Page 189 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

Regain an Agile Brain • 173

FEEDING YOUR BRAIN

You know that proper nutrition assists your body to fight in-
fection, prevent cancer, and function efficiently during daily
activities. Take just a few minutes to evaluate your diet. In
the blank next to each food category, write the number of
servings you eat on a typical day:

_____ Fruit
_____ Vegetables
_____ Meat/Poultry
_____ Milk, Yogurt, Cheese
_____ Bread, Cereal, Rice, Pasta
_____ Meats, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, Nuts
_____ Fats, Oils, Sweets

The brain requires 25 percent of the body’s available resources.

You must keep your body adequately nourished to pro-
vide the essential nutrients in sufficient quantities. After all,
the brain takes 25 percent of the available resources, and if
what is available is not enough, 25 percent of “not enough”
is still “not enough.” You may need to learn compensation
strategies to maintain your body fitness and function at
peak performing capacity. Reducing the energy drain on to-
tal available resources increases the amount of resources
available for mental processes. Let’s start with proper nutri-
tion. Like a car, you need a good supply and quality of fuel
to run efficiently and at peak capacity.

Plan a Day’s Meals Based on the USDA Food Pyramid
If you have lived in the United States in the past decade, you
probably are very familiar with the Food Guide Pyramid re-
leased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (refer to Fig-
ure 4-5). It is on many food containers you purchase in the
grocery stores. The admonitions are clear: Eat a certain num-
ber of foods from each of the tiers of the pyramid each day.