5 ingredients for better brain health

Our friends at newhope care about your brain. They care about your brain so much that while attending the Nutrition Business Journal Summit, newhope360 spoke with Dr. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., a clinical neuroscientist, psychiatrist and brain imaging expert about ways to improve brain functioning. According to Dr. Amen, “Your brain is the organ of judgment, character, personality and every decision you make.”
We couldn’t agree more with newhope and Dr. Amen on the importance of a healthy brain and therefore wanted to share their wonderful knowledge on how you can help keep your brain healthy and happy.
Eat the rainbow
ROYGBIV is the acronym from grade school to remind us of the colors of the rainbow. Taken to inform brain-healthy dietary choices, we have:
Red: Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, red bell peppers, tomatoes, pomegranates
Orange: Oranges, yams, carrots
Yellow: Squash, yellow bell peppers, peaches, bananas
Green: Spinach, broccoli, peas
Blue: Blueberries, a.k.a. “brain berries”
Purple: Plums
Be smart, eat tasty
Turmeric is to curcumin what the apple tree is to the apple, said Terry Lemerond, president of EuroPharma. Curcumin contains a chemical that has been shown to decrease the plaques in the brian thought to be responsible for Alzheimer’s disease, said Dr. Amen. Curcumin is also one of the better natural anti-inflammatories.
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know
“The No. 1 predictor of longevity is conscientiousness—if you show up when you say you’ll show up you’ll live longer. The ‘don’t worry be happy’ people die earliest from accidents and preventable illnesses. A little anxiety is okay,” said Dr. Amen. “Who you hang out with really matters. The best thing is to find the healthiest person you can stand and spend as much time as you can with him.”
Coffee in moderation only
“Caffeine is not good for your brain—it dehydrates you and messes with your sleep,” said Dr. Amen. “You can do better.” Amen said that one or two normal-size cups of coffee or two-three cups of tea a day is probably not a problem. Caffeine restricts blood flow to the brain and anything like that leads to premature aging.
Nothing fishy about brain health
Because the long-chain omega-3 fatty acid DHA is the main component of the brain’s synapses, diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to promote a healthy emotional balance.
Low levels of omega-3s have been assiciated with everything from anxiety to depression and suicide. The biggest fish-eating country, Japan, has the lowest levels of depression, while fish-averse Americans suffer from high levels of depression.
GABA, the king neurotransmitter
Eating protein-rich foods such as chicken, fish and beef provides the amino acid glutamine, which serves as the precursor to the neurotransmitter GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid.
GABA, explains Dr. Amen, is reported in the herbal literature to work in much the same way as anti-anxiety drugs by stabilizing nerve cells and decreasing their tendency to fire erratically.
Market potential for cognitive products
Compared with other supplement categories, such as heart health and joint health, brain supplement sales are underdeveloped despite significant concern and demand from consumers. In this graph’s brain health column, the gap between the line (category sales, in millions) and the bar (how concerned consumers are with the condition) spells market potential.