A Brain Healthy Diet Should Be Your Top Priority

Article submitted by Nick Zullo for the Alzheimer's Association. He can be reached at 801-265-1944.

The United States will see a 44% increase in individuals with Alzheimer's disease by 2025, and Western states will be hit the hardest. In fact, the highest rate of increase of any state is Utah at 127%!
In addition to having retirement plans in place, potential long-living Utahans should adopt a healthy lifestyle now. Stay mentally, socially, and physically active and adopt a brain-healthy diet, since staying fit is not just from the neck down. Brain health plays a critical role in almost everything we do: thinking, feeling, remembering, working, playing - even sleeping. A healthy brain reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

A variety of foods are readily available at your nearest Smith's or Smith's Marketplace store to help you create brain-healthy meals for you and your family. If you are inspired by food that is fresh and full of flavor and want to live a healthier lifestyle, make that a goal of your grocery shopping routine.

A brain-healthy diet is one that reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, encourages good blood flow to the brain, and is low in fat and cholesterol. High cholesterol and high blood pressure increases the risk of developing dementia by six times. Obesity in middle age doubles the risk of dementia in later life. The key is an overall healthy lifestyle, not a short-term diet. Research suggests that certain foods protect brain cells. Here's what to look for:

• Dark-skinned fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidant levels. Fruits like blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, raisons, prunes, plums, oranges, red grapes and cherries. Vegetables like kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, beets, red bell pepper, onion, corn, and eggplants.
• Cold water fish contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids: halibut, mackerel, salmon, trout, and tuna.
• Some nuts can be a useful part of your diet; almonds, pecans and walnuts are a good source of vitamin E, an antioxidant.

How much of these foods might be most beneficial is not known. However, a recent study of elderly women showed that those who ate the most green, leafy and cruciferous vegetables were one to two years younger in mental function than women who ate a few of these vegetables. There is also indication that vitamins, such as vitamin E, or vitamins E and C together, vitamin B12 and folate are important to lowering the risk of developing Alzheimer's. So, head to Smith's, stock up on brain-healthy foods, and enjoy a longer, healthier life.