EATING TO PROTECT YOUR BRAIN

As I constantly state on this blog, everything we eat affects our bodies for the good or for the bad.  One area we all want to protect is our brain and there are specific foods to do that, too.  If you are eating a healthy diet on a routine basis, you are eating to protect your brain!  If you aren't eating a healthy diet, resolve to do so this year starting now!  Eating to protect your brain is so easy.  Here are a couple of simple suggestions:

• Eat plenty of produce!  The antioxidants, mentioned often on this blog, found in produce are brain protectors.  These important antioxidants protect the brain against cell and tissue damage.  So load up your plate everyday with brain-healthy produce!  Plan to eat 5 to 8 servings daily of produce (fruits and vegetables).  That may sound like a lot but remember a serving is really only a half cup in many cases.  You should be able to work fruits and/or vegetables into every meal.  Remember that lettuce, tomatoes, and other condiments on sandwiches count, too, so always add some condiments to your sandwiches.
• DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid in seafood, is associated with as much as a 39% risk reduction of getting Alzheimer's disease.  You should have 3 4-ounce servings of fish per week, especially wild-caught salmon and canned chunk light tuna.  Or if you are like me and just can't stand seafood, take a DHA pill.  Take a 1,000 milligram pill per day.  Look for the pills made from algae instead of fish.  Sometimes the fish used in these pills contain mercury.  You can also get DHA from walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds although these contain much smaller amounts than do the fish.  I use flax seed in baking, on my oatmeal, etc.

Note:  Be sure you include spinach in the produce you are eating.  Spinach contains folate, also known as folic acid, Folate can reduce levels of homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood.  High levels of homocysteine are associated with a loss of cognitive function.  Studies have shown that persons with low levels of folic acid are much more likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease.