Articles – Foods, Exercises, Habits
Foods for a healthy brain
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice.
• Cnet > “Feed Your Mind: The Best 12 Foods for a Healthy Brain” by Luke Daugherty (9-10-2024) – Brain foods can boost your energy levels and enhance your memory.
You’ve probably spent time considering which foods are best for your body, but what about your brain? … When it comes to bolstering your brain to do its best work – staying focused and maintaining a strong memory – some foods are much better than others.
Leafy greens: Spinach, collards, kale, …
Nuts: Pistachios, macadamias and almonds, walnuts
Coffee and tea [Note daily recommended intake.]
Tomatoes
Whole grains: Whole wheat, oatmeal, barley and brown rice
Broccoli
Salmon and tuna
Berries
Dark chocolate [Note daily recommended intake, as well as any recall news items.]
Seeds: for example, sunflower & pumpkin seeds
Eggs [Note daily recommended intake.]
Turmeric (a major ingredient in curry powders)
Supplements for a healthy brain (It’s best to meet most or all of your needs through your normal daily diet, and consult your physician before you add any supplements to your diet.)
B vitamins, especially B6, B12 and B9
Vitamin C
Beta-carotene
Magnesium
Zinc
Copper
Iron
Curcumin
Omega-3 fatty acidsBrain health is critical to your overall health and well-being, so be sure to consult your physician before you add any supplements to your diet.
Here’s an article which highlights an all-too-familiar dietary gotcha regarding chronic inflammation in our bodies. And harm to our microbiome (re the gut-brain connection).
It’s good advice re nutritional balance and making dietary changes. Yet, I wonder whether the “brain-healthy breakfasts” mentioned are practical for many families.
• CNBC > “Harvard nutritionist: The No. 1 ultra-processed food I never buy” by Dr. Uma Naidoo, Contributor, Director of Nutritional, Lifestyle, and Metabolic Psychiatry at Harvard [1] (September 7, 2024) – Start with a few swaps each day, and stay away from sugary breakfast cereals.
I see patients reduce symptoms of mood disorders, lower their stress, boost their energy and alleviate cognitive impairments when they cut ultra-processed foods out of their diets and replace them with unprocessed, nutrient-dense alternatives.
This combination of artificial ingredients, sugar, high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, and low nutritional content makes ultra-processed foods inflammatory and detrimental to the microbiome.
An ideal breakfast is nutrient-dense and contains a balance of carbs, fats, and proteins.
Some of my favorite brain-healthy breakfasts include:
• Homemade chia seed pudding with a handful of blueberries and walnuts
• An egg scramble with a few veggies like spinach or tomatoes and avocado
• A green smoothie made with leafy greens, nut butter and a clean protein powder if you are having breakfast on the go!
Notes
[1] Dr. Uma Naidoo is the MoodFoodMD, a Harvard-trained nutritional psychiatrist, professional chef, and nutritional biologist. She’s an instructor at MasterClass and the author of “Calm your Mind with Food” and the national and international bestseller “This is Your Brain on Food.”
Exercises
• Cnet > “3 Anti-Aging Exercises That Will Keep You Fit as You Age” by Ashlee Valentine (Aug 24, 2024) – The best exercises for you will depend on factors like your current fitness level and medical conditions (requiring a limited or modified approach), but it’s never too late to begin a good exercise program: Moderate cardio, light strength exercises (squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling, carrying), balance exercises.
• Washington Post > “For better skin, try lifting weights” by Gretchen Reynolds (August 2, 2024) – In a new study, resistance workouts improved the underlying health of facial skin cells and tissue.
• SciTech Daily > “New Study Reveals Exercise Brain Boost Can Last for Years” by University of Queensland (July 14, 2024) – High-intensity interval training can not only improve but sustain cognition in aging populations.
[Caption] Researchers from the University of Queensland have found that high-intensity interval training significantly enhances brain function in older adults, with cognitive improvements lasting up to five years.
• AP News > “Looking for the Fountain of Youth? Try the gym and weight-resistance training” by Stephen Wade (June 22, 2024) – With proper progression and proper form, your body will make stronger bones and bigger muscles.
“Resistance training is in many ways the true fountain of youth,” Bamman [Dr. Marcas Bamman, a physiologist with decades of research into aging] said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I like to say the fountain of youth is the water cooler in the gym.”
• Cnet > “How Exercise Helps Boost Your Memory-Brain Health as You Age” by Taylor Freitas (March 25, 2024) – Research shows that regular exercise offers several advantages for your cognitive health, including sharpening your memory, improving your thinking skills, and reducing stress and anxiety.
• Science Alert > “Weight Lifting in Old Age Does More Than Just Keep Your Muscles Strong” by David Nield (October 2, 2022) – New research into weight lifting has revealed two insights: that the practice is able to strengthen the connections between nerves and muscles, and that this strengthening can still happen in the later years of our lives.
Habits
• LA Times > “TV watching linked to senior health” by Karen Kaplan (June 18, 2024) – In a new study, the more hours a person spent watching TV at home, the lower their odds of achieving healthy aging.
• Huffpost > “6 Seemingly ‘Harmless’ Habits That Are Prematurely Aging Your Brain” by Sarah Bourassa (Jun 1, 2024) – We have a lot of control over our brain health.
- You don’t get enough social interaction.
- You keep your brain active – but only by doing the same things over and over again.
- You dismiss the chronic stress you’re carrying around.
- You rely on takeout too much.
- You aim for enough sleep each night — but the quality isn’t good.
- You don’t incorporate physical activity into your lifestyle.
So, we all have habits. Hence, our mantra:
What’s the good news about habits?
They’re had to break.
What’s the bad news about habits?
They’re had to break.
Habits are choices with predictable (valued) outcomes. But novel choices – rewards – also offer value. How do these two tendencies bias “what we notice and remember to do when … presented with multiple opportunities.”
Is screen tech compromising our choices or rewarding them all too well?
This article discusses how our brains manage an “attention economy,” both in our short-tern actions and long-term planning.
• Neuroscience News > “Why Our Brains Prefer Rewards Over Habits” by Thor Grünbaum, University of Copenhagen (October 11, 2024) – This means that a person’s values compete with ingrained habits.
Summary: New research suggests our brains prioritize actions based on rewards, not habits, challenging the idea that tech simply “steals” attention. The study found that when presented with multiple tasks, participants consistently chose the option with the highest reward, even if it conflicted with a trained habit.
This reward-driven attention helps explain why digital technology is so engaging; it taps into our natural preference for immediate, valuable rewards. Understanding how we choose actions in the moment could inform future studies on long-term planning, especially for actions tied to personal values. In essence, it’s not technology but our reward-seeking minds that drive attention shifts.
• Wired > “Give Your Social Health a Decent Workout” by Kasley Killam (12-25-2024) – The majority of people still underestimate how vital relationships are for their longevity.
The focus on social health has accelerated in recent years. In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic brought attention to our social lives and their decline. According to a Meta-Gallup survey, 24 percent of people worldwide feel lonely. The Belonging Barometer survey by the American Immigration Council also found that 74 percent of Americans don’t feel connected to their local community.
That sentiment correlates with changed behaviors: today, people spend an average of 24 more hours alone and 20 fewer hours with friends each month compared to two decades ago; involvement in community groups, membership in local clubs, and belonging to faith organizations have dropped; and the percentage of single-person households has more than doubled since 1960. Another survey found that there’s a startling decline in the number of close friends adults have: in 1990, only 3 percent of Americans didn’t have close friends; today that figure is higher than 12 percent.
Key points
- Make Social Health a Priority – use the 5-3-1 Guideline
- Start Small – connect first, instead of scrolling headlines
- Think Big – look for ways to incorporate relational skills
- Stretch Your Social Muscles – expand your social network as personal circumstances change
- Deepen Existing Relationships – practice curiosity and vulnerability in ongoing conversations
