Amanda Shkreli
AP Biology
Current Event #2
November 17th, 2017
“Mediterranean style diet may prevent dementia”
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 July 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
I chose to review the article “Mediterranean style diet may prevent dementia,” written by Sandee LaMotte. In this article, the author addresses new studies that find that the typical diet surrounding the Mediterranean area may help prevent dementia. Already, the diet has been known for increasing your lifespan by strengthening your bones and heart, while reducing the risk for diabetes and high blood pressure. The Mediterranean (or the MIND diet) consists of simple, plant-based cooking, with the majority of each meal focused on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds, with a few nuts and an emphasis on extra virgin olive oil. New research being presented at Alzheimer's Association International conference in London has found that healthy older adults who followed the Mediterranean diet lower their risk of dementia by one third. Claire McEvoy, of the University of California’s San Francisco's School of Medicine, stated that "Eating a healthy plant-based diet is associated with better cognitive function and around 30% to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment during aging.” In the discussion, McEvoy emphasized that the study was conducted in a nationally representative older population that makes the findings are relevant to the general public. McEvoy’s study investigated the eating habits of nearly 6,000 older Americans with an average age of 68. After making adjustments for age, gender, race, low educational attainment and lifestyle and health issues (such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression, smoking and physical inactivity), researchers found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet had a 30% to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment. Though not involved with the study, Rudolph Tanzi, who directs the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital also adds, "The activity of our genes is highly dependent on four main factors: diet, exercise, sleep and stress management… Of these, perhaps diet is most important."
These new findings are relevant to society because it can help prevent future generations from developing agonizing diseases such as dementia which cause forgetfulness, limited social skills, and thinking abilities so impaired that it interferes with daily functioning. By adapting lifestyles where we incorporate more plants, grains, nuts, and extra virgin olive oil, we can increase the amount of time that we get to live by preventing fatal diseases. Tanzi adds, "It's about time we started placing a greater emphasis on what we eat as we strive to have our 'healthspan' keep up with our increasing 'lifespan'." If we avoid foods such as butter, red meats, cheeses, and fast food, and replace it with plant based foods, we are essentially guaranteed a healthier and longer life.
Overall, I believe that this article was very informative and well written. The author provided excellent information regarding what the Mediterranean diet is, how it positively impacts humans, and what studies have been conducted to prove this information. However, the article has a few areas where the author could have improved on the structuring of the information. For example, rather than explaining what the Mediterranean diet is after describing the studies conducted, the author should have explained what it is towards the beginning so the reader doesn’t get confused. This could be easily fixed by putting that information in the beginning of the article. Another way that the author could improve the article would be by providing a counter argument, and then refuting it with further evidence.
Jack Kochansky
ReplyDeleteAP Biology EF Even
Mr. Ippolito
26 November 2017
“Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia”
By Sandee LaMotte
Reviewed by Amanda Shkreli
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 July 2017,
www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
In this current events review, Amanda did a great job reviewing a key biological topic that many people have become concerned about in recent years: health and its impact on diet. It has become clear that diet is one of the central parts to human health, and a more plant-based regime tends to correlate with better health and a longer lifespan. One diet that seems to hold a lot of promise is the Mediterranean diet, which Amanda does a great job of explaining. Understanding that many people may not know what comprises this diet, she is sure to give specific details about what it is. Amanda also knows that her readers are not familiar with the studies completed on this issue that are referenced in the article, so she is sure to quote the experts and list their names. This helps to build the credibility of the article and her own review. She also uses a good balance of her own thoughts and those provided in the article through her smart use of direct quotes and paraphrases. What emerges is a good blend of the two. Additionally, she informs the audience of the exact statistics determined in the study, giving us a clear understanding of what exactly is implied from the findings. Without these exact numbers, there would be no real way of knowing how important or unimportant the conclusions are.
Although Amanda’s review was very strong, there were a few things she could have improved. For example, while her summary paragraph was very strong and detailed, she could have added a little more in the relevance paragraph. It is only four sentences long, and one of those sentences is a quote from the researcher. It does generally address the relevance of the piece, but it could have used just a touch more detail. The review was very strong, so there is not very much that she could have significantly improved. However, I did find that some of the statistics that she provides are a bit difficult to understand. She provides the 30-35% number twice throughout, and I am not sure if she is referring to the same finding twice or if these were the results of two similar findings that happened to end up with the same number. It would have been a little better if she had made that clearer. Overall, though, there is little that Amanda needed to improve. Her review was very strong and contained all of the necessary facts and figures to represent the study.
