I have a passion for cooking and preparing meals nearly every night. I try to incorporate lots of leafy greens, vegetables, and limit fried food, but there are nights when we treat ourselves to favorites like chicken parmesan, pasta, and dessert! Balance!
Lately, I have been contemplating how food impacts and nurtures the brain, offering us opportunities to adopt preventive measures for our health.
Given my enthusiasm for cooking, I started researching the link between the brain/food connection.
My husband, Dr. Brian Kaplan, has a strong interest in brain health and has developed a supplement aimed at enhancing it. This inspired me to delve deeper into ways to improve our brain health and mental well-being and find new ways to incorporate brain-healthy foods into our meals.
Are we eating these foods already? Are we eating enough?
While researching foods, trying to get a better understanding of what foods can promote cognitive wellness, I came across the MIND diet.
The outcomes of the associated studies with this diet are compelling, and is definitely worth the read.
I am not a nutritionist or a doctor, just a home cook that wants to know more!
I have included the links to studies and more information if you want to go deeper.
Here is just a bite of the key components…
What diet do you get when you mix the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet with the Mediterranean diet….The MIND diet!
MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.
The MIND diet aims to reduce dementia and decline in brain health that often occurs as people
All of them focus on the old saying …
“You are what you eat!”
What is the Brain/Food Connection? | Mind Diet
A Bit of Background…
In 2015, Dr. Martha Clare Morris and her colleagues at Rush University Medical Center created the MIND diet. Their goal was to investigate how food and your eating patterns can impact your cognitive health.
Basically, diets high in saturated fat, sugar and refined carbohydrates are associated with worse cognitive function and increased dementia.
On the other hand, diets with high intakes of vegetables and fruits, limited meat consumption, and using olive oil as the primary fat are associated with decreased risk of dementia and other cognitive diseases.
So, the MIND diet focuses on promoting brain health by emphasizing brain-boosting foods and limiting those that negatively impact brain health.
The diet contains food rich in certain vitamins and antioxidants like carotenoids, and flavonoids that are believed to protect the brain by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation. (We will dig deeper into vitamins, carotenoids and flavonoids and what foods have the right stuff in another blog!)
What’s On The Menu?
Follow the Mind Diet
- Green LeafyVegetables: Spinach, kale and other greens, are rich in antioxidants and nutrients that support brain health—Aim for a serving every day and one other non-starchy colorful vegetable
- Berries: Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are full of antioxidants—At least twice a week
Aging Fun Fact …
Studies have shown that eating blueberries, often referred to as “brain berries” due to their high levels of antioxidants, particularly flavonoids, can enhance memory, improve cognitive function, potentially reversing age-related cognitive decline. So give your brain a tasty boost!
- Whole grains: Whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa and whole wheat bread, which provide steady energy—At least three servings each day, (I have an exceptional oatmeal cookie recipe with blueberries & strawberries, we can get to that later…)
- Nuts: Nuts, particularly walnuts are high in omega-3 fatty acids and anti-oxidants that benefit cognitive function—At least five-one ounce serving of nuts each week
- Fish: Fattier fish (such as salmon) that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for brain health—At least once a week-avoid high mercury fish like swordfish, king mackerel, orange roughy etc.
- Olive Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil as the primary source of fat, attributed to its anti-inflammatory properties and beneficial effects on heart and brain health—Use as added fat
- Poultry: Moderate consumption of poultry, which is generally lean and provides protein—At least twice a week
- Beans: Beans and legumes as a source of protein and fiber, which can help with overall health—At least four times a week (you can throw a can of your favorites over a salad, so easy!)
Meal Plan | What’s On the Menu Sparingly
- Red Meat- High in saturated fat, can negatively impact heart and brain health, including beef, pork, lamb and products made from these meats—Less than 4 times a week
- Butter or margarine—No more than one tablespoon a day (yikes! Everything is better with butter, but I get it)
- Cheese & Fried Food/Fast Food—No more than once a week (this is a hard one, cheese is so good! Cheese and crackers are a whole food group at our house)
- Pastries & Sweets—Less than five times a week
Overall, the MIND diet emphasizes consuming a wonderful variety of whole, nutrient dense foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and lean proteins, while limiting intake of unhealthy fats, refined sugars, and processed foods.
This approach to eating can help to provide essential nutrients that support brain health and over-all well being and just consider the rainbow of foods to choose from and get creative with. It is certainly a promising dietary pattern to consider for those looking for additional ways to protect their brain health.
I hadn’t considered the impact of diet on cognitive health until recently ( and honestly, I should clean up my diet!) However, as I get older, I am taking some proactive steps to keep my brain sharp.
There are many things we can do ourselves, like exercising, getting quality sleep, staying mentally active (writing this counts!) and taking supplements, these things can only help-so why not embrace?
Tonight I’m trying a white bean soup with herbs, I’ll keep you posted.
Check back for more great recipes and photos. I’m going to keep on cooking.
Wishing you all the best!
Ara
*As always, it is advisable to consult with a healthcare professional before making significant changes to your diet, especially if you have existing health conditions.
Sources, Studies and Articles- Food for Thought
“New Mind Diet May Significantly Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease”https://www.rush.edu/news/new-mind-diet-may-significantly-protect-against-alzheimers-disease
“Impact of the MIND Diet on Cognition in Individuals with Dementia”
https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-230651
“Association of Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay and Mediterranean Diets With Alzheimer Disease Pathology
http://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000207176
“MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging”
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2015.04.011
“The Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension(DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diets Are associated with Less Cognitive Decline and a Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease-A Review”
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6855954
“Diet Review: MIND Diet-The Nutrition Source”
“New Study: MIND Diet May Prevent Dementia at Any Age-Eating Well”
https://www.eatingwell.com/mind-diet-dementai-study-11748383
“This diet can protect your brain from Alzheimer’s even later in life, new study suggest”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mind-diet-brain-alzheimers-dementia-study
Ara Kaplan is a culinary enthusiast and artist with a passion for brain-healthy cooking. With a BFA in Painting and Art History from SUNY Purchase, Ara brings creativity to the kitchen. She owned and operated her own restaurant for a decade before joining a highly successful restauranteur in Boca Raton, where she spent 20 years growing her expertise.
Cooking is Ara’s nightly passion, where she experiments with recipes that prioritize brain health. Her mission is to share knowledge and inspire others to embrace delicious, nourishing food that supports mental clarity and overall wellness. Join Ara as she explores the intersection of taste and health, one brain boosting recipe at time.
