Food and Thought Newsletter - May 2024

April 29, 2024

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Your Brain on Healthy Foods: The Benefits of Whole Foods
Just as there is no single, “miracle” pill to prevent cognitive decline, there is no one food that can ensure a sharp brain as you age. However, nutritionists emphasize that the most important strategy for brain health is to follow a healthy dietary pattern that includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
Research shows that following a dietary pattern that emphasizes whole foods (food that has been processed or refined as little as possible and is free from additives or other artificial substances) and minimizes or eliminates foods that are high in saturated fats, added sugars and sodium) can lead to optimum physical and emotional health.
Examples of healthy dietary patterns include the Mediterranean diet, the MIND diet, and the traditional Japanese diet.

The Brain-Gut Connection :
Our brains talk to our gut, and our gut talks back. While the brain communicates with all body systems, this communication is particularly strong between the brain and the gut. In fact more information passes between your brain and your gut than with any other body system. This is because there are more nerve cells (the system used for this bi-directional communication) in your gut than anywhere else in your body, outside of your brain. The brain and gut communicate about many things, including practical, physical, and emotional matters. Some of these are: hunger and satiety, food preferences and cravings, food sensitivities and intolerances, digestion, metabolism, mood, behavior, stress levels, pain sensitivity, cognitive function, immunity.

The Best Foods For Brain Health :
1. Green, leafy vegetables, such as spinach, kale, and swiss chard
2. Fatty fish such as salmon, cod, canned light tuna, and pollack
3. Avocados
4. Berries such as blueberries, rasp-berries and blackberries
5. Walnuts
6. Flax Seeds
https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower; https://www.health

This is What Happens When You Give Up Diet Soda:
1. Brain fog clears and thinking and concentration improve.
2. Migraines go away.
3. Food tastes better.
4. It helps weight loss.
5. Bones become stronger.
6. Risk for diabetes and fat storage goes down.
7. Your kidneys function better.
https://www.prevention/health/effects-diet-soda

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower; 
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626; 
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/the-gut-brain-connection

The Food and Thought Program works to promote awareness and provide short term counselling around the important link between. nutrition and emotional health. For more information or for a referral to the program, please contact the Food and Thought Program at 781-599-0110.

This work is supported by the Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospital Community Benefits Community Grant Program and the Essex County Community Foundation Behavioral Health Partnership Grant.

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