Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier And More Productive
Men ought to know that from the brain, and from the brain only, arise our pleasures, joys, laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows, pains, griefs and tears. Through it, in particular, we think, see, hear and distinguish the ugly from the beautiful, the bad from the good, the pleasant from the
unpleasant. It is the same thing which makes us mad or delirious, inspires us with fear, brings sleeplessness and aimless anxieties. . . . In these ways I hold that the brain is the most powerful organ in the human body. –HIPPOCRATES
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
Our industrially ravaged diets supply cheap and plentiful calories with poor nutrient content and toxic additives. Our careers shoehorn us into doing the same tasks over and over again, while our brains thrive with change and stimulation. We are saddled with stress, a lack of connection to nature, unnatural sleep patterns, and overexposure to news and tragedy, and our social networks have been replaced by The Social Network—all of which lead ultimately to premature aging and decay. We’ve created a world so far removed from the one in which our brains evolved that they are now struggling to survive.
Nowadays, even well-educated people are confused when it comes to nutrition. One day we’re told to avoid whole milk, the next that we may as well drink it. On a Monday we hear that physical activity is the best way to lose weight, only to learn by Friday that its impact on our waistline is
marginal compared to diet. We are told over and over again that whole grains are the key to a healthy heart, but is heart disease really caused by a deficiency of morning oatmeal? Blogs and traditional news media alike attempt to cover new science, but their coverage (and sensational headlines) often seems more intent on driving hits to their websites than informing the public.
In this article we’ll use diet to reset your brain to its “factory settings,” leaving you feeling and performing your very best. Up next, as you begin to reclaim your cognitive legacy, you’re going to learn about the nutrient that your brain is desperate for. May the odds be ever in your favour.
1. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Place some extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) in a spoon, and then slowly slurp it up like you’re eating soup and being particularly rude about it. (Yes, I’m telling you to drink oil, but you’ll see why in a second.) You should in short order notice a spicy feeling in the back of your throat: that’s a compound called oleocanthal. Oleocanthal is a type of phenol—plant compounds that powerfully stimulate our bodies’ own repair mechanisms when we consume them (phenols are usually found linked together in the form of polyphenols). Oleocanthal possesses anti-inflammatory effects so powerful that it is comparable to taking a small dose of ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drug, but without any of the potential side effects. Inflammation can strongly negate neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to change throughout life) and even produce feelings of depression
Extra-virgin olive oil is a staple food in the Mediterranean diet, and people who consume these kinds of diets display lower incidence of senile dementia. Oleocanthal may play a role here as well, having demonstrated the potential to help the brain clear itself of the amyloid plaque, the sticky protein that aggregates to toxic levels in senile dementia. It does this by increasing the activity of enzymes that degrade the plaque. It has been shown in large, long-term trials to protect the brain against decline (and even improve cognitive function) when consumed at volumes of up to a litre per week. And if protecting your brain wasn’t enough, EVOO has been shown to block an enzyme in fatty tissue called fatty acid synthase, which creates fat out of excess dietary carbohydrates.
Aside from oleocanthal, EVOO is also a rich source of monounsaturated fat, which is a healthy fat that helps maintain the health of your blood vessels and your liver, and can even help you lose weight. One tablespoon also contains 10 percent of the recommended intake of vitamin E per day. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects fatty structures in your body—such as your brain—from the wear and tear of aging.
About finding the right olive oil, colour has no bearing on the quality of the oil. The single best way to assess an oil is to taste it. Good extra-virgin olive oils should taste grassy, never greasy. Because oleocanthal is responsible for virgin oil’s peppery taste, it can in fact be used as a measure of how much oleocanthal is present in the oil. Stronger oils can be so spicy that you may find yourself coughing from the heat—which is actually a classification of oil quality! Next time you find yourself consuming “three-cough” oil, you’ll know you’ve found a keeper and your brain will thank you for it.
How to use: Extra-virgin olive oil should be the main oil in your diet, to be used liberally on salads, eggs, and as a sauce. Ensure that the oil is kept in a bottle that shields it from light (dark glass or tin is fine) and store in a cool, dry place.
2. Avocados
Avocados are an all-in-one Genius Food—the perfect food to protect and enhance your brain. To start, they have the highest total fat-protecting capacity of any fruit or vegetable. This is good news for your brain, which is not only the fattiest organ in your body, but also a magnet for oxidative
stress (a major driver of aging)—a consequence of the fact that 25 percent of the oxygen you breathe goes to create energy in your brain! Avocados are also rich in different types of vitamin E (a characteristic not many supplements can claim), and they are a potent repository for the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These pigments can boost your brain’s processing speed, but they rely on fat to be properly absorbed. Conveniently, avocados are an abundant source of healthy fats.
Today there is an epidemic of vascular disease, not only in the form of heart disease, but as vascular dementia, which is the second most common form of dementia after senile dementia. Potassium works with sodium to regulate blood pressure and is essential for vascular health, but today we tend to consume insufficient amounts of potassium. In fact, scientists believe that our hunter-gatherer ancestors consumed four times as much potassium as we do today, which may explain why hypertension, stroke, and vascular dementia are now so common. By providing twice the potassium content of a banana, a whole avocado is the perfect food to nurture the brain’s estimated six hundred kilometres of microvasculature.
Finally, who needs fibre supplements (or cheap, industrially produced morning cereals) when you can eat an avocado? One whole medium avocado contains a whopping 12 grams of fibre—food for the hungry bacteria that live in your gut, which will ultimately pay their rent in the form of life-and brain-sustaining compounds that reduce inflammation, enhance insulin sensitivity, and boost growth factors in the brain.
How to use: I try to eat a half to a whole avocado every day. You can enjoy avocados simply sprinkled with a little sea salt and extra-virgin olive oil. They may also be sliced and added to salads, eggs, or smoothies.
Pro tip: Avocados are known for taking a long time to ripen, and only a day or two to foul. To keep extra avocados from going bad, pop them in the fridge once ripe, and take them out when ready to eat. You, 1; avocados, 0!
3. Blueberries
Of all commonly consumed fruits and vegetables, blueberries are among the highest in antioxidant capacity because of their abundance of compounds called flavonoids. Flavonoids are a class of polyphenol compounds that are found in many of the Genius Foods (you may remember oleocanthal, in extra-virgin olive oil, which is a type of phenol).
The most abundant flavonoids in blueberries are anthocyanins, which have been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier, enhancing signaling in parts of the brain that handle memory. Astonishingly, these beneficial anthocyanins accumulate in the brain’s hippocampus. Research has shown a robust benefit to cognitive function with blueberry consumption; in one such example, twelve weeks of blueberry supplementation improved memory function and mood and reduced fasting blood sugar in older adults at risk for dementia.
Observational research is just as compelling. A six-year study of 16,010 older adults found that consumption of blueberries (and strawberries) was linked to delays in cognitive aging by up to 2.5 years. And while a recent review found no association between general fruit intake and dementia risk in humans, berries were found to be associated: they protected the brain against cognitive loss.
How to buy and consume: Fresh blueberries are great, but don’t be afraid to buy frozen blueberries, which are often much cheaper (and more widely available) than fresh. Always opt for organic. Blueberries are great in smoothies and salads or eaten as a snack.
Pro tip: All berries are likely helpful to the brain, though they vary in terms of the specific beneficial compounds found in each. When you want to mix things up, blackberries, bilberries, raspberries, and strawberries may be used in place of blueberries.
4. Eggs
Concerns about the “dangerous” cholesterol content in egg yolks have been debunked. Recent large, long-term studies have elucidated that even a high degree of egg consumption does not increase risk for cardiovascular disease or senile dementia—in fact, eggs actually boost cognitive function and markers for cardiovascular health. One study, performed in men and women with metabolic syndrome, found that with a reduced-carbohydrate diet, three whole eggs per day reduced insulin resistance, raised HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol – good cholesterol) and increased the size of LDL (low-density lipoprotein – bad cholesterol) particles to a much greater degree than the equivalent supplementation with egg whites.
In an embryo, the nervous system (which includes the brain) is among the very first systems to develop. Therefore, an egg yolk is perfectly designed by nature to contain everything needed to grow a healthy, optimally performing brain. This helps make eggs, and especially the yolks, one of the most nutritious foods you can consume. They contain a little bit of nearly every vitamin and mineral required by the human body, including vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin E, selenium, zinc, and others. They also provide an abundant source of choline, which is important for both healthy, flexible cell membranes and a learning and memory neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. And egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids shown to protect the brain and improve neural processing speed. In one study, eating just 1.3 egg yolks per day for 4.5 weeks increased blood levels of zeaxanthin by 114 to 142 percent and lutein by 28 to 50 percent—wow!
How to use: Enjoy liberal consumption of whole eggs. Scramble them, poach them, fry them, or soft-boil them. Since egg yolks contain many valuable fats and cholesterol that are vulnerable to oxidation, I recommend keeping the yolk runny, or more custard-like, as opposed to cooking it through (hard-boiled, for example). For scrambles and omelettes, this means using low heat and keeping the eggs creamy or soft as opposed to dry and hard.
How to buy: With so many egg varieties available, it can be confusing to know which ones to buy—and it will often depend on your food budget. Here is a simple metric to help guide your choice:
Pasture-raised > Omega-3-enriched >Free-range > Conventional
Regardless of variety, eggs are always a low-carb, inexpensive, and highly nutritious choice (even conventional eggs, if that’s all your budget allows). They are perfect for breakfast, but can be great with any meal—even dinner. And, most important, eat the yolks, folks!
5. Grass-Fed Beef
The meat industry as it currently stands is cruel, unsustainable, and frankly indefensible. In the case of beef, the industry produces meat that is unhealthy, from stressed-out animals that are pumped full of antibiotics and fed a highly unnatural diet of throwaway grains. But let’s not conflate factory-farmed beef with the beef that comes from healthy cows that have been allowed to pasture on grass (their natural diet), experiencing—as their farmers like to say—only one bad day.
Much of the debate surrounding the nutritional value of meat centres on protein, but I believe it’s critical to broaden the conversation to nutrients other than protein that play an important role in our cognitive function. For example, grass-fed beef is a rich source of essential minerals like iron and zinc, where they are packaged in a form that the body can easily utilize. (This is unlike, say, the iron from spinach or zinc from legumes.) Grass-fed beef is also a great source of omega-3 fats, vitamin B12, vitamin E, and even certain nutrients, such as creatine, which, though not essential, are highly beneficial. Researchers believe that it was access to these very nutrients (along with the burst of caloric energy from cooked meat) that catalysed the evolution of our brains into modern cognitive super-machines. Deficiencies in any of these micronutrients are linked with brain-related disorders, including low IQ, autism, depression, and dementia. Few know the link between diet and mental health better than Dr. Felice Jacka of Deakin University. In 2017, she published the world’s first randomized control trial showing the antidepressant effect of healthy food. Previously, she found that women who didn’t eat Australia’s national recommendation of three to four servings of beef per week were twice as likely to be depressed, or suffer from an anxiety or bipolar disorder, as those who did. (She also found that while some was better than none, more wasn’t necessarily better—women who consumed more than the recommended amount were also at increased risk.) In Australia, cows tend to be grass-fed by default—an important caveat.
What about the value of meat to the cognitive function of a particularly vulnerable group: children? Far from the reach of food delivery apps, malnourishment still poses a public health problem in various parts of the world. One of these places is Kenya, where Charlotte Neumann, a researcher
at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, observed that children who consume more meat actually tend to perform better, physically, cognitively, and behaviourally. To see what effect, if any, meat consumption might have on the developing brain, Dr. Neumann designed a trial.
She divided children from twelve Kenyan schools into four groups. One group served as the control, while children in the other three groups each received a porridge made up of maize, beans, and greens every morning for breakfast. One group received the mixture with a glass of milk, another had ground beef added, and the third got just the plain version. All versions were balanced
to contain the same number of calories, and the study ran for two years.
Compared with the other groups, students in the meat group gained more muscle mass and had fewer health problems than the children who consumed the porridge plain or with milk. They also showed greater confidence in the playground—a sign of improved mental health. Cognitive performance was stronger too. While all groups improved, the meat group showed the steepest rate of improvement in math and language subjects. Neumann and her colleagues wrote:
The improved cognitive performance and increased physical activity and leadership and initiative behaviours in the meat group may be linked to greater intake of vitamin B12 and more available iron and zinc as a result of the presence of meat, which increases iron and zinc absorption from fibre- and phytate-rich plant staples. Meat, through its intrinsic micronutrient content and other constituents and high-quality protein, may facilitate specific mechanisms, such as speed of information processing, that are involved in learning.
This study was performed in children, but we now know that our brains continue to change throughout life—supplying them with the nutrients they need should be top priority. Still, many will write off all meat as unhealthy, but to this I say (quoting Carl Sagan): “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Meat and the nutrients it contains were an essential part of the evolution of our brains, with evidence of butchery by early humans dating back more than three million years. Today, we have the luxury of getting to choose our meals based on ethics, but our forebears had no such privilege; they would not have passed up the opportunity for the life-
sustaining nutrients contained in fresh meat. The notion that properly raised animals, providing a bevy of highly bioavailable nutrients, are somehow bad for us would be an extraordinary claim, with little good evidence to back it up.
How to buy: Look for humanely raised 100 percent grass-fed and grass-finished beef, ideally organic and from local farms. Note that organic beef, unless it clearly states “100 percent grass-fed,” is usually from cows fed organic grain.
How to cook: While grass-fed beef has triple the vitamin E of grain-fed beef, which helps protect its polyunsaturated fats from oxidation, I recommend using as low a heat as possible. Consider cooking with garlic- and onion-based marinades to reduce the formation of neurotoxic compounds like heterocyclic amines. Always pair with fibrous veggies such as kale or spinach, which help to neutralize oxidative products in the gut, and avoid consuming with starchy vegetables, grains, and other concentrated carbohydrates.
Bonus points: Eat organ meats and drink bone broth! Both are full of important nutrients not contained in muscle meat, such as collagen. Collagen contains important amino acids, which too have become lost to the modern diet. One of them, glycine, has been shown to improve sleep quality and may increase brain levels of serotonin (important for healthy mood and executive
function).
6. Dark Leafy Greens
Vegetables are your brain’s best friend. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, especially when we’re talking about the nonstarchy varieties including spinach and lettuce, and the cruciferous veggies cabbage, kale, and mustard greens. These dark leafy greens are low in sugar and packed with vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients that the brain desperately needs to function properly.
One of the nutrients that dark leafy greens are full of is the vitamin folate. In fact, the word folate comes from the Latin word for “foliage,” making it pretty easy to remember how to get more of it: eat leaves! Known mostly for its ability to prevent neural tube birth defects, folate is an essential ingredient in your body’s methylation cycle. This cycle occurs on a constant basis throughout the body and is critical for both detoxification and getting your genes to do their proper jobs.
Another important nutrient found in greens is magnesium. Magnesium is known as a “macromineral,” because we need to get a relatively large amount of it from our food for optimal health and performance (other macrominerals include sodium, potassium, and calcium). Nearly three hundred enzymes rely on magnesium, making it pretty popular around the body. These
enzymes are tasked with helping you generate energy and repairing damaged DNA, which is the underlying cause of cancer and aging, and even plays a role in senile dementia. Sadly, magnesium consumption is inadequate for 50 percent of the population. But lucky for us, anything green is usually a good source of magnesium, as this mineral is found at the centre of the chlorophyll molecule (which gives plants their green pigmentation). Perhaps this is why a recent study has shown that people who ate just two servings of dark leafy greens a day had brains that looked eleven years younger on scans!
Dark leafy greens also provide an undeniable benefit to us by way of the fibre that they contain. The gut microbiome has a collective ability to produce short-chain fatty acids like butyrate—a powerful inflammation inhibitor. The number one way to feed these microbes (and in turn extract butyrate for ourselves) is to increase vegetable consumption, which ensures a diverse and ample pipeline of fermentable, prebiotic fibres for our microbe friends. Leafy greens even contain a newly discovered sulfur-bound sugar molecule called sulfoquinovose (try to say that three times fast) that directly feeds healthy gut bacteria.
Overall, consumption of vegetables—and dark leafy greens in particular—benefits both brain and body, and is even inversely related to dementia risk and various biomarkers for aging.
How to use: Eat one huge “fatty salad” daily, which is a salad filled with organic dark leafy greens like kale, lettuce, or spinach, and doused with extra-virgin olive oil.
7. Broccoli
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (including cabbage and kale) are very beneficial to our health, in part because they are dietary sources of a compound called sulforaphane. This powerful chemical is created when two other compounds, held in separate compartments of these plant’s cells, unite as a result of chewing.
Sulforaphane has been studied for its impact on a variety of conditions, and has shown tremendous promise in treating or preventing cancer, autism, autoimmunity, brain inflammation, gut inflammation, and obesity. One fascinating study showed that mice fed sulforaphane along with an obesity-promoting diet gained 15 percent less weight and had 20 percent less visceral fat compared to mice that weren’t fed sulforaphane with their fat-inducing diets. Sulforaphane is not a vitamin or an essential nutrient. Instead, sulforaphane is a powerful genetic modulator known for its activation of an antioxidant pathway called Nrf2. Nrf2 is the body’s master switch for creating powerful chemicals that mop up oxidative stress. While other beneficial compounds such as plant polyphenols also stimulate this pathway, sulforaphane is the most potent of the known Nrf2 activators. That begs the question: what is the top known source of sulforaphane?
Youth has its perks, especially if you’re broccoli. Young broccoli sprouts yield anywhere between twenty to one hundred times the sulforaphane-producing compounds as adult broccoli (if we’re speaking strictly in terms of micronutrient content, adult broccoli is still more nutritious than broccoli sprouts). One kilogram of sprouts therefore equals one hundred kilogrammes of adult broccoli in terms of its sulforaphane-producing capacity.
How to use: Add cruciferous vegetables to your diet and consume them raw and cooked. Just note that one of the two compounds that creates sulforaphane (an enzyme called myrosinase) is destroyed by high-heat cooking. Thus, cooked broccoli and other crucifers lose their ability to create sulforaphane upon chewing. However, you can add myrosinase after the fact. Mustard powder is particularly rich in this compound, and if you sprinkle some onto your veggies after they’ve been cooked, voilà—the ability to create sulforaphane is regained!
Pro tip: Growing your own broccoli sprouts is incredibly cost-effective and easy, even for those of us without a green thumb. Blend them into smoothies, use to top grass-fed beef, or add generously to salads.
8. Wild Fish
The consumption of wild fish has been long associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and even all-cause mortality, but what about its impact on the brain? I’m glad you asked, because consumers of wild fish exhibit superior cognitive aging and better memory function, and even possess bigger brains! In a recent study, cognitively normal older people who
ate seafood (including fish, shrimp, crab, or lobster) more than once per week had reduced decline of verbal memory and slower rates of decline in a test of perceptual speed over five years compared to people who ate less than one serving per week. The protective association of seafood was even
stronger among individuals with the common senile dementia gene, ApoE4.
The king of these fishes is wild salmon, which is low in mercury and a rich source of both EPA and DHA omega-3 fats and a powerful carotenoid called astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is beneficial to
your entire body and can help do the following:
- Boost cognitive function and promote neurogenesis.
- Protect the skin from sun damage and enhance skin appearance.
- Protect the eyes, reducing inflammation.
- Convert blood lipids to a more cardioprotective profile.
- Provide potent antioxidant effects and free radical scavenging.
Some of these benefits appear to be facilitated by astaxanthin’s unique molecular structure, which allows it to shield cell membranes from oxidative stress. On top of that, it has also been shown to “switch on” genes that protect against DNA damage and the stresses of aging, such as the FOX03
longevity pathway. Shrimp, crab, and lobster are also high in astaxanthin and are good options when you’re looking for a little variety in your wild fish consumption.
How to use: Broil, pan-sear, or poach.
Final Notes
I hope that in reading this article you have learned as much as I have in researching, writing, and living the ideas presented here.
Remember: nutrition is a constantly evolving science—one where there are seldom black-and-white truths. In life, and especially on the Internet, people tend to be religious about their nutrition beliefs. But science is meant to be dispassionate—a method of asking questions and seeking answers, even if those answers are not what you want to hear. I ask that you seek your own truth. Challenge your assumptions regularly, be unafraid of authority, and question everything—even what you read (including this article).
I’m humbled and honoured that you chose to read this blog post, and I hope you’ll consider sharing it to a friend or a loved one—the ultimate form of praise.