Power Foods for the Brain (20 page)
Read Power Foods for the Brain Online
Authors: Neal Barnard
The results were remarkable. People who ate meat daily averaged a body mass index of 28.8—well into the overweight range. Semivegetarians—that is, people who ate meat less than once a week—were slightly slimmer, with an average BMI of 27.3. People who ate no meat at all except for occasional fish were thinner than the first two groups but still in the overweight range. Those who left out all meats and fish but kept eating dairy products and eggs were thinner still. But the only group that was smack in the middle of the healthy weight range was the group of people who skipped animal products altogether. A plant-based (vegan) diet put their BMI at a healthy 23.6. The same gradient held for diabetes risk, too. In other words, the more people steer clear of animal-based foods, the healthier they are.
To plan your brain-boosting menu, choose from each of the New Four Food Groups. These healthful foods are depicted in a simple graphic, called the Power Plate, which was developed by my organization, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Vegetables.
As you plan your dinner, start with vegetables. They might be an afterthought for many people, but we will put them front and center. Have generous amounts—and why not two different ones, say, an orange vegetable, like carrots, and a green vegetable, such as broccoli or kale? And it’s great to bring on fresh greens any time of day, whether in a salad, as a side dish, or perhaps added to a smoothie.
Vegetables are loaded with vitamins and give you minerals in the form your body can control. As you’ll recall, plants have a special form of iron, called
nonheme
iron, which is more absorbable when your body needs more iron, and less absorbable when you are already flush with iron (unlike the
heme
iron in meats, which tends to pass into your body whether you need it or not). That allows you to avoid the iron excesses that are implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, among other health problems.
Certain vegetables have a special benefit. The group known as
cruciferous vegetables,
named for their cross-shaped flowers, includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, mustard and turnip greens, and watercress, as well as bok choy, kohlrabi, and rapini (broccoli rabe). They cause your liver to produce special enzymes, called phase 2 enzymes, that capture carcinogens and remove them from your bloodstream. The effect is quick, with enzymes increasing within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
Sour + Bitter = Delicious.
If broccoli, spinach, or other green vegetables are too bitter for your tastes, spritz them with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. The combination of a sour topping with the slight bitter taste of vegetables creates a mellow, almost sweet taste you’ll love.
Whole grains.
Next, add a grain, like rice, pasta, corn, or, if you prefer, a starchy root vegetable like sweet potatoes. These foods provide complex carbohydrates for energy, along with protein and fiber.
Legumes.
Then add something from the legume group—beans, peas, and lentils—or any food made from beans, like tofu, tempeh, or hummus. They are loaded with protein and fiber, along with calcium and iron in their most healthful forms. They bring you traces of omega-3s, too.
It is smart to favor organic produce, especially for those fruits and vegetables that are often dosed with pesticides. These include peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes, carrots, and pears.
On the other hand, the difference between organic and “conventional” is not as great for more disease-resistant crops that are less often chemically treated: onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, mangoes, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, papaya, watermelon, broccoli, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.
If you’re having trouble figuring out whether produce is organic or not, just look for the little Price Look Up (PLU) sticker on the apple, orange, or whatever—the one cashiers use to check the price. If the number on the label starts with a 9, it’s organic. If it starts with any other number, it is “conventionally” grown. If it starts with an 8, it is genetically modified.
Fruit.
Finally, let’s add some fresh fruit, either as dessert or as a between-meal snack: oranges, bananas, apples, tangerines, kiwis, mangoes, papayas—whatever strikes your fancy. How about some blueberries or strawberries to top your morning oatmeal? You might want to keep some extra fruit on hand—at
home, in your office, or wherever you are—for anyone who might drop by.
You may notice that uncut fruit tends to sit neglected on your counter, while finger-ready fruit rapidly disappears. If you pick up a cantaloupe or melon, cut it into chunks and leave a bowl of it in the refrigerator. You will find you’re much more likely to take advantage of it.
Notice that so far, there is not a scrap of cholesterol or animal fat in your diet. The New Four Food Groups—vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and fruit—are a breath of fresh air for your brain and all the rest of you. They bring you powerful nutrition, and they skip what you don’t need.
Needless to say, many recipes combine various food groups. Pasta is a grain that is topped with tomatoes, spinach, peppers, mushrooms, spices, or whatever else you are in the mood for. A burrito combines grains (a wheat tortilla) with beans (legumes), along with any vegetables you want to add, and maybe some fruit for dessert.
Take a look through the recipes in the back of this book and see which ones appeal to you.
As you’re taking advantage of these healthful foods, it also pays to keep fats to a minimum. That is obviously true for animal fats and the trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) that often end up in snack foods. But I would encourage you to keep added oils to a minimum, too, using the oil-free methods described below.
This is not a zero-fat diet, however. There are traces of natural fats in vegetables, fruits, and beans, and they deliver the good (omega-3) fats your body needs. And there are more concentrated omega-3s in flaxseed, flax oil, and walnuts. But if your diet is loaded with grease—corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, and so on—their load of omega-6 fats competes with omega-3s for the enzymes your body uses to lengthen them. That means your omega-3s have a hard time converting to the DHA your brain is looking for.
