BioenergyHealing

07/01/2025

An extraordinary protein is the ultimate brain booster, says medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo. Here’s how to raise your level and keep your brain sharp

You won’t realize your brain is essentially broken until it’s too late to do anything about it. The statistics are not pretty. In the United States, when you reach age 85, you have a 50 percent risk of diagnosable dementia.1 And when you reach 90, the risk is 75 percent.

It’s sobering when you consider that you’ll likely live to be 100 or longer. But even more sobering is the fact that even if you aren’t diagnosed with dementia, if you’re over 30, your aging brain is functioning at a fraction of its potential, overwhelmed by stress and toxins.

After decades of working with Indigenous sages in the Amazon, I discovered the power plants, neuro-nutrients and practices that detoxify and upgrade the brain and slow down what we call “aging.”

What we have accepted as normal breakdown that we can’t avoid as we grow older is actually a preventable condition—if we upgrade the brain. While we can’t live forever, we can expand our minds and our youthful, healthy years far longer than you might have imagined.

Boost your brain with BDNF
The ultimate brain builder might be an extraordinary protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is like mother’s milk for stem cells. To upgrade your brain, you want to ensure it has abundant BDNF on board. Neurotrophic means BDNF can regenerate brain cells and minimize damage from free-radical activity and inflammation.

BDNF increases protein synthesis in neurons, the ability of brain cells to renew themselves by replacing all their component parts. It supports neurogenesis—the maturation of new neurons—and protects existing neurons from degeneration, making it essential for optimal brain health. Further, it promotes neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections.

Deficiencies in BDNF have been linked to psychiatric disorders including depression and schizophrenia and to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. The higher-order neural networks facilitated by BDNF allow for creativity, imagination and lifelong learning.

BDNF protects mitochondria and can both shield the hippocampus and help it repair damage. We need it to keep learning, but unfortunately aging causes it to decline, setting us up to grow duller and mentally fossilize as we age.

We might like to think of ourselves as mellowing with age like a fine wine. But too many of us turn into the stereotypical grumpy old man shouting at the kids to get off his lawn, or the old woman bemoaning how her life should have turned out differently.

Of course, we tell ourselves we’ll never become that irritable, close-minded person, but too often, we can’t exhibit the creative behaviors we swore we would adopt. Kindness and generosity elude us, and old neural networks remain in the driver’s seat after years of habitual conduct.

But if we ensure that we have abundant BDNF, we can birth new neurons that override our most primitive fears, negative emotional reactions and damaging fight-or-flight responses.

The need for new neurons
You need new neurons like you need new skin cells, and BDNF helps strengthen the networks that allow us to look at the world in original ways. When our hippocampus is repaired, we can embark on a journey of wonder and awe, with an imaginative and creative attitude toward life.

By the way, BDNF also regulates energy metabolism in the brain and body, determining how easily you can gain or lose unwanted pounds. Science is still deciphering the complex puzzle of BDNF, and it appears that increasing BDNF production can even cause tumors to shrink.2

Daniel Radin and his colleagues at Stony Brook University School of Medicine found that increasing BDNF in the brain has the power to regulate the immune system. It can induce an antitumor response and reduce the activity of proteins that create resistance to chemotherapy.

The way BDNF spurs the growth of stem cells and new neurons in the brain is another amazing example of epigenetics. It turns out we’re not only what we eat but also what we think, and our moods and wisdom (and loving relationship with the world) epigenetically determine our health.

This is called the exposome—the sum of what we’ve been exposed to and experienced throughout our lives. Your exposome includes the way you exercise, the way you love and forgive, your stress level, your microbiome and the toxins in your food and water.

More than 90 percent of your health or illness is determined by your exposome,3 and it regulates how fast you age or remain youthful.

Seven ways to boost BDNF
Fortunately, there are a number of simple ways to boost BNDF. The following are all part of my 10-day Grow a New Brain program (see ‘How to grow a new brain,’ below), which draws on ancient nutrition and modern scientific discoveries to detoxify and upgrade your brain.

Dose up on DHA
We worry so much about the fat around our waists that we forget about the fat in our brains. Brain fat is the good fat we want to keep.

