Boost Your Brain Power in 60 Seconds Read online

  Brain Health Principle #6: Vegetables and fruits should make up at least 80 percent of your diet. Vegetables should make up the bulk of it. Sorry, white potatoes don’t count. Try to incorporate a wide variety of different vegetables and fruits, such as squash, leafy greens, peppers, cabbage, onions, sweet potatoes, apples, pomegranates, cherries, and blueberries. Get at least five servings of vegetables daily. One serving equals approximately ½ cup of each vegetable. Get at least two servings of fruit daily. One serving of fruit equals approximately ½ cup of each fruit, or one fruit with a pit. Be sure to include at least three of the essential brain-boosting foods each day. They include blueberries, grapes, pomegranates, tomatoes, walnuts, and wild salmon. While many of the best brain boosters are fruits and vegetables, other foods belong on this list as well, as you can see from the inclusion of walnuts and wild salmon. Additionally, choose at least two of the other great brain boosters each day. They include apricots, peaches, plums, celery and celery seeds, cherries, coffee, ginger, kidney beans, sage, rosemary, and tea.

  Brain Health Principle #7: Switch to coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and baking. That means no canola, vegetable oil, shortening, margarine, etc. While coconut oil contains saturated fats, a growing body of research shows that these saturated facts act differently in your body than saturated fats from animal products, such as meat and dairy.

  Brain Health Principle #8: Eat at least ½ cup of legumes daily. You can choose whichever kind you like best: chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, lentils, peas, etc. Only count legumes in which the fiber is still intact—whole beans. That means soy milk and tofu don’t count, because the fiber has been removed from these foods. Of course, you can still eat these foods, just don’t count them toward your daily legume intake.

  Brain Health Principle #9: Avoid artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, and saccharin. Choose only stevia or whole food sweeteners (raisins, dates, applesauce, etc.) to sweeten recipes. Keep sugars of all kinds to a minimum. Splenda is also known as sucralose, and while it is advertised as a natural sweetener, it isn’t. According to Joseph Mercola, DO, it “has been altered to the point that it’s actually closer to DDT and Agent Orange than to sugar.”7 Aspartame also goes by the names AminoSweet and Neotame and has been linked to brain cancer.8 Saccharin, a coal tar derivative, is also known as Sweet’N Low, Sweet Twin, and Necta Sweet and is considered a “probable carcinogen.”9

  Brain Health Principle #10: Significantly reduce your sugar intake. Cut back on sweets of all kinds: cookies, cakes, pastries, etc. If you crave something sweet, opt for fruit. If you experience depression or another mental illness, do your best to avoid concentrated sugars altogether. Fruit is fine in moderation.

  Brain Health Principle #11: Choose unrefined sea salt over iodized salt. Instead of iodized salt, choose unrefined or Celtic sea salt. Iodized salt is sodium with iodine added, while unrefined sea salt naturally contains sodium along with many other valuable minerals, including potassium, calcium, and magnesium. While salt is never a great source of these types of minerals, unrefined or Celtic sea salt also has many trace minerals that, as their name suggests, your body needs in trace amounts. Iodized salt has none of these trace minerals. Therefore, it is best to choose unrefined sea salt that naturally contains many different minerals, not just sodium and iodine.

  Brain Health Principle #12: Get 30 minutes of brisk exercise at least five times a week. Brisk walking, running, hiking, cycling, inline skating, or any other brisk activity is fine. Exercise is critical to ensure that healthy, oxygen-rich blood is delivered in adequate quantities to your brain. A total loss of oxygen for 6 minutes can result in permanent damage to your brain, and 7 minutes can result in death. Because you obtain oxygen through breathing, simply breathing shallowly or not getting sufficient exercise can reduce the amount of oxygen-rich blood that pumps to your brain. By exercising regularly, you’ll boost that supply. You’ll find some excellent ideas and suggestions in Chapter 5, including 60-Second Brain Health Tips #40 and #42.

