Brain Food
When Allan Zeman steps out for a bite to eat, he has more choices than the average businessperson. Within one block of his office in Hong Kong’s Central district he owns 22 restaurants. Within a five-minute walk he could feast on grilled milk-fed veal with a mushroom sauce before moving on for a generous serve of creamy tiramisu for dessert.
The Executive Health Series. Personal Health.
THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL.
FRIDAY/SATURDAY/SUNDAY, NOV 8-10, 2002 p1
By Kevin Voight
But most dishes on the menus of his restaurants are off-limits-for good reason.
Mr. Zeman, 54 years old, has business interests around the world and juggles 14-hour days with latenight calls from Hollywood and daily demands from Shanghai to Phuket. But he hasn’t always been able to multitask so easily. Eighteen years ago while sitting in his office, Mr. Zeman suddenly felt breathless and a tightness in his chest. Doctors thought it was a heart attack. It turned out to be a panic attack brought on by work stress. “I knew I had to start giving back to my body,” he says.
In addition to starting a rigorous daily aerobic exercise regime, the chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings Ltd. changed the way he ate. Fatladen steaks and fried foods were gone, replaced with salads, fish and vegetable dishes.
In adjusting his diet for stress, Mr. Zeman found that his brain also benefited “You don’t feel lethargic after meals,” he says. “You just feel better, more alert.”
Mr. Zeman discovered what mounting research and pure commonsense has shown-eating smart can have positive long-term effects on the brain. His diet includes big helpings of broccoli, berries, tomatoes and oats, which researchers now know are packed with antioxidants-natural chemicals found in many fruits and vegetables that, over the long-term, slow down the death of brain cells, build new ones and increase memory.
But in the short-term, when, how and what you eat can also have a major effect on your brain power: by grazing rather than gorging throughout the day, and getting the right mix of fats, carbohydrates and proteins in your diet to fuel the brain’s natural chemistry.
Over the years, changing dietary guidelines, diet fads and “fashionable” foods have sent out mixed messages about the healthiest way to eat. Until the past few years very little research supported the fact that diet had a direct effect on thinking and memory. But researchers like Dr. James Joseph, one of the world’s leading experts on the effects of eating on the brain, are starting to unearth the connections.
“There’s a lot of evidence you can improve cognitive function,” says Dr. Joseph, chief neurologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. According to Dr. Joseph and his team’s research, diet may even help stimulate the growth of neurons, the basic building blocks of the brain that govern thinking, reasoning and memory. Research in rats has shown an antioxidantrich diet appears to cause growth of neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that shifts short-term memories into memories that can be recalled for years.
“Up until a few years ago we used to think that we’re born with as many neurons as we’re ever going to have, and we lose this ability to make new cells as we age,” says Dr. Joseph. “We now know none of this is true.”
Humble Blueberries
Instead, these delicate cells are rejuvenated through antioxidants that fight the brain’s debilitating exposure to free radicals which eventually erode brain tissue. And, as well as helping slow down free-radical damage, antioxidants also appear to play a role in neurogenesis the body’s ability to create new brain cells.
While antioxidants are found in host of fresh fruit and vegetables, the Tufts University team found the most effective memory-boosting food is-of all things the humble blueberry. The sweet tiny berries contain a concentrated supply of antioxidants. In a 1999 study led by Dr. Joseph, rats fed dietary supplements of the fruit, along with smaller amounts from strawberries and spinach, reversed age related problems similar to dementia in humans.
Follow-up studies by Tufts on human consumption of blueberries also looks promising. Although Dr. Joseph cautions the results are “tentative” and still under review, people who ate up to two cups of blueberries a day were found to have improved short-term memory, he says. Now, even Dr. Joseph supplements his daily diet with the miracle fruit-he has a shake by his desk every day, mixing two cups of blueberries with a scoop of soy or whey protein, milk and slices of kiwi. “Get as many antioxidant-rich foods into your diet [as possible], as many fruits and vegetables as you can,” he says.
But while the benefits of antioxidant rich food are only likely to be seen through a long-term dietary plan, there are shorter term ways to sharpen thinking. Clever eaters take a three-pronged approach, watching when they eat, how much they eat and what they eat.
Eric Levine, who oversees 13 health clubs in five countries around Asia as the CEO of California Fitness Clubs, used to lean on caffeine to kick-start his day. “I’d have a big cup of coffee and my energy levels would spike, and then it would crash and my attention would go with it,” says Mr. Levine. “I learned from that.”
Complicated Symphony
Mr. Levine gave up coffee eight years ago, replacing his short-lived wake-up call with a large mid-morning carbohydraterich meal such as a version of pad Thaistir-fried rice noodles, mixed with proteinpacked eggs and celery, broccoli, basil and mushrooms.
And there’s a reason why Mr. Levine fuels his body with carbohydrates so early in the day.
“There’s a whole complicated symphony of brain chemistry going on related to our hunger drive,” says Elizabeth Somer, a researcher, nutritionist and author of several books including the “Nutrition Desk Reference.” “If you eat in tune with this symphony of chemicals, you’ll better stay alert during the day.”
