11 Surprising, Delicious Foods That Boost Brain Power; part one

You may choose certain foods to prevent bloating, avoid inflammation, and get glowing skin—but what about boosting your brain power every time you fill your plate?

The relationship between diet and brain health—from how to sharpen your mind and memory to starting Alzheimer's prevention super early—has been getting lots of attention lately, and Rebecca Katz, MS, author of the new science-based recipe book The Healthy Mind Cookbook, is at the forefront of the movement.

"It used to be that scientists thought that as you grow older your brain cells die," says Katz, who's also the executive chef at Food As Medicine and founder of Healing Kitchens Institute in Bolinas, California. "Now, we're actually seeing that our brain cells can regenerate—which is largely based on how we eat and exercise. If you're eating a whole foods diet, of course you're taking care of your body, but there are actually certain foods that are very important for the brain."

Want to know what they are? These are the 11 foods Katz says you should be eating to strengthen your mental muscles now.

Lentils

Lentils are full of brain-friendly B vitamin folate, which helps keep your mind sharp as you age, thiamin and vitamin B6, which give you more focus and energy, iron, which is important for cognitive functioning in women during childbearing years, and zinc, which is said to be a memory booster.

Mint

Mint is a good source of vitamin A, which can help boost learning skills and increase brain plasticity, vitamin C, which is said to protect against cognitive decline, and for other, unexpected reasons."There are fascinating studies out there about how the scent of mint affects brain functioning," Katz says. "In one study, the aroma of mint helped boost alertness and memory. In another, it helped test subjects perform better on basic clerical skills, such as typing and memorization. Just the scent of mint has been shown to increase alertness.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds, deliver generous helpings of iron in addition to a mineral trio of potassium, magnesium, and calcium, which Katz says has shown to delay cognitive decline. "For this reason, I call pumpkin seeds nature's smallest antidepressant," she says.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a brain-boosting superstar." It's a great source of vitamin K, which is said to keep your mind sharp as you age and boost memory, as well as folate. "It also helps in liver detoxification, and a happy liver—the body's vacuum cleaner for toxins—makes for a happy brain," she adds. 

Sardines

Even if eating them isn't totally appealing, your brain loves these tiny fish which are loaded with vitamin B12, which has been shown to boost memory and ward off depression. They're also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep your brain sharp, and are high in niacin, which can boost mental energy.

Almonds

Almonds may help your body fight inflammation in ways that can boost mood and slow the mental decline that comes with age, as well as raise levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is "associated with fewer down moods and less depression," she says. 

Beets

"Beets are a brain food of the first order," Katz says. "They are high in nitrites, which have been shown to increase blood flow in parts of the brain related to executive functioning, have got lots of vitamin B9, which may aid cognitive functioning and delay a descent into dementia, and are rich in carotenoids, which may help boost brain functioning and stave off depression." 

Cashews

"Cashews are a great source of two brain-boosting minerals, zinc and magnesium," Katz explains. "Zinc is important because low levels of the mineral are associated with depression, and it may improve memory as well, while magnesium has been shown to help better regulate sleeping patterns and may improve learning skills."

Cashews also contain the B vitamin thiamin, which Katz says has been linked to more mental energy and better moods in women, plus vitamin E, which in low levels is linked to poor cognition. 

Cinnamon

"Cinnamon delivers some anti-inflammatory benefits, which may well boost overall brain functioning," Katz explains. "It also unleashes in the brain some special proteins called neurotrophic factors, which can help the brain generate new neurons and keep old ones healthy."

Similar to mint, researchers found that the aroma of cinnamon can improve memory and focus on cognitive tests, says Katz, so don't forget to sprinkle a little on your coffee in the morning.

Dark Chocolate

"The cocoa that gives dark chocolate its haunting, addictive flavor is loaded with the memory-boosting antioxidant power of flavonoids," Katz says. "In two recent studies, cocoa consumption has been linked to higher scores on cognitive tests. Dark chocolate is also a boon to the cardiovascular system, and a healthy heart helps keep the brain sharp."

Be warned, though: Katz says that milk seems to interfere with the body's ability to access the power of flavonoids, so these benefits don't apply to milk chocolate, and it might even be best to steer clear of milk while you're enjoying dark chocolate.

Ginger

"Many women can experience a loss of mental sharpness as they get into middle age, but ginger has been shown to help keep that from happening," Katz says. "Another study on postmenopausal women showed ginger boosting memory skills and ability to focus." 

For more information, visit www.rebeccakatz.com or check out The Healthy Mind Cookbook

Low Brain Levels of Vitamin B12 in Schizophrenia, Autism Patients

 Vitamin B-12, or Cobalamin, is the largest and most complex vitamin currently known to man. A slight deficiency of vitamin B-12 can lead to anaemia, fatigue, mania, and depression, while a long term deficiency can cause permanent damage to the brain and central nervous system. Vitamin B12 can only be manufactured by bacteria and can only be found naturally in animal products, however, synthetic forms are widely available and added to many foods like cereals. Some of the food sources of vitamin B12 include shellfish, liver, fish, crustaceans (crab), fortified soy products, fortified cereals-all bran, red meat, low fat dairy and eggs.

While brain levels of Vitamin B12 decrease naturally with age, individuals with schizophrenia and autism tend to experience a premature decrease, showing far lower brain levels of B12 than healthy people of similar age, according to a new study.

