Tag Archives: Food

How to feed your brain to make it last

Let’s face it…..every time you feed your body, you feed your brain. A well-fed brain can think clearly, make great decisions, handle stress and remember well.

A poorly-fed brain can’t remember, is impatient, is stuck in a cloud and can’t make decisions. Everything you eat affects you, so don’t you want to know which foods are best for your brain AND your body? You’ve met those people who look great but their brain is running on empty? With a
little know how and an eye for spotting fresh, home cooked, chemical-
free food, you can build your brain muscle and release the inner gunk
associated with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Oh, and with ADHD and
memory problems as well.

What’s really the best food?
Who knew that the best foods for you, now that you know the food pyramid misses the mark, are, u name it:  good ole greens, beans and veggies as close to fresh picked as you can get them. Organic produce is important because it is not grown with  pesticides, which  are potent cancer causers. With the widespread marketing of GMO foods (genetically-modified “Frankenfood” fruits and vegetables), it is doubly important that black folks and urban neighborhoods don’t become dumping grounds for pesticide-laden, old, poorly regulated and nutrient poor foods.

Food distributors know that they can unload lower quality foods in urban and immigrant neighborhoods. Check the expiration labels on the food products that you buy. For unpackaged foods, use your eyes and your nose. If you can smell the fish counter or the meat section from the front of the store, maybe you should go somewhere else. If you can smell
that a packaged food is rancid (old smelling), don’t use it. Packaged foods,
like nuts and crackers should be fresh.

What to look for
Now is the time to look for the stickers on fresh produce that says “Organic” or has a five digit code that begins with a number 9.  Let the manager at your local market know that you want high quality, organically grown, fresh produce. If a few people ask, they can order it for their produce section. Look for farmers markets with produce that is often picked the same day or the day before. Pay a little bit more or check out your local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to buy a “farm-share” where you’ll get weekly deliveries of freshly harvested veggies from May to November for a lump sum payment. Check the prices of several farms but this usually averages $40 a week for the growing season for a family of four. They usually deliver to a drop off point like a church,  school or farmers market.

In the end, it’s less expensive
Fresh produce can be quickly cooked into a meal for 25% of the cost of processed, prepared foods and have four times the nutrition because it hasn’t been processed, baked, boiled, colored, preserved and sometimes, dried for packaging.

Follow health-conscious sister/brother bloggers
Vegan and healthy food bloggers, like Tracye McQuirter, will give you the details, recipes, facts and motivation for cooking up delicious, nutritious, “skintastic” and age defying meals! Join her movement to enroll Black
women in an 8 week campaign to change your life.

Also, check out The Afro-Vegan Society where Executive Director,
Brenda Sanders explains to you how your food choices can change
the black experience from one of poor health and limited opportu-
nity to one of extended longevity and boundless energy.

Diet Coke Drama

Sweet but sad and mostly corn syrup.
Sweet but sad and mostly corn syrup.

We are being frivolous to refer to this issue as just “drama”. For years, we have been warning you about the risks related to aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. Now there is data from years of tracking women in a very large study and here’s what’s been found: Increased blood pressure, increased cholestral, increased belly fat and increased risks of diabetes. In addition, daily diet soda drinking is thought to cause an increase of 30% in your risk of heart attack and an increase of 50% in your risk of dying from heart attack.

So will you switch back to regular soda with its’ corn syrup sweetener? Not so fast! Corn syrup is associated with causing dementia and Alzheimer’s. Well what should you drink? WATER! Okay, some of you want something a little sweeter.  That is, the bacteria that live in your gut are in there poking your intestines and begging for a sweetener, which is what they need to procreate and thrive. How about an all natural drink? Iced herbal tea with honey or a natural sweetener like the herb, stevia. Some tasty brands are NuNevia and Sweet Leaf. We like them because of their natural taste. They are available in powder as well as non-alcohol liquid. Some other brands have troubling fillers