Brain Foods that Are Good for You | Jim Kwik & Dr. Lisa Mosconi

What are the best foods for your brain? Welcome to the Kwik Brain Kitchen. We are here with Dr. Lisa Mosconi, author of Brain Food. I enjoyed reading this so much. Thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

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 you're about to learn all 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. Yes, that's actually my background. Your background. You've done so much research. You're the associate director of the Alzheimer's Prevention over— is it Cornell?

Yes, it's the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Amazing.

On the Upper East Side, and I'm also the director of the Women's Brain Initiative at Weill Cornell.

And adjunct professor—

Associate.

Associate professor at—

Associate professor of neuroscience and neurology at Weill Cornell. Wow.

I was looking through your CV and it's really impressive. And so we find what our community of Kwik Brains loves is is taking— they love geeking out over science, so they're, they're going to love this conversation that we're having.

Yeah.

And we're going to talk about neurotransmitters and neuroscience, and also, but specifically though, how does that affect their day-to-day life? Because what you eat matters, especially for your gray matter. And so one of the quick brain tips I wanted to, to talk about real quick before we even started, this is not even really scripted, is, is this: Yeah. We said, like, 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 all our brain foods here and our green juices?

Well, so the best brain tip I have is to actually drink water.

Right.

Because the brain is 80% water. So we usually talk about the brain in terms of its dry mass, fat, protein. vitamins and minerals and carbs. But in reality, a live brain is a brain that is 80% water. And even just a 2% water loss to the brain, so very, very mild dehydration, is enough to produce neurological symptoms.

Just a 2% difference? Yes, just 2%. That's so subtle.

Some people are more sensitive, some people are less, but usually it's 2 to 4% water loss to the brain is enough to really produce Fatigue, confusion, dizziness, memory lapses, cognitive slippage, difficulty concentration— concentrating, and 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 cold water.

Right.

Right? And I said, well, warm water.

Warm water.

It's the best way to rehydrate very quickly.

Now why is that?

So warm water is vasodilating, right? So it really promotes absorption of fluids and substances into the bloodstream.

So the cold is—

It literally makes your veins pop.

So cold is more constricting?

Yes, so cold water, anything cold is vasoconstrictor. And so it actually has the opposite effect. It kind of scares your stomach away.

Right.

It's like, no, that's it. So that's what we do every time. We do brain scans. So my background is in neuroscience and nuclear medicine. I have a dual PhD. And nuclear medicine is code for brain imaging.

It is.

So I do a lot of brain scans.

So when you get the dyes and you see the blue and the—

And the red and the green and the brain like lighting up in all different colors. We do structural 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, like 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 to make memories. We can look at everything. The procedure Involves injecting a tracer that goes up inside the brain.

Right.

And so we need our patients to have really nice veins that are easy to get.

Right.

You don't want to stick them 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.

Of warm water.

Like 20 minutes prior to the procedure so that their veins are really dilated.

Right.

Their body is really well hydrated. And the brain too. This is usually what I do in the morning.

And if people are just listening to this right now and they're not watching us on YouTube or on Facebook, this is actually— we're actually drinking out of our brain mugs.

Yeah, so cheers.

Cheers to you. And what I want to talk about actually are these brain scans, because what's interesting to me is this is based all on science, because you've done all these studies in the area of Alzheimer's research, and you're actually looking at the organ that you're treating.

Yes.

You know, 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 2 MRI scans of participants in my studies when we started actually many years ago. And this brain scan here is the scan, 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 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 your brain to look like when you're 52 years old. And the things to keep in mind: this is an MRI scan. The sequence is called the T1, so the brain looks white and gray. Fluids look black on this particular sequence. You want these little structures inside the brain, they're called the ventricles, you want them 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 than brain, right? You just want to have just enough to keep your brain protected and hydrated.

I love this because for people who are looking at this photo right now, most people have never really looked at what their brain looks like, right? It's something everybody sees what's on the outside, but this is like a black box 3-pound gray matter inside.

Mm-hmm. Yes, and the other thing you want is that you want your brain to fill up as much as possible of your cranial cavity, of your skull. So you want the brain to be—

And that's the outer layer?

Yeah, so 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 these, these 2 little structures in the middle—

I recognize those.

This is your thing. So this is the hippocampus. This is the memory center of the brain for memory consolidation and formation and also a sense of direction.

Right.

So it's in the hippocampus and it looks gray because it's gray matter, right? And you want it to be really close to the white matter around it because it needs to be really like chubby.

Okay.

As big as possible, you know, bigger is better.

And when we were talking earlier before we started shooting, we were talking about neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. That 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. Your hair cells, 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. Yes, they're pretty much dead. But when there is neurogenesis, it's happening mostly in the hippocampus?

Yeah. There are 2 parts of the brain that were shown to show neurogenesis in grown-ups, in adults, and also later on in life. And these are the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and also the olfactory bulb, so that part of the brain that is responsible for smell. So these are basically the most primitive functions in the brain, right?

Memory and smell. The sense of smell, to just make sure you don't eat bad foods, you don't poison yourself, and then the ability to And I think everybody talking about food, when we're talking about memory, it's like you smell a food, it could take you back to when you were a child, you know, with all that emotion. Now, what's this other scan?

So this other scan in comparison is the brain of a slightly younger woman. She was 50 years old back then, and she had been on a Western diet most of her life. She tells me she loves burgers and fries.

So like more like a standard American diet?

Yes, I think Western is a nicer way to put it, right? Let's not blame America. But yes, that kind of diet. And her brain shows that, right? I think you can see immediately that the ventricles are much larger everywhere, also going like deep inside the brain. There's a lot more black around the entire brain and also inside the dry eye.

Right.

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. Right.

And this whole pattern, so ventricular enlargement and neuronal loss specifically in the memory centers of the brain is usually a big red flag for future Alzheimer's disease. So this is a brain that is at risk. For Alzheimer's disease, and we follow our patients over time for as many years as they will stay with us.

Certainly.

Frankly, and we're mapping.

That's fascinating.

Yeah.

And how much—

It is scary.

How much—

And of course, it's not just these 2 people.

Right.

I just want to clarify that. We have hundreds and hundreds of people in the studies, and this is average. So it's not like she's a very extreme case. This is quite normal.

Typical.

Yes, quite typical.

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 or control or influence?

Yeah, I think brain aging is more diet than destiny.

Okay.

To some extent.

More diet than destiny?

More diet than destiny, yeah. So when I started in the field, which is in college, I started right away because I I have a family history of Alzheimer's, so I was really interested in prevention and what to not do to stay healthy.

My grandmother passed of Alzheimer's.

My grandmother too, and her 2 sisters as well, whereas their brother did not.

Interesting.

So it's a reason I'm concerned about my mom, of course, and myself and my daughter. I really want to understand how to avoid Alzheimer's if possible and finding solutions and options. So back then, you're researching, everybody understood Alzheimer's as the consequence of bad genes in your DNA or aging or a combination of the two. And I think in 2018 there's consensus that neither of these alternatives is necessarily or universally the case.

Okay.

Now that we have cheap genomics, Right? We can understand genetics much better, and we have brain imaging which shows us when Alzheimer's actually starts in the brain. And so what we have learned is that there are genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer's. There are 3 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 common than we previously thought. And even if you just gather together all the families affected by Alzheimer's disease, only 6% of families have these genetic mutations.

Okay.

So 94% of patients with Alzheimer's are just 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 study biology, a lot of that, and I believe in genetics. There's always a genetic 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 healthier and more resilient. And there are other groups of genes and genetic risk factors that actually increase risk.

Okay.

And just increase your vulnerability or give you a predisposition to a specific disease. And then there's everything else. There's your medical health and there's your lifestyle. That are probably just as important, if not more.

Things like stress management, 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 eat becomes you. I mean, your brain is It's built on food. It's built on food.

But on very specific types of food, very specific nutrients. I find that many people just think of the brain as some kind of sponge, right, that whatever you put into your stomach eventually will get 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 that literally shields the brain from the rest of the body and everything else. Basically, it regulates very strictly the passage of substances to the brain and from the brain out.