Sixty percent of the brain’s dry weight is fat, and one-third of that is pure docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the omega-3 fatty acid. The retinas in your eyes are mostly DHA, and you need DHA to build the membranes around neurons that permit the transport of essential nutrients in and out of your cells.

DHA is also an efficient anti-inflammatory, helping extinguish the fire raging inside our brains. Without DHA, our brains can’t perform regular maintenance, much less the upgrade that we seek so we can discover solutions to our personal and collective challenges.

DHA regulates the activation of BDNF and activates the Nrf2 pathway—what I call the “Amazon pathway” because it was intuitively discovered by rainforest sages millennia ago. The Nrf2 pathway switches off the genes for disease (see ‘What is Nrf2?’ below).

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is another omega-3. It has been used as therapy for bipolar disorder and can help prevent coronary heart disease, reduce high triglycerides (fats in the blood) and inflammation, and lower blood pressure. I personally love the vegan version extracted from algae.

So where do we get the DHA that’s so important for the brain? In utero, we got it from our mothers, and as infants, we got it through her breast milk (which is nearly 50 percent DHA) or from today’s enriched baby formula.

After weaning, however, we may not have gotten the DHA we’ve needed all the years since. Most of us have brains that are DHA starved.

In the past, dietary sources of DHA and EPA were abundant—the fatty fish our grandparents ate were rich in them—but today, fish are often farm-raised and fattened on a diet of corn. Fish can’t make DHA from corn, only from the algae and smaller fish in their natural habitats.

I recommend taking DHA supplements to upgrade your hardware. Your improved brain function will enhance all aspects of your life.

Fortunately, we have the science to show it. The Memory Improvement with Docosahexaenoic Acid Study (MIDAS) looked at the effects of DHA supplementation on older adults’ cognitive function. Researchers recruited 485 healthy adults aged 55–80 years with mild memory complaints and randomly assigned them to receive a daily dose of either 900 mg of DHA or a placebo for six months.

The participants’ cognitive function was assessed using a battery of tests. Compared to the placebo group, the group that received DHA supplements showed significant improvement in working memory and executive function (skills such as adaptable thinking, strategic planning and self-control). They also showed improvement in verbal memory and attention. The study concluded that DHA may prevent age-related cognitive decline.4

Even more impressive is a study by Dr Martha Morris and her colleagues at the Rush Institute for Health on the power of DHA to protect against Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

They enrolled 815 healthy patients (aged 65–94 years) and followed them for nearly four years, at the end of which they found that 131 participants had developed AD. They discovered that participants who consumed fish once per week or more had a 60 percent lower risk of AD than those who rarely or never ate fish.5

A meta-analysis of 11 studies with 698 participants found that BDNF levels significantly increased with omega-3 supplementation at doses of 1,500 mg/day.6 Most Americans consume 60–80 mg of DHA daily, far less than the 200–300 mg each day that’s necessary for maintaining even basic brain function.

The dosage I use is closer to 30 times the average consumption—2,000 mg daily. It’s the amount you would get from a small portion of wild-caught salmon every night at dinner or a 15-minute “serving” of breast milk from your mother.

Combining omega-3s with B vitamins is a magic formula for increasing BDNF. The combination can enhance cognition in older individuals as demonstrated in the Oxford VITACOG trial,7 in which participants with high omega-3 levels experienced a 68 percent reduction in brain shrinkage when also treated with B vitamins.

This helps explain the previous failures of nearsighted studies that focused solely on B vitamins or omega-3 fatty acids. It seems that these nutrients’ effectiveness depends on having high levels of both.

Consider curcumin
Curcumin, the main ingredient in the spice turmeric, has been used in traditional Chinese and Indian (Ayurvedic) medicine for thousands of years. It possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial properties.

Curcumin’s ability to increase BDNF has attracted the interest of neuroscientists because villages in India, where turmeric is used in curry recipes, have only 15 percent of the incidence of AD that the United States does. Could that be because curcumin increases BDNF production?

Curcumin also activates the Nrf2 detoxification pathway (see ‘What is Nrf2?’ below) that silences the genes for cancer and dementia and protects mitochondria.

