Power Foods for the Brain

Introduction

That was how Brian Epstein described the Beatles when he first saw them at a Liverpool club in 1961. In leather jackets and jeans, this ragtag foursome did not attract the interest of a single record company in Britain, or anyone else outside a short radius.

Yes, they were scruffy. But they had energy and magnetism, and plenty of drive and ambition. They couldn't read music, but they had an irresistible sound. Although Epstein had never managed a band before, he took them under his wing, determined to help them succeed. He dragged them to a London tailor and plunked down £40. Out with the leather jackets and jeans and in with proper suits. And no more "greaser" haircuts; it was time for a new hairstyle. No eating, smoking, or swearing onstage, and please learn to bow to the audience at the end of a set. He scheduled performances, arranged publicity, and made sure everyone got paid.

Within nine months, the Beatles had their first hit on the British pop charts, and within two years, they had conquered the world.

The reason I am telling you this is because inside your brain you have unruly needs, wants, drives, and ambitions, too. Your "early Beatles" reside deep in the center of your brain, in your hypothalamus. This nut-size organ is the locus of hunger, thirst, sex, and anger. And if there is one thing it needs, it is a manager.

By the time you were born, your hypothalamus was already signaling its demands. But all you could do about it was to wail and thrash your arms and legs.

Your "Brian Epstein" is in the outer layers of your brain, in your cerebral cortex. It takes your ragtag, scruffy self and all its wants, drives, and ambitions, and gets things organized. It helps the desperate hypothalamus to wait patiently when food is on the way. It solves your problems and guides you to get what you want more effectively than by simply stamping your feet. As the years go by, your manager matures, developing ever more sophisticated ways of getting what you need and like.

By August 27, 1967, eighteen Beatles songs had topped the charts, and they were at the peak of their popularity. But that was the day that everything changed. Brian Epstein was found dead in his apartment. He was just thirty-two. And for the Beatles, it was the beginning of the end. The group began to sputter. They had arguments, with no arbiter. Disagreements became chronic and bitter. Rudderless, they lost their musical cohesiveness, drifted apart, and eventually the most successful musical group of all time collapsed, each member going his own way.

Inside your brain, your own fateful August 27 is looming large. Just when your knowledge and experience are at their maximum and your family life and perhaps your financial security are finally established, that's exactly the moment that you are at risk of losing your manager. If that happens, you will find that you can't remember things or will have trouble reasoning things out. Sometimes things go downhill to the point where you are no longer able to control your disorganized, unruly, unmanaged inner self. The day the manager in your brain becomes nonfunctional is the day that life as you have known it comes to an end.

This is a book about keeping your manager alive and well. It is about memory and mental clarity, and keeping them intact lifelong.

What's Happening in My Brain?

It starts as an occasional lapse. You've forgotten a name or word—something you know perfectly well but just cannot put your finger on. Later on, it happens again, and you start to wonder what's wrong. Maybe you're overtired or overstressed, and a good night's sleep will set everything to rights.

But maybe it is more than that. Memory problems affect a great many people. They are worrying, to say the least. Not being able to come up with a friend's name, losing your keys one too many times, losing track of facts and events, and, perhaps worst of all, having others notice that you seem to be having trouble—none of this is good.

It may not be just memory. Sometimes you might feel that your thinking is just not as clear as it used to be. You'll be adding up your checkbook or reading a newspaper article and you'll feel as if your brain is stuck in low gear.

And sometimes cognitive problems are very serious. One in five Americans between the ages of seventy-five and eighty-four develops Alzheimer's disease. Beyond age eighty-five, it hits almost half of us. Also frighteningly common are strokes, which can devastate our ability to speak, move, and think.

Of all the worries we may have about our future, the possibility of losing our mental abilities tops the list. We work hard, start our families, set aside some money, and finally have some time to relax and enjoy life. But if memory loss enters the scene, it steals everything we cherish.

Losing our memory and brainpower means stripping away our most critical capabilities. Little by little, we start to slip away from our families. Things we did together are erased. If the process drags on over years, as it often does, it can end up encumbering our families and eventually exhausting them physically, emotionally, and financially.

A poor memory is not just "a part of life" that you have to put up with. And it is certainly not an automatic part of growing older. Your calendar does not come equipped with an eraser.

Imagine having a sharp memory—and good concentration and alertness—day after day for as long as you live. Instead of apologizing for names that elude you, the words come easily, just as they always did. Instead of lapsing into memory problems in older age, your mind remains clear and strong.

For many years, my research team has been investigating the role of foods in health. We have helped people trim away weight and cut their cholesterol levels. We developed a dietary method for managing diabetes that is more powerful than previous diets, sometimes making the disease essentially disappear. We have also developed programs for the workplace and for doctors' offices, designed to help people make diet changes to improve their health.

Just as we were doing our studies, other research teams were looking at the brain and how specific nutritional factors could affect the risk of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and other serious brain problems, as well as the surprising effects of foods on more day-to-day cognitive issues.

In Chicago, researchers from Rush University Medical Center have been tracking thousands of people, teasing apart what separates those who stay healthy and sharp throughout life from those who don't, finding that particular aspects of diet and lifestyle are key. Other researchers in the United States, Europe, and Asia have conducted detailed studies into specific nutrients that either protect or attack the brain. Meanwhile, new brain scanning techniques have allowed researchers to look into the brains of living human beings to understand brain function in ways that were impossible even a few years ago. Special tests have begun to show who is at risk for cognitive problems as the years go by.

