Food For Thought: 9 Brain-Friendly Eats (PHOTOS)

Healthy eating lowers your risk of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, but it's not yet clear if that's true for Alzheimer's disease as well.

"I can't write a prescription for broccoli and say this will help--yet," says Sam Gandy M.D., Ph.D., the associate director of the Mount Sinai Medical Center Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, in New York City.

(The National Institutes of Health recently said there is insufficient evidence that food, diet, or lifestyle will prevent Alzheimer's disease.)

It's not a lost cause though. Here are nine foods that researchers say will keep your whole body--including your brain--healthy.

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“The data support eating foods that are high in vitamin E and this includes healthy vegetable oil-based salad dressings, seeds and nuts, peanut butter and whole grains,” says Martha Clare Morris, ScD, director of the section on nutrition and nutritional epidemiology in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University, in Chicago. The benefit has been seen with vitamin-E rich foods, but not supplements, she says. A potent antioxidant, vitamin E may help protect neurons or nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, neurons in certain parts of the brain start to die, which jump-starts the cascade of events leading to cognitive deterioration. Related Health.com Articles: 20 Healthy Salmon Recipes 8 Avocado Recipes (Besides Guacamole) What Can You Make With Peanut Butter? How Many Carbohydrates Am I Eating?

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“The data support eating foods that are high in vitamin E and this includes healthy vegetable oil-based salad dressings, seeds and nuts, peanut butter and whole grains,” says Martha Clare Morris, ScD, director of the section on nutrition and nutritional epidemiology in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush University, in Chicago.

The benefit has been seen with vitamin-E rich foods, but not supplements, she says.

A potent antioxidant, vitamin E may help protect neurons or nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, neurons in certain parts of the brain start to die, which jump-starts the cascade of events leading to cognitive deterioration.


Related Health.com Articles:
20 Healthy Salmon Recipes
8 Avocado Recipes (Besides Guacamole)
What Can You Make With Peanut Butter?
How Many Carbohydrates Am I Eating?

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Comments

[sherinola]

12:03 PM on 11/22/2010

no mention of Apples? Big oversight! http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200603/apple-your-thoughts (only one of the numerous articles regarding the health (mind and body) benefits, backed by research.

[jgarma]

05:43 PM on 11/21/2010

These 9 are a good start, but if the fact that 60-some % of Americans are overweight implies that their refrigerators and cupboards are stocked with the wrong food, replacing 9 is probably insufficient to get a substantially different result.

Reading this post, I'm reminded of an Oprah visit and interview of billionaire David Murdock, who at 86 (at the time) has spent millions of dollars investigating the most healthy foods to eat, and who himself consumes a very specific set of foods, many of them juiced.

You can read about his secrets to longevity and his 30-or-so "healthiest food on earth here:
http://www.garmaonhealth.com/2009/09/an-86-year-old-billionaires-recipe-for-longevity/

Yes, are other worthwhile additions, but get these in the house and you're well on the way to better health.

[Nalini Chilkov]

02:14 PM on 11/21/2010

Not only are avocados great for the brain, but they are also great for cancer patients. One of the foods highest in the super antioxidant glutathione. http://huff.to/aPkXuo

[LogicalMathMan]

12:38 PM on 11/21/2010

So, this patient was advised by his doctor to cut his alcohol intake from two to one. A month later, on one of his regular visits, there is no improvement in the patient's condition. The exasperated doctor asks him , 'Did you cut your alcohol intake down, like I told you?'. 'Yes' replied the patient...'from two bottles to one.'

[blueskybigstar]

10:24 AM on 11/21/2010

Denmark had a definitive study of red wine versus beer. This was before anybody knew that red wine was good for you, so there were no differences in lifestyle between the red wine and beer drinkers. Both beer drinkers and red wine drinkers faired better than non-drinkers, but red wine drinkers faired much better than beer drinkers.

[Dustin Rudolph]

09:49 AM on 11/21/2010

Cherries should be added to the list as well. According to this study they prevent oxidative damage and reduce the susceptibility to not only Alzheimer's but atherosclerosis, cancer, and diabetes - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19692530.

Dustin Rudolph
www.PursueAHealthyYou.com

[Frank Svatousek]

08:29 AM on 11/21/2010

Ginkgo nuts is another good one apparently.

Frank Svatousek

[ShambalaMountain]

12:15 AM on 11/21/2010

Avocados, food of the gods.

[1differentdrummer]

06:39 AM on 11/21/2010

Love 'em.

[LogicalMathMan]

12:34 PM on 11/21/2010

Yes, they are yummy especially in salad, or, as guacamole on a sandwich.

[mlkx]

11:12 PM on 11/20/2010

I would add hemp seeds, walnuts and tahni too. All good for the brain and Tahni is good for the bones too.

[Commie]

09:23 PM on 11/20/2010

Crazy to me how people eat the trash that's out there.

[drvittoriarepetto]

05:54 PM on 11/20/2010

Also turmeric is helpful to prevent Alzheimers and Rosemary

http://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/anti-oxidant-foods-rosemary/

Rosemary has a very old reputation for improving memory, and has been used as a symbol for remembrance (during weddings, war commemorations and funerals) in Europe and Australia In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Ophelia says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.”

