OK, pop quiz. Do you remember what happens to food when it enters the small intestine (this page)? Or where the two of us now work (this page)? If you do, great! If not, don’t worry—we weren’t trying to trick you; it was just a fun exercise to grease your neurons a bit.
Our brains—as big, powerful, and wondrous as they are—can’t be expected to remember everything we read, see, notice, hear, and learn. We bet many of you can remember one of your elementary school teachers (hi, Mrs. Judd!), but it would take you 10 minutes to recall what you had for dinner three nights ago.
And maybe that’s why brain-related issues are such a burden. As a group, we have a wide range of abilities when it comes to intellect, memory, and critical thinking skills. But brains aren’t as easy to measure for health as bones or blood vessels.
That’s why it gets tricky when we start talking about age-related cognitive ability. There’s brain fog and brain farts. And then there’s the kind of memory problems that may seem innocuous at first, but are actually the beginning of one form of dementia or another (there are many types; Alzheimer’s is just one). Perhaps you cannot remember where you placed your keys. Or maybe you can’t remember a person’s face. Sometimes you forget what you just said. And sometimes you forget what you just said.
The truth, as we know, is that memory problems are no joke. When someone experiences serious cognitive decline, it’s a major health threat and a major health burden for caregivers—logistically, physically, and emotionally. About a third of Americans will suffer cognitive problems at the age of 85 or older.42 And that deadline can weigh heavily on our minds. In fact, 72 percent of people over 30 say they are worried about losing their memory as they grow older.43
Making matters more complex is that we haven’t even scratched the surface of what we know about the brain: a biological, chemical, and electrical universe that controls decisions, organs, hormones, emotions, heart rhythms, breathing, and so much more. But we do know a bit about how our memory declines as we age.
Basically, it works like this: To recall information, neurons need to communicate with each other. One sends a message to another, the receiver gets the message, and that connection builds bridges of information that you can use and recall whenever you need to.
What breaks down those bridges? For one, lack of use. If you don’t constantly send and receive messages, those bridges won’t get traveled on, nobody will maintain them, and they’ll eventually crumble and fall apart. (This is the main reason for the “use it or lose it” mantra you hear so much. When you stop using your brain, your neural “muscles” atrophy.)
Here’s the other thing about those bridges: They are built and solidified with information. But they can also become enhanced—or compromised—by all kinds of elements and influences. That’s where food comes in.
The wrong kind of food, as you might imagine, works as extreme weather (or gargantuan comic book villains) coming to rust the bridge girders; as a result, inflammatory mediators tear the bridges down. That wrong food makes it much harder for information to travel from neuron to neuron.
The right kinds of food, as you might imagine, work as bridge builders, bridge cleaners (helping to remove rusty inflammation), and bridge protectors (like two coats of paint covering the structures). In other words, they keep that pathway between neurons spotless and easily navigable.
We want to be clear here: We’re not suggesting that an apple a day will prevent Alzheimer’s (there are genetic predispositions, of course). But you can, and should, leverage food in your favor. In this case—and especially if you have a family history of memory problems—food is a great opportunity to allow what goes into your mouth to influence what goes on between your ears.
MVP: Eating the When Way means you’re already fortifying your brain. But for extra reinforcements, get used to eating a lot of salmon salads. Salmon (as well as ocean trout) is filled with DHA, the healthy fat that makes up most of your brain. A great deal of research links a steady diet of healthy fat to slower rates of decline in the brain.44 (It’s one of the main reasons why Dr. R’s nickname is Grizzly; he eats more salmon than an Alaskan bear.)
Also, don’t leave out the salad part of the equation: A healthy dose of leafy greens every day is important to maintaining high cognitive function. Some research, in fact, looked at people who ate at least one serving of leafy greens daily over a five-year period and found they had remarkably lower rates of cognitive decline. This is especially important when you consider that the researchers took into account factors like age, gender, exercise, and other variables.45
Key Players: While you’re at it, sprinkle some walnuts onto your salad, or have a handful as a snack. They’re filled with the healthy fats that all nuts are. But walnuts are also one of the best sources of (and only nut with a significant source of) sources of alpha-linolenic acid, which is a plant-based form of omega-3 fatty acids. Low levels of omega-3 have been associated with a higher likelihood of cognitive problems in adults.46 Walnuts also have compounds that have been shown to help protect cells against some of the junk (called amyloid plaque) that has been associated with Alzheimer’s and that accumulates on brain bridges.47
It’s also worth considering eating only when the sun shines and shortening the number of hours you eat in a day (one form of intermittent fasting, see this page). In epidemiologic studies, early eating is associated with less development of cognitive decline, and in animal studies, time-restricted feeding has been shown to prevent cognitive decline. Researchers hypothesize that frequent switching of a body’s fuel sources from glucose to ketones may underlie the mechanism for this latter observation.48
Cut From the Team: Sugar, sugar, sugar. Refined and processed foods are the hurricanes to your brain bridges that can make those roadways impassable. And a lot of it? Well, that’s essentially a Category 5 storm that just hovers over the bridges and never leaves. Think of that next time you have the urge to pour a milk shake down the old chute.
| SUB OUT… | SUB IN… |
| Soda | Coffee. Among its many health benefits, coffee has also been linked to higher cognitive function and lower risk of decline.49,50 Tea is also a good choice, as it’s been shown to have positive cognitive effects.51 |
| Vegetable oil | Olive oil is a better choice because of the ratio of fats it contains. |
| Cereal | A bowl of blueberries. Berries have anti-inflammatory nutrients that have been suggested to improve brain function.52 As a bonus, sprinkle on some ground flaxseed, which will give you an extra dose of healthy fats. |