"The Brain Diet:" New Book Says What You Eat Affects Behavior, Intelligence, Health

The author of a new book thinks Americans' diet is changing brain chemistry -- and not in a good way.

Dr. Alan Logan, author of "The Brain Diet," told Canwest News Service reporter Grania Litwin that "We have a mental-health crisis on our hands because too little attention has been given to the brain nutrition." According to the article,

A diet rich in brain-enhancing fats consumed over many years can help people avoid Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder -- and can even help alleviate depression and anxiety.

The right diet can reduce inflammation in the brain, which has been implicated or associated with many of those problems. Logan believes the impact of diet is so far-reaching that he subtitled the book "The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, And Intelligence."

But it can also affect behavior now. Logan cites "a recent study reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry that found inmates given fish oil and a multivitamin were 30 per cent less violent, compared to those given placebos." But he says that's not surprising since diet impacts behavioral problems and even socialization.

Another researcher quoted in the article concurred with Logan's take: "Graci notes the way the average person eats today is basically a 'biological lottery that causes a tremendous amount of collateral damage in the body.'" And a doctor blurbing for the book agrees that "Correct nutrition and appropriate nutritional supplementation have been shown to reduce inflammation, help chronic disease states, improve mood and prevent the aging process in the brain."

Reviews of the book at Amazon are favorable, saying it offers a well-researched information and advice in an accessible way.

Logan's recommendations for getting started now:

- eat wild, not farmed, fish such as salmon. Canned salmon usually fits the bill. Alternatively, eat short-lived fish such as sardines, anchovies, and mackerel, which don't build up contaminants in their bodies.

- blueberries, blueberries, blueberries. And grapes, plums, and eggplant.

- more grains, less sugar.

- steam or poach rather than fry or bake.

- coffee is OK; tea is better.

It can't hurt, and could help.

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Click here for the book at Amazon:

The Brain Diet

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If you've got young children, you can feed them a diet that's good for their brain. Start by cutting back on the sugar:

Tufts University recently showed rats fed a high-sugar diet forgot how to do mazes and lacked coordination on balance beams. ... (Another study found that) nine- to 16-year-olds who consumed a whole-grain cereal breakfast at 8 a.m. saw little decline in brain function by noon, while children fed sugary cereal had the cognitive performance of 70-year-olds by lunchtime.