Whether it’s looking better, feeling better, having more energy, being more physically able, or more importantly, preventing a whole lot of medical issues.

But, the word diet comes with many negative connotations.

Eat this. Don’t eat that. This has high cholesterol. That has too much sodium.

It seems like today, there’s a million and one diet styles, choices, plans, issues, benefits, concerns, etc.

And, with each passing week, one form of research disproves a diet that was supposedly beneficial only the week before.

We know we have to eat healthily.

We know that as we age, more care and consideration should be given to our food choices.

But, with so many “diets” to choose from, how can you know for sure what you should and should not be consuming?

Well, today we aim to remove the myths around “fad diets” and give you EXACTLY what you need to know, so you can make the RIGHT changes in your food choices and live out your lifestyle in the way YOU want to.

What do we mean by “Diet”?

First, we start by taking some consideration of what a “Diet” actually is.

The formal definition of diet has two meanings:

1. The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually
2. A special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.

In many ways, these two definitions are opposing and even mutually exclusive because the latter is a regime, a restricted plan, that is difficult to maintain and sustain.

Follow-up studies conclusively show that 95% of people who “went on a diet” could not maintain it after just one year.

This has been known as “yoyo dieting” when people on a weight-loss diet not only regained their pre-diet weight but even gained weight beyond their starting point.

Everyone knows that it is easy to lose weight, but the real challenge is to maintain it after losing it.

So, my answer to the question in the topic is: Yes to diet, but not to diet, or in other words: don’t eat food that you cannot habitually eat as part of your every-day life.

This means that restricting yourself is counterproductive and we need to find ways to make our diet a good habit that is sustainable.

Macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients

The composition of our diet is essential to meeting the needs of our body, in order to grow, develop, function and repair.

The food we eat contains the body’s building blocks and energy sources.

Macro-nutrients are those that we need in large amounts (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) and micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals) are those we need in small amounts.

Let’s look at each of these in more detail, because over the last decade specifically, carbohydrates and fats continue to come under the microscope as the culprits for gaining weight.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy and they are broken down to sugar (glucose), which all cells can use.

Typically they can be found in plant food (fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, etc.).

However, carbohydrates have a limited capacity to be stored in the body as such, and when consumed in excess (beyond our energy requirements) they will be stored as fat, and unfortunately, this storage form is unlimited.

Fats

Fats or oils that we eat are broken down to fatty acids which are used as structural building blocks of all body tissues (cell membranes) and some organs which have a high-fat content (like the brain and nerves).

Fats also serve metabolic functions, by providing building blocks for steroids and some hormones or serve as solvents for hormones and fat-soluble enzymes.

They are further divided into saturated fats (meat, egg yolk and dairy products), unsaturated fats (fish, certain oils, nuts, and seeds), and trans-fats which are mostly artificial (i.e. resulting from an industrial process to increase the shelf-life of goods).

Over the last decade, there has been a tremendous change in our understanding of the role of fat in our diet and how bad it is for our health.

In general, unsaturated fats provide substantial health benefits, saturated fats are good, but in moderation, and trans-fats (or hydrogenated oils) are the “bad guys”.

Proteins

Proteins in our diet are broken down to amino acids, which serve as the structural elements of every cell, tissue, and organ in our body.

They also facilitate many vital processes of body maintenance and repair (enzymes, antibodies, DNA, and neurotransmitters).

Proteins are therefore essential for repairing and regenerating body tissues and cells, a healthy functioning immune system and manufacturing hormones.

They can be found in poultry, fish, meat, dairy products, as well as plant sources (beans, greens, seeds, and nuts).

Micro-nutrients

Micro-nutrients include vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins are organic compounds made by plants and animals and minerals are inorganic, exist in soil or water.

Vitamins and minerals are vital for growth, immune function, brain development, and many other important functions, and must be consumed from food, as the body is unable to produce them.

All diets contain a combination of these macro- and micro-nutrients in different proportions.

Healthy diets

Now that we have a good understanding of what’s IN the foods we eat, how does all of this translate into a healthy diet?

A healthy diet is one that helps to maintain or improve overall health.

A healthy diet provides the body with its essential nutrition: fluid, macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, and adequate energy (calories)

FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_diet.

Diets have been intensively investigated for their effects on human health, by following large groups of subjects who kept daily records of what they ate for several years.

