5 tips on how to take care of your brain and best brain foods
September was Alzheimer awareness and prevention month. Wouldn’t you want to do something about it so that it never happens to you or a loved one? Here’s the thing, you can. In our society we tend to seek help when we are in a state of “unease” or “dis-ease” but rarely as a method of prevention or health optimization. But can you imagine how many health issues and chronic disease we could avoid. For instance, did you know that most cases of Alzheimer’s disease take 30 years to develop and that Alzheimer disease is predicted to raise two folds by 2050. Well, I don’t know about you but I do not want to be a part of that statistic! That’s why I’ve devoted part of my practice in preventing and supporting brain health and cognitive function. So let’s get started, implement some changes in our lifestyle in prevention-optimization before reaching state of unease- disease.
Optimizing brain health is an act of balance and a fine dance between the following 8 imbalances. Addressing these not only impact and benefit brain health but your overall health.
1. Optimized nutrition
2. Balanced Hormones
3. Reduced Inflammation
4. Addressing Gut Health
5. Enhanced Detoxification
6. Boosting Energy production
7. Exercise
8. Caring for Emotions and Stress
SO, Let’s get started!
5 BEST WAYS TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BRAIN
Here are 5 tips to take care of your brain, start somewhere, anywhere but start:
1. OPTIMIZE YOUR NUTRITION:
Proper nutrition is essential to peak brain function. Not only does proper nutrition can help your mind but your overall health. Of course a true optimized nutrition is the one that supports you own unique needs. Here are some general quick tips to get you started:
Consume a whole-food based diet.
Avoid refined sugars and refined carbohydrates, processed foods, additives, preservatives and artificial sweeteners.
Avoid trans-fatty acids from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Aim for a vegetable to fruit ratio of 5:1 and select produce representing all colours of the rainbow.
Consume at least 20-35 grams of fibre daily from a variety of sources to support the gut microbiome, hormone balance and the circadian system- sleep.
Incorporate healthy fats in your diet such as avocado, wild-caught salmon, sardines, olive oil, coconut, nuts and seeds.
Avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening.
Limit your alcohol intake. Drinking is a major risk factor for dementia. If you choose to drink, limit yourself particularly within three hours of bedtime.
2. Drink More Water:
Every system in the human body needs water to function. Your brain is 80% water. Being dehydrated by just 2% impairs performance in tasks that require attention, immediate memory skills, and physical performance. Maintain adequate fluid intake. Aim for about 8- 8oz. of filtered water per day.
3. Get Regular Exercise:
Physical activity is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to keep your brain healthy. Exercise can boost blood flow and other positive nutrients to the brain, support detoxification, increase your levels of dopamine and generate new brain cells that can help the brain self-regulate and calm down. Also, walking can help you clear your mind, decrease anxious feelings, improve your mood and burn some calories all at the same time. Avoid sitting for long periods. For each hour of sitting, stand up and walk for 5 minutes. Find ways to introduce daily movement in your routine. Find something you love to do and get moving.
4. GET Quality Sleep:
Getting at least 7-8 hours of quality sleep a night has been shown to help your brain function at optimal levels. When you don’t get enough sleep, you have overall decrease blood flow to your brain, which disrupts thinking, memory, and concentration. Turn off all electronics 1-2 hours prior to your bedtime. Take an Epsom salt bath before bed to induce relaxation and help improve quality of sleep. Do not sleep with your electronic devices by your bed.
5. Relax:
From time to time, all of us need to recharge our batteries and self-care is key to physical and mental health. Learning how to counteract stress and calm your body helps your brain, puts you in a better mood, reduces blood pressure, and protects you from disease.
Consider mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, progressive relaxation, or biofeedback techniques such as Heart Math.
Visualization and meditation are also great for the brain by increasing blood flow to our brain, better mood, energy and reduces inflammation markers.
Use calming essential oils such as Lavender. Place 15 drops in bathtub and soak.
Consume calming teas such as chamomile.
Walk barefoot on grass or sand (earthing) when possible.
Get outside into nature daily.
Think of these therapeutic foods as fuel or “medicine” for the brain. While I have detailed 15 of the top choices below, there are many more therapeutic foods, just make sure you eat a diverse diet.
SOME OF THE BEST FOODS FOR THE BRAIN
1. Almonds
Eating a handful of nuts each day can help reduce chronic
disease risk. Almonds contain chemicals that are the building blocks of
neurotransmitters, which are vital for memory and attention. They are a good source of monounsaturated fats, calcium, magnesium, and potassium and are high in phytonutrients and two important antioxidants, vitamin E and glutathione. Other nuts like walnuts are also brain healthy because of their DHA content. Their high levels of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals also improve mental alertness.
How to incorporate to your diet: Almonds and Walnuts can be whole, sliced, slivered, or chopped and tossed into a salad and cooked veggies. Keep as a snack in your purse or the car for a quick and easy snack. Almond butter is another healthy alternative, and almonds can also be used as almond meal, a substitute ideal for lower carbohydrate or grain-free cooking.
