How a Brain Health Kitchen Cooking Class Teaches Alzheimer’s Prevention
Cooking good-for-your-brain recipes is an empowering way to combat Alzheimer’s disease. Every Brain Health Kitchen cooking class gets us into the kitchen to create a brain-healthy meal together. We learn which foods to eat more of and which to avoid. We learn how to use bold flavors and modern techniques to bring out the inherent deliciousness of whole foods. While we cook, we learn about Alzheimer’s prevention both in and out of the kitchen.
Brain Health Kitchen recipes are designed for busy people. After years of cooking for my family while working crazy hours as an ob/gyn, I’ve collected dozens of cooking shortcuts and tweaks. Each class is literally packed with practical information we can use every day. What are the best oils to cook with? What happens to oils when heated above their smokepoint? How important is it to choose organic over conventionally grown produce? Should we eat meat? If so, what kind and how much? How do we increase the nutrient density of our foods? How do we eat more vegetables? More beans? More nuts?
Brain Health Kitchen cooking classes are a lot of fun. But they are also meaningful beyond getting to enjoy all the beautiful food. By talking about Alzheimer’s prevention, we acknowledge our fears together, as a team. It feels good to be proactive about fighting dementia.
The science behind each Brain Health Kitchen cooking class
I consider a food to be “brain-healthy” if it is backed up by solid scientific research indicating a positive effect on the aging brain. The Brain Health Kitchen cooking curriculum constantly changes as new data emerges regarding Alzheimer’s risk. There are hundreds of scientific studied that support that the Mediterranean diet is the most brain-friendly way to eat. We take the classic Mediterranean diet and adjust it to be even more brain-centric—specific to combating Alzheimer’s disease.
Brain Health Kitchen draws its framework from the MIND diet study, published by Rush University researchers in 2015, in which researchers defined the 10 Brain-Healthy Food Groups and the 5 Brain-Unhealthy ones. Participants who ate more brain healthy foods (and less brain un-healthy ones) showed a 53% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s over 4.5 years. Even those that only ate brain-healthy foods sometimes showed a 37% reduction in risk.
Because there is much to learn from those who are still healthy at the age of 100, we are very interested in data from the Blue Zones, a National Geographic project conducted by Dan Buettner to examine the food and lifestyle in the parts of the world with the highest density of centenarians. (You can watch his TED talk here.) You’ll find many of the Blue Zones foods Buettner in Brain Health Kitchen recipes. (Hello: chickpeas, almonds, salmon, sweet potatoes and avocado!)
Reducing Alzheimer’s risk, improving brain function
Although Brain Health Kitchen cooking classes focus primarily on reducing Alzheimer’s risk, we are also keen on learning about foods that can improve cognitive function. After all, who wouldn’t welcome an improved short term memory, less brain fog, and a faster, more efficient brain? So we draw inspiration from the FINGER study, a large prospective trial published in 2013 that showed improved brain function in a group of men and women over the age of 60 who started a diet and exercise program.
Learn more about the science behind the Brain Health Kitchen cooking classes here.
Who knew Alzheimer’s prevention could be so delicious?
Brain Health Kitchen cooking classes are all about creating truly satisfying food that delights and nourishes. We don’t eliminate entire food groups. We don’t count calories, keep track of fat grams, or obsess about every little thing we eat. Sure, we want to eat what’s best for our health, but we also don’t want to forget that sharing good food is a joyful part of life.
In a nutshell, we try to include brain-healthy ingredients in most of the foods we eat and drink. But we also give ourselves permission to indulge in the foods we really love. I’m not giving up chocolate chip cookies, and I wouldn’t expect you to either! (But I do have a version made with chickpea flour, dark chocolate and olive oil that my students adore. Find the recipe here for A Better-For-You Chocolate Chunk Cookie.)
My BHK alumni tell me eating for brain health has a welcome, unintended consequence—weight loss. Many have shed unwanted pounds, feel trimmer, and keep excess weight off. And that’s a very good thing: Being overweight at mid-life doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
Each Brain Health Kitchen cooking class is part of the movement to wipe out Alzheimer’s
Brain Health Kitchen cooking classes have reached over one thousand healthy, proactive folks who are taking the first step to creating a future free of dementia.
Cooking from scratch using whole food ingredients is the best way I know, as a physician, to radically improve health.
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To book a private group Brain Health Kitchen class, contact Annie at brainhealthkitchen@gmail.com.
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