Whenever possible, I like to mix curcumin, the plant extract, with the whole plant, turmeric. The plant has many molecules and pathways that work synergistically.

To get a daily dose of curcumin, you can prepare a “golden milk” every evening. Mix ¼ teaspoon curcumin powder plus a dash of turmeric with warm almond milk, honey and a dash of black pepper.

Consume brain-boosting mushrooms
Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), called the “mushroom of immortality,” is revered in traditional Asian medicine for its health-enhancing properties. Thought to boost immune response, reishi mushrooms help the body fend off pathogens.

Reishi reduces stress and promotes mental clarity and relaxation. Its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties can reduce the risk of chronic disease and support heart health by balancing blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

It’s also known for improving sleep quality and combating fatigue, making it a stellar enhancer of physical health and well-being. By upregulating BDNF and balancing the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, it plays a key role in regulating your mood.

Lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a nootropic fungus known for its benefits to brain health and cognitive function. It’s rich in molecules that stimulate the production of BDNF and nerve growth factor (NGF), both crucial for the survival of neurons.

This mushroom can enhance cognitive functions, including memory, attention and creativity, and may protect against the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Its anti-inflammatory properties support gut health and the immune system. It’s also an antioxidant, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.

An easy way to take these mushrooms is to buy them in powdered form and mix them into beverages (see ‘Brain-boosting beverages,’ below).

Try bacopa
Bacopa (Bacopa monnieri) has been employed in traditional folk remedies for longevity and cognitive enhancement. It grows in marshy areas on several continents, including Asia and South America, and is a calming cognitive enhancer.

Considered a nootropic, bacopa is used in Ayurvedic medicine to improve cognitive function and memory, relieve stress and anxiety, and enhance mood. It has antidepressant and anxiolytic effects, reducing cortisol secretion and restoring the dopamine and serotonin depleted during chronic stress.

When laboratory rats exposed to chronic, unpredictable stress were given B. monnieri, they began to produce abundant BDNF, resulting in neurogenesis and neuroprotection.8 Again, take it in powdered form and add to beverages.

Exercise
Grueling, boring, repetitious exercise increases BDNF, but so does movement you actually enjoy. A study at Harvard University showed that elderly women who exercised were biologically three years younger than the other women in the study and had a 20 percent lower risk of cognitive impairment.9

High-intensity interval training (HIIT), like sprinting or running on a treadmill, produces much higher levels of BDNF than low-intensity exercise, like walking.10 Yet both walking and stretching also offer significant improvements in BDNF levels.

The takeaway is to get moving, get active, walk, hike, stretch and engage in some vigorous activity until you are out of breath for a few minutes each day. By doing so, you’ll protect your brain for the rest of your life.

My favorite exercise is hiking—we have many hiking trails where we live. I like to do short bursts of faster walking and/or jogging, for 100 steps or so. It’s enough to raise my heart rate so I get the benefit of a mini-HIIT exercise protocol.

Make time for meditation
In the West, we think of meditation as a relaxation practice used primarily for de-stressing. Indeed, it has these benefits, but it has others, too. Seeing meditation as only a stress buster is like thinking the sole benefit of jogging is to learn how to get to places faster.

Think of meditation as flexing the muscles of the brain. We exercise every other part of our body through movement. We exercise the brain through stillness, and meditation is the equivalent of HIIT for the mind. Best of all, it increases BDNF production as much as or more than any other exercise.

Even among AD patients, the disease progresses slower in those who have meditation practices, probably due to increased BDNF production.

David Perlmutter, MD, and I reached this conclusion, which we wrote about in our book Power Up Your Brain: “Meditation helps us visit the complex environment of the inner mind as well as the universal energy field. And, not surprisingly, this might well be the most powerful stimulant for BDNF production.”

Stimulate your brain
There seems to be a direct relationship between educational level and risk of AD: The higher your education level, the lower your risk. AD typically begins 20–30 years before you’re diagnosed, and prevention needs to begin decades earlier as well.

Taking a daily dose of DHA is one of the best investments you can make. But you can also seek intellectual stimulation—especially important now that we are outsourcing our brains to our digital devices.

