Im including these Genius Foods in my diet from now on

Food to improve brain health and so much more

I have been for the longest time trying to figure out, how to tackle nutrition once and for all. Seems like a tough ask but wouldn’t it be easier to easily know the good from the bad so that you can streamline this part of your life easily? And then I stumbled upon Genius Foods.

A bit about the book.

The word genius was not put there without purpose, as it aimed to show how we can support our brain health with food. After all the brain is the powerhouse of the whole body and without it, some scary circumstances are bound to happen. The writer himself mentioned he started to get more curious about this after his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

He talks about the good and the bad, and how different kinds of foods from the types of fats to sugars and even cholesterol affect your body and your brain most importantly. It would be good to explore some general ideas before diving into the foods themselves. I’m not covering everything that is in this book but rather those that are I felt were more important takeaways.

Sugar IS THE enemy

Let’s think about this one. many thousand years ago, the only kind of sugars that were probably still in existence were from fruits. Nowadays you have highly processed foods that contain probably 10–100x the amount of sugar. And obviously, this affects the body. From the book, we learn that isolated high levels of Fructose create stress on the liver which promotes inflammation and insulin resistance. And when insulin is spiked all the time, what happens is that it prevents the release of stored calories as fuel. This means we have a huge reservoir of fuel which eventually gets converted to fat leading to more fat being stored in the body.

Sugar interacts with genes in the brain which reduces neuroplasticity. This can be detrimental if the brain is not being changed/worked on for a long time. So Before picking up that cookie next time, think about the future.

Cholesterol is NOT THE enemy

Cholesterol is actually a very important substance for a functioning brain. However, its mode of transportation, LDL, is highly vulnerable to bad lifestyle and diet. This occurs when there is poor recycling in the liver, form having too much load on the liver, and this is caused by our enemy above, sugars! So the key is to reduce the amount of processed carbohydrates or sugars. Furthermore, a few ways to protect the gut from unhealthy levels include:

• Having lots of fiber
• Having probiotic foods
• Foods rich in polyphenols (covered later)
• cutting down on processed carbs and sugars

Fats Fats Fats!

Yup. Fats. Fats has been shown to e the most important macronutrient in supporting the brain. But beware, it’s not all kinds.

Polyunsaturated

We have our famous omega fats, but ever wonder what they do and how they work? We have our Omega-6 and Omeag-3 fats, though as a whole, we are not getting enough omega-3s in. While Omega-6 fats are not harmful, the ratio of high 6 to 3 can lead to more inflammation in the body.

There are two kinds of good omega 3 fats that you might have probably heard of.

• DHA → which directly supports the brain by increasing its supply of a protein called brain-derived nerotrophic factor(BDNF). This has known to bloster memory, mood and executive function in the short term.
• EPA → usually found along DHA and helps with reducing triglyceride levels in the blood and helps with depression and heart attacks.

We also have our scary ones, which are our seed oils, mostly made up of polyunsaturated fats. Im sure by now you know they’ve gotten a really bad rep. Sure they might sometimes advertise them as having a good amount of omega-6 fats, but using them in high amounts can once again lead to inflammation in the body. Furthermore most ultra processed foods use them, which adds on to the hate.

Monounsaturated

Then there’s monounsaturated. We’re almost there i promise! It helps to lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. They also offer vital nutrients like vitamin E that have antioxidant properties and help your body maintain and renew cells.

At the end of the day my main takeaway for this is to include more omega-3 rich fats and reduce omega-6 rich fats, the most important thing having to find a perfect balance between the two.

FOODS TO GET

Ok to the fun exciting bit! here are the foods that i have been including in my diet ever since reading this gem.

1. Extra virgin Olive oil

A strong emphasis on EXTRA-VIRGIN. jokes aside, this refers to the first cold press of olive oil. It has tons of monounsaturated fats and tons of polyphenols and an anti-inflammatory compound called Oleocanthal. Use it as a dressing or sauces to help carry other vitamins around in your body easily!

2. Avocado

I get these occasionally, cause they aren’t exactly the cheapest thing, but these super fruits are high in monounsaturated fats as well, as well as tons of potassium.

3. Berries

Now i know i was talking a-lot about sugars previously and the harm it can bring, but berries in particular are lower in sugar as compared to other fruits and comes with tons of vitamins and fibre. It also has a good polyphenol content and a fantastic source of antioxidants too. They contain flavonoids which is able to cross what is knowns as the blood brain barrier. This helps to enhance signalling in parts of the brain that handle memory!

4. Dark Chocolate

This might be an odd one., Chocolate?? yep you read that right. Dark chocolate in particular has shown signs to reverse cognitive ageing, improving insulin sensitivity, vascular function and blood flow to the brain!

Bonus tip: make sure you’re only getting dark chocolate that is ideally above 80% and not processed with alkali (we don’t want those heavy metals in our chocolates)

5. Eggs

After all the debate about cholesterol, eggs are definitely in the picture. The yolk is a powerhouse of many different vitamins and minerals that help support brain health, like your HDL cholesterol, Choline, which helps with regulating memory, mood, and muscle control, vitamin B12 and D. I like to put a bit of EVOO on top as a sauce with some turmeric and pepper.

6. Dark leafy greens

That age old saying of eating your greens were said with good cause. Leafy greens are high in folate, magnesium which helps with the repairing of DNA, and of course fibre which all support gut health and help with your gut microbiome. They also contain folate, which helps to detox the boy and gets the genes in our body to do what they were intended to through the methylation cycle. This helps to give a positive impact on many biochemical reactions that happen in the body.

7. Broccoli (Cruciferous vegetables)

Ah another vegetable in the list! Broccoli can be seen as in interesting superfood, cause its known to prevent or reduce the chances of getting cancer! It contains Sulforaphane, which also helps with autoimmunity.

pro tip: during cooking one of the enzymes to create sulphorphane is lost, so using some mustard powder at the end on top your cooked broccoli helps with getting it back.

8. Almonds

Nuts and seeds! Almonds in particular are said to be a superstar nut. having packed with so many vitamins and minerals like vitamin E, potassium. calcium and rich antioxidants that help nutrients flow through the body.

9. Salmon

The final one in my list! No surprise here thoigh since its a powerhouse of omega-3 fats. I tend to take fatty fish about once or twice a week where possible.

Example of how i incorporate these foods in my life.

So given these foods, here’s how my meals look like on most days. I tend to cook the same thing for lunch and dinner because i just save so much time and effort to focus on other things.

Breakfast

I tend to go the gym in the morning, so i try to get just some carbs in to replenish the glycogen storage

• oats with chia seeds, cocoa powder, almonds and whey protein

Snack

i tend not have more than 3 meals a day so that i can space out my meals without feeling too full at the ned of each one

• sunny side eggs with EVOO, turmeric and pepper, on a bed of arugula. Pro tip, arugula has a high amount of nitrates which helps with blood flow!
• some blueberries at the side

Lunch & Dinner

I keep this one very simple

• roasted/air fried potatoes with some chicken breast and a broccoli & carrot stir fry topped with more EVOO and mustard powder

Snack 2

• two slices of multigrain toast with some unsalted natural peanut butter and a piece of dark chocolate
• more blueberries if I’m feeling it ;)

Ending thoughts

At the end of the day, I think it’s important to find something that works well for you and something that you can sustain for a long time. most of all. make sure you are enjoying it, but of course not indulging in the bad.

Quantity is also a big part that was not covered here, and overeating and over-nutrition seems to be a new pandemic all around the world. Eat what is right and move around.

Stay Fresh!