Healthy Eating: A Guest Blog by Maria Dellanina, RDN

Eating for Brain Health, Part 2: Foods to Add and How

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

• Vegetables- 2 or more servings/day, one serving = ~1/2 cup cooked

• Plus, aim for at least one serving of leafy green vegetables per day, such as spinach, arugula, kale, etc.

• Ways to incorporate leafy greens:

• Serve a small, but hearty salad before every dinner.

• Add a leafy green to your morning eggs or your lunch sandwich.

• Serve sautéed spinach alongside your dinner.

• Ways to incorporate any vegetables:

• Opt for roasted vegetables to increase flavor and improve texture.

• Cut your vegetables at the beginning of the week so that it’s easy to incorporate them into your dishes throughout the week.

• Use prepared frozen vegetables and quickly add them to a stir-fry, fried rice, or alongside any dish.

• Berries- 2 or more servings/week, serving= about size of fist

• Add blueberries to your morning oatmeal.

• Add blackberries or raspberries alongside your breakfast or lunch.

• Add strawberries on top of a spinach salad before dinner.

• Whole Grains- 3 or more servings/day, serving= about size of fist

• Add whole grain toast or oatmeal to your breakfast.

• Add quinoa, corn, or wild rice as a dinner side dish.

• Opt for whole grain crackers with cheese as a snack.

• Enjoy popcorn as an after-dinner snack.

• Nuts- 5 or more servings/week, serving= small palm-full (~1oz)

• Add any kind of nut to your yogurt or oatmeal.

• Top salads with nuts for an extra crunch.

• Try an almond or pecan-crusted fish or chicken.

• Opt for an ounce of nuts as an afternoon pick-me-up.

• Beans- 4 or more servings/week, serving = 1/2 cup

• Add any kind of white bean or chickpea into your chicken or tuna salad.

• Try this recipe for an easy dinner or breakfast loaded with nutrients, serve alongside a nice whole grain bread.

• Add beans to your salads, soups, or add to or alongside tacos.

• Roast chickpeas in your favorite herbs/spices, make them savory or sweet, and munch on them as a snack!

• Seafood- 1 or more servings/week, serving= about size of palm

• Make half tuna/half white bean salad, can add to whole grain bread as a sandwich.

• Opt for a fish dish when going out to eat at a restaurant.

• Cook an extra piece of fish for dinner and add it to the next day’s lunch salad.

• Poultry- 2 or more servings/week, serving= about size of palm

• Purchase rotisserie chicken whole or pre-pulled, skinless rotisserie chicken to add to sandwiches, wraps, or salads at lunch.

• Fire up the grill and have chicken skewers layered with vegetables and pineapple.

• Try out a pre-cooked chicken sausage brand, such as Aidell’s for an easy poultry protein.

Reference:

Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet associated

pii: S1552-5260(15)00017-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2014.11.009.