Maybe it’s because I’m now “of a certain age” that my friends and I are talking about aging parents. My parents are in good health, but other people in my family are experiencing, or experienced some form of dementia.
There is so much still unknown about dementia, but we are all familiar with some of the suggestions as to how to keep our minds sharp. This article from the National Institute on Aging cites the following:
- Take Care of Your Physical Health
- Manage High Blood Pressure
- Eat Healthy Foods
- Be Physically Active
- Keep Your Mind Active
- Stay Connected with Social Activities
- Manage Stress
- Reduce Risks to Cognitive Health
Take Care of your Physical Health is broad and the following three: Manage Blood Pressure, Eat Healthy Foods and Be Physically Active all fall under that umbrella.
If you are living a healthy plant-based lifestyle, most of the elements listed fall into place naturally. (Think Blue Zones. If you have not yet watched the series, I recommend.) Before I knew about the benefit of a plant-based diet on the brain, I was only familiar with “Keep Your Mind Active.”
My husband does a crossword puzzle (and plays other word games) daily, he learned to surf and play the bass guitar in his 40’s. I am studying Spanish (Again? Still?), learning about healthy plant-based eating and am cooking new plant-based recipes all the time. I think the newness of learning new cooking skills keeps my mind active. (I recently cooked the plant-based Greek-style bowl in the photo above for the first time. The combinations of the ingredients and condiments were novel to me. Not difficult, but it did require a little extra mental effort since I had no idea how it would turn out. Oh…it turned out delicious!)
This foray into a new genre of cooking is a good segue back to the Eat Healthy Foods suggestions. We mostly think of eating plant-based as healthy for our heart, diabetes, cancer, weight loss and the like. Lesser discussed are the benefits of eating healthy plant-based for our brains.
Neurologists Dr. Ayesha Sherzai and Dean Sherzai, co-directors of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University Medical Center “have dedicated their lives to scientific breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s prevention and care. What have they discovered? Alzheimer’s prevention starts with a 30-day commitment to delicious food that feeds your amazing brain.”
Their book, The 30-Day Alzheimer’s Solution begins with an overview of why a plant-based lifestyle is key, how it benefits our minds and the rest of the book is a food plan and recipes. I have made a few of the recipes in the book and they are great.
Of course, when you eat and live this way for your mind, the rest of your body benefits too. And, we can’t forget how a plant-based diet also benefits the climate and of course the animals. The wins keep stacking up in favor of plant-based.
Here’s the double whammy, if plant-based cooking is new for you, not only do you get the benefit of the healthy food, but also of the benefit of keeping your mind active as you learn new skills.
The skills I’m talking about are simple and fun and can easily be learned.
If you have a friend or family member who is showing symptoms of cognitive decline, or if you are concerned about your brain health, it’s not too late to address the issues.
Cooking plant-based is bursting with so many benefits, and brain health is just one. Grab a copy of Drs. Sherzai’s book and reach out to me if you need help with getting started and cooking healthy plant-based.