For example, we don’t use maps anymore (we have GPS— remember using a map to navigate?), and we don’t have to remember telephone numbers or directions. To replace these everyday brain workouts, we need to find ways to exercise our brains as much as or more than we exercise our bodies.

Keep your brain active by seeking out new experiences, learning new skills, staying curious and engaging in tasks that involve problem-solving.

What is Nrf2?
Nrf2, or nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2, is the body’s master regulator of aging and detoxification. Nrf2 can protect every organ in the body and every kind of tissue against cancer, heart disease, dementia and autoimmune disease. It’s one of the most important cellular defense systems, designed to eliminate free radicals and oxidative stress produced by toxins and carcinogens.

How to grow a new brain
My Grow a New Brain program includes key actions to detoxify and upgrade the brain. Here are the basics.

Shift out of the standard Western diet and into organic eating.
Avoid or greatly reduce consumption of red meat, dairy, eggs and sugar.
Get vital nutrients from plants that activate the Nrf2 pathway by consuming broccoli sprouts, coffee, blueberries and green tea.
Fast overnight, limit eating to a six-to-eight-hour window, and avoid foods that contain sugar.
Detoxify your kitchen by eliminating junk food, items with ingredients you can’t pronounce, sugary foods and drinks, and artificial colors and preservatives.
Detoxify your body by eliminating dairy, alcohol, hydrogenated oils, sugar, gluten and coffee for 10 days.
Take a curated selection of supplements (see below).
Protect your brain through simple lifestyle activities: exercise, stress reduction, meditation and intellectual challenges.
Brain-boosting supplements
Here are the supplements I recommend during and after my Grow a New Brain Program.

During the program

DHA: 2,000 mg daily in the evening, with or without food. Keep refrigerated.
B vitamin complex containing B12: daily in the morning.
Olive oil: extra virgin, organic, use freely on salads and veggies.
Alpha lipoic acid: 600 mg daily, 30 minutes before dinner or on an empty stomach before bed.
MCT oil and coconut oil: 1 tablespoon daily in the morning.
Broccoli sprouts: 20 grams (a small bunch) daily with salad. Chew well. Four or five days on, two days off. Repeat.
Curcumin (from turmeric extract): 250 mg capsule each morning and evening with or without food.
Pterostilbene: 50 mg each morning and evening with or without food.
Liposomal glutathione: 1,000 mg morning and evening on an empty stomach.
N-acetyl cysteine: 600 mg in the evening with food.
Magnesium citrate: 2,000 mg in the evening before dinner.
Zinc: 50 mg in the evening with or without food.
5-HTP: 100 to 200 mg in the evening with food.
S. boulardii probiotic: 1 tablespoon morning and evening before food (see recipe on YouTube by searching “Villoldo S. boulardii”).
After completing the program

Multivitamin with B complex: daily in the morning, with or without food.
Vitamin D3: 10,000 IU daily in the morning with or without food.
DHA: 2,000 mg daily.
Broccoli sprouts: 20 grams (a small bunch) daily, four or five days, once per month.
S. boulardii probiotic: daily in the evening, with or without food.
Brain-boosting beverages
I developed the following recipes with Hyacinth Nadine, a nutritionist and longtime member of my team. These beverages offer a delightful way to nourish your brain by incorporating power plants, including medicinal mushrooms and adaptogens, into your daily routine. They are longevity tonics that promote brain health, energy, focus, and stress relief.

Feel free to customize them to suit your taste preferences and dietary needs.

Adaptogenic Brain-Boosting Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 tsp lion’s mane mushroom powder

½ tsp Bacopa monnieri powder

½ avocado

1 cup blueberries

1 Tbsp chia seeds

1 cup almond milk

1 Tbsp coconut or MCT oil

Method

In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy this nutrient-packed smoothie for enhanced brain function and cognitive support.

BDNF Booster

Serves 1

This tonic’s ingredients boost your BDNFs, supporting the creation of new brain cells in the hippocampus. Improve your cognitive function, memory, mood and overall brain resilience while enjoying this tasty tonic.

