Dr Daniel Amen is a neuroscientist and he has become obsessed with improving our brains towards the prevention of dementia. He suggests that we need to fall in love with the amazingness of this super organ that is our brain.
Dr Amen, author of Memory Rescue, has completed 130,000 SPECT head scans, and created a mnemonic BRIGHTMINDS which can be used to reduce memory problems and here we use it as a guide for what to eat and we offer some lifestyle suggestions too.
Blood flow
Retirement
Inflammation
Genetics
Head injury
Toxins
Mental health
Immunity and
Neurochemicals/hormones
Diabesity
Sleep
Blood flow - people need to move more to ensure good blood flow and consume Pistachios to increase arginine which helps blood vessels widen and open up.
Retirement - to help reverse aging reduce stress but also people need to consume foods that are rich in anti-oxidants, like cloves which is the most potent, and blueberries. We also need to ensure that we maximise our oxygen intake by doing effective deep breathing exercises.
Inflammation - Let go of unwanted negative emotions linked to encoded trauma (using Havening) as it has a tendency to spark inflammation. The purpose of inflammation is to protect an injury of some kind whilst it repairs however if emotional trauma never quite fully repairs inflammation in the body can find itself in unlikely places. Consuming anti-inflammatory foods is also important ie not processed and more living foods as well as Turmeric and salmon (omega 3 fatty acids) as they both have high anti-inflammatory qualities.
Genetics - We're born with them and there nothing we can change about them, right? Not quite, research shows that if we change our internal environment (ie reduce stress and what we eat) we can change the expression of our genes - So if we've got dementia in our gene's we can reduce the risk of getting it
Head trauma - Love your brain like your life depends on. So if you're a cyclist wear a helmet. If you a drinker remember that alcohol does cause a brain injury ... they say red wine is the healthiest which may be so but Dr Amen has a different view. That said there are foods that help with memory e.g. Shrimp boosts choline, which helps our brains make acetylcholine, which is very important, and very helpful for memory
Toxins - Toxins come in many forms: from our environment, from what we consume and from stress chemicals. So take care to wear a mask when cycling, be careful to find out what your intolerant or allergic too and remove from your diet, once again reduce those stress chemicals by practicing your lifestyle pillars (see NeuroSelfCare)
Mental Health - Take time to let go of any unresolved traumatic encoded emotional stress using Havening. Safron is known to have anti-depressant effects in a manner that enhance memory and benefits PMS.
Immunity and infections - Reducing negative stress/distress and traumatic stress by ensuring you integrating the lifestyle pillars into your resilience practices you're basically reversing the damage stress has bestowed upon your immune and digestive system. Vitamin D is also great for this so get out more often in the sun and eat more eggs and very fresh raw or lightly cooked produce.
Neurochemical and neurohormones - Through Braining training you are engaging in activities that generate a greater level of peak performance neurochemicals and brain waves more of the time to generate an internal bodily environment that is increasingly hard wired to create a better version of yourself every day. That said there are foods you can consume including including for example pistachios helps to generate healthy levels of gamma brainwaves.
Diabesity - By reducing stress you will naturally reduce cortisol in the system which helps to generate more glucose in the blood stream. Cinnamon helps to stabilise blood sugar, boost your mood, and can decrease your appetite.
Sleep - By letting go of trauma (using Havening) it can help to reduce the things on the mind that are getting in the way of sleeping. When you get enough sleep you get enough deep non-dream sleep and delta brain waves all of which helps to wake feeling rejuvenated. Doing some havening or mediation before sleep can help with a good night sleep. Remember to identify something that to consume that spark your own natr=ural resources to help you sleep, in this case, melatonin, which Cherry juice naturally helps with.
Source
Memory Rescue by Dr Amen