Because it's extremely sensitive.

Yes. Well, you want the— so there's homeostasis in the 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. And that's the last thing.

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 transcriptional factors, but effectively they work like messengers or like gates. And the thing is that it's the brain that opens the gates, so it's not us. You know, you can eat all the sugar you want, but it's never gonna get inside your brain unless your brain wants it.

Right.

So it's a very— it's very carefully regimented in a way. So brain diet is a very strict diet, and it's the brain that says, I want it, I don't want it.

Right. Now there's certain— there's so many— so much information out there about food, and—

There's a lot of opinions.

Of course. And so what I like about this with your background in neuroscience is that the food— some— not everything that you eat necessarily serves your brain because your brain has different needs than the rest of your body.

Yes.

Right? Because obviously your brain is part of your body.

It's in charge of it.

It's in charge of pretty much the master control center. But what you eat matters, especially as we talked about your gray matter. So what are some of your favorites? What are your favorite brain foods, like your go-to for you and your family? I'm sure a lot of people who are watching this, they're thinking, what do I need to eat that's just going to help me have better cognition, better focus, a better memory?

My number one brain food is caviar.

Caviar.

Or fish eggs. We were looking for it at the store and we didn't find it. Yes, so the point is that if you look at the chemical composition of caviar, the nutritional composition of caviar or fish eggs in general—

Like you go to a sushi restaurant and see salmon roe or—

Yes, perfect. Salmon roe is fantastic. And it basically mirrors the nutritional composition of the brain. It's very rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, 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 caviar or fish eggs contain vitamin A, vitamin E, and a small amount of vitamin see in some cases. So all the antioxidant vitamins and minerals that are very neuroprotective. So the brain is super sensitive to oxidative stress because it's 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—

Right.

Like little bandits. that you have to find is to feed your brain with antioxidants.

Okay. Now, if somebody is, let's say they're vegetarian and they don't eat fish, we know it's a great source of DHA and omega-3s. What are their— what would their best option be?

There are many plant-based foods that contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, including omega-3s. And I want to say that, I mean, fish eggs are great, but fatty fish is probably just as good.

Okay.

Right, because of course we know that caviar is super expensive and fish eggs are not, right? You know, like in a health food store they don't have them, right? Right. So they're special gourmet foods. So for vegetarians and vegans, I think flaxseeds are a great source.

Okay, which we have, which we have here.

We have here A little flaxseed. We have almonds.

Now the flaxseeds, are they— are you making a meal with that, or is that something you could put into a smoothie?

Yes, so you need to grind them to really release the nutrients, and I think a smoothie is a great way to do that.

Right.

You can also use them when you— I don't know if you bake, but if you make cookies or cakes, okay, you know, if you use flaxseed meal, it can kind of replace eggs, just mix it with water and it creates a little bit of like a paste like chia seeds do.

Okay.

But they're very rich in omega-3, polyunsaturated fatty acids. It's only— the problem is that they— so there are 3 main types of omega-3. There's DHA, which is the one your brain really wants, EPA, which is a precursor to DHA, and these are found in seafood. Seafood is the best source.

Right, and the ratio is important.

The ratio is also important. For plant-based foods, they contain neither of these 2. They contain ALA, it's another type. And what happens is that this ALA goes inside your brain, but your brain needs to convert it into DHA, and 75% is lost in the conversion. So you need to have more. So let's say if you need So brain scans, brain imaging studies show that people who consume at least 4 grams of omega-3 fats every day have a 70% lower risk of dementia later on in life.

Wow.

As compared to people who consume less than 2 grams a day.

Can you, can you repeat that just for everybody? This is like a very important point.

Okay, so brain imaging studies have shown that people who consume at least 4 grams of DHA, omega-3 fatty acids, every day have at least 70% reduced risk of Alzheimer's and dementia later on in life as compared to people who eat less than 2 grams.

Well, we're talking about 4 grams?

Yes, so research—

Is about— it's about how much of a— how much portion is that about?

