Kwik Brain Episode 88: Eating for Your Brain with Dr. Lisa Mosconi | Jim Kwik

what are the best foods for your brain welcome to the quick brain kitchen we are here with dr. Lisa Moscone author of brain food I'm joined reading this so much thanks for being here and this is something we've never done before we are actually live here in the kitchen we just went shopping for all these amazing brain foods which are about to learn a ball about because people ask all the time what are the best foods for concentration for focus for a better memory and what I love about your work is that you have the background not only as a nutritionist but your PhD is in neuroscience right your background you've done so much research your your the your associate director of the Alzheimer's prevention / is it Cornell and adjunct professor associate professor I was looking through your CV and it's it's it's really impressive and so we find what our community of quick brains loves is is taking they love geeking out over science so they're gonna love this conversation that we're having and we're gonna talk about neurotransmitters and neuroscience and also but specifically though how does that affect their day to day life because what you eatin matters especially for your gray matter and so one of the quick brain tips I wanted to talk about real quick before we even started then it's not even really scripted is is this yeah we said like how do you how do you have who doesn't want to have quicker reaction time and quicker thinking and what's one thing people could do as they're listening to this as we have our brain foods here and our green juices well the brain tip I have is to actually drink water right because the the brain is 80% water so in like we usually talk about the brain in terms of its dryness fat protein vitamins minerals and cars but in real I live brain is a brain that is 80% water and even just the 2% water lost to the brain so very very mildly hydration is enough to produce neurological symptoms just a 2% difference that's so subtle some people are more sensitive than people at last but usually it's 2 to 4 percent water loss to the brain is enough to really produce fatigue confusion dizziness memory lapses cognitive sleep urge difficulty concentration concentrating a much smaller attention span much reduced attention span so one of the best tips I have is just really keep hydrated okay and when I asked for water you correctly gave me a cold water right and I said well warm water pour more the best way to rehydrate very quickly otherwise hot water is by the dilating right so really promotes absorption of fluid and substances into the bloodstream so the coldest pop so cold is more constricting yes so cold water or anything called is physical concentrator and so it actually has the opposite effect that kinda scares its stomach away right so that's what we do every time we do brain scans so my background is in neuroscience and nuclear medicine I have a do a PhD right in nuclear medicine is code for brain imaging today the brain scans so when you get the dyes and you see the blue and different colors we do structure brain scans like MRIs but then we do positron emission tomography scans which is nuclear medicine okay so we can look at all different things in the brain a brain activity brain energy whether or not somebody has Alzheimer's disease whether or not you have the neurotransmitters that are needed to maintain a happy mood when you don't have them like serotonin you get depression acetylcholine is needed memories we can look at everything okay the procedure involves injecting a tracer that goes up inside the brain so we need our patients to have really nice veins they're easy to get I don't want to stick to too many times and you want to get the line in very quickly and so I always give them like a big glass of warm water no twenty minutes prior to the procedure so that their veins are really dilated really their body is really well hydrated and the brain and you and if people are just listening to this right now and they're not watching us on youtube or on Facebook this is actually were actually drinking out of our brain mugs and what I want to talk about actually are these brain scans because what's interesting to me is this is this is based on science because you've done all this studies in the area of Alzheimer's research and you're actually looking at the organ that you're treating we know which is which is remarkable and so what are we looking at here and we could show everybody on the screen and put links also in the show notes for people who are listening to this on audio so these are brain scans these are two MRI scans participants in my studies when we started actually met many years ago and these brain scan here is the this game is an MRI scan of a 52 year old woman okay cognitively intact and she had been on a Mediterranean diet most of her life she's actually Greek okay originally and you know she eats pretty much the way we discussed so far and this is the way this is really what you want here that's a beautiful very like when you are 52 years old in the things to keep in mind this is an MRI scan the sequence is called the t1 so the brain looks white and gray in fluid look black a particular sequence you want these little structures inside the brain they're called the ventricles you want it to be really nice and tight because a little bit of fluid is good for you but you don't want to have more fluid and brain just want to have just enough to keep it well your brain protect and I hide I love this because for people who are looking at that this photo right now most people have never really looked at what the brain looks like right that's something everybody