Picture this: A child happily playing with Lego blocks, building all sorts of wonderful creations; houses, cars, scary monsters, trucks – the imagination is limitless.

Well, now try and imagine for yourself that those Lego blocks are proteins – because proteins are literally the building blocks of life[1]. 

Protein gives us the raw materials that make up all of our body tissue and next to water, protein makes up most of our body weight. Muscles, organs, hair, nails lots of hormones, red blood cells (the all important oxygen carriers), and the brain are all composed of protein, so it’s obvious why protein is an important part of the diet.  For a healthy, alert, ever-growing brain we need a balance of lean protein, good fats and complex carbohydrates along with plenty of water.

Basically, whether you’re shopping, doing the Sudoku, cooking, studying, hiking or just sitting in the sun reading a book, protein is doing important work like sparking new brain connections, moving your lungs and protecting you from disease

Protein is brain-food at its finest!

Proteins in our diet affect brain performance because they provide the amino acids (simply put, protein is made of amino acids) that make up our neurotransmitters. Think of neurotransmitters as biochemical messengers whose job it is to carry signals from one brain cell to another. These brain cells then transmit various signals to the different parts of the body to carry out their individual tasks. The better these messengers are fed, the more efficiently they deliver the goods. (Think Mother telling daughter to clean her room, and daughter then paying younger brother to do it – the more he’s paid, the cleaner the room!). You can see why it’s so important to be eating plenty of good protein – without it, the messengers won’t be working fast enough to keep your mind and memory sharp!

Protein – amino acids – are also essential for our happiness.  When we don’t eat enough good protein, the brain can’t produce enough neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which is one of the main chemicals which regulates our moods. Some doctors practising in natural medicine believe that amino acid therapy is more effective in some cases than the traditional drugs that are used to treat depression. Eating good sources of protein helps to boost our levels of serotonin and dopamine and this is really important as these help to boost energy, mental clarity, and basically make you feel happier as well as regulate pain, reduce anxiety, initiate deep sleep. Char grilled chicken fillet anyone?

So What Should I Eat?

Fortunately this is a really easy question to answer, as great sources of lean protein are available everywhere these days, meaning it’s very convenient to include some protein with every meal.

• Beef, poultry, pork and lamb
• Fish and shellfish – oily fish like salmon is great for the brain
• Dairy products – cottage cheese, yoghurt, milk
• Eggs
• Tofu and soy products
• Nuts and seeds
• Peanut butter
• Beans and legumes

By eating protein with each meal you are doing your brain a huge favor, feeding it to function well and have those neurotransmitter messengers running on full speed throughout the day!

Gillian M Eadie

CEO

The Brain and Memory Foundation

The author, Gillian Eadie founded the Brain and Memory Foundation. Gillian is an award-winning educator with more than 20 years as a principal at several prestigious private schools and is a Churchill Fellow. For more free help and personal advice on diet, exercise, brain food and improving your memory, please visit the Brain and Memory Foundation. You’ll find lots more information and tips like these in the great new book by Allison Lamont PhD and Gillian Eadie, Seven Second Memory.

What you eat affects how well you think.

Just as your body needs to be in peak condition as you approach your 40’s and 50’s, to have a memory that keeps growing and never lets you down, your brain and neurons need the right foods also.

What you eat directly affects the performance of your brain.

Your intelligence, the way you move, your memory and even the beating of your heart, all rely on your brain cells.

Research has shown that by eating the right food, you can boost your IQ, improve your mood, be more emotionally stable, sharpen your memory and keep your mind young.
The right nutrients will give your brain the power to think more quickly, remember more effectively, be better coordinated and balanced and have improved concentration.

Unfortunately, with all of the food processing that takes place today, and because so many of the ingredients that are actively bad for your brain are used in almost everything edible in the supermarket, it is increasingly difficult to make sure that the foods you are eating are the right ones.

Think ‘balanced diet’ as you plan your meals for the week. Be sure to include at least 25 of the following in your shopping list.

Lean Protein

1. Fish – Salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring (also listed under fats)
2. Poultry – chicken and turkey (skinless)
3. Meat – lean beef and pork
4. Eggs – free-range and/or organic eggs are best
5. Tofu and Soy products
6. Dairy products – low fat cheeses, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt (sugar free) and low fat or skim milk
7. Beans and lentils – also listed under carbohydrates
8. Nuts and seeds, especially walnuts – also listed under fats

Complex Carbohydrates

1. Berries – especially blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries (keep frozen berries on hand as well)
2. Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit
3. Cherries
4. Peaches, plums
5. Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
6. Oats (the long cooking kind), whole wheat items, wholemeal bread with at least 3 grams of fibre.
7. Red or yellow peppers (much higher in Vitamin C than green)
8. Pumpkin squash
9. Spinach – for salad or cooked, adds fiber and nutrients
10. Tomatoes
11. Yams
12. Beans – also listed under proteins

Fats

1. Avocados (great news for avocado fans!)
2. Extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
3. Olives
4. Salmon – also listed under protein
5. Nuts and Nut Butter, especially walnuts, macadamia nuts,
Brazil nuts, pecans and almonds – also listed under protein

Liquids

1. Water
2. Green or black tea

Remember to include minerals, too, as they are also critical to mental functioning and performance.

