….no matter if you are a meat eater or vegan or vegetarian or…well whatever you think is the best food to consume…..but for many years there has been one diet that constantly improves a person health both physical and mental……

Hoping to avoid brain shrinkage, cognitive impairment, and dementia? Gobble up lots of fish, veggies, and nuts. A new study shows those who follow the increasingly well-regarded Mediterranean diet have less brain atrophy than those who don’t. Researchers scanned the brains of 674 Manhattan residents over 80 who showed no signs of dementia, and analyzed their diets based on a questionnaire, reports the Guardian. The patients who kept to a Mediterranean diet had a brain volume that was 13.11 milliliters larger than others, their gray matter volume was 5 milliliters larger, and their white brain matter was 6.41 milliliters larger. Since people’s brains shrink with age, researchers say the difference in brain volume is equal to about five years of aging. This doesn’t mean the Mediterranean diet slows brain aging, but it does show an association.

And with greater brain volume comes more brain cells. “The more brain cells you have available, the more likely you are to be protected against illnesses of the brain related to aging, like Alzheimer’s,” a doctor tells CBS News, adding omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may benefit nerve cells, while B vitamins in fruits and veggies may prevent the buildup of plaque in the brain. “These results are exciting, as they raise the possibility that people may potentially prevent brain shrinking and the effects of aging on the brain simply by following a healthy diet,” lead author Yian Gu says. One aspect of the diet stood out, though. “Eating at least three to five ounces of fish weekly or eating no more than 3.5 ounces of meat daily may provide considerable protection against loss of brain cells equal to about three to four years of aging,” Gu adds. (The diet might also add years to your life.)

Then there are foods that we are addicted to for some reason……like chocolate or burgers or ……..for me it is CHEESE!

It matters not what type….they all have their good qualities and some even have a bad one or maybe two……but for me cheese is very addicting……I wonder why?

Pizza is the most problematic food out there, as far as addictive-like qualities go. So report students who completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale as part of a study by researchers at the University of Michigan. Those researchers published their findings in PLoS ONE earlier this year, and wrote that “though evidence of ‘food addiction’ continues to grow, no previous studies have yet examined which foods or food attributes are likely implicated in addictive-like eating.” So they sought to create a sort of “addictive profile,” and ultimately determined that processed foods that are higher in fat and refined carbohydrates, which have a rapid rate of absorption as indicated by glycemic load, tend to be hardest for we mere mortals to resist. “Processing was a large, positive predictor for whether a food was associated with problematic, addictive-like eating behaviors.”

The common-sense upshot: salmon and cucumbers aren’t problematic; ice cream and chips are. And with pizza atop our gotta-have-it list, Mic this week looks at what may set cheese apart. Cheese contains the protein casein, which releases opiates called casomorphins as the cheese is digested. “[Casomorphins] really play with the dopamine receptors and trigger that addictive element,” registered dietitian Cameron Wells, who was not part of the study, tells Mic. And while it’s present in all dairy products, it’s far more condensed in cheese because it takes 10 pounds of milk to make about a pound of cheese. When it comes to cheese, we’re certainly eating more of it: Americans tripled their cheese consumption between 1970 and 2010, from about 8 pounds per year to 23 pounds, reports the Center for Science in the Public Interest

I’m addicted and I do not care!  I could eat a bowling ball if it has cheese on it…..

My perfect lunch is cheese, fruit, nuts and a nice wine…..

Do you have an addictive food?