Power Foods for the Brain | Neal Barnard | TEDxBismarck

In the products section you can learn about beta-carotene, lycopene and anthocyanins. Your retina detects them because they are orange for carrots, red for tomatoes or purple for grapes. And your mind says, oh, they look good and they're attractive, you recognize the antioxidants, they attract you. We go back to 2009, and my organization, the Alternative Medicine Physicians Committee, went to the Department of Agriculture. . We said, "This is important, let's get rid of the pyramid." The pyramid is beautifully shaped, but it contains a group of meat and dairy products, although those who do not eat meat and dairy products are healthier than those who do.

And anyway, who eats from the pyramid? We eat from a plate so we design a plate with fruits, grains, legumes and vegetables, this should be the main food. We submitted it to the US Department of Agriculture in 2009 and didn't hear back from them, so in 2011 we went to the federal government and filed a lawsuit against them, just to get a response. Did you see what the government launched in 2011? I don't take credit for this innovation, but it's state policy now, it's called my class, and it looks a bit like what we sent you a few years ago.

Fruits, grains and vegetables, and they called it the “protein group.” It could be meat, legumes, soy, nuts or anything high in protein. According to federal guidelines, it is not necessary. Without meat. There is a dairy group and they added soy milk. And so things get better. So far we've talked about avoiding saturated fats in cheese, meat, and bacon; Trans fats, vitamin E snacks, and colorful

foods

; There is a step. It's not just about food, you also have to exercise. At the University of Illinois, researchers gathered a large group of 120 adults. They made them jog three times a week.

A year later, they examined the

brain

in the laboratory. They examined the hippocampus, the memory center in the middle of the

brain

that determines what is included in memory and what is not. It turned out that this part, which gradually shrinks in older people, suddenly stopped shrinking. The students discovered that the hippocampus got a little bigger, and then bigger and bigger. It seemed as if time was going backwards. The less the brain twitched on the memory test, the better it performed. So I created my own exercise plan. I practice it three times a week, I would like to introduce it to you.

I arrive at the airport as late as possible, carry very heavy luggage, and then run to the plane. (laughs) They came up with the idea at Inouye University and it was much less simple. Walk for 10 minutes, three times a week. The next week it became 15 minutes, the next week it became 20 minutes, and by adding 5 minutes each week it became 40 minutes. 40 minutes of brisk walking is not a long, strenuous walk, but it is a beneficial walk. 40 minutes, three times a week, is all you need to improve memory and reduce brain shrinkage. Very simple. What I would like to do is go back in time, sit down with my father and say, “Dad, I discovered something important.

We don't need that cheese and bacon. There are many healthy things we can eat. Let's bring colorful vegetables and fruits, let's make them part of our day. Let's cut back on snacks and exercise.” It's too late for him. But it's not too late for you yet. It's not too late for me either, and the lesson from what we learned today is how to protect our sanity so families can live together longer. thank you so much