These subjects also weighed themselves regularly, took routine lab tests and were monitored for the development of a large myriad of diseases (cardiovascular, metabolic, dementia, cancer, etc.,) and the occurrence of disease-related deaths.

Low-carbohydrate versus low-fat diets

For many years we used to advocate low-fat diets as the healthiest diets, believing that the fats we consume are the major contributors to body fat and obesity-related morbidity and mortality.

While there is some truth in that “bad fats” can contribute to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, it is not the fat we eat that makes us gain body fat, for the most part, this is the excess of sugars and carbohydrates in our food.

A landmark study followed 218,000 participants from 1000 communities, across 21 countries and 6 continents, with multiple ethnic groups and cultural diversity, examined the diet constituents that promote heart health and longevity globally.

This study, named PURE (Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological) and published in 2017, noted that higher carbohydrate intake is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, whereas total dietary fat and types of fat (except trans-fats) are not associated with cardiovascular disease or mortality.

It also noted that dietary saturated fat (the “old-time enemy”) had an inverse relationship with stroke and all-cause mortality; meaning that higher intake may be protective.

Many other studies have since similarly suggested that the long-running war on fat turns out to be a case of “friendly fire” (i.e., we have been shooting our aid and not the enemy).

Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting

Ketogenic or Keto diets are characterized by very low consumption of carbohydrates (less than 20-30 gram of carbs/day) and relatively high consumption of fat (70% of daily calorie requirements) and protein (25% of daily calorie requirements).

These diets change your metabolism or the way in which the body processes energy.

In a keto diet, the body is deprived of glucose derived from carbs, so it starts using fat as an alternative source of energy.

Fat breakdown (mainly in the liver) results in the production of ketones, which are excellent alternative energy sources.

The keto diets have been shown to have health and anti-aging benefits, and have been associated with brain protection and lower cognitive decline. This is partly explained by the fact that ketones (resulting from fat breakdown) are the more efficient energy source for the brain than glucose.

Fasting has been shown for years to be an effective nonpharmacologic strategy for fighting a large range of disorders (metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, cancer and epilepsy), as well as promoting “detoxification” (cleansing) and longevity (anti-aging).

Intermittent fasting (IF) is not a diet, but rather a dieting pattern.

In simpler terms: it’s making a conscious decision to skip certain meals on purpose.

Intermittent fasting generally means that you consume your calories during a specific window of the day, and choose not to eat food for the larger part of the day.

They come in various shapes and forms:

• Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) is the strictest form of IF besides religious fasting, which involves 24-hours complete fasting followed by a 24-hours non-fasting period. There is an alternate day modified fasting (ADMF) which allows the consumption of approximately 25% of daily calorie needs on fasting days instead of full fasting.
• Whole-day fasting (WDF) involves regular one or two fasting days per week. As an example, 5:2 diets requires five non-fasting days and 2 fasting days in a week. During the fasting days, it allows approximately 500 to 600 calories or about 25% of regular daily caloric intake.
• Time-restricted feeding (TRF) involves eating only during a certain number of hours each day. An example can be 16:8 diets which advocate 16 fasting hours cycled by 8 non-fasting hours.

FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting

Clinical studies suggest that intermittent fasting is effective for weight loss, reversal or improvement of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and abnormal lipids (elevated cholesterol or triglycerides).

There are also anecdotal accounts of improved cognitive skills in people with dementia or pre-dementia.

However, there are no good, long-term human studies that have examined the effects of IF on human cognition and its ability to prevent cognitive decline or dementia.

Brain-healthy diets

Many diets were initially investigated for their protective effects on cardiovascular health.

Considering the role of cardiovascular disease in cognitive decline and dementia, it makes sense to advocate a heart-healthy diet for brain health.

However, over the last several years a lot of research has come out which informed us about those diets which also protect our brain.

The Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits of people who lived in the olive-growing regions of Italy and Greece, who in the 1960s had a very high life expectancy and low rates of coronary heart disease and certain cancers.

It has repeatedly shown positive effects for general and cardiovascular health by numerous studies, and it also tops the list of best diets for brain health.

It is typically low in saturated fats and is characterised by a high intake of whole grains (cereals), fruits, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, lentils), nuts, healthy unsaturated fats (mostly olive oil) and fish; regular and moderate intake of alcohol (usually wine during meals); and low intake of red meat, poultry and full-fat dairy.

