Brain Boosting Diet
 

Hey peeps.

Been a bit under the weather of late, and blimey I'm in love with online shopping. ow picking list and thought I'd better make sure my diet is good. here's a lot of chat around here re suppliments, but do you also eat?

Have any good recipes/ingrediants? Simple ones probs for the best, eh. :winky:

I usually have makkerel for lunch so have that down, in sunflower oil, as well as trout. An abundance of green veg: broccoli, cabbage, leeks, spinach, cauliflower and even some avacados (which normally I'm not keen on).

Bit stumped on the seed front, not a fan really so dont know what to do with them! Do have some ground almonds and spinach for a trout curry.

Dark chocolate, prefer milk but sure I'll cope. No sure if I can afford vanilla...why does nowhere sell mesoamerican style hot chocolate?

Fruit and berries. Porrige.

I eat lots of salmon and arugula. My symptoms worsen when I slack on my healthy eating habits, so I try to keep my house stocked with good stuff.

I like to snack on raw walnuts and almond butter lately. I also find myself craving eggs often, so I eat a lot of those (I never used to before I hit my head). Blueberries, too. I like gluten-free, sugar-free granola with blueberries, a banana, and a drizzle of raw honey for breakfast.

Oh, I forgot that you mentioned seeds. I like to make a thick pudding out of chia seeds and coconut milk. I add flax seeds to homemade breads.

Be sure you sugar free granola does not contain artificial sweeteners.

It doesn't, but I'm glad you mentioned that. I accidentally ingested some aspartame at the local frozen yogurt shop a while back because I thought "sugar free" meant zero sugar. It made me really sick, so keep an eye out for that if any of you guys are trying to limit your intake of artificial sweeteners.

Also, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to share personal links in this group, but I save a lot of healthy recipes on my Pinterest board. Here is the link:

My Pinterest Recipes

It's mostly Paleo and gluten-free stuff.

Thank you so much for the pinterest recipes link.

Everybody should be limiting their intake of artificial sweeteners. Aspartame is the worst as it is an excitotoxin. Sucralose is highly questionable. All forms negatively impact how the pancreas releases insulin by confusing the body with a sense of ingesting sugars without the availability of those sugars.

Personally, I find that the key issue is the density of sugars ingested. Sugars with proteins or complex carbs are much better tolerated. I can enjoy an 80 calorie piece of chocolate without even noticing it. I do try to avoid all High Fructose Corn Syrup as I can feel the difference in my system.

These are some dinners that went down well. Tried to keep things simple and healthy. Amounts used are general, nothing will be ruined by a bit of apoximation. Should produce three small dinners. Standard over temp. Very tasty.

Chicken and Brassica Bake.
-- 30mins, one dish, one pan: easy/moderate

Slice one small leek
Pick leaves of a sprig of thyme, slice sprig of sage, whole spring of rosemary.
2 cloves of garlic squashed
Mix into casserole dish, spread chicken thigh fillets on top.
Drizzle of oil (olive, sunflower, saflower), Salt and pepper, bake for 20mins.
Par-boil broccoli and cauliflower florets.
(broccoli should be half the size of the cauliflower for an even cook)

---have a sit down

Drain broccoli and cauliflower, keep 1/3 cup of water.
Add to casserole dish, pour over water and 1/3 jar of bechemel (white sauce, or soft cheese)
Put a bit of mozzerlla on top and bake for further 10mins.

Serve with slice of wholegrain bread to mop up soupy sauce.

__________________________________________________ ____________

Trout Curry
--25mins, one dish: Easy

Into a casserole dish:
fine grated nub of ginger and garlic clove, drizzle of oil. (Put in hot oven as you get other ingrediants out, then remove and add:)
1x carton of chopped tomatoes
1x sliced red bell pepper
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of tumeric
sprinkle of chilli flakes to taste
1x sliced baby leek
4 good tablespoons of ground almond

Mix, place trout fillet on top, skin up, squueze of lemon. Into oven for 20mins.

--have a sit down, maybe a cup of green tea

Remove from oven, placing fish onto a plate, stir in a cup of couscous and extra water as needed, replace fish.
Add a big handful of spinach, cover and return to oven for 5mins as get plates out, finish tea ect.
Fluff zingy, spicy couscous onto plate.

