Food for Thought - Brain Health and Berries

The brain is vital for our overall well-being and it has a natural protective barrier called the blood-brain barrier. However, daily life and stress can cause damage to the brain. Certain nutrients in berries, specifically polyphenols, can cross this barrier and target the memory sensors in the brain. Adding berries to our diet can help repair and heal the brain. It is suggested to enjoy berries in various ways, such as in porridge or desserts. If interested in learning more about nutrition and well-being, fully funded workshops are available in Somerset in April and May. Visit eat4healthuk.com to sign up. Good evening, this is Elle coming to you with a little food for thought this evening and I really want to talk about our brain health. Now your brain is this incredible, incredible organ that is sort of like the central, leading communication place between the whole body. It operates with all of our organs, all of our systems, it's back and forth communication to keep us focusing to the best of our ability. Everything from concentration to mood, the very foundations of our physical and our mental well-being come from here. Now the brain has got an incredible way of protecting itself, it's got something called the blood-brain barrier that goes around the brain and this is like a filter, so it means that when things are in our blood they can't just get into our brain, they're filtered and the brain is a selective process about what gets in there. Now in the process of living, sometimes through inflammation, stress and daily life, our brain can get damaged and have some damage inside on this kind of cellular level, so the question becomes how can we get the tools that the body can use to repair and heal that damage to promote the very best of our well-being and our brain health. Now the fascinating thing is certain nutrients can't get through that filter, however inside berries, whether it's blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, you name it, if it's a berry, they have specific type of nutrients only found in plants called phytonutrients and specific ones called polyphenols. Now these polyphenols have the ability to cross that blood-brain barrier and have been found in Alzheimer's studies to specifically target the memory sensors of our brain which is just amazing. So next time you're thinking about adding some berries maybe into your porridge tomorrow morning for breakfast or having some for dessert this evening, you can make very delicious puddings out of berries blended up with cocoa powder and maybe some dates to add a little bit of extra sweetness there. But however you enjoy berries, just know as you're eating them you can have this big smile on your face of knowing wow, it tastes good, it looks good and I'm really helping my brain and my body heal and repair for the best of wellness. So that's my food for thought this evening. Thank you so much for having me on the show Lynne and thanks to everybody at Tone FM and thank you for listening. If you want to learn more about empowering your well-being through food and nutrition then you can join me on fully funded workshops for anybody in Somerset this April and in May as well. You can find all the details at eat4healthuk.com and all you have to do is sign up. So I'd love to meet you, it'd be great to have you there and I look forward to being on the show again next week. Bye for now.