I found this current events review to be very interesting because even though I believe that a Mediterranean plant-based diet has to be very healthy, I did not know that there is scientific evidence to support that idea. My dad tried a diet similar to that of a Mediterranean diet and reported that he generally felt healthier, and I have always noticed that the food is much more wholesome and natural in that region. But I feel even more sure that it is the right way to eat and live when science proves it so. Maybe with mounting traditionalist views and scientific evidence uniting, we can begin to shift back to more natural, wholesome, plant-based diets like our ancestors did thousands of years ago.
Olivia Doyle
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
26 November 2017
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 July 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
This week, I read Amanda’s review of the article “Mediterranean-style diet may prevent dementia” which discusses the surprising benefits to the MIND diet that consists of plant-based cooking and an emphasis on fruits and vegetables, beans and seeds, and whole grains. Amanda outlined the experiments that led scientists to this discovery, which helps the reader better understand the origin of this information. For example, she describes: “McEvoy’s study investigated the eating habits of nearly 6,000 older Americans with an average age of 68...researchers found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet had a 30% to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment.” Amanda also included quotes from researchers, which gives her argument credibility. She quoted Rudolph Tanzi, among others. Lastly, Amanda gave a solid analysis of the author’s article, providing areas in which the author could improve as well as areas in which the author successfully presented her information.
Although Amanda’s review was very well-written, there are some areas for improvement. For one, Amanda should have discussed more than one experiment that has been done to test this hypothesis. The article included at least three studies in the “additional evidence” section, which provided vital information to the author’s argument. Secondly, Amanda should have gone into depth about how a plant-based diet consisting of grains, nuts, and olive oil can scientifically increase our chances for longevity, as it would have been interesting for the reader.
I thought this article was very interesting and informative. Although I knew that a diet based on fruits and vegetables had health benefits, I did not know that a specific MIND diet with an emphasis on extra virgin olive oil could prevent diseases such as dementia. I am interested to see what other experiments scientists do to determine the correlation between longevity and a Mediterranean-style diet.
Cindy Kwok
ReplyDeleteCurrent Events 9
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News
Network, 17 July 2017,
www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
I read Amanda’s review on the article “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia” from CNN. One part I enjoyed was how thorough Amanda was in her summary of the article by mentioning very specific details that adds to her writing. An example is through the statistics given for how many people the study was done on -- “investigated the eating habits of nearly 6,000 older Americans with an average age of 68” -- and how the researchers accounted for many different aspects of life. Another area I enjoyed was her use of quotes to enhance her summary. The quotes chosen were important ones rather than just randomly added in, and it helped that she included details of who said the quote as well as their role in the research for credit. Lastly, I liked how she included past data on the Mediterranean diet as well, including benefits such as “increasing your lifespan by strengthening your bones and heart, while reducing the risk for diabetes and high blood pressure” that was already well known, before diving into the new research that was done.
One part I thought could have been done better was her “how it relates to humanity” section, seen right away from how there is not really a section for it. I feel as though she throws certains points about how this diet could help older people into her summary and into her review of the article, but never explicitly states it. Another thing that could have been done better was with simple grammar and writing errors (such as misspelled words). This was slightly distracting while reading the article which overwise for the small errors was very interesting. With errors, the readers tend to focus on that which can slow the readers down when trying to read a sentence because it stops the flow.
Overall, Amanda did a great job on her review. I liked the article in general as well because I find it interesting. My uncle specifically has been interested in dieting such as the Keto diet and has been at it for a while that last I heard. It was cool learning about another kind of diet that has so many benefits for the elderly and even for young people as well. I like how the research has gone further with science that has already been “done” and has found even more benefits for an already nutritious and healthy diet.
Ava Austi
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event #9
11/26/17
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 July 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
Amanda wrote a great review based off the article “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” Sandee LaMotte from Cable News Network. This article addresses new studies that find that the typical diet surrounding the Mediterranean area may help prevent dementia. Throughout the review of the article, there were many aspects that Amanda did well in order to write a great review. Amanda did a great job of providing the audience with a detailed summary; she explained the study done and results thoroughly. Amanda also did a great job of adding quotes from scientists who researched this topic. For example, “Eating a healthy plant-based diet is associated with better cognitive function and around 30% to 35% lower risk of cognitive impairment during aging.” Amanda is aware that her audience may not be aware of the studies completed on this issue so she is sure to quote the experts and list her names, adding credibility. Adding quotes also allows the reader to have an understanding of the exact research going on, while giving them a sense of tone presented throughout the writing. Lastly, Amanda did a very nice job in the third paragraph where she discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the article’s writing. She provided multiple areas in which the author could improve as well as areas in which the author successfully presented her information. Amanda successfully wrote a clear and interesting review of the article she read.