sees what's on the outside but this is like a black box three pound gray matter inside mm-hmm yes the other thing you want is that you want your brain to fill up as much as possible of your cranial cavity it is con say you want a glassy outer layer yes this is the bone that surrounds the brain and you want the brain to be as close as possible everywhere it's a little bit more difficult here on top it's normal to have more fluids here on the top but you want the rest of your brain to be really really close to the bone okay and this is really the structures we don't recognize those this is the hippocampus the memory center of the brain for memory consolidation information no sense of direction right this in the hippocampus and it looks great because it's gray Manor right and you want it to be really close to the white matter around it because it needs to be really like chubby okay the biggest possible not be good is better and when we were talking earlier before we started shooting we're talking about neurogenesis and neuroplasticity that what's when you were talking about brain cells specifically the reason why it's so important to preserve them is because it's different from other places so you your hair cells they they they regrow or your liver cells you know over a matter of X amount of time but for your brain cells once they're dead they're dead but when there is neurogenesis that's happening mostly in the hippocampus yeah there are two parts of the brain and they were shown to just show new to Genesis in grown-ups and the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb it's at that part of the brain that is responsible for smell so this is basically the most primitive functions right right and I think everybody talking about food when we're talking about memory it's like you you smell of food it could take you back to when you're a child you know with all that and Mo's with all that emotion now what's this other scan so this under scanning comparison is is the brain of a slightly younger woman she was fifty years old back then and she had been on a Western diet most of her life she loves Burgers and Fries so like more like a standard American diet yeah Western is nicer okay it's not blame America yes that kind of diet in her brain shows that right you can see immediately that the ventricles are much larger everywhere so going like deep inside the brain there's a lot more black around the entire brain and also inside this is the temporal lobe and is involved in memory formation as well especially the hippocampus here is also surrounded by black which means it's been losing neurons it's shrinking which is something we call atrophy okay ray and this old patterns of ventricular enlargement in neuronal loss specifically in the memory centers of the brain is usually a big red flag for future Alzheimer's disease so this is the brain that is at risk for Alzheimer's disease and we follow our patients over time for as many years as they will stay without certainly vaccine and we're mapping that that's fascinating yeah and how much how much difference is not just these two people right I just want to clarify that we have hundreds and hundreds of people in this studies and this is average it's it's not like she's a very extreme case this is quite normal typical yes so for people who are at home and they're probably thinking how much of it is genetic and how much has to do with their diet and their lifestyle how much do we how much input do we have our controller influence brain aging is it's more tired than destiny okay that makes them more diet than does so when I started in the field which is in college okay I started right away because I have a family history of Alzheimer's so it was really interested in prevention and what to not do ok healthy I might like my grandmother passed of Alzheimer's my grandmother to her two sisters as well what is their brother they're not interesting so it's it's a reason I'm concerned about my mom no cares and myself and my daughter I really want you to understand how to avoid Alzheimer's and in finding solutions and options so it's a back man your reasoning everybody understood Alzheimer's has the consequence of bad genes in your DNA right or aging or a combination of the two and they think in 2018 there's consensus that neither of these alternatives is necessarily or universally the case okay now that we have chip genomics where we can understand genetics much better and we have brain imaging issues when our timers actually starts in the brain and so what we have learned is that there are genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer's there are three that we know of but they're found in just less than 1% of the general population less than 1% less than 1% so they're much less going on there was previously thought and even if you just gather together all the families affected by Alzheimer's disease only 6 percent of families have these genetic mutations okay so 94 percent of patients with Alzheimer's which is not born of these mutations that we know of which is not to say that genetics are not important right as a scientist and as a biologist I mean I know I study biology a lot of that and I believe in genetics there's always a triangle component to everything it's just that it's not as deterministic as we thought it was it's more like there are groups of genes or networks of genes that work together to make you're healthier and more resilient mm-hm there are other groups of genes and genetic risk factors that actually increase risk just increase your vulnerability or give you a predisposition to specific disease and then there's everything else there's your medical health injuries your lifestyle do they're probably