Memory Boosting Foods
Do you fear becoming forgetful when you get to that “magical age”? ;) I do. And I’m sure all of us have had bouts of forgetfulness, no matter what the age. While there are supplements that can boost one’s memory, there are a number of foods we can include in our daily diet that can do just that:
- Some of the best cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and bok choy.
- Some of the best leafy green vegetables: spinach, collard and mustard greens, kale and Swiss chard.
- Some of the best foods for anthocyanin: Berries (all varieties), cherries, black currents, eggplant, red, black, and purple grapes, plums, rhubarb, red onion, red apples, red/purple cabbage, and red beets.
- Some of the best foods for quercetin: Onions (red, yellow, white), kale, leeks, cherry tomato, broccoli, blueberries, black currants, elderberries, apricots, apple with skin (Red Delicious), and red, purple, and black grapes.
- Some of the best foods for folic: fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, lentils, black-eyed peas, soybeans, spinach, green peas, artichokes, broccoli, wheat germ, beets and oranges.
- Eating fish seems to help too!
(Source: Forgetful? Eat Memory-Boosting Foods by Joy Bauer)
In case you’re wondering, anthocyanin and quercitin are pythochemicals which have shown to reverse memory deficits. Folic acid, on the other hand, is associated with information processing and memory recall.
There are just some things and we can’t save to a memory stick. But we know what we can and have to do to sharpen our own anatomical memory banks. So let’s do just that. 
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Healthy Chocolate
I make no secret of my so-called “love affair” with chocolate. I am so head-over-heels in love with chocolate. *swoons* However, in an effort to finally get back into tip-top shape, I’ve decided to turn around and walk away from this affair. I would have been “sober” for four weeks now had it not been for Father’s Day. If you would scroll a few posts down, you’ll perfectly understand what I mean. Outback’s Chocolate-Chocolate Tower worked its charm on me and proved to be irresistable. Too darned irresistable, in fact. What can I say? I was caught in a weak moment. :P So much for my chocolate boycott.
During a trip to the grocery last Tuesday, however, I caught sight of the dark chocolates at the candy aisle. Dark chocolates of different brands seemed to be having a contest of which had the most cocoa/cacao content. I remembered the trip my Mom and I made to a natural doctor last February. Dr. Galloway told us that chocolate isn’t bad at all. What we should consume though, are the dark ones with high cocoa (cacao) content. She even showed us the bar of chocolate she carried with her in her bag, which, if I’m not mistaken, has 70% cacao. In addition to that, one also has to learn to be satisfied with just a little helping…just a teeny weeny block or square of chocolate. With these in mind, I grabbed this…
I preferred the package with individually wrapped chocolate squares than a single huge block of chocolate, as the latter might be a little too hard to resist. It is for this reason that I chose Hershey’s even if the other chocolate brands had upto more than 70% cacao content.
So what’s with the fuss over cacao content and dark chocolate? I won’t even attempt to explain this in my own words. Here’s the text on the the Hershey’s packaging:
Plant foods like berries, teas and even red wine contain many types of natural antioxidants. Cocoa beans, the seeds of the fruit of the cocoa tree, are one of the most concentrated known sources of flavanol antioxidants.
These are the other potential health benefits of dark chocolate:
- May reduce blood pressure in people who are hypertensive
- May improve insulin sensitivity in healthy adults
- May improve endothelial function, which affects blood flow in the heart.
- May decrease LDL cholesterol levels
- Contains potent antioxidants which protect against cell damage
- May increase blood flow to the skin and brain
- Chocolate milk may help you recover from exercise better than a sports drink
(Source: Health by Chocolate by Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N )
What do you think? Remember, the key is moderation. Believe it or not, one square is good enough for me. 
*pats self on the back* I’m just happy to be eating chocolate again.
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The Healthy Eats Shopping List
If you’re making a conscious effort to eat healthy, like I’m so desperately trying to, then the first step is to shop healthy! I got this list from a naturopath (Doctor of Ntural Medicine) and she swears that whenever she does her grocery shopping, she brings this list and makes sure that each of the vitamins/minerals in the list are well represented in her shopping cart. You and I might want to try to do the same…try being the operative word. All the food listed are known to help the body fight off cancer proliferation. Consider this your cancer fighting shopping list:
Vitamin A - carrots, peppers, apricots, spinach, yams, winter squash and mangoes
Vitamin C - peppers, celery, broccoli, cucumber, guavas, cauliflower, strawberries, papaya, pear
Vitamin D - cold-water fish (salmon, cod, halibut), dark green leafy veggies (kale, broccoli, spinach, mustard, collards, parsley, cilantro, turnip)
Vitamin E - whole grains, seeds, nuts
Folic Acid - beans, asparagus, beets, lentisl, walnuts, cabbage and spinach
Calcium - kelp, goat or sheep cheese, almonds, sprouts and watercress
Magnesium - wheat bran, brown rice, cashews, peanuts, tofu and figs
Potassium - bananas, oranges, lima beans and avocados
Selenium - brazil nuts, whole wheat breat, orange juice
Zinc - fresh oysters, pumpkin seeds, ginger root and pecans
Flavanoids - colorful fruits such as cherries, grapes, blueberries, pomegranate, cranberries, strawberries
Essential Fatty Acids - fish, shellfish, flaxseeds, sesame seeds, sea vegetables
Other Dietary Considerations
Soy - edamame, tofu, soy milk can be good choices for breast cancer prevention as they reduce estrogen’s effectson tissue. However, do not use a great deal of soy if you have received a breast cancer or have a high family risk level.
Cruciferous Vegetables - this is a family of vegetables that have the ability to help metabolize your estrogen to more favorable, less cancer producing forms. It also contains substances that have been shown to prevent development of cancer in women with BRCA1/2 genetic mutations. Add these to your shopping list:
arugula bok choy broccoli
brussel sprouts cabbage cauliflower
chard chinese cabbage collard greens
daikon kale kohlrabi
mustard greens radishes rutabagas
turnips watercress
Green Tea - several studies have shown that green tea can help prevent breast cancer cell formation and inhibit cancer growth. Women with Stage I breast cancer who drank 5 cups of green tea a day lived disease-free longer and had lower recurrence rates. Drink at least two cups a day, hot or cold. It can be stimulating, so you may want to have your last cup prior to 3 pm.
Curry - spices such turmeric (which is a leading ingreadient in the seasoning called curry in East India cuisine) are great to reduce cell damage from oxidation and seems to reduce cancer tumor growth in studies. This is an easy spice to have around the kitchen, so spice things up!
This “Cancer Fighting Shopping List” is by Dr. Jeanne Galloway, ND.
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Healthy Breakfast
It’s too late for Wordless Wednesday so I might as well put words to this entry. 
Do you make a conscious effort to eat healthy? I do, BUT, it’s something that really entails discipline…lots of it…and that’s where the problem lies. Hee hee. On a good day, this is what I have for breakfast…
2/3 cup of cereal and 1/2 cup of unsweeted soy milk or fat free milk. ;) That’s around 150 calories. I do have a cup of brewed coffee and a serving of fruit, too. Now you do the math for total caloric intake.
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