A large body of evidence supports that the Mediterranean diet has a protective role against cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and its early stages (MCI).

Of particular importance, the recently completed PREDIMED (PREvención con DIeta Mediterránea) study is the first clinical trial that compared the effects of a long-term Mediterranean diet (MeDi) intervention to a control diet (advice to reduce dietary fat).

The trial, conducted in Spain, showed that greater adherence to the MeDi resulted in a 30% reduction of major cardiovascular events and superior cognitive performance over a period of 6.5 years.

Interestingly, a subgroup supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) had the strongest positive effect on cognitive function and was the only dietary component that slowed the onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

The DASH Diet

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was developed from an initiative to examine dietary factors that affect blood pressure. The DASH diet is high in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains (cereals), low-fat dairy products, fish, chicken, and lean meats, and therefore is designed to be low in saturated fat; moderately high in protein; and low in sodium (salt), sweetened beverages, and red and processed meats.

While some studies suggested that the DASH diet protects the brain against cognitive decline and dementia, other studies could not support this.

The MIND diet

The MIND (Mediterranean-DASH diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet was based on the dietary components of the MeDi and DASH diets with modifications that highlight the foods and nutrients shown to be associated with dementia prevention.

Among the MIND diet components, there are 10 brain-healthy food groups (green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, seafood, poultry, olive oil, and wine) and five unhealthy food groups (red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried/fast food).

Hence, MIND diet uniquely specifies consumption of berries and green leafy vegetables and does not specify high fruit consumption (both DASH and MeDi), high dairy consumption (DASH), or high fish consumption (MeDi).

There is limited support for the protective effects of this diet on cognitive functioning.

So which diet should I choose?

As you can see from the components of all these diets there is a significant overlap in the characteristics of all diets that are associated with better cognitive function.

There is a general consensus that your diet should have a high consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and fish as well as reducing consumption of red meat, sugars (sweets and sugary drinks), trans and saturated fats, salt, and highly processed or pre-packaged foods.

See the below recommendations:

Foods to include

• Consume predominantly a plant-based diet that is rich in vegetables and fruits. Choose local and seasonal fruits and vegetables when available, however, be certain to frequently include:
  • Raw leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables (eg, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and radishes)
  • Fresh or frozen berries
• Include unsalted nuts, or all-natural nut butter, daily as a snack, cooking ingredient, or adding to salads
• Ensure that your diet is rich in whole grains, beans, and pulses
  • Routinely add beans, peas, and lentils to soups, salads, casseroles, and other main dishes
  • Select high-fiber cereals, brown rice, and whole-grain bread and cereals
• Consume fish frequently, with an emphasis on fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel
• Use extra virgin olive oil as your main culinary oil.
• Select low-fat milk (skim or 1%), yogurt (0%-2%), and cheese (~22%)

Foods to limit

• Limit your intake of meat and poultry
  • More severely restrict your intake of red and processed meats such that they are only consumed occasionally
• Restrict your use of butter, hard margarine, cream, or high-fat dairy spreads
• Limit your intake of sweets and processed foods including:
  • Pre-packaged sides and meals (eg, canned soup, instant noodles, frozen appetizers, and TV dinners)
  • Salty snacks (eg, potato chips and fries) or fried food
  • Store-bought dairy desserts (including ice cream, frozen yogurt, puddings, and custard)
  • Baked goods, especially store-bought (eg, cookies, muffins, scones, croissants, doughnuts, cakes, and pie)
  • Candy, chocolate, bonbons
  • Pop, sweetened fruit juice, or any other sugary drinks

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain-healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

• Understanding Belly Fat and What To Do About It
• How Iron and B Vitamins Improve Brain Activity
• Apricots: A Daily Nutrition Booster
• Can Vitamin C and E Help Prevent Dementia?

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you videos, blogs, and articles just like this one, as we release them.

