Does brain food work? Short answer = no solid evidence

I’m still wading through Barbara Strauch’s book, and I am learning that the world of brain food is confusing.

I yearn for the simple answer. The “eat like a Greek” answer that is clear and straightforward.

But if you believe Barbara Strauch and her book, The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, the issues are complex, hard to research and the science is still at early stages.

Is seems that the idea of correlating food consumption and brain performance is a rather recent question.  According to Ms. Strauch, “For years, scientists believed diet had little impact on our brains because they thought most nutrients didn’t cross the blood-brain barrier. 

The blood-brain-barrier is real. Cells linking blood vessels in the brain are packed close together to keep out certain large molecules and maintain a chemical balance.”

Overlaying that whole idea was that, until recently, everybody “…believed the brain was on a downhill slalom course from our mid-twenties, losing as many as 40 percent of its cells as it aged. Why bother worrying about a brain that is programmed from the get-go to decay? Did anybody really think that another forkful of carrots was going to stop that from happening?”

Thankfully, we’ve scientifically put a lie to the myth of not being able to build brain cells (if you’re reading this for the first time, please see my February 8^th posting).

Finally, though, we’ve figured out that food can help.  According to Paula Bickford, a neuroscientist who studies nutrition at the University of South Florida, “The brain is not uniquely sensitive but it is sensitive to what we each. And now we’re realizing more and more that what you eat can affect cognition.”

Well, that sounds promising.

Since I can’t do the science justice, let me say that as I understand it scientists have identified oxidative stress and inflammation is bad for the brain. The question then becomes “will eating foods high in antioxidants or anti-inflammatory agents make a difference?”

From what I’ve read, it could/should/might work in theory but, quoting Strauch, “…there have been no long term clinical trials in humans to test this.” That’s another way of saying that there is no proof that passes scientific scrutiny.

As best I can tell, it seems like eating brain food should be good for cognition. And I’ve read nothing that would suggest that blueberries, salmon, oats or almonds are harmful to the brain.

At the same time, we seem to know that eating unhealthily – rich fatty foods – are by and large bad.

So I’m going to continue to hope – not a great strategy – that someday, somehow, someway, somebody will prove that the almonds on my Milk & Honey granola not only taste good, but they also help spiff-up or at least help me hold onto my cognitive skills.

Confessions of a health food junkie

I love health food, especially brain food.

Blueberries – I just can’t get enough of them.  If you’ve ever picked Michigan blueberries right off the bush and eaten them, you know what I mean.

In fact, I love all kinds of berries: blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, boysenberries, huckleberries and, of course, strawberries.  All chalk full of those therapeutic antioxidants.

I also like veggies. A few years ago, we joined Growing Home, a community-supported agriculture institution in the Chicagoland area.  (They actually do a lot more than deliver great-tasting organic veggies – for more into try this link: http://growinghomeinc.org/learn-more/about-us/) During the season we get a weekly crate of seasonal vegetables that are local and awfully tasty. We share them with another couple who relish stir-frying fresh veggies and are really health-conscious.

As you might guess, I’m also a sucker for anything with sweet potatoes or squash – love those beta carotenes.

Does that mean that we eat kale?  Yes. My wife has a great recipe for kale-stuffed quesadillas.

How about seaweed?  We picked up a taste for that living in Japan.

On the whole grain side of food, I’ve become positively addicted to Milk and Honey granola found locally here in Chicago. I pour Silk Light on mine.

I’ve also loved fish ever since my Dad introduced me to shore lunches of walleye and northern pick during fishing vacations up north.  My mouth waters just thinking of a good piece of grilled marlin or swordfish or salmon coming off the grill.

I’m finishing up Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which pushed me to recently visit the Prairie Grass Café in Northbrook, IL (http://www.prairiegrasscafe.com/). We had their grass-fed beef which was the best-tasting beef I can remember having.

Is a big reason for liking these foods their “healthiness”?  The honest answer is “yes”. Would I eat them anyway? Well, sign me up for fruit and granola and sweet potatoes and asparagus…but would I have even tried some of the others?

Do all these healthy foods tangibly and demonstrably help my brain? My noodle? My cognitive skills? Perhaps more practically, do these healthy foods really help me to hang onto my remaining wits?

Well, that’s a murkier issue. I’ll write about that in my next blog posting based on what I’ve learned from Barbara Strauch and her nifty book, the Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain. .