Magnesium and manganese are needed for brain energy. Sodium, potassium and calcium are important in the thinking process and they facilitate the transmission of messages. Check food labels.

For more information, read Keep that Boomer Brain Growing

What you eat affects how well you think.

It’s time to DO something about it.

Just as your body needs to be in peak condition as you approach your 40’s and 50’s, to have a memory that keeps growing and never lets you down, your brain and neurons need the right foods also.

What you eat directly affects the performance of your brain.

Your intelligence, the way you move, your memory and even the beating of your heart, all rely on your brain cells.

Research has shown that by eating the right food, you can boost your IQ, improve your mood, be more emotionally stable, sharpen your memory and keep your mind young.
The right nutrients will give your brain the power to think more quickly, remember more effectively, be better coordinated and balanced and have improved concentration.

Unfortunately, with all of the food processing that takes place today, and because so many of the ingredients that are actively bad for your brain are used in almost everything edible in the supermarket, it is increasingly difficult to make sure that the foods you are eating are the right ones.

Think ‘balanced diet’ as you plan your meals for the week. Be sure to include at least 25 of the following in your shopping list.

Lean Protein

1. Fish – Salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring (also listed under fats)
2. Poultry – chicken and turkey (skinless)
3. Meat – lean beef and pork
4. Eggs – free-range and/or organic eggs are best
5. Tofu and Soy products
6. Dairy products – low fat cheeses, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt (sugar free) and low fat or skim milk
7. Beans and lentils – also listed under carbohydrates
8. Nuts and seeds, especially walnuts – also listed under fats

Complex Carbohydrates

1. Berries – especially blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries (keep frozen berries on hand as well)
2. Oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit
3. Cherries
4. Peaches, plums
5. Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
6. Oats (the long cooking kind), whole wheat items, wholemeal bread with at least 3 grams of fibre.
7. Red or yellow peppers (much higher in Vitamin C than green)
8. Pumpkin squash
9. Spinach – for salad or cooked, adds fiber and nutrients
10. Tomatoes
11. Yams
12. Beans – also listed under proteins

Fats

1. Avocados (great news for avocado fans!)
2. Extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
3. Olives
4. Salmon – also listed under protein
5. Nuts and Nut Butter, especially walnuts, macadamia nuts,
Brazil nuts, pecans and almonds – also listed under protein

Liquids

1. Water
2. Green or black tea

Remember to include minerals, too, as they are also critical to mental functioning and performance.

Magnesium and manganese are needed for brain energy. Sodium, potassium and calcium are important in the thinking process and they facilitate the transmission of messages. Check food labels.

For more information, read Keep that Boomer Brain Growing

Shocking headline UK, 2008

I don’t know about you but I had not given a nanosecond’s thought to dementia – in fact, I wasn’t even certain what dementia was, exactly. Something to do with being demented or crazy, maybe …..

So I wasn’t exactly ready for being told that some of the odd things my Mom was doing were actually the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a kind of dementia.

Like she was thinking it was night time and putting herself to bed in the afternoon. Or forgetting that she had just had lunch and wondering when lunch would be ready …. that sort of thing. What’s really scary, though, is that I’ve caught myself out being a bit forgetful as well and I’m just a baby-boomer. So, being anxious to make sure that I wasn’t on a fast-track to dementia, myself, I’ve done some research.

I was very relieved to find a report In ‘Critical Care Nurse”, 2004:24, which told me about four main ways you can delay, or even better, avoid dementia altogether.

These were written up for critical care nurses – but I reckon they are pretty important for you to know, too.

All of the following were seen to be of of vital importance to avoid or delay dementia:

1. Establishing and maintaining a BMI within the healthy range (19 to 25) – this is Body Mass Index and you can calculate it. A weight loss program was recommended for anyone with BMIs at both the obese (>30) and overweight (>25) levels.
2. Reducing elevated cholesterol and blood pressure levels to normal ranges
3. Regular and frequent eating of green, leafy and cruciferous vegetables known to be associated with decreased incidence of dementia
4. Regular and frequent participation in activities that are socially, intellectually, and physically engaging

So, all you Fellow Boomers:

* when it comes to eating vegetables, green it;

* when it comes to participating in activities, move it; and

* when it comes to carrying excess body weight, lose it.

For further information, read Nine Secrets of a Sharp Brain After 55 and Keep that Boomer Brain Growing