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk, warm

2 tsp coconut oil

¼ tsp ashwagandha powder

¼ tsp curcumin powder

¼ tsp ginkgo powder

¼ tsp Rhodiola rosea powder

1–2 tsp honey (optional)

Method

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix on high speed for 20 seconds. Serve in your favorite mug or cup and enjoy.

Adapted from Grow a New Brain: How Spirit and Power Plants Can Protect and Upgrade Your Brain by Alberto Villoldo (Hay House, 2024)

23/09/2024

Patrick Holford, leading nutrition expert and founder of the Food for the Brain Foundation, outlines exactly what to eat to protect your brain and prevent cognitive decline

Of all the organs in your body, your brain may be the weakest link. There is a “global brain health emergency,” says the European Federation of Neuroscience Societies.

Both our brain size and our IQ are falling, on average, says Professor Michael Crawford, director of the Institute for Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at Imperial College London—and it’s largely down to what you eat. The thin edge of the wedge is depression, anxiety, insomnia, forgetfulness and ultimately failing memory. Dementia affects close to a million people in the UK and 7 million in the US, about 10 percent of the over-65s in both countries.

We literally have to “upgrade” our brains—otherwise, we’re heading for a cerebral tsunami.

In the 1990s, I set up the Brain Bio Centre in London, at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, to treat people suffering from a wide variety of mental health concerns.

Over 40 years, I’ve had the chance to study under the leading lights in mental health, including David Smith, emeritus professor of pharmacology at the University of Oxford, and Helga Refsum, professor of nutrition at the University of Oslo. Refsum’s impeccable studies of nutritional treatment have shown up to a 73 percent reduction in shrinkage of the Alzheimer’s areas of the brain in a year, compared to placebo, which is leagues ahead of any dementia drug treatments (see ‘Two nutrients that stop your brain shrinking,’ below).

I’ve pieced all the research together to bring you the ultimate brain-friendly diet as well as eight essential ways to dementia-proof your diet and lifestyle. With all we know now, it’s possible not only to prevent cognitive decline but also to enhance brain function, intelligence, memory, concentration and mood.

Feed your brain
What you eat has a massive impact on your brain health. A study in Finland and Sweden compared those with a healthy versus unhealthy diet in midlife to determine their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia 14 years later. Those who ate the healthiest diet had an 88 percent lower risk of developing dementia and a 92 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s.1

A study following more than 30,000 people over a decade found that those with a healthy diet were about seven times less likely to have age-related cognitive decline or dementia than those with an “average” diet and about nine times less likely to develop dementia than those with an unfavorable diet.

The definition of a healthy diet was one high in fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and tea.2 These foods are hallmarks of a Mediterranean-style diet, which usually contains more fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds as well as more fish, less meat and sometimes some wine.

Early studies on the Mediterranean-style diet reported that high adherence reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s by a third compared to low adherence.3

The most recent study conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago looked at the effects of a Mediterranean-style diet called the MIND diet, with lots of vegetables and fruit. According to the researchers, “People who scored highest for adhering to the Mediterranean diet had average plaque and tangle amounts in their brains, similar to being 18 years younger than the people who scored lowest.”4

A similar study in Holland reported on brain volume, another indicator of dementia: “Better diet quality related to larger brain volume, gray matter volume, white matter volume, and hippocampal volume. High intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts, dairy and fish and low intake of sugar-containing beverages were associated with larger brain volumes.”5

So, following a brain-friendly diet could reduce your risk of cognitive decline by up to 90 percent, stop your brain shrinking and prevent signs of brain aging, such as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary p-tau tangles (see ‘Rooting out the cause,’ below).

Small changes, big differences
Adding one good food to your diet can make a big difference. Rush University’s research found that ticking one good food box—such as eating the recommended amounts of vegetables or fruits—reduced amyloid buildup in the brain to a level similar to being about four years younger.

In their study, the greatest result was found in those eating greens. Those in the top third of greens consumption had substantially less Alzheimer’s-related pathology than those in the lowest third.

“Doing a simple dietary modification, such as adding more greens, berries, whole grains, olive oil and fish, can actually delay your onset of Alzheimer’s disease or reduce your risk of dementia when you’re growing old,” said study author Puja Agarwal, assistant professor of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center.

