Can food help us take care of our brain?
Just like Diet is important to prevent heart disease, diabetes or cancer., it’s also for brain health. Everything we eat, and what we stop eating, can be a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases.
Or otherwise, may protect us from cognitive decline associated with age and Alzheimer’s disease.” Anna Pare, the author of a book that cannot be forgotten, emphasizes: “Kitchen of memory“
Anna Pare is the author of the book “Kitchen of Memory”
Written together with chef Pep Noge, it perfectly combines theory and practice, because not only what ingredients are good for our brain and our memoryThey also add recipes that can be used to enhance the effects of these beneficial products.
Live to tell
Nowadays we all understand perfectly well that Food plays a fundamental role in our health. We know which foods are good for the heart, which are suspected of being carcinogenic, which help protect joints or strengthen bones.
But Is there a special diet that will take care of our brain? The answer is yes, and the data encourages us to take more interest in this because It is estimated that one in ten people over 65 years of age suffers from some form of dementia..
Food and the brain
Today, life expectancy has increased and we can live longer than our grandparents, but we also have to worry about how we will reach that age. So, The goal is to blow out a lot of candles without taking your head off, and you’re working on that too..
There are habits that help us train our memory, for example: write every day or do crossword puzzles. But we also need to watch our diet, as nutrition expert Anna tells us: “Food is related to memory in direct and indirect ways”.
On the one hand, since certain nutrients and other compounds present in Foods May Act as Antioxidants and Anti-Inflammatories in the Brain. And, on the other hand, because an unhealthy diet increases the risk of other pathologies such as diabetes or obesity, which in turn increase the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”
Moreover, Anna reminds us that “Only 1% of Alzheimer’s cases are inherited. Thus, we have many opportunities for prevention, and here we must emphasize the importance take care of your diet as well as your lifestyleto have a good memory and delay the loss of cognitive functions as much as possible.”
The Key to Food and the Brain
The diet that works best for our brains is the old familiar Mediterranean diet.. According to the author, this is the most studied diet to date, thanks to which we have convincing scientific evidence of its benefits.
Of course, Anna reminds us that this highly prized diet is traditional, “what our grandparents or great-grandparents ate.” But lately we have moved away greatly from this, especially with overindulging in processed or fast food.
To get it back, the main thing is to give much more. fame of legumesput vegetables as a preference in our dishes and that they are present both at noon and at dinner, whether in the form of salad or cooked.
Healthy, balanced and varied diet
You will also have to replace refined grains with cereals and whole grainsThere is more fish and nutswhich are an excellent snack,” the nutritionist emphasizes.
What should we include and what should we avoid in our diet?
Anna Pare gives us keys to fill our basket We only buy what is good for our brain.
What to include…
- Extra virgin olive oil is the best fat we can use.
- Fruits rich in anthocyanins, such as blueberries, blackberries or cherries.
- Nuts rich in polyphenols, such as walnuts, and almonds or hazelnuts, rich in vitamin E.
- Fatty fish are a major source of omega-3 fat, known as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which is essential for brain function. But it is better to use small fish to avoid mercury.
- Fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut or kimchi because of their positive effects on the gut microbiota and the importance of the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
What to avoid…
- We should avoid foods rich in sugar such as sugary drinks, commercial baked goods and cakes, cookies, etc. Foods rich in salt, especially present in processed foods, sauces and ready meals.
- Excessive consumption of red meat and sausages, which are still processed meats.
- Avoid alcoholic beverages completely; no amount of alcohol consumption is beneficial to our brain health.
- All products are processed with additives, sweeteners, emulsifiers, etc. which damage our intestinal microbiota.