just as important if not more things like stress management just like things like your sleep things like the clean environment yes you know because there could be pollutants we've talked about that before people you spend time with your thoughts your amount of exercise but here specifically though is your food because literally what you what you eat becomes you I mean you're you're pure of your brain is pretty much it's built on food I find that many people I just think of the brain in some kind of sponge okay right that whatever you put into your stomach eventually we're getting inside your brain right and that's just not the case and we were talking about it before then the brain comes with a protection system called the blood-brain barrier they literally shields the brain from the rest of the body and everything else basically in it regulates that is strictly the passage of substances to the brain and from the brain because it's extremely sensitive yes well you wonder there's homeostasis where brain your brain is in equilibrium and it's optimized to work in that kind of environment so everything that gets inside the brain could potentially disrupt that right and that's the last thing anybody of course of course so there's this very strict protection system that says okay there are some substances that the brain needs and wants so we need to supply them to the brain so there are literally gates in the blood-brain barrier they're called receptors or transcripts transcriptional factors but effectively they work like messengers or like gates mm-hm and the thing is that is the brain that opens the gates there's no eyes you know you can eat all the sugar you want but it's never gonna get inside your brain unless your brain wants it arrived so it's a very it it's very carefully regimented you know so brand diet is a very strict diet and is the brain that says I wanted I don't want it right now there's certain there's so many there's so much information out there about food and of course and so what I like about this with your background in neuroscience is that the food some not everything that you eat necessary serves your brain because your brain has different needs than the rest of your body right because obviously your brain is part of your your body but it's in charge of pretty much the master control center but what you eat matters especially as we talked about your grey matter so what are some of your your favorite brain foods like your your your go to you know for you and your family I'm sure a lot of people are watching this they're thinking you know what do I need to eat that just gonna help me have better cognition better focus a better a better memory so my number one brain food is caviar caviar butter fish eggs and we were looking for it at this story and we didn't find it but yeah the point is that if you look at the chemical composition of caviar the nutritional composition of caviar of fish eggs in general like you go to a sushi restaurant see salmon roe yes perfect fantastic and it basically mirrors the nutritional composition of the brain there is very rich in polyunsaturated fatty acid okay especially the omega-3 fatty acids that your brain needs like on a daily basis it contains a good amount of essential protein so all the amino acids that the brain has gates for are in there and it also contains some antioxidants that is it's very rare for animal foods to contain any antioxidants at all okay but have your fish tanks contain vitamin A vitamin E in the small amount vitamin C in some cases so all the antioxidant vitamins and minerals these are a very neuroprotective so the brain is super sensitive to oxidative stress because the most metabolically active organ in the body and every time the brain burns glucose to make energy it also produces free radicals and oxidative stress so the only way to you know kind of put them in jail is to to fit your brain with antioxidants okay now now if somebody is let's say they're vegetarian and they don't they don't eat fish we know it's a great source of DHA and Omega threes what are there is a way would that what would their best option be there are many plant-based foods that contain polyunsaturated fatty acids linked omega-3s and I want to say there I mean fish eggs are great but fatty fish is probably just as good okay because of course we know that caviar is super expensive and fish eggs are not okay yeah like in a health food store they don't have them right so for vegetarians and vegans they think flex seeds are a great source okay which we have which we have here we have here lean effects in the flax seeds are they are you making a meal with that or is that something you could put into a smoothie yes I say you need to grind them really relieve the new shins and I think as mood is a great way to do that right you can also use them when you know if you bake but if you make cookies or cakes okay you know if you use flaxseed meal you can kind of replace eggs how could you mix it with water and it creates a little bit of like a paste like chia seeds okay but they're very reaching in points are omega-3 opponents are you ready for the other it's only the problem is that they so there are three main types a mega 3 this DHA which is the one you brain really want hmm BPA which is a precursor to DHA and these are found in seafood so if it's seafood is the best rice and the ratio is important the ratio is also important for plant-based they contain neither of these two they contain a la it's another type and without that this a la goes inside your brain but your brain is to convert it into DHA and 75% is lost in the conversion what you need to have more so let's say if you need the brain scans brain imaging studies