The Healthy Brain

KETOFLEX12/3 diet.

Choosing the right foods to eat to help you avoid health issues as we age is hard. It has been a journey and I can tell you that the program is constantly changing and evolving.

We know the basics right?

Here are 9 things that you can change right now to avoid Dementia and many more diseases.

1. Eat loads of fresh vegetables mainly cruciferous vegetables, lots of leafy greens

Cruciferous vegetables include

• Rocket. 
• Bok choy. 
• Broccoli. 
• Brussels sprouts. 
• Cabbage. 
• Cauliflower. 
• Chard. 
• Collard and mustard greens. 
• Daikon radish. 
• Horseradish. 
• Kale. 
• Kohlrabi. 
• Radish. 
• Rapini (broccoli rabi). 
• Rutabaga. 
• Turnip. 
• Wasabi. 
• Watercress. 

2. Eating lots of oily fish low in mercury and wild caught.

Eating wild caught salmon is important as you are not getting fish fed with crap, it is also one of the only large fish that is not filled with with mercury, they grow quickly so they do not have time to accumulate mercury in their body. They are filled with beautiful healthy omega 3”s and healthy fat.

3. Eat healthy fats like Extra virgin olive oil, avocado and coconut oil and, avoid cooking with seed oils or olive oils. Seed oil should be avoided altogether these include canola and everything branded as vegetable oil. I try to cook with refined coconut oils or ghee. In fact these oils can help you get into ketosis. The reason to avoid cooking with oil like EVVO is because they have a low smoke point and are unsafe to consume when they start smoking.

4. Gut health; Keeping your gut healthy is important. In fact there is research that has just discovered the brain gut connection is seriously deep. Research has shown that people with dementia have certain micro biome in their gut

Eat more: Probiotics, prebiotics, fiber, polyphenols and fermented foods

Eat less: Artificial sweeteners, red meat, dairy, processed foods and alcohol.

Eating sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha, miso and tempeh. Surprisingly green bananas are good for the gut they contain resistant starches that help your gut to produce beneficial bacteria. Artichokes are also fantastic for the gut

5. Protein; Healthy people under 65 should limit protein consumption to 0.8-1.0 grams per kilogram of lean body mass per day. Protein is important but try and vary your sources. Limit your red meat intake if possible to 2-3 times per week. There are plenty of great protein sources like eggs and seafood (unfarmed and wild caught). Remember all the people in the Blue Zones are amongst the healthiest and longest living on earth, most of these healthy eaters eat little to no meat.

6. Cacao, You should be happy to know that Cacao is really good for the brain. Chocolate most peoples guilty pleasure is actually good for you (a rarity indeed) You can add cocoa to smoothies or eat some dark chocolate preferably low in sugar. Unfortunately the darker the better. FYI dark chocolate is my favorite so winning.

7. Artificial Sweeteners
If necessary and lets be honest sometimes they are. Please use them in limited amounts. Only include pure versions of stevia and monk fruit.

8. Flexibility. Being Flexible is important, keep in mind this is not traditional Keto, we are trying to teach your metabolism to cycle in and out of ketosis so that your body uses both glucose and fat as fuel sources

9. Dairy, unfortunately is an inflammatory food for us, you should know that inflammation is not a friend to the brain. If you eat dairy try to stick to goats milk or A2 dairy and do not eat too much of it.

10. Fasting, you have heard all the hype right? But it actually puts the money where the mouth is so to speak. Fasting cleans out the old and generates new cells. It helps your body recover and detoxify. Try to fast a minimum of 12 hours. Which is not as hard as it sounds, for example if you have your last meal before say 7pm, you would then break your fast at 7 am the next day. If you can extend it by a little it would be beneficial. Try extend your fast slowly over weeks. The other things to remember here, is the 3 in Keto Flex12/3 stands for fasting for 3 hours before bed time. So going back to our previous example if you eat at 7pm your bedtime would be at say 10 pm. Do not eat for 3 hours prior to going to bed.

On that note I will stop telling you what to do, but this post is by no means finished. Food is important. Food is one of the big factors. We need to try and get this right. I am an 80% kind of gal, its not about perfection. I don’t say oh well I ate little sugar today stuff it I am going to eat a whole block of chocolate. I just try shake it off and do better on my next meal. I am at the point where my body tells me stuff and I listen. It says stuff like; “Please don’t eat it that again, it make us feel like shit”. It’s at my age that you have to listen or you end up paying for it.

So lets give it a go, please try some all or even one of the above dietary changes and tell me how you go. Comment or send me an email I would love to get some feedback on how easy or hard you have found it and maybe we can come up with some ways to help each other along the journey to wellness and good health.

For now its over to you!