Nutrition

“Nutrition is the science that interprets the nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism,” – Wikipedia.

I’m not a nutritionist. None of this is “legitimate” nutritional advice. However food is one of the pillars of health and one area we can make good choices. To be upfront, I’ve struggled with my weight my whole life. I was obese at the age of 6 and spent most of my childhood overweight. I’ve experimented and learned about food and diets for over 15 years.

My goal is a personal diet for optimal brain function.

This isn’t about looking good, athletic performance, or a way to eat for a few weeks. This diet is for mental athletes. Foods that boost focus, learning, and wellbeing. A balanced meal plan that balances neurotransmitters. I want to present concise diet advice, and afterwards I will provide my resources and justification.

Your diet should include:

• Meat cooked on the bone
• Organ meat
• Fresh, raw plant and animal products
• Fermented and sprouted foods

Traditional food is best. If you have a connection to a culture going back 1000 years, look into traditionally known foods of your people. What would your great, great, great grandma recognize as food? Try to cover the 4 points above.

Food is information. The closest connection our body gets to the outside world is food passing through the digestive tract. Whatever you eat is telling your body what your access to the environment is like.

Eat whole foods, not too much, mostly plants.

Eat across the rainbow - eat foods that are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Eat a variety foods where each has its own benefits.

Eat as close to the source of your food as possible. Raw nuts, not nut milk.

Avoid C.R.A.P. Chemicals, Refined sugar & flour, Artificial stuff, Preservatives.

Deep Nutrition

Much of the above is from Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan, M.D. Shanahan spent years searching for good nutrition and forms arguments based on research and physiology. She honed her diet advice to the 4 pillars. Additionally Shanahan gives arguments and explanations for consumption of fats. Many of the fats available today are not properly formed on a molecular level. Fats make up so many important areas of our body from cholesterol in cell walls to the myelin sheaths of our neurons.

A key take away is: stay away from vegetable oils!

The processing of these oils breaks down the integrity of the fats which lead to a breakdown in the integrity of our bodies. The information sent confuses our bodies which have never had to process this before in nature. To keep this simple, eat no processed fats besides olive oil, avocado oil, and animal fats.

Cook with olive oil around 374–405°F (190–207°C). For higher temperatures, use avocado oil up to 520°F.

For macronutrients, the recommended fat intake is 60-85% of daily calories! That is quite a bit! Dr. Shanahan recommends only 30-70g of carbs on most days (100g max) unless you are an athlete, so this is low carb. Most carbs should be eaten at dinner.

1) Eat a big colorful salad four days per week with a non-vegetable oil dressing.

• 4 cups salad
• 4+ variety of vegetables

2) Grass-fed dairy fat daily

• Cheese
• Cream
• Cream cheese
• Butter
• Full-fat cottage cheese/yogurt

Raw is better, where available.

3) Get bone stock.

I have to say drinking bone broth had a huge impact on me. Bone broth which has 10g of protein per serving nourishes our gut lining, skin, and bones. The minerals are highly satisfying.

4) Eat organ meats at least once weekly.

Liver or liverwurst on crackers. If no organ meats, seafood 3 times weekly, preferably raw at least once - raw oysters, sashimi, ceviche, pickled herring. If not seafood, pasture-raised eggs 3 times weekly (cook sunny-side only so long that the yolk stays runny).

5) Eat probiotic-rich foods once a day.

MIND Diet

While Deep Nutrition is about general health, there are diets specifically designed for mind health. The MIND diet is a combination of two well supported diets for brain health and longevity.

10 “brain-healthy food groups:”

• Green leafy vegetables
• Other vegetables
• Nuts
• Berries (especially blueberries)
• Beans
• Whole grains
• Fish (not fried)
• Poultry
• Olive oil
• Wine

The 5 unhealthy groups are:

• Red meats
• Butter and stick margarine
• Cheese
• Pastries and sweets
• Fried or fast food

Something great about the MIND diet is they found people who follow the guidelines about 80% still got the majority of the benefits. That means we can still have “cheat” meals a few times a week to be flexible and know we’re overall protected.

So we’re aiming for a score of 12 or above out of a possible 15. Notice we can fit this diet to the deep nutrition criteria in terms of food choices.

