Power Up Your Brain #2 of 6
Muscles need protein, your brain needs…
If you want strong muscles, what do you need to eat? Protein! We know that your body can’t build new muscles out of nothing. So if you don’t eat any protein, your body has nothing to build new muscles with.
The same is true for your brain. It can’t build new nerve connections PLUS keep the current connections strong if it doesn’t have anything to build them with. In this this tip, we’re going to talk about what your brain needs from foods to be healthy (hint – it’s different than your muscles).
Here’s how important nutrition is. Dr. Terry Wahls is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2000, which progressed until she was forced to begin using a wheelchair a few years later. The Multiple Sclerosis was breaking down the nerves of her brain and spinal cord.
Looking through all the medical treatments available in her field, she struggled to find an answer. So instead, she begin doing her own research. She discovered what the brain and the nervous system need to be healthy, and found the crucial things her nerves need to build themselves up stronger every day.
As she made her list of crucial vitamins and minerals, she realized the best thing for her brain would be to get these through food, rather than supplements. So she begin to change what she ate. As she changed her foods to include what her brain needed to be healthy, she saw tremendous results!
Within one year she went from her wheelchair, to walking through the hospital without even a cane! She even completed an 18 mile bicycle tour!
You can watch her story here:
So while these foods are great for someone with M.S., they’re also great for you and I, because they Power Up Our Brains too. We don’t have to wait for our brains to seriously break down to give them a boost! We can support our brains to learn and grow by eating these foods regularly!
Here’s a list what she found:
Every day, her goal is to eat the following. *Please know, this sounds like a lot! So you don’t have to start with everything at once:
- 3 cups of greens, especially kale (a dinner plate heaped high)
- 3 cups of sulfur rich vegetables – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, turnips, rutabagas, radishes, collards, kale, onion family (garlic, leeks, chives, shallots), mushrooms, asparagus
- 3 cups of different colors of brightly colored fruits and vegetables (e.g. beets, carrots, red peppers, berries, oranges, peaches)
- High quality protein rich in omega-3 fatty acids – salmon, herring, grass-fed meat, sardines, eggs from pasture fed chickens
Once a week:
- Organ meats (e.g. liver)
- Seaweed: If you’re wondering whether seaweed is gross, try something like this (lots of stores carry them). It’s like kale chips:
Since it’s a lot, the key is to start with these before other grains and other foods. If you eat a plate full of mac & cheese, then try to make room for these brain foods it’s going to be tough.
Also, keep in mind that any change in this direction is going to be positive for your brain, your mood, and your energy. So if you go from a 1/2 cup to 1 cup, it’s going to be huge!
Take things a little at a time to move yourself and your family in the right direction.
Make sure you check out all of our Power Up Your Brain Topics:
Top Two Ways to Stimulate Your Brain
The Posture to Improve Self-Esteem and Lower Stress
The Four Things That Make Your Brain Feel Nervous