showed that people who consume at least four grams of omega-3 fat every day have the 70 percent lower risk of dementia later on in life Wow as compared to people who consume less than two grams a day can you can you repeat that just for this this is like a very important point the brain imaging studies have shown that people who consume in list four grams of DHA omega-3 fatty acids every day have at least 70 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer's and dementia later on in life compared to people who eat less than two rounds we're talking about 4 4 grams yes is about is about how much of a foe much portion is that about some careful almonds and so it's about 3 ounces a good quality salmon okay and then like a handful of almonds and some extra-virgin olive oil will do it cheers all I didn't perhaps some flex seeds and that's that's it okay so that that's better that's very doable yeah as long as people eat seafood okay this is the best source you know if you're if you're going for a vegetarian diet then you eat three times as much okay because you lose 75% conversion so it's just a matter of keeping tabs on what exactly you're eating and there are supplements that are actually very helpful during vegan DHA supplements okay from high purity algae oil there are great sources of supplementation I think ok algae oil and they can find that in any health food store I mean it's one of the most important supplements probably for the brain first DHA yes if you don't eat any fish I think it would be probably helpful so the best way to really know is to test it right you should do a blood test okay and measure your fatty acid compositions in serum and then if you're deficient I think it's a it's a good indicator that you should supplement right normally what we say is always that supplements cannot replace a healthy diet of course there's a tendency to say I don't want to eat salad and fish you know I'd rather have a burger and take a pill right right right but the truth is their supplements are not nearly as biologically active then something mother nature because there's other compounds in there that yes that probably is not isolated in in a pill exactly great the eyes are for I'm so importantly we were talking about vitamin E mm-hmm and what you get from appeal is one of the eight varieties right vitami whereas if you eat flex seeds and almonds or hazelnuts my favorites then you get all eight different forms okay and it's much more beneficial because like one of the forms for example increases oxygenation so and that's very good for your brain there's another form that is more anti-inflammatory right so every form is a slightly different function and when you have them all then you really get the full benefits of that we talked about the foods that are helpful for greater brain function what are the ones that are harmful the big villains that affecting us and our children yeah I mean that's really interesting because I think there are different schools of thought but but research actually agrees at least in my field that processed food is bad for you and specifically is if the combination of too much transitory the fact okay and cholesterol when those the saturated fat at least in our research and in many of my colleagues research is the combination of these these fats especially in combination with too much copper iron and zinc that is really harmful to the brain in the long term and I think the understanding is turned they're bad because they have the fact on your heart then they trigger inflammation in the body not for everybody of course on average and that really negatively impacts your brain and those the processed food has been linked to a much greater risk of dementia so there are many studies showing that among like hundreds and hundreds of people followed over time those who consumed two grams of trans and saturated fats in the diet of trans fats in the diet broccoli everyday have twice the risk of dementia to people who eat less than one gram and two grams is nothing you know just processed foods containing what are the what are the big culprits that people don't realize what are the okay partially hydrogenated fact I think these are the two wars found mostly in and what kind of foods you think people are eating that don't even really qualify as food a lot of things like I'm very concerned about that because of my daughter right right she's just growing up in an environment where kids have access to all sort of crap just broadly speaking and so I always read the labels like there are some spreads spreads are incredibly dangerous like you would think that that's some kind of butter and it's really not right they margarine right they're kind it's kind of weird like whip creams that you see on things and fake cheese my processed cheese that's terrible and I realize I'm telling I'm just going for dairies but um for dairy products but a lot of baked goods like muffins that you buy packaged foods at cold cuts he write daily him this kind of products they're all really in danger or containing all sort of because it's not it's not just the food it's just the way it's processed also yes I think yes is that the kind of fat that's been added to the food to preserve shelf-life and give you the richest texture and just make them taste better mm-hmm but that is everything else that comes with it like colouring artificial substances preservatives arsenic you know chicken I think even arsenic really okay yeah so it's very important right of course I mean that's why it's so important to eat things because whatever help that you need to read the labels because a lot of meats have the right they have everything from hormones antibiotics they some somebody types like