From the Harvard review wine is no longer required and alcohol can be removed entirely. Simple guidelines are:

“The healthy items the MIND diet guidelines suggest include:

• 3+ servings a day of whole grains
• 1+ servings a day of vegetables (other than green leafy)
• 6+ servings a week of green leafy vegetables
• 5+ servings a week of nuts
• 4+ meals a week of beans
• 2+ servings a week of berries
• 2+ meals a week of poultry
• 1+ meals a week of fish
• Mainly olive oil if added fat is used

The unhealthy items, which are higher in saturated and trans fat, include:

• Less than 5 servings a week of pastries and sweets
• Less than 4 servings a week of red meat (including beef, pork, lamb, and products made from these meats)
• Less than one serving a week of cheese and fried foods
• Less than 1 tablespoon a day of butter/stick margarine”

Genius Foods

Another diet aimed at brain optimization and Alzheimer’s prevention is Genius Foods.

Genius Foods

1. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2. Avocados
3. Blueberries
4. Dark Chocolate
5. Eggs
6. Grass-Fed Beef
7. Dark Leafy Greens
8. Broccoli
9. Wild Salmon
10. Almonds

Similar to Deep Nutrition, the Genius Foods diet calls for low carb, high fat. They recommend a 2 week period for becoming fat adapted.

Custom Carb Pyramid (3 Tiers)

Ultra-low/Ketogenic (Days 1-14)

• Consume only 20-40 grams of carbohydrates per day
• Depletes glycogen stores and gets brain fat adapted
• “If you are eating this way longer-term for weight loss, add a one-time weekly high-carb refeed. This means you can indulge in higher-starch foods (aim to keep the meal low-fat) to replenish muscle energy stores once a week. There’s no magic number, but shoot for 100 to 150 grams of carbs with that meal.”

Low(er) carb (after 14 days)

• Consume 50-75g of carbs per day
• “People who are looking for weight maintenance and perform light physical activity should stay at this level.”

Optional: Carb cycling

• Carb intake can increase after vigorous training
• Consume 75-150g carbs per day (heavy workout days)
• Still vastly lower than average American diet

Low levels of the hormone leptin can cause anhedonia (a lack of pleasure and happiness) and social withdrawal! Sleep heavily effects leptin. Intermittent fasting helps leptin regulation. Having refeed days of carbs and low fat keeps leptin levels stable. Eat your carbs on workout days. A high carb day is 150g of carbs where most Americans eat 300g of carbs on average. Low carb is 30-80g. Ketogenic diets hover around 30g carbs. The minimum necessary carbs for healthy brain function is 30g and lower causes serious health decline.

Planetary Health Diet - Flexitarian diet for 10 Billion People

The flexitarian diet which aims for sustainability. “A diet has been developed that promises to save lives, feed 10 billion people and all without causing catastrophic damage to the planet.”

1. Nuts - 50g a day
2. Beans, chickpeas, lentils and other legumes - 75g a day
3. Fish - 28g a day
4. Eggs - 13g a day (so one and a bit a week)
5. Meat - 14g a day of red meat and 29g a day of chicken
6. Carbs - whole grains like bread and rice 232g a day and 50g a day of starchy vegetables
7. Dairy - 250g - the equivalent of one glass of milk
8. Vegetables -(300g) and fruit (200g)

The diet has room for 31g of sugar and about 50g worth of oils like olive oil.

Who came up with this?

A group of 37 scientists from around the world were brought together as part of the EAT-Lancet commission.

They’re a mix of experts from farming to climate change to nutrition. They took two years to come up with their findings which have been published in the Lancet.

Why do we need a diet for 10 billion people?

The world population reached seven billion in 2011 and it’s now around 7.7 billion. That figure is expected to reach 10 billion around 2050 and will keep on climbing.

Will it save lives?

The researchers say the diet will prevent about 11 million people dying each year.

That number is largely down to cutting diseases related to unhealthy diets such as heart attacks, strokes and some cancers. These are now the biggest killers in developed countries.

The similarities are as interesting as the differences among these diets. We can mostly make one “fit” another’s requirements. While Deep Nutrition and Genius Foods are low carb high fat, the MIND diet and planetary diet call for higher carbs. However our carb limit can go up to 150g while still being far less than the standard American diet. If we have hard workout days then our carbs can be eaten like a typical MIND diet day with 3 or more servings of carbs (whole grains).

From my personal experience I can say it’s tough varying days of carbs. There are insulin spikes and drops which are destabilizing. Staying steady one way or the other helps mood stabilization. I’m still working on carb timing and carb amount. Both Deep Nutrition and Genius Foods recommend at least a 2 week fat adaptation period where eating too many carbs for too long can knock you out of this.