So I would say—

Some handful of almonds and—

Well, so it's about 3 ounces. 2 ounces of a good quality salmon fillet, and then like a handful of almonds and some extra virgin olive oil on a salad, and perhaps some flaxseeds, and that's it.

Okay, so that's very doable.

Yeah, as long as people eat seafood, because it's the best source. You know, if you're going for a vegetarian diet, then you eat 3 times as much, because you lose 75% when you convert. So it's just a matter of keeping tabs on what exactly you're eating. And there are supplements that are actually very helpful. There are vegan DHA supplements from high-purity algae oil that are great sources of supplementation, I think.

Okay. Algae oil. And they can find that in any health food store?

Pretty much, yes. They should be able to, yeah.

I mean, it's one of the most important supplements probably for the brain. I think if you—

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 and measure your fatty acid compositions in serum. And then if you're deficient, I think it's a good indicator that you should supplement.

Right.

But normally what we say is always that supplements cannot replace Of course. Right? 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 that supplements are not nearly as biologically active as the nutrients in the foods.

Than something Mother Nature— because there's other compounds in there that probably is not isolated in a pill.

Exactly. Right. Like we were talking about vitamin E, and what you get from a pill is one of the eight varieties of vitamin E. Whereas if you eat flaxseeds and almonds or hazelnuts, my favorite nuts are hazelnuts. Then you get all eight different forms, 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.

Right.

So every form has a slightly different function, and when you have them all, then you really get the full benefits of that.

So we talked about the foods that are helpful for greater brain function. What are the ones that are harmful? The big villains that are affecting us and our children.

Yeah, and that's really interesting because I think there are different schools of thought, but research actually agrees at least in my field, that processed food is bad for you. And specifically is the combination of too much trans saturated fat and cholesterol.

Okay.

And also saturated fat, at least in our research and in many of my colleagues' research, is the combination of 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 that they're bad because they have a bad effect on your heart and they trigger inflammation in the body. Not for everybody, of course, but like on average.

Mm-hmm.

And that really negatively impacts your brain. And also 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 consume 2 grams of trans and saturated fats in their diet, trans fats in their diet, broadly every day, have twice the risk of dementia as compared to people who eat less than 1 gram. And 2 grams is nothing, you know, just processed foods contain enormous amounts.

What are the big culprits that people don't realize? What are the—

The hydrogenated fats, partially hydrogenated fats. I think these are the 2 worst ingredients that have been—

Found mostly in what kind of foods do you think people are eating that don't even really qualify as food?

They don't qualify as food. There are a lot of things, like, I'm very concerned about that because of my daughter.

Right.

Right, she's growing up in an environment where kids have access to all sorts 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.

Like margarine, right? Um, the kind— this kind of weird, like, whipped creams that you spray on things. Um, fake cheese, like 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 big goods like muffins that you buy or packaged foods like cold cuts, right, deli ham or these kind of products, they're all really in danger of containing all sorts of things that are hydrogenated.

Because it's not just the food, it's just the way it's processed also.

Yes, it's the kind of fat that's been added to the food to preserve shelf life and Give it a richer texture and just make them taste better. But then it's everything else that comes with it, like coloring, artificial substances, preservatives, arsenic. You know, chicken are being given arsenic.

Really?

Yes, as an antibiotic.

Okay, yeah, so it's very important.

Not all chickens, of course.

Right, of course. I mean, that's why it's so important to eat things because—

That are healthy. You need to read the labels.

Because a lot of meats have— right, they have everything from hormones, antibiotics. Some meats have like cement just to make them heavier so they can make more money.

Or depending on the way that they're bred, many animals are basically so confined that they end up eating their own feces. Right, and that can't be good.

No, not at all. And then so what about things like wine?

Ooh, yeah, we didn't buy any. Wine is actually brain food.

White or red?

Red. And that's because— so we talked about it before at the store, and I'm gonna show the blackberries.

I love blackberries. Everyone always goes to like the blueberries.

Everybody goes to blueberries.

They're good, but these have more nutritional value.

Yes, they're more antioxidant. They have a higher antioxidant power. Than the blueberries. But so all fruits that are very dark, like prunes, cherries, red grapes, the darker the better because it means they're very rich in these antioxidant compounds that then you drink with your wine.

