Here's how to construct an eating plan that can help turn your brain into a lean, mean thinking machine and protect you from various ailments.
Here's how to construct an eating plan that can help turn your brain into a lean, mean thinking machine and, not incidentally, help protect against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, premature aging, obesity, and other ills.
As a general rule, when strolling the produce aisles, think color. Anything brightly colored is brain food, loaded with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that maintain brain health and enhance mental performance. And if all else fails, just like the ad says, "you shudda had a V-8."
Protein
Protein contains four calories per gram. It should supply 15 percent of your total calorie intake.
It is needed to manufacture brain tissue, enzymes, neurotransmitters, and myriad other brain chemicals. Choose 5 ounces (women) to 8 ounces (men) animal protein from lean sources: skinless poultry, lean meats, organ meats; fatty fish such as salmon, herring, tuna, and sardines, plus other seafood; skim and low-fat dairy products. Increase intake of soy protein foods such as calcium-fortified tofu, soy milk, and textured vegetable protein; soy foods contain isoflavones and thousands of other beneficial compounds animal foods lack.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates contain four calories per gram. They should supply 65 percent of calories.
Fruits and Vegetables
Vegetables and fruit are packed with antioxidant vitamins and thousands of other powerful antioxidants, minerals, and fiber. Tank up on dark leafy greens; cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale); red/yellow/orange vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, summer and winter squash; fruits such as berries, cherries, apples, apricots, oranges, grapefruit, red grapes, peaches.
The government recommends that you get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. That's pathetic, say many researchers—yet more than two-thirds of Americans, especially meat-and-potatoes-and-pizza men—don't even get that. (Real, smart men do eat salad.) Experts urge you to eat as much and as many fruits and veggies as you can pack in—10 servings if you want. Watery, crunchy fruits/veggies are very low in calories; eat ad lib. (A serving is one whole fruit or vegetable, a half-cup cooked or 1 cup raw greens.)
Grains and Complex Carbohydrates
Grains, starchy vegetables, and legumes are packed with B vitamins, antioxidants, trace minerals, and fiber. Whole-grain breads, cereals, pasta, grains, potatoes, and yams are loaded with energy-boosting, feel-good complex carbohydrates (and some fat-free protein). Complex carbs, digested more slowly than simple sugars, keep blood sugar levels steady and brain energy high for prolonged periods. Refined flour products won't kill you, but even "enriched" versions don't put all the good stuff back, and lack fiber. Get 5 to 11 servings daily (the latter if you're a big guy or female triathlete). A serving equals one slice of bread, one potato, or half a cup of grain or beans.
Table sugar (sucrose) or honey is okay if used sparingly, but it lacks vitamins and minerals; limit to a few teaspoons daily (one Coke has 10 teaspoons!). Avoid corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, which raise triglycerides more than sucrose; they're in zillions of prepared foods, including ketchup.
Fat
Fat contains nine calories per gram. Current government recommendations call for fat intake to supply no more than 30 percent of calories. But that may not be low enough to keep your brain from clogging up.
"The same low-fat diet that ensures cardiovascular health will ensure brain health," contends cholesterol expert Charles Glueck, M.D. The dietary fat level that reduces or eliminates depression and boosts cognitive performance is a skimpy 10 to 15 percent.
Credit to the above article:
Psychology Today Magazine, May/Jun 1996
Last Reviewed 16 Oct 2007
Article ID: 1135
Posted by Webloglearner referring to the Questia Newsletter.
Thanks for the information, see you again, have a happy and fullfilling life.
HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said... on JUNE 23, 2008 5:04 AM
Excellent post and information.Thank you for making this so easy to do. Will be back for more!
SoccerFire said... on JUNE 3, 2008 10:20 PM
Good structured information for
a healthy life. And I would advice
everybody to use olive oil.
Lyon said... on JUNE 23, 2008 7:05 AM
I guess maintaining the right amount is the hard part.. I usually eat more fat than the others lol
Getting a healthy breafast is one of the key too - http://www.michaelaulia.com/blogs
Monkey Tale said... on JUNE 23, 2008 7:32 AM
I must be one of the lucky ones. I can throw anything into my mouth, never gain weight, and am pretty healthy. ;)
Here's how to construct an eating plan that can help turn your brain into a lean, mean thinking machine and, not incidentally, help protect against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, premature aging, obesity, and other ills.
