By, Lindsey Byrne, The Cognitive Health Coach

What is healthy food?

Has your doctor ever told you to eat more healthy food or to start a diet? What did they actually mean? There is so much contradictory information in the media about what is healthy. Indeed, everyone is unique; what works for one person may not work for another. You’ve probably seen many different celebrities, influencers, doctors and chefs selling different diets or recipe books. You’ve probably tried a few different diets yourself. How many worked for you?

What’s wrong with how everyone is eating?

The Standard American Diet (SAD), increasingly similar in the UK, includes a huge amount of ultra-processed foods. According to CNN, up to 70% of the American diet is made up of ultra-processed foods*1 and according to Zoe health, 60% in the UK. So, what is ultra-processed food?

The human race has been processing food for millennia. Simply bringing home some raw meat and vegetables and cooking them is processing. But this is not what we mean by ultra processing.
Simply, if you can read the ingredients on a package of food and there are some items listed that you don’t recognise, can’t pronounce, wouldn’t expect to see in your kitchen store cupboard, it’s likely ultra-processed.

These ingredients are there to preserve the food, to make it easy to manufacture and store, to make it taste nice when they take out the salt or they’re just cheap byproducts from other industrial processes.

These “food-like” products are not what our bodies are expecting. We’re not evolved to digest and use these ingredients, who knows what kind of damage we are doing long-term by eating these foods.

So, what should we be eating?

Whilst everyone is different, there are foods that are particularly good (or detrimental) for brain health.

• First, avoid ultra-processed ingredients. The free YUKA app can be used to scan in the barcode of any food (or personal care) product and it will tell you if there are unhealthy additives, it will also suggest healthier alternatives
• Next, reduce your intake of sugar. Sugar, in the quantities many of us eat, is inflammatory and raises insulin levels, which, even if you’re not in the diabetic or pre-diabetic range can still lead to some insulin resistance.
• Eat a wide range of plants. Two ways you can track your progress is:
  • Aim for every colour every day:
    • White/beige – eg onions, mushrooms, cauliflower
    • Yellow – eg yellow peppers, sweetcorn
    • Orange – eg sweet potato, carrots
    • Red – eg tomatoes, red peppers
    • Blue/Black/Purple – eg red onion, red cabbage, blueberries
    • Green – eg broccoli, cabbage, mange-tout
  • Aim for 30 different plants a week. That might sound tricky, but plants include teas, herbs and spices, nuts and seeds.
    • Consider adopting a ketogenic diet.

Why try a ketogenic diet?

As mentioned above, sugar is inflammatory and can lead to insulin resistance, the ketogenic diet involves cutting out sugar and simple carbohydrates that break down into sugar easily.

As we age, our brains become less able to use glucose as a fuel source, but our brains can always use ketones and fats for fuel. In fact, in studies2, brains were shown to prioritise using ketones before glucose, furthermore, cognitive function improved3 with ketones available.

Ancient peoples would have been more metabolically flexible than we are today. That means that they could switch from glucose to ketones for fuel easily.

All summer they would eat fruit containing fructose causing them to release insulin, helping them store fat, gain weight, then at the end of summer, with the end of the fruit they’d move to eating far less sugar and simple carbohydrates, they would then enter the state of ketosis, using up all the stored fats and ketones as fuel. Today, there is never a shortage of carbohydrates, so most of us never get into ketosis.

How do I eat on a ketogenic diet?

We all need to eat some protein. Keeping things simple, it’s likely that the right amount for you, would fit in the palm of your hand. Consult a health coach or nutritionist for more personalised advice.

At least half the plate would be a mix of different coloured, non-starchy vegetables.

Then you need to add lots of healthy fats. Healthy fats include extra virgin olive oil, oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds.

We were all told in the ‘80s and ‘90s that fat was bad for us and eating fat made us fat. That was a big mistake. Sugar makes us fat. All our organs, including the brain, need fat. When we eat fat, it’s transported where it’s needed in the body. It’s hard for the body to store fat, it would need to process it, taking up a lot of energy. Sugar, by contrast, is easy for our bodies to store as fat.

What’s one thing I can do right now?

Start cutting down on simple carbohydrates, use up all the pasta, rice and cereals that you have in the store cupboard and don’t replace them. Start adding more non-starchy vegetables to your meals. Make the change slowly, so it’s not too jarring. Think about your favourite meals, what ingredient swaps would you need to make to move them towards a more ketogenic version?

Lindsey Byrne is one of the first Re: CODE 2.0 Health Coaches in the UK, helping people to implement the Bredesen Protocol to improve brain health and memory and prevent dementia.