Along the way, it has become clear that the diet changes my research team found to promote physical health and those that other researchers have found to be critical for brain health are remarkably similar. Specific foods and eating patterns have a powerful protective effect.

And there is more to it. It is possible to exercise the brain in simple ways that, over time, strengthen the connections between brain cells. And simple physical exercises actually allow you to counteract the brain shrinking that occurs in most people as they age.

It is urgent that people know about these findings, and that is why I've written this book and developed this program. The fact is, we know more than ever about how our memory works and about the causes of memory problems, whether they are minor lapses, "senior moments," or potentially devastating problems like Alzheimer's disease and stroke. And yet most people have no idea of any of this. While they may have a pretty clear idea about how to prevent lung cancer and how to reduce their risk of heart attack, most have absolutely no clue that it is possible to protect the brain.

There are simple, powerful steps that you can take, starting right now. This book will show you how to put this information to work and help preserve your memory and strengthen your brain.

Three Steps to Protect Your Brain

Taking advantage of what research has shown is not difficult. Here are three steps you can take that will shield your brain:

Step One: The first step is using power foods to give your brain the nutrition it needs. We will select foods with three things in mind:

First, we'll shield you from toxins that are in everyday foods and water. They are surprisingly common, and it is critical to know where they are and how to avoid them.

Second, certain natural fats are essential for brain function, while others are harmful. We'll see which are which and where they are on your plate. The correct balance makes a big difference in helping each brain cell work optimally.

Third, certain vitamins knock out free radicals and other compounds that could damage brain cells. We'll see which foods and supplements provide the nutrients you need.

Building a healthful menu is the most important thing you can do. After all, every minute of the day, your brain cells are bathing in the nutrients—or toxins—you've taken in through foods.

Step Two: Did you know you can exercise your brain? Simple mental exercises strengthen connections within your brain. They are surprisingly easy, fun, and powerful. I'll help you develop a regimen for peak performance.

Physical exercises are powerful, too. Just as exercise strengthens your heart, it does the same for your brain. The effect of physical exercise is so dramatic that MRI scans can demonstrate a visible difference in brain structure in a relatively short period of time. You'll learn which exercises are most helpful to the brain and why.

Step Three: Now it's time to defeat the common physical threats to your memory and preserve and enhance your brain. There are two specific issues you'll want to address: sleep disruptions and certain medications and medical conditions.

Sleep is essential for integrating memories, and many cognitive problems can be traced to common sleep disruptions. We will see how to correct any problems so you can take advantage of the natural integrative power of sleep.

Common medications and medical conditions can derail your thought processes, sometimes to the point of being mistaken for Alzheimer's disease—until the cause is identified. I'll show you the surprising list of common culprits and what to do about them.

Whether you aim to simply boost your brainpower, eliminate daily lapses, or cut your risk of Alzheimer's disease and stroke, you will want to put each of these simple steps to work so you can be at your absolute best for the long haul. Implementing your brain-enhancing strategy will be easy with the advice I offer and the menu plans and delicious recipes I'll share.

Time for a Change

Millions of families are worried about what the future holds for them. During my training in neurology and psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., I had my first encounters with patients who felt that their minds and nervous systems were no longer their own. Some were succumbing to severe memory loss caused by Alzheimer's. Others had had strokes. And still others showed the progressive nerve symptoms caused by multiple sclerosis or other conditions. There was very little we could do to help them and nothing we knew of that could prevent these problems from arising.

Even today, most people—including many doctors—have yet to learn about the techniques you will read about here. And even though the medications that aim to slow the onslaught of memory problems are all but useless, few doctors and patients have learned about the new research on the power of nutrition. Most have no idea that their mealtime choices could make a difference.

This book changes that. The fact is, there is much we can do to prevent memory loss, not to mention maximize the everyday function of people who simply want to feel their best.

Simple choices can enhance and protect your brain, give you energy, improve your sleep, and boost your overall health. I will show you how.

Science Thrives on Controversy

Not long ago someone gave me a book on survival in wilderness settings. It helpfully pointed out that if you happened to wash up on some faraway island in the middle of nowhere, a wild Malay apple would be perfectly safe to eat, while the fruit of the pangi tree could kill you. If you found an ordinary strawberry, it would be delicious, but a look-alike duchesnea is poisonous. And it is important to be able to tell an edible Dryad's saddle mushroom from a deadly panther cap. After a few pages I realized I had no idea how to handle any such situation and was grateful to have a grocery store across the street.

Nutrition can be confusing, and, as a result, different people interpret things in different ways. When it comes to research on food and the brain, scientists all have their own opinions. Some want to wait before suggesting any diet changes. They feel we need more research before we can make definitive statements.

Others, including me, feel that we do not have the luxury of waiting. If you are planning your dinner this evening, you are stacking the odds one way or the other. You need to go by the best information available. As you'll see, that information is powerful and is easy to put into action. At least it's easier than trying to identify the fruit of the pangi tree.

All the Side Effects Are Good Ones

As you put the findings of this book to work to protect your brain, you may notice not only that you feel mentally sharp. You may also find that your bathroom scale is becoming friendlier day by day. Your cholesterol and blood pressure may improve, and if you have diabetes, it may get better, too. If you have arthritis or other chronic aches and pains, you may notice that they are fading. That's the power of healthful eating.

My hope is that, instead of searching for words or worrying about your memory, you'll be searching for a tougher crossword puzzle, calling up old schoolmates whose names you remember well, and planning your next walking trip through the Rockies.

I hope you enjoy the very best of health and all the foods that will bring it to you.