Brain health is on my mind lately, as it should be on yours if you want to keep your brain healthy and your mind clear.
My mother and grandmother both died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. I don’t want to know if I have the APOE gene that predisposes one to Alzheimer’s, simply because I know that the mind works in interesting ways and the belief that I am susceptible to dementia could make it so.
For this reason, I am very conscious of stimulating my brain and taking coconut oil and curcumin every day. Both are well-researched brain-protective nutrients with no side effects.
Now a new study from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago confirms that we can protect our brains with the right diet.
Not surprisingly, it’s a diet rich in vegetables, minimal amounts of fruit, whole grains, healthy fats and white meats. The MIND Diet, as it’s called, lowered the risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 53% in participants who rigorously followed the diet and by 35% in those who moderately followed it, according to the findings published in the Journal of the American Alzheimer’s Association in March.
Alzheimer’s disease has sometimes been called “diabetes of the brain,” meaning that sugar affects the brain in much the same way that it affects other parts of the body. In the brain, free circulating insulin has been shown to negatively effect brain cells. We also know that people with diabetes have twice the risk of Alzheimer’s, and people who are obese are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s as well.
So here’s what the Rush researchers designated as the MIND diet:
Green leafy vegetables
Almost all other vegetables
Nuts
Berries
Whole grains
Fish
Poultry
Olive oil
Wine
They recommend staying away from:
Red meat
Butter and margarine
Cheese
Pastry, sweets and sugary beverages
Fried food
Fast food
The easy MIND diet:
Three servings of whole grains, a big salad and one other vegetable every day, along with a glass of wine.
Eating nuts and beans every other day or so
Poultry and berries at least twice a week
Fish once a week
You might have noticed that the researchers endorse berries, but not other fruits, which may be too high in sugar. To avoid the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s, limit butter to 1 T a day or less, cheese and freed or fast foods (one serving a week or less).
It’s kind of a hybrid of the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH Diet to combat high blood pressure.
Basically, this is just healthy eating, although I question the red meat part, only because I think that grass fed beef is as healthy as wild caught fish and organically raised poultry. Most studies today don’t really compare apples to apples and I’m a firm believer that the CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) found primarily in beef and dairy products, is an essential nutrient that shouldn’t be ignored.
And about the oil: Olive oil isn’t the only healthy oil. My regular readers know that I think coconut oil is wonderful for a wide variety of reasons, including brain health. Nut oils like sesame and walnut are other good choices.
I also think that other fruits—in moderation—contain healthy nutrients that we all need, so I always advocate a widely varied diet.
I don’t know if the Rush researchers experimented outside their strict parameters in the 17-year study that involved 923 volunteers from Chicago-area retirement communities and senior public housing complexes, of whom 144 developed Alzheimer’s during the study.
I think what is important it that we all make the most healthy choices we can. Overall physical and brain health will inevitably follow.
