How to keep our brain and cognitive health great through food.
Our brain is one of the most important organs in our body and keeping it healthy and optimised is really important for our wellbeing.
Let’s look at how our brain ages:
Gestation
250,000 neurons are created each minute whilst we are still in the womb.
Childhood
Our brain produces twice the neurons it needs but keeps only those used. The brain is at 95% adult weight by the time we are age 6.
Adolescence
Our Brain is now fully grown but the “wiring” is still developing and not yet complete.
Adulthood
Our Brain power peaks at around age 22 and lasts for 5 years and then declines.
By age 45-49, a 3.6% loss occurs in memory, reasoning and comprehension.
Old Age
There is a steady loss of brain cells and the decaying of neuron denticles.
By age 80 our Brain shrinkage worsens and cognitive abilities decline.
6 Factors that can impact Brain health and cognitive decline are:
- Education
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Diet
- High blood pressure
- Stress
In this video we are going to be looking at Diet and how what we eat can help optimise our brain function and prevent the early onset of Brain and cognitive diseases.
A Diet known as the MIND diet (which stands for Mediterranean Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) is a plant-based diet recommended to suffers of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia by medical and nutrition professionals. This diet also helps reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
The Mind Diet consists of:
- Whole grain foods that should be eaten daily.
Examples of whole grain foods are: Whole Oats, Brown Rice, Bulgar wheat, Quinoa, Corn, Popcorn, Whole grain and whole wheat pastas.
- A dark green salad along with a colourful vegetable should be eaten daily.
Examples of dark green salad are: Spinach, some types of lettuce and rocket leaves. These dark leaves can be eaten with colourful vegetable such as bell peppers, carrots and tomatoes.
- Berries – should be eaten at least twice a week.
Examples of berries are: blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. If you cannot get fresh then frozen berries are just as good also.
- Nuts – should be eaten daily.
Examples are: walnuts, pistachios, almonds & peanuts
- Beans and legumes – should be eaten every other day.
Examples of beans and legumes are: chickpeas, kidney beans, green peas, green lentils, red and yellow lentils, black lentils and brown lentils.
- Poultry – should be eaten at least twice a week.
- Fish – should be eaten at least once a week.
- Pomegranate or dark grape juice that is unsweetened – a glass should be drunken daily.
Foods to reduce in the MIND diet are:
- Butter and Margerine – no more than 1 tablespoon a day should be eaten. It is recommended to replace Butter and Margine with Olive Oil instead.
- Pastries and Sweets – no more than 4 times a week should be eaten. This also includes drinks and other foods that may have a high sugar content.
- Cheese, fried foods and fast foods should not be eaten more than once a week.
Research has shown that eating these foods will prevent the onset of early Brain degeneration and cognitive decline.
It’s important to note that you can start the MIND diet at any age for your improved brain health as it is not a fad diet nor a short-term solution. It is a lifestyle change, so you will need to give yourself time to adjust to some of these MIND foods slowly into your everyday life.
We hope you found this information useful!
For more in-depth information on prevention of Brain ageing click here to listen to Dr. Liz Applegate’s University of California lecture on Brain Foods for Brain health.
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