[isaidit]

07:10 PM on 11/20/2010

I divorced Rosemary in 1990. But I remember real well, unfortunately.

[LogicalMathMan]

12:35 PM on 11/21/2010

LOL...my sympathies.

[Tulka2]

09:31 PM on 11/20/2010

Read a New York Times article recently that eating a variety of veg and herbs is the best way to get the sainted antitoxins.

[kuastar]

07:09 AM on 11/22/2010

Thank you NYT for the reminder (you may have meant antioxidants, although they are "antitoxins" in a way). My orthomolecular physician at the time advised me IN THE EARLY 70s of the importance of consciously eating a variety. In other words, to not continually eat the same subset of foods, as habit would have us do. His advice insured consuming the widest variety of micronutrients as possible so as to not systematically miss some. Did you catch the time lag? The sub lesson is to actively do your own research -- thousands of studies are reported from all over the world everyday. To depend on mass media for health advice can leave you 30-40 years behind what's already known and verified. Intermediaries such as doctors Weil, Mercola, Hyman and others are very helpful in compiling and summarizing the overwhelimg amount of research.

[Tulka2]

05:12 PM on 11/20/2010

12.  Happiness.  The ability to handle stress...or not... is a huge predictor for dementia.

[Commie]

09:23 PM on 11/20/2010

Agreed, that should be on the list.

[Tulka2]

09:32 PM on 11/20/2010

Daily meditation for wholesome health.

[Ozark Homesteader]

04:33 PM on 11/20/2010

Don't European doctors prescribe many of these foods to their patients instead of drugs?

[Californian2020]

04:30 PM on 11/20/2010

There are 3 fallacies in this article:

1- Peanuts: They carry 25 known toxins and should be avoided at all cost.

2- Wine: It's very acidic, and contrary to what this article says, it actually causes Alzheimer's and does not prevent it. Alcohol, whether consumed in small or big amounts, is acidic and toxic and should be avoided.

3- Whole Grains: stored grains are acidic and not good for your body. They also contain gluten which is toxic.

For more on what is really healthy and good for you, read Dr. Robert O. Young's "pH Miracle" (available on Amazon).

[Chumskay]

06:54 PM on 11/20/2010

Californian2020,

This "Doctor" whose book you're advising people read has no medical credentials and has been subject to investigation as well as being sentenced for practicing medicine without a license. Please don't mislead the readers.

p.s.
Since when are grains "acidic" and gluten toxic?

[LaurieLee]

12:14 AM on 11/21/2010

When it suits and sells books.

[Californian2020]

08:52 PM on 11/23/2010

Bullocks!

[1differentdrummer]

06:43 AM on 11/21/2010

Funny, I've had three docs tell me to drink red wine daily. Two said one glass and the other said two glasses. It's part of the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle, isn't it?

[Californian2020]

06:20 AM on 11/22/2010

Alcohol is toxic and is bad for your body, and you don't need a doctor to tell you that.

[jsarets]

04:18 PM on 11/20/2010

This article is decent but it perpetuates some common myths.

For example, saturated fats are not nearly as unhealthy as we once thought, and the more we learn, the weaker the case against saturated fats (and to a lesser extent dietary cholesterol) becomes.

Individuals with heart disease have elevated levels of saturated fat and cholesterol in their blood, but the relationship between dietary lipids and blood serum lipids is not straightforward.  The liver synthesizes saturated fat and cholesterol in the metabolism of fructose and ethanol, and unsaturated fats are saturated for transport and storage.

Also, it's misleading to issue a blanket recommendation for seed oils, since many of them contain excessively high amounts of omega-6 linoleic acid, which blocks the absorption of omega-3 fats. These include sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and corn.  But other seed oils contain less omega-6 and/or more omega-3, including flaxseed, hempseed, and canola (to a lesser extent soybean and peanut).

This is especially important for vegans (even more so if they are pregnant or nursing), since omega-6 fats block the conversion of plant-based omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) into EPA and DHA, which are otherwise only available from wild saltwater fish or certain species of microalgae.  DHA is present in the breast milk of healthy mothers and is important for the cognitive development of babies.

[Babs-another]

05:41 PM on 11/20/2010

What the real article should be about--thanks so much for your comment. It's an uphill struggle to get up-to-date scientific info out there, or even to get doctors to recognize it. Keep commenting, please.

[purenergy]

02:21 AM on 11/21/2010

Great comment, keeps me from having to do it! I see in the next 5-10 years a nutritional revolution. Soon people will realize that the dietary standards for the last 50 years have been the leasing cause of the rise of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

Vegans and vegetarians should also know that soy (especially processed soy like TVP) is an endocrine blocker and phyto-estrogen which may cause thyroid disease, metabolism disorders, and infertility problems. http://westonaprice.org/soy-alert.html Peace

[LogicalMathMan]

12:41 PM on 11/21/2010

The leading cause for obesity is junk foods and it does not seem likely that US consumers will give up on them.