Brain Heresy? Middle-Aged Brains are Better?

I’ve just reread Barbara Strauch’s book, The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain, and found it fascinating. Of course the real reason I like it is that it gives me hope that my cognitive skills aren't going to hell in a hand-basket right-away.

This book is an excellent myth debunker. That old myth about being born with a fixed # of brain cells and you can’t ever make anymore?  Debunked.

Worried about your cognitive skills on a long skid into geezer-dom? Debunked. For starters, she shows a number of studies that demonstrate that, on the whole, brains are functioning better in middle-age than they do when younger. According to these studies, the middle-aged brain is better at:

• Vocabulary – how many words you can recognize and find synonyms for
• Verbal memory – how many words you can remember
• Spatial orientation – how well you can tell what an object would look like rotated 180 degrees
• Inductive reasoning - how well you can solve logical problems

Middle-aged folks tend to lose out to younger folks in terms of:

• Number ability – how quickly you can do math
• Perceptual speed – how fast you can process input

Wait a minute, what about the “tip-of-the-tongue” (“TOTS”) syndrome?  That embarrassing moment when you see somebody you know walking towards you at a party, but you can’t remember their name? Or what about those misplaced car keys that you spend endless time looking for?

Sorry, that really is happening to you and it ain’t getting better. She explains the problem as a “retrieval, not a storage, problem” which I found strangely helpful.

I also want to emphasize a very clear finding of her research review: “Keep moving and keep your wits.”  That’s a chapter title which really delves into the whole connection between brain health and exercise. The connection is strong.  The breakthrough research came from a study at Columbia University where scientists were able to watch, in real time, the growth of new neurons in mice. She quotes a scientist from that event who said, “To see so clearly, new brain cells that came with exercise, it was impossible to ignore. My colleagues started putting on their sneakers.”

Less clear is the connection between brain super foods, and she spends significant time examining this.

I like her writing. I like her thoroughness. I like her commitment to the literature. And I found a copy in my local library.      

NWU Aphasia Presentation Feedback request

I’m presenting to the Northwestern University Aphasia group on Saturday morning, February 11^th.  You should be able to view the presentation on Flickr @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/76128793@N07/sets/72157629218254419/ 


I'd love your comments and feedback!

 

John

PS - And you can help me get the slides on this site, I'd be very grateful.

Top Ten for Scared Boomers

Worried about you noggin’ fading as you grow older?  I am. Having had a brain tumor, one of the things that keeps me up at night is the worry that I’ll even more susceptible to Alzheimer’s and other real and terrifying aging problems.

So I read with interest the recent article by Beth Howard in this month’s AARP magazine entitled “Age-Proof Your Brain”.

The goal, according to Gary Small, M.D., Director of the UCLA Longevity Center and coauthor of the The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program: Keep Your Brain Healthy for the Rest of your Life,  is to “stave it (i.e. Alzheimer’s) long enough so that you can live life without every suffering from the symptoms”. Sounds good to me.

Here’s the list.

1. Get Moving – exercise. (See 1/18/12 posting on Dr. Mike Evans video)
2. Pump Some Iron – literally, especially women.
3. Seek out new skills - Challenge your brain! (See 2/1/12 posting entitled “Hard is good…especially for brains)
4. “Say Omm” – chill.
5. Eat like a Greek. (Since I am part-Greek, this shouldn’t be all that hard.)
6. Spice it up – season your foods as many spices (black pepper, cinnamon, oregano, etc.) are high in antioxidants.
7. Find your purpose – discover your mission in life (a rather important question).
8. Get a social life – friends count.
9. Reduce your risks – the biggies like diabetes, obesity and hypertension as often associated with dementia.
10. Check vitamin deficiencies. According to the article older adults "don't always get all the nutrients they need from foods". Particularly concerning is B12 deficits which seem to be linked to smaller brains and scoring lower on "tests measuring thinking, reasoning, and memory".

Here’s the link for the full article http://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-01-2012/boost-brain-health.html

Glioma at 4 Days Old

I just find this painful.  Today’s Chicago Tribune has a front page story about Matthew, an infant who was born with relatively large Glioma brain tumor.

