This is your brain on healthy food: The MIND Diet

Do you remember the commercial from the "90's, "This is your brain on drugs"? Well, we’re going to take a positive spin on that theme: this is about your brain on healthy food!

The MIND diet is all about improving your brain health. MIND is an acronym for Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. The MIND diet was created by a nutritional epidemiologist named Martha Clare Morris. This new diet has research behind it, just like the DASH diet and It is currently in clinical trials, studying. See this my first blog post for more information about the DASH diet. This diet marries the DASH diet and the Mediterranean way of eating to create a powerful combination of healthy foods for your heart and brain. As it turns out, the foods that are good for the heart are also good for the brain. This MIND is thought to help prevent brain decline through selected foods and their particular nutrient benefits.It is best if you start eating this way at a young age, since it is preventive, but if you are a bit older, it could still prove to be helpful.

So, what foods are included in the MIND diet?

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The MIND diet includes:

• leafy green vegetables (kale, spinach, lettuce): 6 servings a week

• whole grains (oats,100% whole wheat bread, whole barley): eat 3 servings a day

• berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries): eat these 2 times a week

• nuts (unsalted almonds, walnuts, pecans): eat these 5 days a week

• fish (salmon, white fish): eat weekly

• poultry: eat 2 times a week

• one glass of wine daily (don’t start drinking if you do not normally drink alcohol)

• olive oil (extra virgin) is the oil of choice

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Question: Which berries are the number one and two best for this diet?

Answer: Blueberries and strawberries are the winners!

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Berries at the Saturday Farmer's Market: yum!

This diet limits:

• red meat

• butter and stick margarine

• cookies, pastries, sweets (including regular soda, sugary coffees and juices)

• whole fat cheese

• fried fast foods

If you are cutting down on meat, then soybeans, lentils, and beans make a good substitute for meat.

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Fun fact:

Lentils contain 9 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber per ½ cup, plus they are low cost.

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To help you get started with the MIND diet, here is a recipe for a quick and healthy breakfast that uses the MIND diet principles.

Coconut breakfast pudding

1 ounce Greek coconut yogurt or plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon slivered almonds

1 tablespoon chia seeds plus 5 tablespoons cold water

½ cup blueberries (washed)

Directions

To a bowl add Greek yogurt, almonds, chia seeds and blueberries. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water and stir. Let it sit for 3 minutes and it will thicken up nicely. Chia seeds soak up water so you would rather have them do it before you eat them to avoid any stomach discomfort.

Nutrition facts

This recipe has 300 calories, 16 grams protein,11 grams total fat, 3.5 grams saturated fat, 187 grams calcium and 35 grams carbohydrate and fiber 7 grams.

This breakfast contains fiber, heart healthy Omega- 3 fatty acids, calcium, protein, antioxidants from the blueberries and live bacterial cultures in the yogurt. It will keep you full until lunch.

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Fun fact:

Greek yogurt has less calcium than regular yogurt. While processing greek yogurt some of the liquid is drained out along with calcium.

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While using the MIND diet, try to include fruit and vegetables at each meal; that makes it easier to get your daily suggested amounts of each. For example, make a sandwich like a salad by loading it up with vegetables. Have a minestrone soup for dinner; it is full of beans and vegetables. Make a curry rub for salmon and while the salmon is grilling, make a vegetable salad featuring chickpeas, tomatoes and kalamata olives. Top it off with Italian salad dressing.

Be creative and try something new; it is good for your mind to eat this way and it is also good for your mind to try new things.

Ciao!

Jamie