There is iron and copper in your body; it actually oxidizes in your body causing the production of free radicals. These free radicals act like sparks in your brain that singe connections.

Iron is a double-edged sword. You need iron, but only a little. Too much and it becomes toxic. Common sources of copper and iron that often lead to getting too much:

• Cast iron pans.
  
• Copper pipes in houses.
  
• Meat and liver.
  
• Vitamins.
  
  

Fighting these free radicals is vitamin E; it’s an antioxidant. 8 mg per day cuts your chance of Alzheimer’s in half! You can’t just buy pills with it though. Pills only have one form versus the 8 forms found in food. Get your Vitamin E FROM FOOD!!! This is the same problem with manufactured probiotics too! The manufacturers only produce the easiest and cheapest forms, so you are missing out on a lot the variety and therefore benefits.

Additionally, blueberries and grapes have Anthocyanins; it gives them that purple color and is a powerful antioxidant. These help with memory issues too in the same way as vitamin E. They also regularly make the dirty dozen list, so buy them organic whenever possible. In general, our brains can see what you need through color; orange, red, purple, etc. Eat a variety of colors.

Fun fact: People who don’t eat meat and dairy are normally healthier than people who do, so although the food pyramid is a nice shape you can throw it out. Even the newer plate version still has some issues and “influences”. Harvard’s version of the plate makes it close to the PCRM’s recommendation below.

Excercise stops the shrinking of the hippocampus. A 40 minute brisk walk, 3 times per week is all that you need.

Brain and Memory Guidance.

Do’s

• Eat vitamin E from foods, not pills.
  
• Eat Anthocyanins.
• Exercise.
  

Don’ts

• Avoid saturated fats ( especially from animals, including dairy ) and trans fats.
  
• Avoid too much copper and iron; whether it is from pans, meat, or vitamins. Just be aware that you could be getting too much.

It is interesting that people taking multivitamins are likely legitimately overdosing on vitamins leading to negative health consequences. Plus, many manufactured vitamins don’t have the same positive effects when compared to natural whole food sources. Studies and insight from doctors seem to continually point to issues with getting too much and in the wrong forms across multiple vitamin supplements.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s (PCRM) version of the food pyramid/plate doesn’t even have meat, since animal protein has been linked to various forms of cancer. More and more evidence shows that people simply never ate a lot of meat throughout history. Follow Neal Barnard’s suggestions would probably be beneficial to most Americans; especially if you find out that you have the gene that is common in Alzheimer’s patients (APOE e4).

Nowadays, we have a better understanding that fat may not actually be the primary cause in the rise of all these chronic illnesses in the United States. Instead, it appears to be linked to sugar and highly processed food made with seed oils. A key to remember is that likely anything is excess amounts is likely harmful. The more processed a food item is the more out of balance it normally becomes. Our food industry is so messed up it’s hard to even know. Eating whole foods that were grown/raised in a setting mimicking how it would be in nature is probably the only real way to have a healthy diet.

Personally

I primarily follow the Ancestral Template approach touted by Chris Kresser, M.S. My animal protein sources are almost exclusively chicken, wild caught salmon, and sardines. I also try to eat grass fed beef whenever possible, because of the linoleic acid ( the shortest omega-6 fatty acid ) imbalances with grain fed animals. Excess linoleic acid has been shown to cause vitamin E depletion, gut dysbiosis, and inflammation, as well as contribute to weight gain, liver disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, and premature aging.(3) Additionally, I avoid industrially processed and refined oils, such as soybean, cottonseed, corn, safflower, and sunflower primarily for the same reason. Overall, roughly 50% of my daily intake of food by weight is from organic vegetables. For whole food sources of fat I consume 1 ounce of walnuts or almonds daily, along with regularly eating avocados.

My rule of thumb is that if a “nutrition” ingredient label has sugar (or any kind of sugar substitute) and a seed oil within the top 5 ingredients it’s not healthy.

References

1. https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-scoop-on-anthocyanins-89522
2. https://www.pcrm.org
3. https://chriskresser.com/healthy-fats-what-you-need-to-know/
   

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