The story goes on to categorize the tumor as a rare “high-grade glioma which is most diagnosed in adults…” In the brain tumor world, high grades are, in fact, low grades in terms of health.  High grade tumors are aggressive and invasive and dangerous. If you’re interested in learning more, the ABTA site – www.ABTA.org – always has good info. 

Brain tumors of this ilk are rare; according to the article “only about five children nationally are born with such a rare, usually fatal condition each year.”

His Dad asked a special a great question “Is Matthew dying? Was he born dying?” The answer, which seems to defy all odds, was “no”. According to the oncologist, “…Matthew’s organs were functioning normally and, aside from the malignant tumor, he was healthy.”

I’ve reread that sentence a couple of times and it still doesn’t make sense to me. It’s sorta like saying aside from that hatchet sticking out of the top your head, you’re fine.

For some strange reason this also reminds me of the mope that shot himself in the head with a nail gun.  He screws up and nothing happens to him. This poor couple and infant do nothing to nobody and get whacked with a glioma.

Is there hope? A bit, given the rest of his body’s relative health they’re going to start chemo. All I know about chemo is that it’s a rough, rough rode with no assurances.  For a great blog about surviving chemo check out early postings on “Cancer is Hilarious…terminally illin’” from Kalyn Marie: http://cancerisnotfunny.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

The Chicago Tribune not only has a pretty comprehensive article but it also has a touching video interview with a brave Mom and Dad. Give it a look: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-baby-cancer-chemo-20120203,0,3325094.story

I don’t know the couple and I have no idea what I would say to them if I did know them.  All I know is that if this doesn’t pull at your heart strings hire a detective, because you’ve lost your heart.

Hard is good…especially for brains

Here’s an interesting tip from Lumosity – brains like to be challenged. 

Huh?  I often think that my brain just wants to take it easy, take slow, and relaxxxx.  But maybe that’s just my laziness talking. Actually, after reading Dr. Eagleman’s book, Incognito, I have no idea which part of the brain I’m listening to any time…if that even makes sense.

One thing that Pam Zhang of the Lumosity blog asserts is that “Effective cognitive exercises must be both adaptive and novel in order to provide the brain with the challenges it needs.”

Does that mean that my standard Sudoku and crossword puzzles aren’t helping? Well, according to Ms. Zhang, they could be helping a lot more.

The analogy that seems to apply here is how we build muscles.  It’s hard to build muscles without a lot of straining, wheezing and hard work. Said differently, if all you do is walk around a bit, you don’t get a chiseled look and the ability to run a triathlon. So it is with brains, you don't get something for nothing - you got to make 'em wheez and struggle and work to build something. (Actually this whole idea of being able to build new brain cells is somewhat of a new idea. I suggest reading The Secret Life of the Middle-Aged Brain, by Barbara Strauch which does a great job of myth-debunking.)

Pam’s recent blog posting also says that you need to focus on brain exercises that are both adaptable and novel.

My sense of their use of the word “adaptable” is something more akin to “suitable”, as in something that’s just touch enough to make you work without getting hugely frustrated and quitting.  Early in my occupational therapy my therapist gave me a “find the words” assignment that I spent 4-5 hours on.  It was just way beyond my abilities at the time and I found the whole thing really discouraging.  The idea of a brain exercise seemingly within my grasp is something I’m much more interested in.

I get novelty, too.  The muscle analogy actually holds up pretty good here too.  We’ve learned that if we do the same exercises all the time, there’s just diminishing returns on a workout.  Your muscles know what to expect and are prepared for it, which is why P90X^® in vogue right now. If my memory of “Mike and Mike in the Morning” commercials are accurate, they claim that one of the secrets is that it changes the workout every so often - they call it “muscle confusion” - so that your muscles don’t know what’s coming next.  I can imagine the same thing happening with my brain. (Actually my brain rarely knows what’s coming next.)

In fact, I find myself doing the same Lumosity exercises over and over again…even when I throw myself into a course (right now I’m on an well-needed “Attention” boost).

So I believe Ms. Zhang when she says that “The right kind of cognitive training introduces novel tasks that force the brain to process information in new ways”. So today I did my regular “Attention” boost and then tried “Rotation Matrix”.  I was lousy, which means, I guess, that if I stick with it for a while, I’ll build brain cells faster.

As I think about it, the really hard and un-fun part – the surgeries – are over. Now it’s time to embrace the fun hard parts.