And that's what gives them the color?

That's what—

yes. So this is like a rainbow. I like looking at everything here. It's like eating for the rainbow.

Yeah.

So it's not just what you're eating, 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 the nutritional diversity and quality of your food are 2 major factors for longevity and health.

So what is the research saying about red wine? Why is it good for you? Why is it a brain food?

Because of the antioxidants. Actually, clinical trials kind of failed to show a strong effect. But I think we know from epidemiology and from studies of Italian centenarians—

Right.

That it's actually a good part of a healthy diet. The point— so red wine is very typical of the Mediterranean regions like Italy, Greece, Spain. The way it's been— the way we drink it there is that it's really in moderation. So for women, it's only like basically This much.

Okay.

Just a very small glass.

So it's not just the quality, but it's also the quantity of what we're—

It's the quantity. And for men, men can have 2, but 2 glasses is like this much. This is in the entire day. And also, you never drink it on an empty stomach.

Why is that?

Always with food. Because alcohol has very dehydrating effects. The nature of alcohol is dehydrating, and it can really create unpleasant effects in general. And also it's better if you absorb it with other foods that can promote uptake of this compound, it's called resveratrol.

Sure.

In the bloodstream. So it's better paired with foods like fatty foods that really help absorbing the helpful nutrients.

Right, right. And who doesn't love like wine and cheese?

Who doesn't? And again, for women, It's important to consider, I'll say, the menstrual cycle, you know, because we tend to absorb alcohol much faster during one part of the cycle and slower 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. Where most people get their caffeine besides chocolate is Through coffee.

Coffee.

So how's coffee affect your brain?

Coffee does affect your brain. It's a stimulant and it's an energizer. It's a vasoconstrictor, so it makes your blood flow go to your brain much faster, right? And the problem with caffeine, I think, is that some people respond very strongly to caffeine. It can have a dehydrating effect, not universally, not for everybody. But for some, like, I can't drink coffee without drinking water at the same time. I find it very dehydrating. So there's a genetic basis to that, as to everything else, right?

Sure.

And at the same time, the way it's prepared and 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 you feel energized. 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 headaches and you're dehydrated. So it's important to, to consider that, that it's just the way it is. There's 2 weeks, probably.

Right.

Just resign yourself. There's no need to drink more coffee. It's just the way your body responds and your hormones make you respond to stimulants.

That's amazing. So we talk about brain food and we talk about what to eat. What about when to eat? Different parts of the day. Do you believe in intermittent fasting? Do you— after somebody eats a big meal, should they— what do they do right afterwards? Should they—

Take a nap.

Take a nap?

Relax. Um, so there's, there's very good science done at NIH by Dr. Mattson, Mark Mattson, showing how caloric restriction has positive effects on the brain.

Okay.

Kind of makes your neurons stronger and more, more resilient. And then there are all these other ways to try and implement that, right? Because just eating less is not an option for some reason. And so we try to refrain from eating, and I, I I think it makes sense, especially overnight fasting.

Okay.

Right, it's something that at least, you know, in Italy or Mediterranean regions, it's not normal to eat after dinner.

Right.

So everybody automatically fasts overnight just because we're not used to eating after dinner. That's it, 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 PM, then I think it's very healthy to just stop or refrain from eating until at least 7 AM the following morning. Like, so you have 12 hours for your body to just detoxify.

Have a break. And then you have your breakfast. You have your breakfast. What do you recommend? What would be a good brain-healthy breakfast?

I think it's subjective.

Okay.

You know, some people do very well on protein, some people do better on carbs. I think women in general are physiologically predisposed to run on carbohydrates, and men do better on 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 levels, it depends and your reaction to certain foods. I think good options are for people who do well on carbohydrates, a nice toast, right? We have fette biscottate. Like a 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 you, it gives you the vitamins and minerals. And for me, I like carbohydrates. I do very well on carbs. So I prefer toast for breakfast. It's my go-to. A little bit of honey, a little coconut oil, and my daughter eats it too.

