Do good fats equal healthy brain, and bad fats equal Alzheimer’s?
January 19, 2012
You Docs
Fond of your brain? Treasure your memories? If you didn’t hear this the first 99 times, we You Docs hope the 100th will do it:
1. Take 900 mg of DHA omega-3s a day. Why so much emphasis on these good fats? Your brain is 60 per cent fat — and half of that is DHA. It keeps your brain cells flexible, fluid and communicating well. Your body can’t make DHA, so you have to get it from food or supplements. We get our DHA from algae-based capsules, not fish oil, to limit concerns about toxins in fish.
2. Eat plenty of foods rich in DHA fats: fresh or canned salmon, canned tuna, trout, sardines, walnuts, avocados, canola oil and flaxseeds. Along with olive oil, they’re the only fats you should even think about eating.
3. Eat oodles of fruits and vegetables. Their nutrients are vital.
4. Take 1,000 IU of vitamin D-3 a day; 1,200 after age 60. Among D3’s many benefits, it helps blood flow to your brain.
5. Season foods with turmeric. Most yellow mustard has turmeric; a daily teaspoon helps clear cellular waste from your brain.
6. Consider foods with saturated and trans fats or added sugars/syrups criminals. They are. They steal your memories (among other bad things).
Why are we beating this drum again? Impressive new research just reinforced their importance — especially fruits, vegetables and DHA — as a secret sauce against the brain shrinkage seen in Alzheimer’s. The study didn’t just do the usual memory tests. It tracked diets and scanned brain sizes. Bigger brain, better memory.
YouDocs Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen are authors of YOU: Losing Weight. Order it at StarStore.ca. Submit questions and find more info at RealAge.com
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