Reducing bad foods has a big impact, too. Replacing just 10 percent of ultra-processed food by weight in your diet with an equivalent proportion of unprocessed or minimally processed foods can lower the risk of dementia by 19 percent.6

Top brain-friendly foods
So, what are the foods most protective for your brain and cognitive health? According to a study carried out in Norway,7 these are some of the most important ones to include in your diet.

Fruit and veg. The more you eat, the better, though the benefits start to plateau at 500 g a day, which is about five to six servings. Carrots, cruciferous vegetables, citrus fruits, berries and mushrooms are especially good for brain health.8

The Rush University study found that those who ate 1.3 portions of green leafy vegetables a day, compared to less than one portion a week, had a dramatically slower decline in cognitive function, equivalent to being 11 years younger over a 10-year period.

Fish. Eating fish once or more each week can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by a third compared to eating fish less than once a week.9 The benefit peaks at about 100 g a day, which is one to two servings. Oily fish, as a source of omega-3 fats, is the best.

Olive oil and nuts. One study assigned people to a Mediterranean diet supplemented with either 1 L a week of olive oil or 30 g of nuts a day, which is a small handful, versus a control diet with low fat, and reported reduced cognitive decline with the extra olive oil or nuts.10 I favor olive oil high in polyphenols, such as Drop of Life Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Chocolate. The benefit peaks at 10 g, or about three pieces, and dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cacao), which is lower in sugar, is likely better, as sugar is a strong contributor to cognitive decline. Other studies have linked cocoa, a rich source of flavanols, to improved cognition.11

What makes a food brain-friendly? The foods listed above are rich sources of one or more of the following critical nutrients:

Antioxidant vitamins (C and E)
Flavanols and other phytonutrients
Vitamin D
Omega-3 fats
Folate and other B vitamins
Phospholipids and choline
How to follow the brain-friendly diet
Bearing all this in mind, the following steps are keys to a diet designed to protect brain health and reduce your risk of cognitive decline.

Eat essential fats and phospholipids

Eat an egg a day, or six eggs a week. If possible, choose free range and organic. Boil, scramble or poach them, but avoid frying.
Eat a tablespoon of seeds and nuts every day. The best seeds are chia, flax, h**p and pumpkin (all higher in omega-3). They’re delicious sprinkled on cereal, soups and salads. The best nuts are walnuts, pecans and macadamia nuts, but all nuts are good sources of protein and minerals.
Eat coldwater, oily, carnivorous fish. Have a serving of herring, mackerel, salmon or sardines two or three times a week (limit tuna, unless identified as low in mercury, to three times a month). Vegans need to supplement with algal omega-3 DHA as well as choline or lecithin capsules or granules rich in phosphatidylcholine.
Use cold-pressed olive oil. It’s best for salad dressings and other cold uses, such as drizzling on vegetables instead of butter.
Replace frying with steam frying. Steam fry by cooking in olive oil, coconut oil or butter, e.g., for onions and garlic, then adding a watery sauce, such as lemon juice, tamari or water, to “steam” vegetables, perhaps with tofu, fish or chicken.
Eat slow-release carbohydrates

Eat whole foods—whole grains, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables—and avoid all white, refined and overprocessed foods, as well as any food with added sugar.
Snack on fresh fruit, preferably apples, pears and/or berries, especially blueberries.
Eat less gluten. Try brown rice, rye, oats, quinoa, lentils, beans or chickpeas.
Avoid fruit juices. Eat fresh fruit instead. Occasionally have unsweetened Montmorency cherry juice or blueberry juice (made from unsweetened concentrate).
Eat antioxidant- and vitamin-rich foods

Eat half your diet raw or lightly steamed.
Eat two or more servings a day of fresh fruit, including one of berries.
Eat four servings a day of dark green, leafy and root vegetables such as broccoli, broccolini (tenderstem broccoli), kale, spinach, watercress, carrots, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, green beans or peppers, as well as mushrooms. Choose organic where possible.
Have a serving a day of beans, lentils, nuts or seeds, all high in folate.
Eat enough protein

