Time to Get Serious About Our Physical and Mental Health
Have you had your boysenberries today? No?
How about your black currants? Heck no?
If you’re like most people you probably aren’t too familiar with these colorful berries. However, you might want to make the introductions sooner rather than later. If, that is, you’re into fighting the signs of aging, protecting your body, and guarding against mental decline. A study finds that adding boysenberries and black currants to your diet can give you an anti-aging boost that can protect all parts of your body and even postpone the development of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Berries such as these, as well as other colorful fruits and vegetables are chock full of polyphenols, a type of antioxidant that buffers against disease by protecting the body’s cells from natural stresses of aging. These amazing chemicals keep your cells and, in turn you, vibrant and active. Polyphenols are also found in green tea, olive oil, dark chocolate and pomegranates.
One author of the study puts it simply: Eat your colors.
Since polyphenols are largely responsible for giving plants their colorful hues, choosing a variety of food colors means you’re treating your body to a healthy dose of antioxidants. Include blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, purple grape juice, andpomegranates on your plate. When your plate resembles a rainbow, you’ll know you’re doing something right. 
A colorful diet such as this is also a heart-healthy diet, according to James Joseph, a neuroscientist and director of the Neuroscience Lab at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Antioxidants protect arteries by keeping them supple and strong. Healthy arteries not only mean a healthy cardiovascular system but healthy gray matter as well. “What’s good for your heart is also good for your brain.”
James Joseph believes that eating fresh berries provides us with the most benefits. Important compounds can easily be lost in processing berries.
Still, adding color to your diet isn’t the only change we need to make if we’re serious about heart and brain health.
Our entire lifestyle has to support this goal:
- We have to get serious about our diet - cut out what we know is bad for us and replace the baddies with what we know is good for us. I made a small step, yesterday, at my grocery store. I had a bag of chips and dip in the cart, but right before checking out, I put them back where I had gotten them and headed to the produce aisle. I got a bag of baby carrots and some handsome celery (I kept reminding myself how handsome it was so I’d forget my Ruffles…). Then I went to the Salad Dressing Aisle and got a packet of Hidden Valley Dressing mix. The directions say to mix it with Sour Cream but I went with Fat Free Yogurt instead. The taste was just as good.
- We have to include physical activity and exercise in our daily routines. We all make the tired excuse, “But I don’t have time…” - We need to condition ourselves to MAKE the time, not the excuse. We can park further away at the store, take the long route when shopping, take evening walks while catching up on the day with our family, etc. I like to sneak my yoga in when I know I’m going to be in one place, anyway. Such as when I’m in the kitchen cooking or watching Food Network or a ballgame.
- As much as our body needs a daily workout, our minds need to be stimulated and challenged just as badly. Whether it’s crossword puzzles, reading from the “deeper” end of the bookshelf, learning something new, or taking an online course - we should all challenge ourselves daily.
Physical exercise actually affects our brains in a way that’s similar to polyphenols. Researchers from the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida find that rats with exercise wheels in their cages show fewer signs of aging in their brains than their sedentary peers, and the same conclusions have been drawn by comparing elderly humans who exercise with those who do not.
Start taking the steps you KNOW you need to take, Make the changes you KNOW you need to make. Even the smallest steps count!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you happen to know if frozen berries maintain their full nutrient effects? I’ve always wondered.
I take the family to the nearest orchard about 10 times each year. We get a lot of exercise picking fresh fruit, and we can freeze enough to last through winter. The country air is always refreshing, both mentally and physically.
I read an article recently (in Better Homes, I think) that talked about eight “super foods.” Berries were near the top of the list. Due to time pressure I’ve had difficulty incorporating these foods into my diet but I found I can make a tasty smoothie out of berries, orange juice, tofu, tomato, and peanuts. (Go light on the tofu and peanuts.) It sounds a bit odd, but the sweetness combines quite well with the mild nutty flavor. Now I get the benefits of five super foods in one delicious drink, and it is packed full of benificial nutrients.
Thanks for the information! I’ll have to add blackberries to my list of fruits to pick next time I hit the orchard.
What a great way to multi-task - getting exercise while getting fresh fruit!
You’re more than welcome for the info - and everything I’ve ever read indicates that, yes indeed-y, frozen berries maintain their nutrients.
I’m now officially dying for a smoothie like you described! - Joi
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