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Lastly, if you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

References:

• Dehghan M, Mente A, Zhang X, et al. Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study. Lancet 2017;390:2050-2062.
• Zhu Y, Bo Y, Liu Y. Dietary total fat, fatty acids intake, and risk of cardiovascular disease: a dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies, Lipids Health Dis. 2019 Apr 6;18(1):91.
• Wu L, Sun D. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing cognitive disorders: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Sci Rep. 2017;7:41317.
• Loughrey DG, Lavecchia S, Brennan S, Lawlor BA, Kelly ME. The Impact of the Mediterranean Diet on the Cognitive Functioning of Healthy Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Adv Nutr. 2017;8(4):571–586.
• Greenwood CE, Parrott MD. Nutrition as a component of dementia risk reduction strategies. Healthc Manage Forum. 2017 Jan;30(1):40-45. doi:10.1177/0840470416662885.

Eating or consuming food is natural.

Food gives energy, and it is how we can carry out our everyday activities like walking and cooking.

However, there can be extra energy left from the food we eat.

Although a small part is stored as carbohydrates (glycogen) in the muscles and liver, the bulk of the excess energy is stored as fat.

This fat can be stored in different parts of the body: if it is stored in the chest, waist, hips and buttock region, it is called subcutaneous fat; while if it is stored between the internal organs in the abdomen, it is referred to as “visceral fat” or more popularly as “belly fat.”

There are several factors that determine where excess fat is stored in the body, some of which includes heredity and hormones.

Subcutaneous fat has little to no adverse effect on a person’s health and lifespan; belly fat, on the other hand, leads to major implications and is closely related to morbidity and mortality than body weight or body mass index (BMI).

Abdominal or central Obesity occurs when there is an excess storage of belly fat.

Abdominal Obesity which is also referred to as “potbelly” or “beer belly” is strongly associated with a lot of illness and diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids (elevated bad cholesterol and triglycerides), fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases (including heart attacks), stroke, dementia, and cancer.

Abdominal Obesity can be measured manually by measuring the waist circumference or more accurately by x-ray and magnetic imaging (DXA, CT, or MRI).

Body weight as a measure of body fat – BMI

BMI (Body Mass Index) is also known as weight/height ratio and is the official standard for measuring total body fat and is widely used by health professionals to advise about the health risks of overweight and Obesity.

However, BMI has several flaws, one of which is that BMI reflects body fat without showing how it is distributed in the body.

For example, an athlete who is fit might have little body fat, but because of he or she is muscular, the BMI would be high which does not truly reflect the amount of excess body fat in the body.

There are people in the normal BMI range with an excess of abdominal fat (aka as TOFI, thin-outside fat-inside), whose health risks are similar to those of obese people.

BIA or BMI?

BIA (Body Impedance Analysis) is another method used for estimating body fat.

The principle BIA uses is that since muscle tissue retain lots of water when compared to fat tissues, which contain little water.

So, a person with more muscle than fat will contain more water and will thus be less resistant to electricity as water is a great conductor of electric current.

BIA sends a weak electrical current through the body of the person to measured, and an estimation of the body fat percentage is made based on the body’s resistance to the electric current.

BIA has been integrated into more modern digital scales, which shows a person’s body fat percentage. Some of the more sophisticated scales can even offer a compartmental fat assessment, including visceral and subcutaneous fat percentages.

In summary, reducing belly fat is more important that barely checking body weight, as a person’s weight does not totally show the amount of excess body fat he or she has. It is thus best to calculate the BMI and also measure your body fat separately.

How to measure belly fat yourself

The easiest method of measuring belly fat involves simply using a flexible (stretch-resistant) tape measure.

Steps to measure your Waist Circumference (WC)

This technique requires that you measure the circumference of your “tummy” around the widest part of your belly.

The process is as follows:

• Step 1: Stand with your arms at the sides, feet positioned close together, and weight evenly distributed across your feet.
• Step 2: Wear little or no clothes so that your measurements are as close to your skin as possible.
• Step 3: Align the tape measure to the level of the belly button and circle the entire route around the body.
• Step 4: The tape measure should be placed gently on the skin and held at a level parallel to the floor.
• Step 5: Relax and avoid contracting any abdominal muscle.
• Step 6: Position the tape measure correctly, breathe in, exhale, and then take the measurement.

It is recommended to measure at the midpoint between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone.

The number that indicates abdominal Obesity for a man and woman is different.

For a man, the ideal size is 37 inches (=94 cm) and below, while a woman is 31.5 inches (=80 cm) and below.