Have three servings of protein-rich foods a day if you’re a man, and two if you’re a woman.
Choose good vegetable protein sources, including beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu or tempeh (soy) and “seed” vegetables such as peas, broad beans and corn.
For animal protein, choose lean meat or preferably fish, organic whenever possible.
Eat gut-friendly foods and fiber

Add sauerkraut, kimchi, live yogurt, kefir, kombucha, fermented pickles and some unpasteurized soft cheese to your diet.
Add chia seeds to oat-based cereals.
Limit or avoid wheat. Have oatcakes instead of bread.
Eat oats, beans, nuts, seeds, whole fruit and vegetables, having four servings of vegetables a day, raw or lightly steamed.
Eat prebiotic-rich Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, leeks, onions, asparagus, barley and oats.
Avoid harmful fats

Minimize your intake of cheese, fried or processed food, and burnt saturated fat on meat.
Minimize your consumption of deep-fried food. Poach, steam or steam-fry food instead.
Minimize your intake of refined vegetable oils high in omega-6 (principally soybean oil, corn oil and sunflower oil).
Limit sugar, caffeine and alcohol

Avoid adding sugar to dishes, and avoid foods and drinks with added sugar. Keep your sugar intake to a minimum, sweetening cereal or desserts with fruit.
Avoid or considerably reduce your consumption of caffeinated drinks. Don’t have more than one caffeinated drink a day. Tea is preferable to coffee, and green tea has less caffeine and more polyphenols.
Drink alcohol infrequently, preferably red wine, up to one small glass (125 g) a day.
Have up to three pieces of dark chocolate, minimum 70 percent cacao, or drink unsweetened cacao with milk or plant milk.
Rooting out the cause
There are two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s, which accounts for two-thirds of dementia. The first is “neurofibrillary tangles”—think wires in a mess—which are linked to the accumulation of an abnormal protein called p-tau.

The second is a buildup of abnormal amyloid protein resulting in amyloid deposits, or plaques. These deposits are found mainly in the synapses, or junction points where two brain cells meet.

Plaques and tangles are the main targets for the new generation of dementia drugs. The trouble is the anti-amyloid drugs don’t work that well, despite lowering amyloid, and have terrible side effects. One-third of patients get brain bleeding and swelling, which can be fatal.

But is the cause of dementia the amyloid plaque or the p-tau-induced tangles? Consider your teeth. Is the cause of tooth decay plaque? Sure, flossing your teeth and getting the plaque scraped off by the dental hygienist helps, but what causes the plaque?

The answer is a bad diet—in this case, one high in sugar and low in fiber. The same concept applies to Alzheimer’s, which is as preventable as tooth decay with the right diet and nutrition.

The best fruit and veg to eat for your brain
Which vegetables pack the biggest punch of polyphenols and antioxidants and are also low in sugar or low-GL?

GL, which stands for glycemic load, is the measure of the total glucose load in your bloodstream—both how high your blood glucose rises and for how long when you eat carbohydrate. A high-GL diet has been linked to cognitive decline.1

Taking all these factors into account, these are the 14 best-rated fruit and veg. The optimal intake for brain protection is five to six servings a day. Half a plate of a main meal counts as two. A handful of berries counts as one.

So, if half your plate for two main meals is vegetables, and you have berries with breakfast and a piece of fresh fruit or some broccoli heads or carrots dipped in hummus as a snack, or half an avocado with some high-polyphenol olive oil, you’ve had six servings.

Lowest GL Antioxidant Polyphenol
Olives *** *** ***
Blueberries *** *** ***
Kale *** ** ***
Blackcurrants ** *** **
Strawberries *** *** **
Broccoli *** ** ***
Artichokes *** ** ***
Cabbage (red) *** *** **
Asparagus *** ** **
Onions (red) ** * ***
Avocado *** ** **
Apples ** ** **
Beetroot * * ***
Cherries ** ** **
Three stars indicate a food is the best in that category, two indicate it has high value, and one indicates it has good value. Examples: Beetroot has a low GL, but olives have the lowest GL. Red onions have good antioxidant value, but blueberries and strawberries have the highest antioxidant value.

Eight secrets to upgrade your brain
Here are eight essentials for a brain upgrade which, if you do them all, will dementia-proof your diet and lifestyle.

Eat a low glycemic load (GL) diet

Avoid sugar and refined (white) carbs, like white bread, rice and pasta. Eat whole foods, whole fruit instead of fruit juice, and lots of vegetables.

Increase brain fats

Seafood provides both brain-friendly omega-3 and vitamin D. Eggs provide essential phospholipids. Aim for three servings of fish and six eggs a week.

Supplement with vitamin D

Regular sunshine can help you make the vitamin, but it may not be enough, especially in the winter months. Get a blood test and adjust accordingly.

Supplement B vitamins

Your brain depends on B vitamins, especially vitamin B6, folate (found in greens) and B12, found only in animal foods. B12 becomes harder to absorb when you age. Supplementing 500 mcg has cut brain shrinkage in those at risk by half.

Up antioxidants and polyphenols

These are found in higher amounts in fresh organic vegetables and fruits, especially berries, herbs and spices, and in dark chocolate. Have five to seven servings a day.

Eat for a healthy gut

Eating whole foods rich in fiber, including whole oats and chia seeds plus a wide variety of raw or steamed vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruit, keeps your gut healthy.

Keep your body active

Aim for half an hour of physical activity every day. Yoga, Pilates and strength training maintain or build muscle mass, which promotes brain mass too.

Activate your mind

Use it or lose it. Learn new things, engage with brain games, don’t veg out on too much mindless telly. Learning a language, a musical instrument or any new skill is great for your brain.

Sleep well and stay calm

Get seven to eight hours of sleep a night and learn how to control your stress levels. Stay away from too much coffee (and sugar) after noon.

For more individualized advice, take the free online Cognitive Function Test at foodforthebrain.org, which shows you exactly what’s driving your dementia risk and what to do to optimize your brain function and memory to reduce your risk of losing them later in life.

Two nutrients that stop your brain shrinking
Research shows that both omega-3 fish oils and B vitamins can reduce the risk of dementia. But not all trials have been successful. Now four research groups, at the University of Oxford and in Holland, China and Sweden, have found that neither nutrient can work without the other.

The discovery was hailed as “a major step toward Alzheimer’s prevention” by pharmacology professor David Smith. He found that supplementing with B vitamins (B6, B9 and B12), at higher levels than can be achieved through diet, in those with sufficient levels of omega-3 fats stopped accelerated brain shrinkage, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s.1

“The effect is greater than that of any drug treatment to date,” said Smith.

A Dutch trial has reported no benefit from the B vitamins in those with low omega-3 status, but a massive improvement in cognition in those with sufficient omega-3 levels.2

A Swedish trial giving omega-3 fish oils to older people found the group with sufficient vitamin B, indicated by a low level of blood homocysteine, showed three times the clinical improvement reported from the recent lecanemab anti-amyloid drug trial.3

A Chinese trial found the greatest improvement in those supplementing both omega-3 and vitamin B9 (folate).4

Almost half of all people over 65 have high homocysteine,5 which increases the risk of dementia by up to 10 times, according to recent research.6

It’s the combination of enough omega-3 and B vitamins that cuts the rate of brain shrinkage by up to 73 percent.

I usually recommend a daily dose of 1,000–4,000 mg omega-3 (EPA and DHA), 200–800 mcg folate, 20–40 mg B6, and 10–500 mcg B12, depending on individual needs.

My charity, foodforthebrain.org, offers a home test kit that measures your homocysteine level (above 11 mcmol/L means brain shrinkage) and omega-3 index (8 percent or more means you’ve optimized your intake of omega-3) to help you tailor your diet and supplement program.

Adapted from Upgrade Your Brain: Unlock Your Life’s Full Potential by Patrick Holford, available now (Thorsons, 2024, Trade Paperback, £16.99) https://www.wddty.com/features/food-for-thought-the-best-diet-to-beat-dementia

Patrick Holford, leading nutrition expert and founder of the Food for the Brain Foundation, outlines exactly what to eat to protect your brain and prevent cognitive decline Of all the organs in your body, your brain may be the weakest link. There is a “global brain health emergency,” says the Eu...