When we wake in the morning our body craves glucose-a sugar refined from digestion that is the primary energy source for brain cells and most body tissue. “Your glucose levels are depleted by an evening of pumping your heart, making your hair grow, making your brain dream,” says Ms. Somer. Carbohydrates such as wholegrain bread, rice and cereal break down quickly into glucose. This provides “fuel” for cellular particles called mitochondria, the powerhouse that generates the energy that cells need to survive.
As the day continues, a chemical in the brain called norepinephrine-a neurotransmitter that allows neurons to communicate-craves protein from foods such as meats, tofu and nuts, says Ms. Somer. As you eat protein, more norepinephrine is produced, “which increases our alertness,” she says. “Basically, carbs are what your body needs, but proteins give a satiating effect” that helps turn off hunger.
Heavy Lunch
But how much food you eat is just as important as when you eat. “One of the secrets that everyone should know about is that frequent smaller meals are better,” says Mr. Levine. “A small one every three or four hours keeps you at maximum efficiency and your brain is never starving for nutrients.”
If you prefer to eat a light breakfast and nothing else until lunch you may be hijacking your ability to concentrate-a large carbohydrate-rich meal will cause glucose .levels to spike and then suddenly drop, dragging your ability to think with it. Skipping a meal due to a hectic work schedule will also cause your glucose levels to flag. “Glucose levels going up and down will make you grumpy and jittery,” says Ms. Somer. A heavy lunch will also divert more blood away from your brain to the digestive system, making you drowsy.
Mr. Levine combats this by eating four smaller meals a day, eating nothing after 5 p.m. After a light breakfast at about 6 a.m. of scrambled egg whites mixed with chopped firm tofu and whole-wheat toast with peanut butter and jam, he does a two hour gym workout as well as a yoga session. He then follows through with his large carbohydrate-rich meal at 10.30 a.m. Before heading to the office, Mr. Levine will pack his mid-afternoon lunch, usually a salad with fruit. “You have to plan ahead and take it with you,” he says. “That’s what the pros do-pack everything and take it with you like a canteen.”
A regime like Mr. Levine’s could sound like a death sentence to a food lover, but he likes the focus that disciplined eating brings: “You’re not going up and down like a yo-yo all day.”
And a strict dietary regime doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor.
Three years ago, a doctor told Geoff Slattery, a 49-year-old Melbourne-based publisher who tackles hectic, 12-hour days, that his cholesterol levels were dangerously high and that he had to change his high-fat diet. Mr. Slattery says the doctor handed him a hospital brochure suggesting a diet with bland descriptions such as “steamed chicken with steamed vegetables.”
“I nearly threw it back in his face,” says the managing director of AFL Publishing who is also a cookbook author and former restaurateur. “A driving force through most of my work was that flavor depended … on fat.”
But Mr. Slattery’s cooking kills armed him with the knowledge to battle blandness. “I decided to challenge myself to come up with a diet that didn’t have to be a death warrant to good taste,” he says. “My goal was to work out the essential flavors of food.”
While not being able to use butter, cream or eggs, Mr. Slattery found the key was to seek out the best and freshest ingredients that he was allowed to eat: “It’s not a diet of avoidance, it’s a diet of seeking out the best.” A fresh pumpkin or capsicum, for example, can be roasted with sea salt and great olive oil and eaten alone or pureed to make a sauce for another simple dish-roasting vegetables, fish or meat always intensifies their flavor. Or a baked fillet of salmon might be teamed with a simple sauce including soy and mirin, with wasabi on the side, for maximum flavor with minimum interference.
For Mr. Slattery, the surprising result of his new culinary habits is that he always has energy burn. Despite solid days writing, editing, managing employees and talking with clients, “I feel alert and much more able to soldier on than before,” he says. “[Eating] is almost like a hurdle in the day that has no impact on how fast I’m running. If the body feels right, then so does the mind.”
Mr. Slattery’s use of ingredients such as soy and mirin takes its cue from the traditionally healthy Asian diet, which has always been praised by nutritionists. “Asian menus generally have better choices [than Western cuisine],” says Dr. Rosemary Stanton, a prominent Australian nutritionist and author. Soy, tofu and fish, combined with heavy emphasis on vegetables, is not only delicious, but strike a good balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. “Japanese menus are excellent, except for tempura,” says Ms. Stanton. “Chinese have good choices like steamed dishes of fish, seafood and chicken.”
Asian food may also boast more of the miracle antioxidants so praised by the Tufts team in Boston. A study last year by the National University of Singapore found that soy sauce contains a large amount of antioxidants, says Barry Halliwell, deputy director of the office of the university’s Life Sciences department. The university is now embarking on a study of several regional Asian foods to look for the potential benefits to the body and the brain.
But some in Asia don’t need convincing about the benefits of a diet heavy in fruit, vegetables and other antioxidant-rich foods. Since his heart scare all those years ago, Mr. Zeman, the Hong Kong restaurateur and entrepreneur has adhered to his dietary regime. “I learned my lesson 18 years ago,” he says. “Now I eat great, and I feel great.”
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Tags: antioxidants, Brain, food, Health, Memory