  Brain Health Principle #13: Take a high-quality multivitamin and mineral supplement. It should be free of iron, copper, sugar, additives, colors, and artificial sweeteners. Consume iron supplements only if your physician has instructed you to do so. Make sure your multivitamin contains at least 50 grams of B-complex vitamins and 50 micrograms of folate and B12. Studies link a vitamin B12 deficiency to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss, and depression. Research also shows that simply getting more B vitamins (such as from a multiple plus extra vitamin B12) can halve the rate of brain shrinkage associated with aging.10

  Brain Health Principle #14: Add 60-Second Brain Health Tips. The 60-second tips you’ll find in the next part of this book are a critical component of the 4-Week Brain Health Challenge. Don’t worry—you don’t need to do all of them. Simply include the number of tips recommended at the start of each section. You’ll add all of the tips in Chapter 3: Substitute, five of the foods in Chapter 4: Boost, two of the lifestyle recommendations in Chapter 5: Strategize, and two of the natural supplements in Chapter 6: Supplement. The supplements outlined in Chapter 6 have proven benefits for specific brain diseases, so if you have a specific condition, read through that chapter and choose the supplements suggested for that condition. For example, if you have dementia, choose the supplements suggested for dementia.

  But what if you don’t have a brain disease and simply want to prevent one? For a good general brain health plan, supplement with curcumin and resveratrol. Supplement with a standardized extract of 1,200 milligrams of curcumin daily and 250 milligrams of resveratrol daily. Ginkgo biloba is an excellent herb for general brain health. Take 120 milligrams of ginkgo biloba daily. Be sure to obtain your physician’s approval prior to taking these supplements to ensure that other medications you take won’t interact with them. You can take these supplements in divided doses throughout the day, if you prefer. Most people find them easiest to take with a meal or snack.

  The Principles of the 4-Week Brain Health Challenge are easy to follow, and the plan becomes easier and easier as you adjust to making better choices and replacing unhealthy foods with delicious and nutritious choices. Throughout this book, I’ll discuss more dietary and lifestyle problems and the quick fixes you can make. You’ll be shocked to learn about some of the common places brain-damaging chemicals lurk, as well as the impressive foods, herbs, nutrients, and even medicinal mushrooms that hold the greatest promise for the prevention and treatment of brain diseases.

  CHAPTER 3

  WEEK 1: SUBSTITUTE

  Foods to Avoid and the Foods to Replace Them

  This week I will introduce you to the harmful foods, household products, and ingredients that may be affecting your memory and brain health. Many of these substances are found in common, everyday places. You learned about some of them in the previous chapter, but in this chapter you’ll learn how to spot them, why you should avoid them, and how minimizing your exposure to them can significantly improve your brain health. And, of course, you’ll learn simple substitutions you can make so you won’t miss your favorite foods or products. Follow all of the tips in this chapter for the best brain health benefits.

  In this section, you’ll learn to:

  1.Make the Switch to Stevia

  Discover the brain health–friendly sweetener that prevents blood sugar fluctuations and weight gain.

  2.Pass on the Aspartame-Laden Foods and Beverages

  Eliminate the artificial sweetener that has been linked to brain tumors and other brain health issues.

  3.Remove the Brain Toxin MSG

  Eliminate the food additive that excites brain and nerve cells until they die.

  4.Replace Trans Fats with Brain-Healthy Choices

  Switch from fats that cause brain inflammation to ones that protect your brain from damage.

  5.Reduce Meat Consumption to Reduce Inflammation

  Simply reducing your intake of meat helps to reduce bra
in-damaging inflammation.

  6.Remove Heavy Metals from Your Life

  Discover the surprising everyday sources of brain-toxic heavy metals.

  7.Skip the Antacids to Avoid Brain-Damaging Aluminum

  Eliminate one of the main sources of metals that have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

  8.Eliminate Chemical Scents for a Sensational Brain

  Your brain may be affected much more than you imagine when you spritz that perfume or cologne.

  9.Switch Fabric Softeners for Superb Mental Functions

  Discover the shocking source of common brain toxins—fabric softeners—and how you can reduce your exposure.

  10.Omit the “Air Fresheners” and Deodorizers for Better Brain Balance

  Before you spritz that furniture or plug in that air “purifier,” you’ll want to know more about the ingredients and their effects on your brain.

  60-SECOND BRAIN HEALTH TIP #1:

  Make the Switch to Stevia

  Discover the brain health–friendly sweetener that prevents blood sugar fluctuations and weight gain.

  If I told you that there is a white powdery substance that is extremely damaging to your brain, you probably wouldn’t think I was talking about sugar. But shocking new research from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Australia, found that eating a high-sugar diet for just 1 week is enough to cause memory impairment and brain inflammation. According to the lead scientist, Margaret Morris, “What is so surprising about this research is the speed with which the deterioration of the cognition occurred.”1

  If you think this research doesn’t apply to you, consider that the Standard American Diet is a high-sugar diet. According to the USDA, the average person eats 156 pounds of added sugar every year. And that doesn’t include naturally present sugars in foods such as fruit. Compare that with our ancestors’ diets a century ago: They ate only about 5 pounds of sugar each year.

  In this excessive amount, sugar is linked to inflammation throughout the body, including the brain. Excessive sugar consumption is linked with a decline in mental capacity and an increase in alpha, delta, and theta brain waves, which alters your mind’s ability to think clearly. It has also been linked to learning disorders, poor memory formation, and depression.2

  Other research shows that a diet high in added sugar reduces the production of a brain chemical known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Without sufficient BDNF, your brain can’t form new memories, nor can you learn new things or remember much. Levels of BDNF are especially low in people with impaired sugar metabolism, such as diabetics and prediabetics.3 Low levels of BDNF are also linked to depression and dementia. While more research needs to happen to determine whether BDNF is a causal factor in brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, it’s already clear that low BDNF is bad for your brain. By taming your sugar intake, you’ll help make BDNF your new BFF.

  While sugar in its most natural form is fuel for your brain, it is important not to confuse the naturally present sugars in fruits and starchy foods with the refined and concentrated added sugars in much of our processed and prepared foods. There’s a big difference. Your brain needs some sugar to function, just like your car needs gasoline to function. But your brain needs the naturally occurring sugars in a slow, steady dose—as happens when you metabolize fruits or starches—not the sugar rushes that come with adding sugar to most of our foods.

  Soda is one of the worst sources of sugar, containing 7 to 11 teaspoons per can and much more than that in the supersize beverages now sold at many fast-food places. Sugar is insidious in our diet, hiding in many unsuspected places, including condiments, meat, French fries, and even in some table and seasoning salts. It’s shocking but true.

  Stevia, or Stevia rebaudiana, is a natural herb that tastes sweet but doesn’t actually contain sugar molecules. As a result, it doesn’t affect blood sugar levels or cause inflammation in the body, and it is therefore a healthy option for a healthy brain. It is naturally between 300 and 1,000 times sweeter than sugar, depending on whether you’re using the whole herb or the liquid extract. I personally find liquid stevia to have the best taste and least aftertaste, but I’ve found powdered versions that are excellent, as well.

  How to Benefit

  Switch from sugar to the naturally sweet herb stevia. Sugar hides in many packaged and prepared foods. Look for any ingredient name that contains “-ose,” such as glucose, high fructose corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, maltose, etc. Even natural sweeteners like honey, pure maple syrup, agave nectar, and barley malt are high in sugars and should be used sparingly. While stevia is available in many forms, be aware that some manufacturers of the powdered extract of stevia include other sweeteners with the herb, so these products are best avoided.

  Because stevia is naturally sweet, you won’t need much to sweeten your tea, coffee, or other foods and beverages. Just a few drops of the liquid sweeten coffee or tea, and the powder usually comes with what looks like a doll-size spoon because one scoop that size is all you’ll need for most beverages.

