Page 194 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

178 • Chapter 6

f. The Wine Diet Ohhhhhmmmhhh—I’m hungggrrryyy.
Wine and whine sound alike.
g. The Fondue diet Cheeze, I’m hungry.
Fondue is a cheese dish. Cheese and cheeze sound alike.

h. The James Bond Diet Never say diet.
One of the James Bond stories is named “Never Say Die.” Words that
sound alike.

It is important for you to eat a balanced diet. Not only
does it keep your body healthy, but it keeps your mind
supplied with the nutrients necessary to function at peak ca-
pacity. For a general rule of thumb, anything brightly col-
ored is brain food (just as crunchy fruits and vegetables, in
general, are anticancer foods). You will learn in the next
chapter how to fine-tune your mental processes and regain
the mental agility you possessed 15 to 20 years ago. If you
do not get adequate sleep and properly fuel your body to
support these new practices, however, you will not reap
your fullest benefits.

Anything brightly colored is brain food.

Calculate Your Body Mass Index
Perhaps you are worried that you are eating too much or
too little. All of us worry at one time or another about our
proportions. Garfield, the popular cartoon cat created by
Jim Davis, has a unique perspective on the weight issue
and quips, “I’m not overweight. I’m undertall.” But seri-
ously, there is a calculation you can do to compare your
height and weight.
Let’s use a little old-fashioned math (exercise those par-
ticular brain cells!) and determine one of the factors of your
physical health: a measurement called your Body Mass Index
(BMI). Healthy older adults have a body mass index of 22 to
27. The calculation warrants use of a calculator. Here’s the
formula: