Great brain foods

My aunt was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I've been researching a lot about brain-friendly foods. I got out Wai Lana Yoga's juice book. I'm going to make my aunt drink a lot of fruit juices.

SuperFoods for Your Brain
Posted Thu, Sep 03, 2009
September means that many of us are getting back to school or back to work or back to looking for work -- all of which require a whole lot of braininess. To support this big brain storm, I checked in with our friends at EatingWell, to see what they suggest for smart eating. They got back to me with the best brain food to eat during each stage of life...

The Best Brain Food for Infants and Babies:

Iron. By 5 or 6 months, babies have used up the iron stores they're born with and need to get iron from food or supplements to support brain development.
Food solutions: Iron-fortified cereals. Try these iron-rich recipes.

The Best Brain Food for Children and Teens:

School-aged children should start their day with low-glycemic-index breakfast foods. (They need morning fuel.)
Food solutions: Bran cereals, oatmeal or whole-wheat bagels. Try these oat-filled recipes.

The Best Brain Food for Young Adults:

Got iron? 10 percent of women are anemic, and new studies show that being even mildly iron-deficient affects learning, memory, and attention. Luckily, restoring iron levels to normal also restores cognitive function.
Food solutions: Dark leafy greens, beans, meat or soy. Try these leafy green recipes.

The Best Brain Food for Older Adults:

Eat your antioxidants. People who eat more brightly colored fruits and leafy vegetables have less cognitive decline than those who don't; antioxidants in produce may mop up free radicals and protect neurons from damage.
Food solutions: Berries and other fruits, greens and turmeric (which contains curcumin). Try these antioxidant-rich recipes.

The Best Brain Food for Pregnant Women:

Pregnant women who eat fatty fish, such as salmon, during their third trimester of pregnancy have babies who tend to perform better on cognitive tasks. Researchers think the omega-3 fatty acid DHA is needed during this time to build neurons and their connections.
Food solutions: Salmon and other fatty fish, DHA-fortified eggs and yogurt. Try these healthy salmon recipes.

-Check out these brain-boosting recipes to incorporate all the foods above into your diet.

-But smarts are not everything. Here are some of Wai Lana easy rules on how eat for happiness.

Jet lag

It is always nice to jump into the ocean after a long flight. It just brings balance to your whole body and helps negate the effects of radiation and etc that occurs in your body during a flight.

Here's an interesting blog post on how jet lag affects the brain:

How jet lag affects our brains

It’s funny sometimes how our work content crosses over into our real lives. A case of art imitating life? For the last several weeks, I have been jet lagged, big time. It started when I was in India a few weeks ago. The trip there wasn’t bad and I managed to get on a schedule pretty quickly once I hit the ground. Once I got back, though, I had a very hard time shaking it. About a week later, I was still lying awake at 3 a.m. feeling as if I had been run over by a Mack truck. Right when I getting back on track, I flew to the West Coast and started the whole process all over again. And, I just got in from LA late last night. No question, I do travel a lot, but I was always curious: What is really happening in my brain when I am jet lagged?

The area of the brain that is most crucial to all of this is the hypothalamus. It is a key area of the brain, and most specifically the suprachiasmatic nucleus (that’s a name to remember…) contains tens of thousands of neurons whose main function is to regulate our circadian rhythms, our body clocks. (read jet lag study) In neurosurgical terms, this area is completely “out of whack” when we travel. But, it is more than that.

There are two types of neurons that individually represent our deep sleep and REM sleep. The deep sleep neurons do synch up within a day, even after a significant overseas trip but it is those neurons overseeing REM sleep that take much longer. Without REM sleep, which is the type of sleep that allows you to dream, you are going to feel more fatigued, have lapses in memory and general decreased performance.

Now, as you might imagine, researchers who figured this out in rats have already told us they are looking into the possibility of a “jet lag” drug to target the suprachiasmatic neurons in the hypothalamus regulating REM sleep patterns (I feel smart just writing that). Yes, I am convinced that one day there will be a pill for everything, but I am not a big fan of pills, so here are some techniques I have learned over the years. (watch Sanjay’s personal tips)

I immediately change my clock to the new time zone when getting on the plane. If possible, I will try to go to bed an hour earlier each night for a couple of nights prior to the trip. As you might imagine, starting off sleep deprived is not a good idea. I take eye blinders and a heavy sweater on all flights, so I can sleep even during daylight. As I mentioned, sleeping pills aren’t really my thing, though I have a few frequent traveler friends who swear by melatonin. In case you can’t remember how to take this supplement, think of it as the “darkness hormone.” It is made when it is dark outside and suppressed by light. You take it about an hour before bedtime – of your new location.

Please excuse all typos – I was jet lagged when I wrote this. And, I was wondering if you had any more tips to ward off jet lag to help me and other travelers?