  Baking with stevia poses some challenges because it doesn’t have the same chemical properties as sugar, so it doesn’t caramelize when heated or become chewy in cookies. Also, because you use so little stevia, it may throw off the traditional dry-to-wet ingredients ratio in some recipes. You may need to experiment a bit with your recipes.

  Super Health Bonus

  Sugar consumption has been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, weight gain, diabetes, and premature aging, to name just a few conditions. By switching to stevia, you’ll naturally reduce your risk of experiencing any of these diseases and will slow your aging process. What’s more, because even a few teaspoons of sugar can depress your immune system for 4 to 6 hours, you’ll probably notice you suffer from fewer colds, flus, and infections after reducing the sugar in your diet.

  60-SECOND BRAIN HEALTH TIP #2:

  Pass on the Aspartame-Laden Foods and Beverages

  Eliminate the artificial sweetener that has been linked to brain tumors and other brain health issues.

  Before you take another sip of that aspartame-laden diet soda or other “diet” food or beverage, here are seven brain health reasons to rethink that drink.

  1.Only 1 year after aspartame was approved by the FDA, its own task force learned that some of the original data showcasing aspartame’s safety had been falsified to hide results showing that animals fed aspartame had experienced seizures and developed brain tumors.4 The artificial sweetener was never recalled. Aspartame has also been linked to the formation of various types of cancer, including brain cancer.

  2.There is a 43 percent increased risk of experiencing a stroke or heart attack when a person drinks more than one diet soda daily.

  3.According to the authors of the book Hard to Swallow, when a diet drink containing aspartame is stored at 85°F for a week or longer, “There is no aspartame left in the soft drinks, just the components it breaks down into, like formaldehyde, formic acid, and diketopiperazine, a chemical that can cause brain tumors. All of these substances are known to be toxic to humans.”5

  4.According to researchers at the American Academy of Neurology, if you drink four or more cans of soda daily, you’re 30 percent more likely to suffer from depression.6

  5.Research shows that aspartame in diet soda causes an imbalance in brain hormones, specifically dopamine and serotonin.7 Dopamine is a brain chemical that helps us feel good. Impaired dopamine production is involved in brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Serotonin is a feel-good brain neurotransmitter that reduces pain and the likelihood of experiencing depression.8 Low levels of serotonin have been linked with aggressive behavior.9

  6.Mold inhibitors added to diet soda cause severe cell damage, according to research by Peter Piper, professor of molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. This cell damage likely includes brain and nerve cells.10

  7.Diet
soda as a mix for alcoholic beverages worsens hangovers. According to research at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia, diet soda increases the rate at which alcohol enters the bloodstream and causes hangovers to occur sooner than they otherwise would, as well as making them more intense.11 The increased rate of alcohol entering the bloodstream can also increase the rate at which brain cells are destroyed.

  How to Benefit

  If you absolutely must have soda, choose a stevia-sweetened one instead of the many aspartame-laden sodas on the market. One good choice is Zevia. Most “diet” foods and products contain aspartame or other types of artificial sweeteners, so they are best left at the store. Choose unsweetened foods and beverages, and add a few drops of the naturally sweet herbal extract stevia.

  Super Health Bonus

  It’s ironic, considering its name and reputation as a “diet” drink, that diet soda is more likely to make a person fat. It is linked to a 34 percent increase in metabolic syndrome, along with its symptoms of high cholesterol and abdominal obesity.12 Just drinking two cans of diet soda daily has been linked to a 500 percent increase in waist size.13 By skipping aspartame, you’re likely to lose weight if you’re overweight. And since a Harvard University study found that drinking diet soda daily doubles a person’s risk of kidney disease, you’ll have a reduced incidence of kidney disease, as well.14 You’ll even maintain stronger teeth, since diet soda is extremely acidic and has been linked to dental enamel erosion.15