Don’t get me wrong. Vegetable oils are nowhere near as unhealthful as animal fat. Researchers with the Chicago Health and Aging Project found that people who favored vegetable oils had a much lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease compared with people favoring animal fats. Even so, most of us are inundated with oil we don’t need, and it is a good idea to degrease your diet.
When fruits and vegetables are plucked from trees or from the earth, most have only traces of fat, and very healthful ones at that. There are a few exceptions in the plant kingdom: nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, and soy products have more substantial amounts of fat, so you’ll want to be cautious. A small handful of nuts is about 1 ounce. That’s a reasonable daily limit.
Sauté onions, garlic, mushrooms, and similar foods in vegetable broth or water instead of oil. Better yet, you can sauté in a dry pan. Try it and you’ll see.
Steaming vegetables preserves their flavor without adding fat.
Steer clear of fried snacks. Potato chips, french fries, and other snack foods deliver a huge load of hidden fat. Baked versions are better.
Top your toast with jam instead of butter or margarine. Or if your toast started out as a really good bread, you won’t need any topping at all.
Grocery stores now offer dozens of fat-free salad dressings. Or splash on some seasoned rice vinegar or other flavorful versions (such as balsamic or apple cider vinegar). A squirt of lemon juice goes great on salads and green vegetables.
If you are shopping for commercially prepared products such as frozen dinners, favor those with less than 3 fat grams per serving.
So we’re using the New Four Food Groups and keeping oils low. And now, as you’re filling your plate, you’ll want to pay special attention to foods that provide brain-nourishing vitamins. Here are two easy tips that help you do that:
• Favor vegetables—especially green leafy vegetables, cooked or raw, along with beans and fruits. They deliver plenty of folate and vitamin B
6
.
• Sprinkle a few nuts or seeds on your salad and you’ll get vitamin E. Good choices are almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pecans, pistachios, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and ground flaxseed. About 1 ounce (one modest handful) per day will do it. Vitamin E is also in broccoli, spinach, sweet potatoes, and mangoes.
So it’s easy to have a vitamin-rich menu. Focus on vegetables, fruits, and beans, and have a sprinkle of nuts and seeds here and there. You will also want to be sure to have a B
12
supplement or B
12
-fortified foods, as described below.
People who are treated with a blood thinner called warfarin (sold under the brand name Coumadin) sometimes are told by their doctors to avoid vegetables. Here is what their doctors are thinking: Warfarin prevents blood clots by blocking vitamin K. But vegetables supply vitamin K, so some doctors worry that they will interfere with this anticlotting effect.
If you take warfarin, speak with your doctor. The answer might not be to avoid vegetables but simply to keep the amount of vegetables you eat more or less steady from day to day. That way the blood tests your doctor uses to set your warfarin dose will stay fairly stable and your doctor will have an easy time setting the dose that is right for you.
Okay, you’re taking advantage of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans, keeping oils to a minimum, and emphasizing the vitamin-rich choices. And now one last thing: Look out for toxic metals. As we saw in
chapter 2
, we’ll want to avoid getting too much iron, copper, and zinc, and there is no requirement for aluminum at all. You’re already steering clear of most toxic metals by basing your menu on foods from plants. They give you the copper, iron, and zinc your body needs, without the excesses. And here are some additional steps you’ll want to take.
First, throw open your medicine cabinet or wherever you keep your multiple vitamins. If they contain iron, copper, or zinc, as most do, make a note to pick up a healthier product next time you’re at the store. All health food stores sell B complex—supplements that provide the folate, B
6
, and B
12
you need, among other B vitamins. Or you could just get a B
12
supplement, as a healthful diet will bring you plenty of folate and B
6
. There is no need to take supplemental iron, copper, zinc, or other minerals unless your doctor specifically recommends them for a medical condition.
Before you close the medicine cabinet, read the label on any antacids you might be using so as to avoid aluminum. There is no shortage of aluminum-free brands.
Check the labels on breakfast cereals. Many have added iron, zinc, or other metals.
In choosing cookware, skip pans where aluminum or iron is in direct contact with food. And avoid aluminum-containing baking powder, something that is easy to do at home but more challenging at a pancake house where the cooks may not be reading the fine print on food labels. Ditto for frozen pizzas, where aluminum is often used in the cheese topping, and in single-serve packets of coffee creamer or salt.
Bottled springwater is safer than tap water, unless your water supply is tested as free of aluminum or you are using a reverse osmosis purifier, which will effectively remove aluminum. Avoid aluminum cans (yes, that includes soda and beer cans) and be careful about tea, which tends to contain aluminum, too.
If it sounds like a big step to skip animal products and added oils and to emphasize healthful foods, it’s actually easier than you might imagine. Flip through the recipes in the back of this book and you’ll see how delightful your meals can be.
The payoff is huge. You’ve boosted your nutrition to a whole new level, minimizing the chances you’ll ever have to deal with serious memory loss as the years go by. At the same time, your new menu helps you trim your waistline, lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, and control diabetes, all at the same time!
And now let me offer two more steps for extra credit. It turns out that certain foods have a special cholesterol-lowering effect, which is good for your heart and your brain. In addition, certain carbohydrate-containing foods are better than others. Here are the details:
By now you know that a plant-based diet lowers cholesterol easily and impressively—after all, you’re skipping the animal fat and cholesterol. But some foods go further, providing a special cholesterol-lowering effect.