A man with abdominal Obesity will have a waist measurement greater than 40 inches (= 102 cm), while that of a woman is anything greater than 35 inches (= 89 cm).

Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR)

Abdominal Obesity can also be measured by comparing the abdominal and buttocks circumference.

To calculate your waist to hip ratio, you’ll start by measuring your abdominal circumference.

Then measure your hips circumference around their widest part. Now divide your waist size by your hip size to get your waist to hip ratio.

Men with WHR above 0.95 are said to have abdominal Obesity or pot belly, while for women, the number is 0.85.

How to lose belly fat

Losing weight is the best way to lose belly fat.

However, by going on a low-calorie diet, you cannot determine the exact part of the body the weight loss will occur.

It is thus important to not only diet but also include exercise in your weight loss routine.

Structured exercises like visiting the gym and being physically active are more important than dieting.

Also, a combination of cardio and strength training is the best approach as opposed to specifically exercising the abdominal muscles to reduce fat.

Sandy McGrath, Personal Trainer for the National Institute on Aging, produced THIS 20-minute home workout which we feel is a great way to get you up and about each day.

Why not try it for yourself? Click on the video below and get moving!

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

• Healthy Bodies Make Healthy Minds
• How Iron and B Vitamins Improve Brain Activity
• A Daily Nutrition Booster
• The Great Benefits of Yoga

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you videos, blogs, and articles just like this one, as we release them.

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Lastly, if you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

I said to myself, “This is it. No chocolate for 1 month.”

I’d start with a small goal that shouldn’t be too hard to achieve.

After all, it would only be for 1 month.

The Challenge:

Last Monday morning, not quite 1 week into my “choc-free” diet, I was preparing myself to work at my desk and I started to feel this niggling sensation…

A chocolate craving.

A strong desire for “just one piece”.

I battled with the thought for a short while, and then I decided “I should probably just eat it so that it stops bugging me”.

So, my plan of chocolate free days, failed in its first week.

Thankfully there is always tomorrow.

But I couldn’t help thinking… Where did I do wrong?

How will tomorrow be handled differently?

Creating and Removing Old Habits:

Introducing a new and healthy habit or stopping a bad one is not such a simple task.

It’s why so many of us can struggle to make healthy changes.

First of all, let’s think of what makes a habit.

A habit is a routine behavior.

An act that occurs on a regular basis almost without thinking.

It is usually triggered by a cue in your environment.

Sitting down in front of the computer, time of day, location, a specific feeling or thought, or as a result of a sequence of behaviors.

After the trigger, the behavior is moved into action and usually, it is followed by a sense of reward.

This is why breaking some habits is really hard…

Because in most cases, we like our habits.

They’re familiar, and familiarity gives comfort.

However, like my chocolate cravings, some of these habits can actually be really bad for us.

So bad, that they can put in jeopardy our health, relationships, lifestyles, and even careers.

How To Stop A Bad Habit Permanently:

Recognizing these unhealthy habits and having the desire to change is a starting point, but overcoming the hurdle to replace old habits with new ones, can be challenging.

So, here are some very simple tips to keep in mind when wanting to introduce a new and healthy behavior or change an old not so good one.

Research shows that one of the best predictors of engaging behavioral changes in people is whether the changes are driven by important personal values.

Step 1: Asking yourself why do you want to make this change?

What matters to you and how will these changes help you get closer to that belief or value?

Identifying the underlying values is very important.

Do you want to make changes because it matters to you to feel healthy and vibrant?

Or do you love to travel and taking good care of your body matters for your travel adventures?

Referring back to my chocolate example, what I did not do, was clarify to myself WHY I want to press pause on daily chocolate eating.

I was eating so much chocolate, and not eating healthy meals, which was making me grumpy and not so pleasant to be around.

I realized that eating healthy is important because of the impact food has on my mood.

For me, improving my diet affects my mood and in turn my relationships with others.

And this matters more to me than chocolate.

This became my driving force.

Whatever your driving force to the new behavior is, make sure you have it clear in your mind and hold it gently as a reminder of why this behavior is important.

Let it keep you on track at times in which you feel a bit wobbly (as there will be those times).

Step 2: Adjusting your environment.

Do you want to eliminate sugary treats?

Move them to the back of the cupboard and replace them with healthier options which are in your line of sight.

Even better, get rid of them altogether!

