It’s a lot easier to achieve your goals, have good relationships and be happy in life if you have a healthy brain.
You know, what they say is true! ‘Big belly, small brain’. No really, it sounds crazy but when you gain weight the actual size of your brain decreases! There’s a direct coloration between your waist size you’re your hippocampus in the brain, which is the memory centre.
And what’s causing the belly fat and is the biggest toxin for the brain? Sugar.
Did you know that Diabetics have 4x the rate of dementia and the beginning of pre-diabetes (which effects 1 out of 2 people!) is that little bit of belly fat that causes pre-dementia!
If you eat a diet that’s high in starch and sugar, it’s literally poison to your brain. It causes inflammation, insulin resistance (which is that pre-diabetes I just mentioned) and what they’re now calling Alzheimer’s, is Type 3 Diabetes because of this factor of insulin and sugar.
So, nutrition obviously plays a huge role in brain health, and if you want to improve your brain, you first have to fix your diet
We’ve been conditioned to think that we need to be on low fat diets to lose weight but actually our brain is made up of mostly fat and cholesterol and everything we’re terrified of, our brain needs!! So the simple solution for our brain is to cut out the sugar and starch, eat the right fats and a lot of these rich, dark, colourful plant foods that provide most of the things we need for our brain.
So here’s a list of the top 3 foods you should and top 3 foods you should avoid for optimum brain health (and overall health of course)
Top 3 super foods for your brain and overall health
- Lots of good fats! Avocados, nuts and seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, MCT oil
- Lots of plant rich, colourful foods! Cruciferous vegetables, reds, blues, dark greens, oranges and berries! All of these chemicals in the food are powerful protectors
- Lots of good fibre! Also from plant foods, to help your microbium in the gut. I can’t stress the importance of the gut-brain connection!
Top 3 foods to avoid
- Refined sugars. (White sugar, cakes, cookies, lollies, most condiments and allll the crap basically!) Think of these only as a treat!
- Refined starches. Same goes with starches (like white flour, bread, pasta etc.) – only occasionally please!
- Trans fats. Fried food, fast food, cakes, cookies, margarines, dripping and tallow from beef and lamb, pastries, doughnuts, vegetable oil, chips, popcorn – you get the picture. This is a big no no and should be off the market as it’s been ruled ‘unsafe’ to eat by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), though it’s everywhere still so it’s up to you!
So now there’s even more inspiration to trim that waist line, because our brains are at risk otherwise!
Food for thought 😉