2. Avocado
Avocados are often referred to as brain food. They are a healthy source of quality fat and potassium and high in fibre. Avocados are also a good source of glutathione and Vitamin E, both antioxidants. The monounsaturated fat contained in avocados also increases your body’s ability to absorb the phytonutrients in other fruits and vegetables that you consume and offer antioxidant protection.
How to incorporate to your diet: Use them to garnish dishes, soups, and salads; serve guacamole or as an avocado boat with some hemp seeds heart. They can also be use to make great deserts. Avocado oil can be used for cooking or to dress salads or vegetables.
3. Eggs
On the nutritional naughty list for years, egg yolks are finally recognized for their large amounts of choline, which supports brain health.
How to incorporate to your diet: Eggs make a great breakfast, snack, and dinner omelet and are a great inexpensive source of protein.
4.Blueberries (and all berries) particularly Wild blueberries
Berries, particularly the dark-blue or purplish kind like wild blueberries and blackberries, are an excellent source of fibre and antioxidants that have been shown to improve memory and cognition. Their potent antioxidants may improve blood flow in the brain, while protecting it from free radical damage. Strawberries have also been shown to provide similar improvements in memory and cognition. Berries are also beneficial brain food because they are relatively low in carbohydrates and have a low glycemic impact.
How to incorporate to your diet: Fresh or frozen berries can be added to a smoothie or a fruit salad or eaten as a snack.
5.Broccoli (and all cruciferous vegetables)
Cruciferous vegetables (also known as Brassicas) include- broccoli, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, collard greens, turnips, turnip and mustard greens, arugula, watercress, bok choy, kohlrabi, radishes, and daikon. While “all” vegetables have health benefits, those in the cruciferous family play an important role by reducing markers for degenerative damage in the nervous system, slowing age-related declines in brain function and cognitive performance. Cruciferous contain sulforaphane, which helps protect the brain from excessive inflammation by helping ramp up the production of glutathione important for detoxification.
Cruciferous assist in detoxification, stimulate the immune system, slow down cognitive decline, and act as powerful antioxidants.
How to incorporate to your diet: Chop and allow it to rest for a few minutes before cooking to enhance health benefits. Raw and cooked broccoli offer different benefits, so prepare your broccoli both ways. Steaming for only a few minutes is recommended when cooking broccoli. Eat as a side, make a soup or eat as a snack with tahini dressing.
6.Green Tea
Green tea contains many phytochemicals that may help improve memory and cognition as well as powerful antioxidants that may decrease oxidative damage to the mitochondria in the brain. In addition, the tannins and polyphenols of green tea help the body regulate insulin sensitivity while helping the brain maintain a steady supply of glucose, help to create a positive mood, and may prevent brain damage after strokes and other brain injuries (concussions) by assisting the body’s DNA repair system.
How to incorporate to your diet: While green tea contains less caffeine than coffee, this may still be more caffeine than some can tolerate. If so, try disposing the first steeping of the tea and steep again using the same tea bag, or use decaffeinated green tea. Yu can also use green tea in a smoothie for breakfast or in soup near the end of its cooking. Green tea is also great for poaching fish.
7. Olive oil (cold-pressed, unfiltered/cloudy, extra-virgin)
Olive oil contains protective antioxidant phytonutrients called polyphenols that also have anti-inflammatory benefits. However, the olive oil should be “cold-pressed” and “extra-virgin.” It is green in color, has a stronger flavor, and is the result of the first crushing of the olives, the most nutrient-rich. Store your olive oil in an airtight, dark glass container.
How to incorporate to your diet: Use EVOO only when cooking over medium heat, as it can become oxidized if cooked at high temperatures. Use olive oil to dress vegetables after cooking, or use in salad dressings combined with apple cider vinegar, or other favorites. If using unfiltered, cloudy olive oil, do not cook with it at all; it is best for topping veggie and salads.
8. Pomegranate Seeds
Pomegranate seeds are one of the richest sources of antioxidants with additional anti-inflammatory benefits. The seeds are high in fibre and are a good source of vitamin C and potassium. They are also a significant source of those polyphenols that are important in brain health.
How to incorporate to your diet: The seeds can be used as a garnish for fruit or vegetable salads and should be refrigerated and used within 4-5 days. Pomegranate seeds also pair well with olives.
9. Salmon (wild) - sardines
Wild salmon is a significant source of DHA, the omega-3 fat that is one of the keys to a healthy brain. Sardines (herring) are also shown to be high in Omega-3’s and are an inexpensive nutrient dense food and low in mercury and other pollutants. Wild salmon also contains a powerful carotenoid that gives salmon its distinctive color and acts as an antioxidant. However, avoid farm-raised salmon that are grown in pens and fed artificial coloring to create the orange color, as well as fishmeal containing chemicals, which are associated with health problems.
How to incorporate to your diet: Wild salmon can be baked, slow-roasted, poached, added to stews and soups and added to salads. Sardines can be mashed in avocado and capers and added to a salad.