Although Amanda presented a great review of the article, there were some aspects where she could have improved. The article included at least three studies which provided vital information to the author’s argument, as well as Amanda’s review. Rather than only discussing one, Amanda should have looked into the other studies and discussed them as well. Having more studies and information about the issue would have made Amanda’s review a lot stronger. Another thing that could have improved was simple grammar and spelling errors. For some readers, this is very distracting and they tend to focus solely on the mistake, which stops the flow of reading. A quick proofread could have eliminated this problem. These issues are both easy to fix in order to make Amanda’s review even better. Even though there were some parts of the review that Amanda could have improved, I think she wrote a great review of the article.
I thought Amanda did a great job in writing her review and I really enjoyed reading it. From reading it, I learned that from something as simple as eating more plant-based meals, one could have a lower chance of dementia. I chose this article because last current event I read an review about Alzheimer's and it has sparked an interest in diseases within the brain. After reading Amanda’s review, I still want to learn more about diseases and disorders within the brain. Overall, I think Amanda successfully wrote a clear and detailed review of her article.
Mairead Cain
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
A.P. Biology
28 November 2017
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 July 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html
Amanda did a very nice job with her current event review on the article “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia,” by Sandee LaMotte. I decided to review her report as the title of the original article is rather intriguing and raises many questions. There are many good techniques she uses throughout the report. One example is how she gives a detailed description of what, exactly, the Mediterranean diet would consist of. This allows readers a deeper understanding and familiarity with the topic at hand. Another aspect of Amanda’s writing that was done rather well was how she named the specific sources that the original article got the information from. This allows readers to fully trust the information relayed as it is from a valid research. Lastly, I appreciated how Amanda found opportunities to interject quotes into her current event report. These quotes gave relevant information and therefore a deeper understanding of the source material being used.
Overall, Amanda’s report was extremely interesting and informative, however there are some details that she could tweak and add to make her current event article even that much stronger. I recommend that she explains how, exactly, the discoveries being made will impact the future of treating Dementia. This would have been beneficial because it would have given readers an insight on the future of the information collected and described in the article. Also, she could have added some of her own opinions concerning the information at hand and maybe even her own ideas on how to educate the world of the research findings. This would have further granted readers an insight about the future of the research findings and even the eventual results from the research.
Amanda’s report was very informative and I learned extensively about how a Mediterranean diet is likely to help people live a longer and healthier life. Before reading the report, I had little knowledge about how, exactly, a healthier, more plant based diet, is able to help people live a longer life. It is definitely important that this information is relayed across the world in order to help people live their best life.
Abbey Thomas
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Mr. Ippolito
29 November 2017
LaMotte, Sandee. “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 July 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/07/17/health/mediterranean-style-diet-prevents-dementia/index.html.
For current event #9, I reviewed Amanda’s response to Sandee LaMotte’s article entitled “Mediterranean Style Diet May Prevent Dementia”. Amanda’s article was very complying and well written. One thing that Amanda did very well was explain the study that was done. Her introduction paragraph was very detailed and she explained the findings of the study very well. Another thing that Amanda did well was utilise quotes. She chose to include quotes from a scientists on the study named Claire McEvoy. The quote added to Amanda’s response, and it did not feel forced into her writing. Lastly, along with explaining the study Amanda explains the findings of the study. She includes that a person who followed the MIND diet had a 30% to 35% lower chance of having a memory cognitive disease.
Although Amanda did very well with her response to LaMotte’s article, but there were some areas that she could improve upon. Amanda did very well at explaining the study, but I wished she included the future of the study. I did not know if this diet will be recommended for people with high risk of Dementia or if researchers will begin looking for a compound in this diet that is causing the lowered risk. It would be interesting to see where the researchers are looking to go. One more thing Amanda could have explained was cognitive impairments. Some readers may not have a strong understanding of what alzheimer's is or what dementia is and adding this information will help more people understand what how important this discovery is.
Overall Amanda’s response was insightful and well throughout. The part of her article that amazed me the most was finding out that the diet could affect a disease. I have only heard of vegan and vegetarian diets affecting a person’s wellness, but never the mediterranean diet.