Talking food and science on the Evolving Past Alzheimer’s podcast
Have you discovered the podcast Evolving Past Alzheimer’s? Dr. Nate Bergman, a functional medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, launched this weekly podcast to share information about preventing and reversing Alzheimer’s disease. Not long after I found Dr. Bergman’s podcast and website, I became hooked on his discussions with luminaries in the field of brain health. So when Dr. Bergman contacted me last month to be a guest on the show, I was honored to share what I know about eating to prevent Alzheimer’s. You can listen to our conversation here.
The Science Behind Brain Health Kitchen
Brain Health Kitchen is rooted in a large body of data about what people eat and how it impacts their risk of longevity, Alzheimer’s and dementia. In the podcast, we discuss how I incorporate Dan Buettner’s work studying the Blue Zones (the five places on earth with the most dementia-free centenarians) into the Brain Works Boot Camp dementia prevention classes. (Read more about the Brain Works classes here.)
We talk about how following a plant-based diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, is linked to enhanced brain health. We touch on the MIND diet study and the essential research done on an aging population in Chicago by Dr. Martha Clare Morris. (Read my interview with Dr. Morris here, and listen to her discussion with Dr. Bergman on Evolving Past Alzheimer’s here.)
Cooking Techniques for Enhanced Brain Health
If you’ve been following Brain Health Kitchen, you already know that what we eat really matters for brain health. And so does how we cook. What are the best oils to cook with? How do you avoid damaging the brain healthy polyphenols when cooking with olive oil? Dr. Bergman and I discuss the 10 brain healthy food groups and how to cook with these ingredients while preserving their brain healthy nutrients.
Your Brain on Coffee
Is coffee a brain healthy superfood? Although the data is not perfect, Dr. Bergman and I discuss our own interpretation of the data that links drinking coffee on a regular basis to longevity and reduced dementia risk. (And stay tuned for my recipe for the Cashew Coffee we discuss as my morning secret weapon!)
Intermittent Fasting, Hormone Therapy and the Brain
Towards the end of the podcast, Dr. Bergman and I share our experience with intermittent fasting and the possible merits of the ketogenic diet. Can fasting for up to 15 hours enhance your brain’s function? We discuss how giving your brain a break from metabolizing glucose enables it to shift into cleanup mode —clearing amyloid plaque before it builds up. And we touch on my 23 years of experience as a gynecologist and discuss the data regarding menopausal hormone therapy and the prevention of cognitive decline.
Check out Evolving Past Alzheimer’s Podcast Archives
I loved talking food and science with Dr. Bergman and I hope you enjoy the podcast. Also be sure to check out some of my favorite podcasts from the Evolving Past Alzheimer’s archives: 7 Steps to a Better Brain with Dr. Mark Hyman, Is My Brain Shrinking? with Dr. Cyrus Raji, and Scientific Nutrition: The MIND Diet with Dr. Martha Clare Morris.
Here are three ways to subscribe to Evolving Past Alzheimer’s:
Evolving Past Alzheimer’s on iTunes
Evolving Past Alzheimer’s on GooglePlay
Evolving Past Alzheimer’s on YouTube
You can also follow Dr. Nate over on his Facebook page, and be sure to give him a 5 star rating for all the great work he is doing.
And here’s a quick excerpt: my favorite quick tip about how to eat more brain healthy foods:
Thanks for listening! To discover more podcasts I love, check out my favorites list here.
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