cement just to make them heavier so they can make more money basically so confined at they end up he did it all right no that's not not not at all and then so what about things like wine wine is actually brain food white or red Fred and that's because sir we talked about it before at the store and I'm gonna shoot it blackberries I love them everyone always goes to like the blueberries they're good but these have more nutritional value so all fruits they're very dark like prunes cherries red grapes the darker the better because they're very rich in these antioxidant compounds that then you drink with your wine and that's what gives them the color this is like a rainbow I like looking everything here it's like eating for the rainbow it's so it's not just though equity but it's just the color of everything so you want to make sure it's very rich yes yes I strongly believe in that and in diversity I mean there have been tons of studies showing that nutritional diversity and quality of your food are two major factors for longevity and in health so what does the research saying about red wine why is it good for you is it a brain food because of the antioxidants actually clinical trials kind of failed to show a strong effect mm-hmm but I think we know from epidemiology and from studies of Italian centenarians right there is actually a good part of a healthy diet the point so red wine is very typical of the Mediterranean regions like either the increased pain the way it's been trying but the way we drink it there is that it's really moderation so for women is only like basically this much okay so it's not just the the quality but it's also the quantity man can have too but your day and also you never drink it on an empty stomach because alcohol has very dehydrating effects mm-hmm it's the nature of alcohol is dehydrating and you can't really create unpleasant effects in general and this is better if you absorb it with other foods that can they can promote uptake of this compounds called resveratrol sure mm-hmm in the blood in the bloodstream so it's better paired with foods like fatty foods that really help absorb be there the healthful nutrients right right who doesn't love like wine and cheese and again for women it's important to consider I'll say the menstrual cycle because we tend to absorb alcohol much faster during one part of the cycle it's a little bit in the second part of the cycle so it's good to keep in mind that all the stimulants alcohol caffeine everything theobromine even chocolate they have different effects on your brain and your physiology depending on your hormones so let's talk about that we're where most people get their caffeine besides chocolate is through coffee so how is house coffee affect your your brain Coffee does affect event it's a stimulant it needs an energized it's a vasoconstrictors so it makes your blood flow go to your brain much faster are you and the problem with caffeine I think that some people respond very strongly to caffeine it can have a dehydrating effect not universally enough for everybody but for something like I can't drink coffee without drinking water okay the same time I find it very dehydrating so there's a genetic basis to that as to everything else and at the same time the way is prepared in the amount of caffeine can have negative effects on the heart and for women also depending on hormones so in the first part of the menstrual cycle we're less sensitive to caffeine so we can handle it really well and if you energize and in the second part of the menstrual cycle it takes a lot more coffee to reach the same level of activation so it's really easy to drink too much of it right right and then you can't sleep and you have palpitations and you actually feel like crap and you get headache you dehydrate and so it's important to to consider that that it's just the way it is there's two weeks probably design you something there's no need to drink more coffee it's just the way your body responds and your hormones make you respond to it's amazing so we talked about brain food and we talked about what to eat what about what about when to eat different parts of day do you believe in intermittent fasting do after somebody eats a big meal should they what do they do right afterwards so they take a nap so there's there's very good science done at NIH but dr. Mattson medicines showing how caloric restriction has positive effects on the brain okay that makes your neurons stronger and more resilient and then there are all these other ways to try and implement that it's just eating less is not an option right so we try to refrain from eating and I I think it makes sense especially overnight fasting okay it's something at least you know in Italy or Mediterranean regions is not normal to eat after dinner right there everybody automatically fast overnight just because we're not used to eating after you're done but I think it's important to talk about it because you really have to give your system a break right right and so if you have dinner around you know 6 7 p.m. Danny I think it's very healthy to just stop with refrain from eating until at least 7 a.m. the following morning like so you have 12 hours for your body to just calibrate detoxify and then then you have your break fantasy you have your your break your break fast your breakfast what do you recommend well it will be a good brain healthy breakfast I think it's subjective ok people do very well some people do better on cards I think women in general are physiologically predisposed to run on carbohydrates and men do better than fat but that's really the average person and I think everybody is different it depends on your insulin levels it depends on your blood sugar level the