Rotary Speaker notes Feb 22 2019
Charlotte Crowley has reinvented herself several times, but this is the most loved 
of all her callings. She is an holistic nutritionist, and her mission is to help people improve their health with food. As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine.”
Most people don’t realize how much your diet affects your brain, and what amazing transformations can happen when you change your diet. Charlotte focused on brain health when speaking to our club. Cancer and heart disease are clearly two big problems that are often lifestyle related, and most people are already on the path to turning that around. Brain health is unique, and it doesn’t matter when you start, it will still make a difference. Memory, problems with focus, concentration, brain fog, and more can all be helped with improved diet.
We used to think that you can kill your brain cells, that brain cells do not replicate. When they were gone, they were gone. But we now know that the brain is actually quite plastic, and can create new pathways. You have to do certain things to make that happen, but it’s definitely possible.
Charlotte told us of the Psychiatrist Norman Doidge, who has written extensively about brain health, including about a woman who was discovered to have been born with only half a brain. She had never known that this was the case until she was the subject of this examination at about her mid-life. If she had known this as a child, she would have been treated differently, and expectations of her would probably have been reduced. She definitely would not have been treated the same as other children. As it was, she was given no special treatment. It turned out that the one side of the brain was running everything, including things that it would not normally have done. The capacity of the brain to change with learning and experience is incredible!
Digestion and brain functions are closely related. Think of food as the fuel that you put in your vehicle - what you eat makes a difference. This does not mean that you can’t ever have treats, of course! But please don’t make it a usual habit. A hIgh tide raises all boats, all body systems will feel better with improved diet! We tend to accept how we feel, which may not be optimal, but it’s OK, so we don’t complain.
Charlotte’s list of foods that assault your brain;
Top offender: added sugar makes you stupid!
Sugar is known to affect all sorts of functions, and is linked to: impaired memory, slower brain communication, leading to poor mental health, including depression, headaches, anxiety, irritability, nervous tension, anger outbursts, fatique, lethargy, and yes, even linked to suicide.
100 years ago, the general population ate less than 5 pounds of sugar a year. Now, most people in Canada eat about 90 pounds of sugar a year. In the USA, that number is 130 pounds. In Australia, the number is 140 pounds. We should not eat more than about 6 teaspoons a day of real sugar. Remember that sugar disguises itself under all sorts of names, including as syrups, etc.
Second offender: bad fats!
We’re not talking about good oils like coconut and olive oil, and free-range eggs, avocados, and fat in grass-fed meat and butter. Also great are things like walnuts, almonds, pecans, and macadamia nuts. Especially great are fatty fish like sardines and mackerel! All of these are VITAL for brain health. But, please avoid margarine, and hydrogenated oils like Crisco, vegetable oils like Mazola, and so on. Just knock out fried foods and junk foods.
Ben Franklin was not wrong when he said, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”
Foods that thrill and heal your brain
Complex carbs: whole grains, starchy veg, beans, and lentils, plus nuts and seeds.
Simple carbs like dark coloured fruits, such as blueberries, cherries, and blackberries.
Leafy greens.
Where do we get the best quality proteins? Things like wild caught fish, lean red grass-fed meats, (but limit the meat due to saturated fats), organic poultry, beans with rice, quinoa, and free-range eggs.
One of the best things you can do for your brain is to drink water! Your brain is 75 to 80% water! Drink half your body weight in ounces in a day. Eg. for a 120 pound person, drink 60 ounces of water a day. (1.77 litres)
What about alcohol? Studies in England that show that people who consume a glass of red wine a day have a 30% less chance of developing dementia. BUT there is a great deal of controversy about alcohol. We suppose it depends who’s funding the study. Red wine is still considered a healthier choice of all alcohol choices.
So, perhaps with all of this information, it’s best to just remember this:
Eat less CRAP
Carbonated drinks
Refined sugar
Artificial sweeteners
Processed foods
And, eat more FOOD
Fruits and veg
Organic lean proteins
Omega 3 fatty acids
Drink more water
Research tells us that to keep the mind alive requires learning something truly new, with intense focus. That means doing new things regularly. When you’re a kid, you’re learning all the time. In our early work life, we learn skills. Then, we have about 20 years of using those skills. It’s when we get older and we’re not adding new skills that we start to lose our brain’s abilities. Ways to keep up your learning muscles include learning a new language, learning to dance (body-mind connection), learning to play a musical instrument, and playing board games. Not to mention reading, and cardiovascular activities like cycling and walking, which strengthen the heart, and the blood vessels which supply the brain.
3 habits to cultivate to reverse brain decline;
Focus on only one thing at a time vs multitasking.
Look at your to-do list, pick the 2 most important things that will make the most difference, and do them.
Go “deep”; get off autopilot and take a break from constant mental work. Go for a walk, go to the park, let your brain work on things, sleep on it, etc. You need time for your brain to figure things out and do its job.
Not rocket science, but these are shown to make a difference with your brain.
Thank you, Charlotte!
On behalf of the Community Grants Committee, John Shillabeer gave notice of a motion to be voted on in two weeks to donate $4,000 to Brechin Elementary School for extracurricular activities to enhance the life-skills, activities, opportunities and health of the students. Brechin serves one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the School District.
The Draw
