The best diet for brain health

Nutrition & Lifestyle Expert Tana Amen, BSN, shares advice for parents on what the optimal nutrition is for keeping your child's brain healthy
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The best diet for brain health

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The optimal nutrition for brain health is a diet that is 70 percent plant based and 30 percent protein enriched foods. I like to tell people to eat like a gorilla. My daughter loves when I say that. What does that mean? It means a lot of vegetables, a little fruit, some seeds, and add lean protein. I like to think of it as a bipartisan plan. When I hear people fighting over food philosophies, more than they fight over politics; it's a little bit crazy, because your body doesn't really care about your food philosophy. It needs what it needs. I tell people to avoid highly processed foods and think about whole, wholesome foods. Lots of vegetables and high quality foods. Avoid sugars and white poisons, so all of that highly starchy foods and get back to the basics, the way your grandmother used to cook. So, think high quality protein, industrial raised animals. Think cage-free, antibiotic-free, hormone free meats. Wild fish and try to avoid genetically modified foods.

Nutrition & Lifestyle Expert Tana Amen, BSN, shares advice for parents on what the optimal nutrition is for keeping your child's brain healthy

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Tana Amen, BSN, RN

Nutrition & Lifestyle Expert

Tana Amen is affectionately known as “The Brain Doctor’s Wife.” Working alongside her husband, award-winning physician and New York Times best-selling author Daniel Amen, Tana is a highly respected health and fitness expert, who graduated magna cum laude from Loma Linda University’s nursing program.  After school Tana spent years working at Loma Linda’s in their level A trauma unit as a neurosurgical intensive care nurse, taking care of some of the sickest patients in the hospital.  There she learned firsthand the value of diet and nutrition on brain health. Tana is the author of 4 highly successful books, including three brain healthy cookbooks and a coaching guide. Tana is one of the main consultants to The Daniel Plan, Pastor Rick Warren and Saddleback Churches’ Plan to get the world healthy through religious organizations. After the first year the church lost 250,000 pounds, but weight loss was only one of the stunning side effects of getting truly healthy.  Other common effects of The Daniel Plan were increased energy, better focus and mood, and a reduction of many medications for the participants. In May of 2013, Tana’s new book, The Omni Diet: 2 Weeks to Lose Weight, Reverse Illness and Control Your Genes will be out.

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Transcription: 
The optimal nutrition for brain health is a diet that is 70 percent plant based and 30 percent protein enriched foods. I like to tell people to eat like a gorilla. My daughter loves when I say that. What does that mean? It means a lot of vegetables, a little fruit, some seeds, and add lean protein. I like to think of it as a bipartisan plan. When I hear people fighting over food philosophies, more than they fight over politics; it's a little bit crazy, because your body doesn't really care about your food philosophy. It needs what it needs. I tell people to avoid highly processed foods and think about whole, wholesome foods. Lots of vegetables and high quality foods. Avoid sugars and white poisons, so all of that highly starchy foods and get back to the basics, the way your grandmother used to cook. So, think high quality protein, industrial raised animals. Think cage-free, antibiotic-free, hormone free meats. Wild fish and try to avoid genetically modified foods.