As a general rule, when strolling the produce aisles, think color. Anything brightly colored is brain food, loaded with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that maintain brain health and enhance mental performance. And if all else fails, just like the ad says, "you shudda had a V-8."
Protein
Protein contains four calories per gram. It should supply 15 percent of your total calorie intake.
It is needed to manufacture brain tissue, enzymes, neurotransmitters, and myriad other brain chemicals. Choose 5 ounces (women) to 8 ounces (men) animal protein from lean sources: skinless poultry, lean meats, organ meats; fatty fish such as salmon, herring, tuna, and sardines, plus other seafood; skim and low-fat dairy products. Increase intake of soy protein foods such as calcium-fortified tofu, soy milk, and textured vegetable protein; soy foods contain isoflavones and thousands of other beneficial compounds animal foods lack.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates contain four calories per gram. They should supply 65 percent of calories.
Fruits and Vegetables
Vegetables and fruit are packed with antioxidant vitamins and thousands of other powerful antioxidants, minerals, and fiber. Tank up on dark leafy greens; cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale); red/yellow/orange vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, summer and winter squash; fruits such as berries, cherries, apples, apricots, oranges, grapefruit, red grapes, peaches.
The government recommends that you get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. That's pathetic, say many researchers—yet more than two-thirds of Americans, especially meat-and-potatoes-and-pizza men—don't even get that. (Real, smart men do eat salad.) Experts urge you to eat as much and as many fruits and veggies as you can pack in—10 servings if you want. Watery, crunchy fruits/veggies are very low in calories; eat ad lib. (A serving is one whole fruit or vegetable, a half-cup cooked or 1 cup raw greens.)
Grains and Complex Carbohydrates
Grains, starchy vegetables, and legumes are packed with B vitamins, antioxidants, trace minerals, and fiber. Whole-grain breads, cereals, pasta, grains, potatoes, and yams are loaded with energy-boosting, feel-good complex carbohydrates (and some fat-free protein). Complex carbs, digested more slowly than simple sugars, keep blood sugar levels steady and brain energy high for prolonged periods. Refined flour products won't kill you, but even "enriched" versions don't put all the good stuff back, and lack fiber. Get 5 to 11 servings daily (the latter if you're a big guy or female triathlete). A serving equals one slice of bread, one potato, or half a cup of grain or beans.
Table sugar (sucrose) or honey is okay if used sparingly, but it lacks vitamins and minerals; limit to a few teaspoons daily (one Coke has 10 teaspoons!). Avoid corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, which raise triglycerides more than sucrose; they're in zillions of prepared foods, including ketchup.
Fat
Fat contains nine calories per gram. Current government recommendations call for fat intake to supply no more than 30 percent of calories. But that may not be low enough to keep your brain from clogging up.
"The same low-fat diet that ensures cardiovascular health will ensure brain health," contends cholesterol expert Charles Glueck, M.D. The dietary fat level that reduces or eliminates depression and boosts cognitive performance is a skimpy 10 to 15 percent.
Credit to the above article:
Psychology Today Magazine, May/Jun 1996
Last Reviewed 16 Oct 2007
Article ID: 1135
Posted by Webloglearner referring to the Questia Newsletter.
Original Responses
coolingstar9 said... on MAY 30, 2008 9:37 PM
I am coolingstar9, your this post gives us a good information how to have a better eating plan.Thanks for the information, see you again, have a happy and fullfilling life.
HEALTH NUT WANNABEE MOM said... on JUNE 23, 2008 5:04 AM
Excellent post and information.Thank you for making this so easy to do. Will be back for more!
SoccerFire said... on JUNE 3, 2008 10:20 PM
Good structured information for
a healthy life. And I would advice
everybody to use olive oil.
Lyon said... on JUNE 23, 2008 7:05 AM
I guess maintaining the right amount is the hard part.. I usually eat more fat than the others lol
Getting a healthy breafast is one of the key too - http://www.michaelaulia.com/blogs
Monkey Tale said... on JUNE 23, 2008 7:32 AM
I must be one of the lucky ones. I can throw anything into my mouth, never gain weight, and am pretty healthy. ;)
1 additional ideas:
Great post. http://www.subconscious-mind.org has great tips and guides on improving your brain power. You can give your brain power a boost just by follwing the tips that http://www.subconscious-mind.org has got to offer.
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