Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Mediterranean Diet: Healthier Looking Brains


From the Wall Street Journal, here’s their report on a study that’s trying to better understand the food-brain health link.  In this case, study participants had brain scans and those who adhered more closely to the Mediterranean Diet had healthier-looking brains.  How so? Their brains had fewer “markers” that seemed similar to lesions.


Has this made me change my mind about how I eat?  Well, no, because I did make a big, stomping moussaka the other night which, unlike the Mediterranean Diet guidelines, had an awfully lot of lamb in it.

As a reminder, the Mediterranean Diet primarily focuses on fish and seafood, veggies, nuts and lots of olive oil. Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s description of the diet: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mediterranean-diet/CL00011

All this reminds me, though, of Ms. Strauch, her book entitled The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, and her observation that this "better diet = better brains" playground is a tricky, complex arena in which to find simple, straightforward answers…no matter how much we yearn for them.

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