January/February 2009 Alternative Health
The Brain Diet

by Sondra Kornblatt

Sondra Kornblatt Sondra Kornblatt

Your brain still grows, even if you're ancient - over 20.

Scientists used to think that you were born with all the neurons you'd ever have. If you drank alcohol as an adult and killed brain cells ... well, good luck. Then in 1998, researchers discovered the birth of new neurons in individuals who were near death. Turns out your brain - no matter how old or young - can generate new neurons, too.

One key to brain growth? Diet.

What you eat helps generate healthy neurons with bushes of dendrites or nerve receptors. It also keeps nerve endings firing and allows you to maintain brain flexibility - neuroplasticity. Even if your memory's so fried you can't remember your spouse's cell phone number, food still provides brain sustenance:

  • A stable source of energy. Your brain uses 20 percent of your energy, even though it's only two percent of your weight.
  • Nutrients. Nourishing food helps your brain manufacture chemicals (neurotransmitters) that transmit signals to help you feel good, ignore distractions and remember phone numbers.
  • Antioxidants. They keep the brain "clean" by reducing the effect of oxidation (like rust) in cells.
  • Useful fats. Essential fatty acids help protect the cell membrane, transmit messages, reduce inflammation and support reproduction of neurons.
  • Water. The brain is 78 percent water - a thirsty brain is dull and unhappy.

What foods make the brain happy? We can survive on a huge variety of food - éclairs to eggplant - but our diet drives our thinking, moods, memory. You can bump along in an Edsel or cruise in a Rolls Royce.

You'll find an Edsel diet in boxes on the grocery shelves. You'll find a Rolls Royce diet back in time during the Stone Age. The earliest humans ate what was best for the brain, says Jean Carper, author of Your Miracle Brain: "The essence - the biochemistry and physiology - of our brains is fine-tuned to a long-lost diet that existed in prehistoric days."

The Stone Age diet (also called the Cave Man, Paleolithic or Evolution diet) consists of animal protein like wild game and fish, nuts, legumes, and seeds, veggies and fruits, and a little honey. They're not talking chocolate cookies or fries. Even rice, milk and beef weren't available then.

Do you need to live in Fred Flintstone's cave (okay, it was a prehistoric rambler) and never look pizza in the eye? No, you can still eat today's foods. The question is in what proportion. Right now, less than 45 percent of the typical American diet is Stone Age. The rest consists of foods that need cultivation or processing: cereal, grains (especially wheat and gluten-based grains), processed oils, sugar, milk products and alcohol.

The more Stone Age foods we eat, the better we'll feel, says Carper. You don't have to go cold turkey - literally. Inch your way, meal by meal, adding veggies and fruits, reducing refined carbs, keeping lean, and eating fish or fish oils.

Here are some vitamins and minerals that help your brain (and body, too).

Vitamins

Your brain needs vitamins to protect itself, communicate and stay clean. The brain needs cleaning because neurons age and die - naturally or by damage from certain foods or toxins such as cigarette smoke.

When these neurons (and other body cells) oxidize and die, they create damaging free radicals - cell rust. Free radicals mutate cell membranes, alter DNA and can cause cell death. Antioxidants in vegetables and fruits reduce, neutralize and may prevent the damage free radicals cause.

Here are the vitamins highly touted for the brain, from sources including the University of Maryland.

  • Thiamin metabolizes glucose, the brain's primary energy source, which synthesizes neurotransmitters. It's found in enriched grain products, pork, legumes, nuts, seeds and organ meats.
  • Vitamin B-12 maintains the nerve cell's outer coating, which prevents nerve damage and impaired brain function, including dementia and brain atrophy. Animal foods such as milk, meat and eggs have B-12, as do some fortified cereals, nutritional yeast and soymilks.
  • Folic acid or folate is crucial for proper brain function. Folate may be the nutrient most largely associated with depression. Folate increases cognitive function and reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease by controlling the amino acid homocysteine in the blood. Pregnant woman take folate to reduce neural tube defects in their babies. Chow down on spinach, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, liver, brewers' yeast, asparagus, dried beans and peas, wheat, broccoli, some nuts, as well as enriched grain products.
  • Vitamin B-6 is essential to producing most of the brain's neurotransmitters. Studies show that men high in B-6 had dramatically better working memory. B-6 is found in chicken, fish, pork, whole wheat products, brown rice, and some fruits and vegetables.
  • Vitamin C is an essential antioxidant we get from citrus fruits, parsley, bell pepper, strawberries, papaya, and crustacean veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, and Brussels sprouts). Vitamin C helps synthesize the neurotransmitter norepinephrine and serotonin, critical to brain function and mood. Vitamin C helps transport fat for brain energy by synthesizing carnitine.
  • Vitamin E is an antioxidant that readily enters the brain. It is a blood thinner. It may help prevent Alzheimer's disease, especially when taken with vitamin C. You can get vitamin E from wheat germ, vegetable oils, nuts, avocados, green leafy vegetables and fortified cereals.

Minerals

Minerals - even trace elements - help brain health. Diet is the best source.

  • Boron is a trace mineral with a critical role as coenzyme in chemical reactions. Boron increases cognitive ability, says the National Institutes of Health, strengthens the immune system, increases the amount of calcium that is absorbed from food and positively affects cholesterol production. You can get boron from fruit (pears, apples, peaches, grapes and raisins), nuts and peanuts, leafy veggies and beans.
  • Iron is essential to form hemoglobin, which carries oxygen for the brain's energy process. Without enough iron, you may be slowed by anemia. Iron is best absorbed in meat, poultry, and fish and is available in whole or enriched grains, green leafy vegetables, dried beans and peas, and dried fruits.
  • Magnesium helps transmit nerve impulses. A deficiency creates nervousness and twitching. You'll find magnesium in green leafy vegetables, firm tofu, halibut, potato skins, whole grains, nuts, seeds, bananas and chocolate.
  • Zinc maintains cell membranes and protects cells from damage. Zinc deficiency can create neurological problems, sensory impairment, and reactions from apathy and fatigue to irritability and jitteriness. Zinc is found in red meats, liver, eggs, dairy products, vegetables and some seafood.
  • Selenium helps synthesize some hormones and protect cell membranes from damage. It's found in seafood, liver, and eggs, and, depending on the soil, certain grains, and seeds, including Brazil nuts.

Sondra Kornblatt, author of A Better Brain at Any Age, is a health and science writer
who originated the Restful Insomnia program, helping people rest when they can't sleep. Visit www.restfulinsomnia.com. Excerpted with permission by Conari Press at www.conari.com.