Do you want to exercise more?

Have your exercise gear easily accessible and ready to use.

The point is, make sure the way your environment is set up will support you rather than triggering you into old behaviors.

Strategize to remove or eliminate anything that could get you off your track.

Strategize to add anything that will keep you on track.

Step 3: Know YOUR triggers

This applies to both stopping a bad habit or starting a good one in a slightly different way.

For me, sitting down to work in front of the computer was a trigger, as I had gotten into the habit of starting work, and reaching over for my trusted bar of chocolatey goodness.

So the moment I sat down in front of the computer, my body knew automatically what was coming.

And when I didn’t do what was expected, it was really hard not to give in.

My next step?  I changed my environment so that the trigger was removed.

I started taking my computer to another workspace, different room, different desk, a different chair where I have a fresh coconut juice as a treat.

You need to be aware of what your environmental triggers are; and make changes accordingly.

This could mean changing the order you do things or rearranging the furniture in your house to prevent a trigger from activating an old habit.

Conclusion:

So, if you want to break a bad habit, be aware of your triggers and alter your environment as best as you can.

If you want to start a new habit, create new triggers to help you fall into the new regular behavior.

Make sure the new triggers link in with preexisting habits as this will make it easier.

Like for example, flossing after you brush your teeth or going for a walk just after you return home from work.

If you link the habit to something that already happens regularly you will have a regular trigger.

Action Steps In The Moment:

Remember these key questions to ask yourself when you feel the need to break those old unhealthy habits.

• Why is this change important?
• How can I change my environment to make it super easy to succeed?
• What are my triggers?
• How can I use new triggers to help me succeed?

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

Why not leave a comment below and tell us, what habits are you going to change?

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to changing behaviors, check out some of our other feature articles and videos by clicking on the links below:

• How To Move Past Thoughts Of Negativity – Blog
• How Your Mindset Can Impact Your Everyday Life – Blog
• Why Mindfulness Self Compassion Is Good For A Change – Blog
• Is Your Mind Getting In The Way Of Your Life? – Video
• 3 Ways To Handle Intense Emotions Healthily – Video

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you new feature articles and videos just like this one, as we release them.

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

If you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below, and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

Iron is the center of our red blood cells, which allow oxygen to be carried throughout your body and into your brain, which needs more than 20% of the oxygen available in the blood.

A lack of oxygen has a major impact on your brain’s health and in the formation of diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

How It Works:

The actual ability to absorb iron into your body is dependent on the amount of acid you have in your stomach.

If you have acid reflux or heartburn and are using drugs or antacids to get relief, you are affecting your ability to absorb iron.

To absorb iron, the pH in your stomach has to be normal, 1 – 2 pH.

Under these conditions, iron in your stomach chemically reacts with other chemicals and is prepared for absorption in the small intestine.

When you take drugs to reduce the acid in your stomach, the iron does not chemically react and change for proper absorption in the intestine. The result is iron deficiency.

Get More Iron In Your Diet:

The best way to get Iron into your system is through the foods you consume each day.

Some of the best foods you can eat that contain high amounts of Iron include:

• Kidney
• Liver
• Wheat Bran
• Ovaltine
• Cocoa Powder
• Spinach
• Parsley
• Radish
• Peas
• Leek
• Carob
• Sesame Seeds
• Pistachios
• Dried Coconut
• Cashew Nuts
• Muesli
• Cornflakes
• Oatmeal
• Brown Rice
• Cereal
• Baked Potato

You can also use 25 to 50 mg of an iron supplement daily.

However, before taking supplements, it’s best to check with your doctor first, to see if you really need them.

While on the surface it looks like everyone should be getting more Iron in their diets, be careful. Taking excessive Iron can result in poisoning.

Benefits Of B Vitamins:

The B Vitamins folic acid and B12 have also shown to be a contributor to your brains activity.

B12 specifically, has been consistently found deficient in people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Folic acid and B12 work to produce neurotransmitters and replace nerve cells.

The lack of neurotransmitters is responsible for the loss of a good memory.

To make sure B vitamins work for you in keeping your mental capacities intact, start making sure you are getting them in your diet or taking them as a supplement.

