FROMONLINE | 2013-09-04

  • By Daphne Ross
  • September 4, 2013
  • 438
                        
Using your noodle to feed your brain Column Summary There are so many good for your body foods, with so many studies, reports, and evidence to support the natural power of these super foods. You can feed your body and feed your brain at the same meal. There are many excellent food choices to fuel your brain with the nutrients needed to boost you brainpower. Sorry to say, noodles are not on the list. But you can use your noodle to educate yourself on which foods make your brain happy, healthy, and ready to handle the rest of the body’s functions. One should be very smart this time of year with the plentiful tomato crop we are experiencing. Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes, has evidence to support the fact that it could protect against the damage to cells which occurs in the development of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's. Seasonal pumpkin carving is a great way to introduce the nutty taste of toasted pumpkin seeds to your family. This fall tradition doesn’t have to stop after the carving seasoning pumpkin seeds pulled from the pulp followed by oven toasting is a family fun kitchen project. A handful of pumpkin seeds a day are all you need to get your recommended daily amount of zinc. Zinc is vital for thinking skills and enhancing memory. Binging on blueberries may not be the best for your digestive system but measured snacking on them may be effective in improving or delaying short term memory loss. Blueberries are widely available and whether eaten baked in a portion sized muffin or a hand full tossed into your oatmeal, the benefit is sweet. The alphabet is full of vitamins. We all know about vitamin A, B, C, D, and E but did you know there is a vitamin K? Vitamin K is known to improve brainpower and enhance cognitive function. Cognitive is the vocabulary word of the day. In science, cognition is a group of mental processes that includes attention, memory, producing and understanding language, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. So serve up a brainpower buffet which includes broccoli. If you are already a broccoli lover than you are thinking strong today and you are already ingesting your vitamin K; so keep on crunching and munching on this green veggie. And if you must, it’s okay to take a dip into a homemade ranch dressing made from real dairy ingredients, grab the D when you can. Who studies nuts, I certainly don’t. I stick my hand into the bowl and eat them. But a published medical study suggests that a good intake of vitamin E might help to prevent cognitive decline, particularly in the elderly. Nuts are a great source of vitamin E along with leafy green vegetables, asparagus, olives, seeds, eggs, brown rice and whole grains. This study also proves that there is a nut bowl in the lab. So what have we learned, we have learned that there are many natural power foods that not only nourish our bodies but nourish our brains as well. And even though noodles aren’t a brain power food, I will continue to feed my body cheese soup with noodles, and broccoli, of course. Send your recipes to Country Cupboard, 5973 Blachleyville Rd., Wooster, Ohio, 44691. Emails are always welcome: thewritecook@sssnet.com


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