ceiling events on your reaction to certain foods and I think good options are for people who do well in carbohydrate it's a nice toast right like we have 50 biscuit daughter nice toast with a little bit of honey and some fresh fruit or a yogurt for those who don't like bread or don't want to eat bread with fresh fruit again I think fruit is a good thing to have first thing in the morning you know it rehydrates your gives you the vitamins the minerals and for me I like carbohydrates they do very well on carbs talked about though I prefer toast for breakfast is mine there's my go-to and honey the coconut oil in my daughter my daughter eats it too that sounds delicious and so the main idea here is that people are people are a bio individual is finding what works for you that you could also maintained in consistently and just also I think it's really important to think of is your no.3 Joan is something that transcends breakfast lunch and dinner right so what do you eat during the whole day do you have a good balance of micronutrients do you know for proteins and carbs and healthy fats and have healthy carbs and vitamins and minerals and do you have enough fiber and drink enough water you know I think it is good to think about it here are some really powerful you have some incredibly powerful recipes and we've been testing these so it's not just nutritious but they're also delicious and there's all section there on snacks also as well so brain healthy snacks that are easy that have just a handful of ingredients yes well nothing can take longer than 15 minutes right so except for this slow-cooked basically you make it ten minutes in there just pop it in the oven and let it know everything and that's the thing we're all that quick brain and the quick brain kitchen here we're all about having something incredibly incredible nutritious and delicious that you can do that's also doable too because so many people said something a goal but it's it's it's attainable but it's not sustainable they can't do that right if you go for quality then preparation time gets really you don't need to spend that much time dressing your food and marinating your food or doing who knows water you know just have a nice piece of salmon fillet you put some Dijon French mustard on top you put it in the oven and it's it 30 minutes very nutritious then you know yeah I completely right yes we're here with dr. Lisa Moscone author of brain food I recommend everybody goes and picks this up with our be links also in this episode we're where's the best place for people to find you find out more about you on my website okay can you calm Instagram I yes I think Instagram is mine it's my favorite too okay so show me there what I would challenge everybody to do is your quick brain challenge is to take a screenshot of this video or of this podcast episode and when you do it I want you to post it tag Lisa tag myself and share your big aha like what is your favorite what was your favorite lesson from this episode also what's your favorite brain food out of all the brain foods we talked about which is your favorite chocolate no I think chocolates gonna be very fearful I like avocados I really love Baca moly I had we made some incredible pro cuacamole last night I just it's one of my favorite ever but at the very least people could take a lot of these ingredients and put into a blender and make a brain power smoothie they could take their their blackberries or blueberries their avocados some green leafy vegetables some cacao which is amazing don't don't put that wild salmon in the muder probably wouldn't be the best ever and it's done it's convenient too and that that's what's most important right and this is an investment I mean so many people really our health is our wealth oh yeah a lot of people they'll go out there and achieve with her career at the expense they're not sleeping they're not eating right or not exercising and then they achieve a level of wealth you know maybe but then they're chasing then after use all well to get their health back yeah and that's that's really sad and so exactly exactly and this is great because we get to I'm excited about this because we're talking with a research that you're doing in Alzheimer's and with the aging brain why not get there sooner you know why not why not why not prevent it upstream yeah and you're saying that you know very small percentage of it has to do with fate or your genetic destiny that may be that your genetics is what maybe loads the gun but but what you eat is really what kind of fires fires it and we have total control over our hands and what we actually put into into our mouth society where were used to the idea that we feed our bodies right they were much less aware of the fact they were feeding our brains to it every day we should probably make a brain stew and that should be like a lifelong process it should really be part of a lifestyle and not just this 3 weeks diet that I do after Thanksgiving or whatever your brain will not change in two weeks three weeks no matter how many books tell you that it's just impossible and it really has to be like okay by day positive it should be at practice it's part of your lifestyle and really at the bottom line we're just saying really love your brain yeah you know and your brain like your best friend treat your brain like your best friend and you'll get all the rewards that's for sure yeah thank you Lisa thank you [Music]

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Views: 340,770

Rating: 4.8888545 out of 5

Keywords: jim kwik, kwik learning, kwik brain, lisa mosconi, brain health, brain food

Id: qxiAmJllp4I

Length: 39min 22sec (2362 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 14 2018