For example, compared to non-autistic children under age 10, kids with autism were found to have three times lower brain levels of Vitamin B12; a level more comparable to healthy adults in their 50s.

“These are particularly significant findings because the differences we found in brain B12 with aging, autism, and schizophrenia are not seen in the blood, which is where B12 levels are usually measured,” said lead researcher Richard Deth, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology at Nova South Eastern University’s (NSU) College of Pharmacy.

“The large deficits of brain B12 from individuals with autism and schizophrenia could help explain why patients suffering from these disorders experience neurological and neuropsychiatric symptoms.”

For the study, an international research team analyzed and compared brain tissue from otherwise healthy deceased donors and donors with autism or schizophrenia. They found that healthy elderly people in the age range of 61-80 have about three times lower levels of total brain B12 than younger age groups, which is a result of normal aging. This decrease may help adjust brain metabolism to sustain its function across the lifespan.

An active form of B12 called methylcobalamin, or methyl B12, supports normal brain development by managing a process known as epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

Significantly, the brain level of methyl B12 was found to be more than 10 times lower in healthy elderly people than in healthy younger people. A lower than normal level of methyl B12 in the brain could negatively alter neurodevelopment in younger years,  could disrupt learning and memory later in life.

Both autism and schizophrenia are linked to oxidative stress, also found to be a significant contributor in the aging process. The researchers believe that oxidative stress may underlie the lowered brain B12 levels observed in this study. The findings suggest the need for further research to determine if the use of supplemental methyl B12 and antioxidants like glutathione could help prevent oxidative stress and potentially be used as a treatment for these conditions.

The research is published in the online journal Public Library of Science One (PLOS One).

A neuroscientist explains why you should stop listening to music while you work

Listen to music for 10 to 15 minutes before you start working to boost your productivity.
Since I was gifted a new pair of headphones this past holiday season, I've developed a habit of listening to music while I work.  I've been absolutely amazed by how much more productive and creative I am with Pandora's Mozart or "classical guitar" station playing quietly in the background.

Curious as to what exactly was going on in my brain during these listening sessions, I reached out to Daniel Levitin, a cognitive neuroscientist and the author of "This is Your Brain on Music."

"Not to rain on your musical parade," he told me, but those listening sessions are likely making me less productive. Cue the record scratch."You're having so much more fun," said Levitin (who's also a musician), "that you feel more productive."

He cited a growing body of research suggesting that, in almost every case, your performance on intellectual tasks (think reading or writing) suffers considerably when you listen to music. Consider this 2010 study, which found that people performed worse on a memory task when they listened to music in the background, compared to when they worked in quiet.

A better bet, according to Levitin? Listen to music for 10 to 15 minutes before you start working.

He explained that listening to tunes you enjoy can put you in a better mood and relax you. Your brain releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, which gives you a "warm feeling of pleasure." You may also get a hit of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which elevates your mood and can make it easier to focus.

Unfortunately, Levitin said, listening to music also takes up some of your attentional capacity, meaning that if you listened to it while working, you'd have fewer resources left to direct toward the task at hand.

The exception is when you're performing tasks that are repetitive or monotonous, such as when you're working on an assembly line or driving for long periods of time. In those cases, Levitin said, it's easy to get bored, so music can increase your arousal and help you pay more attention to your work.

Levitin said he applies the scientific research on music and productivity in his own life. When he's studying or writing, he works in quiet and takes breaks for either music listening, exercise, or simply being in nature, all of which can be restorative.But when he's doing a relatively dull task, like his accounting, he often puts on music

If you're 20, here are 5 decisions you can make to avoid cancer over the next 20 years

It's wise to think ahead when it comes to cancer, says William Nelson, one of the nation's leading oncologists and director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University. That includes taking steps like avoiding tobacco and tanning beds, especially when you're young.

Nelson recently did a Q&A session on Quora, where he covered everything from why cancer is hard to solve and what role genomics should play in its treatment. One question, though, offered some more concrete advice. Here's what the leading oncologist had to say to a 20-year-old who asked what decisions they could make over the next 20 years to avoid cancer:

• "The most important thing you can do, of course, is to avoid use of tobacco in any form.  Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. for both men and women, and people who smoke are 25 times more likely to develop lung cancer than those who don’t. Tobacco use is also associated with increased risk of 18 different cancers, including cancer of the larynx, bladder, cervix, stomach, and colon."
• "Leading an otherwise healthy lifestyle also reduces your cancer risk.  That includes controlling your weight (be as lean as possible without becoming underweight); getting exercise (at least 30 minutes a day of physical activity), minimizing consumption of alcohol, and limiting consumption of foods high in fat or added sugars (because these contribute to weight gain), among others.  It’s believed that maintaining a healthy lifestyle reduces the incidence of cancer by 10 to 15 percent and mortality from cancer by 20 to 25 percent."
• "Other important precautions include avoiding excessive exposure to the sun, which can cause skin cancer, including melanoma, which can be fatal.  And stay out of tanning beds! According to the American Academy of Dermatology, people who use indoor tanning are 59 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never done it."
• "You should have annual checkups with a physician and follow his or her recommendations for age-appropriate screening. You should also know your family history of cancer and share that with your physician. For example, a woman with a family history of breast cancer, especially certain kinds, has a higher risk of developing breast cancer herself. Regular screening is even more important in those cases."
• "Both men and women should also check with their doctors to make sure they have been vaccinated for the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical and other cancers, and hepatitis B (HBV), the cause of most liver cancers."