10. Seaweed
We don’t tend to eat much sea vegetables and yet, they provide the raw materials for healthy mitochondrial function and nourishment for the nervous system. They have been found to have antibacterial, antioxidant, and immune system-supporting properties. Sea vegetables are an excellent source of minerals such as selenium and magnesium, containing more than 10 times the amount in other vegetables. Certain seaweeds are high in calcium (hijiki, arame, and wakame), while others contain abundant amounts of iron (sea lettuce, hijiki, wakame, and kelp), and others are an excellent source of iodine (kelp, kombu, and arame).
How to incorporate to your diet: You want to use fresh seaweeds from safe waters and wash before using. As for dried seaweed, they can be found in sheets (nori and dulse), strands, or powdered forms. Most are prepared by soaking in water and soaking them longer makes them more digestible. You can use the soaking liquid in soups. The seaweed can be chopped and stirred into stir-fries, soups, stews, and salads. You can also snack on dried nori sheets, sprinkling dulse flakes on a salad, making a nori roll sushi or using kelp instead of salt to season food.
11. Spinach (Green Leafy vegetables)
Green leafy vegetables contain many antioxidants that help to improve memory and cognition. Spinach, in particular, is also high in carotenoids and flavonoids that provide anti-inflammatory protection. Getting regular helpings of leafy green brain foods — like kale, Swiss chard and romaine lettuce — can help keep dementia at bay. When it comes to brain power, greens should be on your plate (and cover a lot of that plate) every meal.
How to incorporate to your diet: It is best to boil spinach uncovered for one minute to minimize loss of nutrients and flavor while reducing its oxalic acid content. Oxalic acid binds the calcium in spinach and reduces its availability to the body, while cooked spinach supplies more antioxidants than raw spinach. That being said, it doesn’t mean you can never eat raw spinach. Drizzle cooked spinach with sautéed garlic and have it as a side for breakfast, lunch or dinner, add spinach to soups, or make a salad starring fresh baby spinach, pumpkin seeds, and strawberries.
12. Turmeric
Turmeric is an ancient root that’s been used for its healing properties throughout history. Curcumin, a chemical compound found in turmeric, the spice is actually one of the most powerful (and natural) anti-inflammatory agents. Turmeric also helps boost antioxidant levels and keep your immune system healthy, while also improving your brain’s oxygen intake, keeping you alert and able to process information.
How to incorporate to your diet: Add Turmeric to your spice arsenal in your everyday cooking, add to eggs, soups, stews, dips and sprinkle on veggies or make “golden milk”.
13. Rosemary
Rosemary is one of my all time favorite herbs, so much so that it is part of my branding logo as it is truly remarkable. Rosemary is one of those herbs with hundreds of uses. Carnosic acid, one of the main ingredients in rosemary, helps protect the brain from neurodegeneration. It does this by protecting the brain against chemical free radicals, which are linked to neurodegeneration, Alzheimer’s, strokes and normal aging in the brain. It has also been shown to improve blood flow to the brain. Even simply smelling rosemary as beneficial effects on your health.
How to incorporate to your diet: Add rosemary to your herb arsenal in your everyday cooking. It simply makes everything taste better. Add to grilled veggies, meats, soups, stews, eggs, dips, or even make infused rosemary EVOO.
14. Celery
For a vegetable with such few calories, celery really packs a punch of health benefits. High in antioxidants and polysaccharides, celery acts as natural anti-inflammatory and can help alleviate symptoms related to inflammation. Celery contains loads of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
How to incorporate to your diet: Because it’s so nutrient-dense — it’s a great snack option. And while we often eat celery stalks, don’t skip the seeds and leaves; both provide extra health benefits and taste great in things like stir fries and soups. The juice is also great way to get a good dose of vitamins and minerals.
15. Bone Broth
Bone broth is in my book the panacea of foods for healing your gut and, in turn, healing your brain with the exception of some cases when it is not well tolerated. This ancient food is full of health benefits, ranging from boosting your immune system, overcoming leaky gut, improving joint health and overcoming food allergies. Its high levels of collagen help reduce intestinal inflammation, and healing amino acids like proline and glycine keep your immune system functioning properly and help improve memory. When prepared with additional vegetables and herbs it also provides additional health benefits. For example, adding turmeric or rosemary to your broth.
How to incorporate to your diet: Bone broth can be used as a base in soups or as a nutritious snack.
RECIPES:
The “real deal” Green Juice Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 lemon, quartered
1 whole avocado, peeled and pitted
2 stalks celery
½ bunch parsley
½ bunch cilantro
1 cucumber
1 coin of turmeric or turmeric juice (optional)
1 tsp EVOO
Pinch of Celtic or Himalayan salt
Filtered water as needed.
Directions:
Add ingredients to your blender, blend until smooth and add filtered water as needed.
Disclaimers
The information in this blog is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this blog is for general information purposes only. This blog makes no representation and assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information contained on or available through this guide, and such information is subject to change without notice. You are encouraged to confirm any information obtained from or through this blog with other sources and review all information regarding any medical condition or treatment with your physician.
NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THIS BLOG.
This blog does not recommend, endorse or make any representation about the efficacy, appropriateness or suitability of any specific tests, products, procedures, treatments, services, opinions, health care providers or other information that may be contained on or available through this blog