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                      Unleashing the Power of the Female Brain

                      Published by FoodTrients

                      Dr. Daniel G. Amen’s latest book, Unleash the Power of the Female Brain: Supercharging Yours for Better Health, Energy, Mood, Focus, and Sex, is a kind of homage to his wife, mother, and five sisters. In it he describes how women’s brains differ from men’s brains, and explains how women should take care of their gray matter for optimal physical and emotional well being. Dr. Amen says that many factors can affect brain health, including whether or not we get enough sleep, whether we smoke or are exposed to other environmental toxins, whether we get enough exercise, and our family history. He says, “For example, when you don’t get enough sleep, you have overall decreased blood flow to your brain, which disrupts thinking, memory, and concentration.”

                      Nutrition has a lot to do with the state of our brains, too. “If your food is not the best, you will never be your best,” he insists. Staying hydrated is important. Too much alcohol or caffeine can negatively impact our brains. So can food allergies. Keeping our blood sugar in check is also key. “When you eat a high-sugar or simple-carbohydrate diet, your blood sugar often becomes dysregulated, causing you to feel sluggish and foggy-headed,” he writes. “High blood sugar causes vascular problems throughout your whole body, including your brain. Over time, it causes blood vessels to become brittle and vulnerable to breakage. It leads not only to diabetes but also to heart disease, strokes, visual impairment, impaired wound healing, wrinkled skin, and cognitive problems.” Yikes!

                      Our weight can affect the state of our brains, too. “There are eighteen studies now that report that as your weight goes up, the actual physical size and function of your brain goes down. That should just scare the fat off all of us,” he jokes. It kinda does. But if you aren’t yet convinced, he gives more reasons for losing weight: “Obesity doubles the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and depression. There are probably several mechanisms that create this result, including the fact that fat cells produce inflammatory chemicals and store toxic materials in the body.”

                      Fortunately, he has some advice to give on how to eat better and what supplements we can take. He recommends that everyone take fish oil capsules, a multi-vitamin, and a vitamin D supplement. “Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with obesity, depression, cognitive impairment, heart disease, reduced immunity, cancer, psychosis, and all causes of mortality,” he writes. Later in the book he gives specific supplement advice for women with particular brain challenges like short attention spans or poor impulse control. All throughout this book he tells stories of his patients and how they overcame brain injuries and impaired brain function from years of eating a poor diet, being overly stressed, and/or a lack of exercise.

                      He devotes an entire chapter to eating well. Eating well is so important because, he says, “the intestinal tract is virtually a second brain. The gut makes more neurotransmitters than the brain. Neurotransmitters are key biochemicals that regulate mood and energy.” Fiber, we know, can pull toxins out of the body. Dr. Amen explains that it can also bind harmful estrogens and get rid of them so they can’t wreak havoc on your emotions. He warns against eating meats laced with hormones, and produce treated with pesticides. He says not to microwave food in plastic containers or drink from plastic bottles, especially those containing BPA.

                      After having changed his own eating habits many years ago, Dr. Amen now insists, “I don’t want fast or poor-quality food anymore because it makes me feel tired and stupid.” I can relate.

                      Dr. Amen also gives his 9 Rules for Eating Right.

                      1.  Eat high-quality calories but not too many of them.

                      2.  Drink plenty of water and avoid liquid calories.

                      3.  Eat high-quality lean protein throughout the day.

                      4.  Eat smart (low-glycemic, high-fiber) carbohydrates. Sugar is not your friend.

                      5.  Focus your diet on healthy fats.

                      6.  Eat natural foods of many different colors.

                      7.  Cook with brain-healthy herbs and spices to boost your brain.

                      8.  Make sure your food is as clean as possible. It is critical to know and understand what the foods you eat have eaten.

                      9.  If you’re having trouble with your mood, energy, memory, weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, or skin, eliminate any foods that might be causing trouble, especially wheat and any other gluten-containing grain or food, dairy, soy, and corn.

                      I think this is great advice for not just brain health but also to achieve a younger, better you.

                      Here are his 52 best brain-healthy superfoods:

                      almonds
                      Brazil nuts
                      cacao
                      cashews
                      chia seeds
                      coconut
                      hemp seeds
                      sesame seeds
                      walnuts
                      chickpeas
                      lentils
                      acai berries
                      apples
                      avocados
                      blackberries
                      blueberries
                      cherries
                      goldenberry
                      goji berries
                      grapefruit
                      honey
                      kiwi
                      pomegranates
                      asparagus
                      beets
                      bell peppers
                      broccoli
                      Brussels sprouts
                      cabbage
                      cauliflower
                      chlorella
                      garlic
                      horseradish
                      kale
                      leeks
                      maca root
                      onions
                      seaweeds
                      spinach
                      spirulina
                      sweet potatoes
                      coconut oil
                      grape seed oil
                      olive oil
                      chicken/turkey
                      eggs
                      lamb
                      salmon
                      sardines
                      tea
                      shirataki noodles
                      wheatgrass

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                      FoodTrients
                      FoodTrients
                      Combining her passion for food and a lifelong commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle, Grace O has created FoodTrients, a unique program for optimizing wellness. Grace O is a fusion chef with a mission: to cook up recipes for sustaining a long and joyful life that are built on a foundation of anti-aging science and her work in the health care industry. Mixing foods and unique flavors culled from a lifetime of travels from Asia to Europe and America, Grace O encourages young and old to celebrate a full life that embraces diversity. Lifestyle tips, age-defying recipes, and secrets of the healing properties of food are the centerpiece of FoodTrients-–all available through cookbooks, e-newsletters, and this website.

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                      This website is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. FoodTrients – A Recipe for Aging Beautifully Grace O, author and creator of FoodTrients® -- a philosophy, a cookbook and a resource -- has a new cookbook dedicated to age-defying and delicious recipes, The Age Beautifully Cookbook: Easy and Exotic Longevity Secrets from Around the World, which provides one hundred-plus recipes that promote health and well-being. The recipes are built on foundations of modern scientific research and ancient knowledge of medicinal herbs and natural ingredients from around the world. Since the publication of her first anti-aging book, The Age GRACEfully Cookbook, Grace O has identified eight categories of FoodTrients benefits (Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Immune Booster, Disease Prevention, Beauty, Strength, Mind, and Weight Loss) that are essential to fighting aging, which show how specific foods, herbs, and spices in the recipes help keep skin looking younger, prevent the diseases of aging, and increase energy and vitality. Grace O combines more exotic ingredients that add age-fighting benefits to familiar recipe favorites.

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