B Vitamin Rich Foods:

• Fish and Seafood
• Whole Grain Bread, Cereals, and Oats
• Chicken, Beef, and Eggs
• Most Leafy Green Vegetables – especially Avocado
• Dairy products – specifically Cheese, Milk, and Yoghurt
• Beans and Peas
• Citrus fruits, such as Oranges, Lemons and Grapefruit
• Various UNSALTED Nuts

Conclusion:

It is always best to get your minerals and vitamins in food. In food, minerals and vitamins are combined with other chemicals that allow your body to absorb them better than supplements.

So in short, getting the right foods in our diets and maintaining a healthy balance really can help to improve your brain activity.

Simply by making small adjustments to what we eat is proven to have a long-lasting impact.

What are some of the foods we’ve listed here that you’re going to consume more of every day?

Do you have any “questionable” foods you might be consuming daily, that you’d like to ask us about?

Feel free to leave a comment below, or send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

Our expert Nutritionist will give you the right advice.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to optimum nutrition for brain health, check out some of our other feature articles by clicking on the links below:

• Apricots. A Daily Nutrition Booster
• How Vitamin C And E Can Help Prevent Dementia
• We Are What We Eat

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

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Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

When he returned to Europe from his military expeditions, he brought some with him.

The ancient Romans gave the apricot its name – from the Latin word for “precocious” – because the apricot is the first fruit of the season to ripen.

The name stuck, and the apricot spread all over, from Europe to America, and all the way to Australia.

The apricot is a fantastic fruit – loaded with beta carotene, iron, fiber, vitamin C, and several B vitamins.

If you dry an apricot, its nutrients get more concentrated, making dried apricots a great snack.

Whether fresh or dried, eating apricots will help you fight the effects of aging, protect your eyesight, ward off cancer, and prevent heart disease.

The 4 prevention profiles of apricots:

Combat cancer

If you get indigestion from eating tomato products – the prime source of lycopene – here’s great news for you.

Apricots, especially dried ones, are another source of lycopene, the amazing carotenoid that can help prevent prostate, breast, and several other cancers.

Though apricots aren’t nearly as good a source of lycopene – about 30 dried ones have the same amount as one tomato – munching on them throughout the day can boost your lycopene quicker than you think.

Apricots are also a good source of the most famous carotenoid of them all – beta carotene.

This powerful antioxidant reduces your risk of some types of stomach and intestinal cancers.

To get these benefits, experts suggest getting at least 5 milligrams of beta carotene each day.

That’s equal to about six fresh apricots.

Halt heart disease

Eating dried apricots as a snack can punch up your levels of iron, potassium, beta carotene, magnesium, and copper.

These important nutrients help control your blood pressure and prevent heart disease.

Plus, as few as five dried apricots can give you up to 3 grams of fiber, which sweeps cholesterol out of your system before it has a chance to clog your arteries.

Chase away cataracts

What you eat can affect your vision.

Dr. Robert G. Cumming, the lead researcher for the Blue Mountains Eye Study, says, “Our study confirms the importance of vitamin A for cataract prevention.”

Cumming adds, “Our overall conclusion is that a well-balanced diet is needed for eye health.”

Since apricots are a good source of beta carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A, and several other nutrients, they could be just what you’re looking for.

Increase life expectancy…?

Believe it or not, some people claim apricots are the secret to living to age 120.

They get this idea from the Hunzas, a tribe living in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia.

Common health problems, like cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, do not exist in Hunza.

And, researchers are wondering if apricots, the main part of their diet, are partly responsible.

The Hunzas eat fresh apricots in season and dry the rest to eat during their long, cold winter.

Although eating apricots can’t guarantee you’ll live a long life, recent research suggests the little fruit may help you live a better life.

The B vitamins in dried apricots may protect you from Alzheimer’s and age-related mental problems, like memory loss.

Where to buy from:

Because this wonderful fruit has been grown in so many major locations all over the world, sourcing good apricots for consumption is incredibly easy.

Most if not all grocery stores should have seasonal produce, and dried apricots can be found all year round, as they have a substantial shelf life when appropriately stored.

In our experience, the best dried apricots are coming from the Mediterranean, though there are still very high-quality local producers in Australia and the USA.

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

• How Iron and B Vitamins Improve Brain Activity
• Can Vitamin C and E Help Prevent Dementia?
• We Are What We Eat

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you new feature articles and videos just like this one, as we release them.

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Finally, if you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below, and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.