That sounds delicious. And so the main idea here is that people are bio-individual. It's finding what works for you that you could also maintain. Yes, sustainable.

And just also, I think it's really important to think of your nutrition as something that transcends breakfast, lunch, and dinner, right? So what do you eat during the whole day? Do you have a good balance of macronutrients? Do you have enough proteins and carbs and healthy fats and healthy carbs and vitamins and minerals? And do you have enough fiber?

Yeah.

And do you drink enough water? I think it's good to think about.

You have 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.

They're good. I love food.

And there's a whole section there on snacks also as well, so brain-healthy snacks that are easy, that have just a handful of ingredients.

Yes. Well, you know, as a new mom, nothing can take longer than 15 minutes, right? So except for the Slow-cooked chicken, which is a big hit. But basically, you make it in 10 minutes and then just pop it in the oven and let it go. So everything is super, super quick.

And that's the thing. We're all at Kwik Brain and the Kwik Brain kitchen here, we're all about having something incredibly, incredibly nutritious and delicious that you could do that's also doable too. Because so many people set something, a goal, but it's attainable but it's not sustainable. They can't do that on a regular basis.

They can't. people work and they have lives and you can't spend an hour making dinner.

Right.

I mean, maybe once in a while, but it's just not, it's not reasonable on a daily basis. And I feel like if you go for quality, then preparation time gets really, you know, you don't need to spend that much time dressing your food or marinating your food or doing who knows what. 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 that's it.

Like 30 minutes, you're done.

It is fabulous. You know, if you have good quality foods, very nutritious, then you feel satisfied. No?

Yeah, completely, completely. Right?

Yes.

We're here with Dr. Lisa Mosconi, author of Brain Food. I recommend everybody goes and picks this up. There'll be links also in this episode. Where where's the best place for people to find you? Find out more about you on my website.

Okay, lisa masconi dot com.

All right.

Yes, or Instagram. I don't Instagram. Yes, I think Instagram is my is my favorite tool.

Okay.

And scientists social media get in there. Just get in 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? I think chocolate's gonna be a very favorite one. I like avocados. I really love guacamole. I had we made some incredible guacamole last night, and I just. It's one of my favorites ever. But at the very least, people could take a lot of these ingredients and put it into a blender and make a brainpower smoothie. They could take their blackberries, their blueberries, their avocados, some green leafy vegetables, some cacao, which is amazing. Don't put that wild salmon in the blender. It probably wouldn't be the best ever. And it's convenient too.

It is.

And that's what's most important.

And it's an investment. It takes discipline, perhaps, but then the benefits are for life.

Right, and this is an investment. I mean, so many people— really, our health is our wealth.

Oh yes.

A lot of people, they'll go out there and achieve with their career at the expense— they're not sleeping, they're not eating right, they're not exercising, and then they achieve a level of wealth, you know, maybe, but then they're chasing— then they have to use all that wealth to get their health back.

Yes.

And that's really sad. And so—

Then they come to us.

Exactly, exactly.

What should I eat now?

And this is great because we get to— I'm excited about this because we're talking with the research that you're doing in Alzheimer's and with the aging brain, why not get there sooner? You know, why not prevent it upstream?

Yes.

And you're saying that, you know, very small percentage of it has to do with fate or your genetic destiny, that maybe that your genetics Stress is what maybe loads the gun, but what you eat is really what kind of fires it. And we have total control over our hands and what we actually put into our mouth.

Yes, that is very true. And I think as a society, we're used to the idea that we feed our bodies, and we're much less aware of the fact that we're feeding our brains too, that we should be feeding our brains too. Should be like a lifelong process. It should really be part of a lifestyle and not just this 3-week diet that I do after Thanksgiving or whatever. Your brain will not change in 2 weeks or 3 weeks, no matter how many books tell you that. It's just impossible. And it really has to be like a day-by-day practice. It should be a practice.

It's part of your lifestyle. And really, at the bottom line, we're just saying Really love your brain.

Yeah, treat your brain like your best friend.

Treat your brain like your best friend and you'll get all the rewards.

Yeah, for sure, for sure.

Yeah, thank you, Lisa.

Of course, thank you.