the-mind-diet-for-healthy-mind-and-bodyThe MIND diet is a great way of keeping your MIND healthy along with your brain. The taking up of the MIND diet prevents the onset of dementia and improves brain function. When you talk about the MIND diet, Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, it creates a dietary pattern that focuses specifically on brain health. MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet.
What to eat in the MIND Diet?
Green and Leafy vegetables: The first on the list is getting a lot of green and leafy veggies in your diet. Aim for getting almost six or more servings of veggies in your diet in your meals per week. The best ones to include in the diet is methi, kale, spinach, cooked greens, lettuce, and beans.
MIND Diet
Other Vegetables: In addition to green veggies make sure you add other colours to your diet as well. Pick up carrots, pumpkins, mushrooms, peas, etc.. Make sure that you load up only the non-starchy ones. Keep away from potatoes and other starch-rich vegetables as they only load with carbs.
Berries: Add berries to your diet. Make sure you have berries at least thrice a week. Berries give the needed amount of antioxidants that are needed for a healthy brain function. You can include strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and wild berries.
Nuts: Add five servings of a handful of nuts each week. The MIND diet doesn’t specify, which ones but its best to keep variety so you get the best out of all.
Olive Oil: Olive is a great way of getting a healthy weight. Ditch the refined oil and switch to Olive oil. A smart way is opting for extra virgin olive oil. Skip anything that is called light olive oil and
choose a dark glass bottle as a light one goes bad easily.
Whole grains: Add a minimum of three servings daily. Switch to healthier alternatives, opt for oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and 100% whole-wheat bread.
Fish: Add fish to the diet. Fish has omega-3 fatty acids. So add fatty fish like salmon, sardines, trout, tuna, and mackerel to get the needed amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Beans: Load up beans, soybean, and lentils on your plate. Make sure you have beans in at least four meals each week.
Poultry:Add white meat like chicken or turkey to your meal. Make sure it is just twice a week and no butter and fried chicken bingeing.
Wine: Red and white wine are both great for a healthy brain function. Red wine is known to have compound resveratrol that can keep away the sign of Alzheimer’s disease. The key is adding one glass of red or white wine to your diet a day.
What are the foods to avoid in the MIND diet?
After we have learned what to eat, let’s learn what not to eat. Here are some foods that must not be part of your food list when following a MIND diet.
MIND Diet
Butter and margarine: Say a big no to butter and margarine. The consumption should be tied up to 14 grams a day. Opt for Olive oil as your cooking medium and dip your favourite bread in olive
oil instead of butter.
Cheese: If you love cheese, then MIND diet lets you do it in moderation. All you need is to limit the cheese consumption to an ounce a week.
Red meat: If you relish beef, pork, lamb and other products. Then it is advisable to limit the consumption to thrice a week.
Fried food: No fried food and especially the junk one from the restaurants. Binge just once a week, if you crave badly.
Sweets: Bye-bye to ice cream, cookies, brownies, snack cakes, doughnuts, candy and more. If you have a sweet tooth, make a chart and limit the consumption to four times a week.
What is an Indian sample MIND diet?
Breakfast: Kick start the day with a bowl of oats. Add some berries and nuts along with skimmed milk yoghurt for a wholesome meal.
Mid-meal snack: Eat a good salad and add some nuts. The nuts should be 1/3 cup in the salad.
Lunch:1 roti with 1 portion of green vegetables cooked in olive oil with 1 portion of beans or chicken. The meal should be cooked in olive oil added with herbs and spices. The spices should be turmeric, cinnamon, and pepper. Add less salt.
Mid-meal snack: A fruit
Dinner:1 portion quinoa with stir-fry vegetables. Add all coloured vegetable cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, and broccoli. Pair it with a cup of legumes or one-piece
grilled fish.