Here's an interesting link regarding nutrition in tbi:

http://www.intechopen.com/books/trau...ng-supplements

Food sources:

Omega 3 and 6-- faxseed, makerel, wild salmon, sunflower oil.
Here is a link with lots more detail and weight %:
http://www.dhaomega3.org/Overview/Di...-3-Fatty-Acids

oligonucleotides-- blue algave, jerusalem artichoke, bananas, onions, asparagus, chicory, garlic, leeks

Arginine--peanuts, almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, fish, chicken, eggs have most, see link for further:
http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/amin...ntent-food.php

Glutamine-- beef, pork, chicken, eggs, cabbage, beans, nuts, beets, spinach, parsley

Anti-oxidants:
Green tea, ginko, tumeric, wheat germ, sunflower seeds & oil, saflower oil, nuts, leafy greens,blueberries, meat, bell peppers, tomatoes, sardines and fish

Branched-chain amino acids--chicken, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts

Choline--eggs, shrimp scallops, cod, leafy greens- broccoli, cauliflower,chard, spinach, aspargus

Creatine--game, free range domestic meat, wild fish

Magnesium-- spinach, beets greens, swiss chard, pumpkin seeds

Vitamen D--oily fish, egg yolks, fortified cereals

Zinc-- beef, spinach, shtake mushrroms, asparagus

Your list left out pork as one of the best sources of branched chain amino acids.

Trying to consume all of the foods in adequate quantities to provide all of the nutritional needs of a struggling brain is difficult. It is far more expensive than the $1 a day vitamin regimen I take. I still eat healthy at my wife's insistence but she also insists I take the vitamin regimen. She can see a difference in my ability to function when I have missed my vitamins for a few days.

For those of us needing higher B-12 intake, foods just do not cut it. I'd have to eat 40 clams a day to get the minimum level of B-12 I need to keep my plasma B-12 levels up. I'd need to eat 2 pounds of cold water fish each day to do it with fish. Eating that much fish would create a risk of heavy metal toxicity.

The need for D3 creates a similar challenge.

Getting vitamins through diet is the ideal way unless you are deficient in certain ones. I'd go for natural one over synthetically made ones any day. Having a good diet has more benefits than vitamins alone can supply you also learn about food groups and how they work and get an overall interest in what you eat. I do wonder about some of the quantities of vitamins people take and their effects.

I have never suggested that vitamins and supplements can replace a good diet. They are supplements to a good diet. As I stated previously, it is very difficult to get the higher levels of the brain nourishing nutrients from diet alone.

SuperElectric, I am curious. You said "I do wonder about some of the quantities of vitamins people take and their effects." Do you think we are taking excessive amounts ?

The amounts recommended in the regimen posted are much less that common 'mega vitamin' supplementation levels promoted by life extension advocates..

The studies of Omega 3 fish oil use up to 20 grams per day. I take 1200 mgs (1.2 grams) per day.

Well I dont expect anyone to measure out an entire days weight of a certain element and consume it in one food source.

It would probably be better to look on balance, at meals and snacks and an accumalitive effect. One ingrediant will often hold several good things you need.

I've found this site quite interesting, good recaps and measurements ect.

http://www.whfoods.com/nutrientstoc.php

super electric, certainly. In whole foods complimentary nutients are often found. I noticed that my body craves certain foods, not long after my injury I have a random memory of rooting through the salad bag for the spinach, my motor skills still a bit of a shambles and too tired to care. So I looked up those things, and well, yes, posted here and what not.

I'm probably quite lucky i had a good-ish/mostly diet before really.

You do hear of a lot of people suffering gastro-intestial problems from the cases/base materials. Doctors being so fond of laxatives and all.

(I once talked to a gyno from new zealand who told me they have fresh kiwi and blenders on the wards and gives out cool shakes for that.)

Those who struggle with the binding agents and such can take the supplement in gelatin capsules. They are very well tolerated, especially compared to the myriad of binders in tablet forms. I challenge anybody to propose a diet that will provide a daily dose of a minimum of 400 mcgs of B-12 and 1000iu's of D-3 without pushing the limits of heavy metals found in fish.

The high toxin level fish are suggested at only a few servings a month. The low toxin level fish are suggest at just two or so servings a week. From what I have been able to find, fish oils have acceptably low levels of toxins because the higher levels of toxins in fish come from toxins in muscle tissue in addition to that low level in the oil.