Bon Appétit, My Brain

Bon Appétit, My Brain

Recently, I looked in the mirror while brushing my teeth and thought about how I’ve aged in the past five years. The rivers formed over the years by my deep smile and eye wrinkles now have tributaries. Babies, I thought, then sighed.

Later, when hiking with a friend, we talked about how not only our faces but our once perky breasts are in a major slump. A long, reflective sigh followed.

Drenched with sweat on a hike that would have barely made us glisten five years ago, we compared the fat folds on the bottom of our upper arms, pinching the skin and shaking it back and forth for emphasis. Mine were noticeably flabbier than hers. Sigh.

But when she complained about her wizened posterior and how the skin puckers like ripples going down her leg, I replied that my butt has gained in strength and size, like a lava dome, thanks to my years of leading workout classes, up to six a day, in which we did squats and in which my glutes, both maximus and minimus, were stimulated—overstimulated.

But she’d been taking my classes for sixteen years, faithfully doing her dead lifts, bridges, lunges, and squats, so why had her butt betrayed her? I explained there was a difference of about seventy pounds between us, with her having less than the average amount and me having enough for both of us. Carrying extra body fat as we age isn’t helpful! Heavy sigh.

Our bodies tell us more about what we eat than how much we move. I’m a certifiable stress eater and nowadays am stressing about my family, the community, the world, and the Earth—and my body shows it (as well as my face!).

So these days I’m focused on the “Food is medicine” theory, which simply means eating only whole, unprocessed, healthy foods. There’s nothing I want to do about my pruney-looking face besides my not-so-magic face cream. I’ve never used sunscreen, nor will I (I think it’s only days till they announce that it, too, causes cancer), and no way, nohow am I staying out of the sun. I won’t be spending my hard-earned money on a red-light face mask, chemical peels, Botox, or surgery—although I would love to have the kind that corrects droopy eyelids, if my insurance would pay for it. My mom had it and gushed about how much she could see afterwards: “Janie, there was a whole half of the world I’d been missing!”

Instead, with my new-found commitment to using food as my medicine, my focus has shifted to things like blueberries, salmon, broccoli, avocados, and green tea—but no dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is chock-full of antioxidants, but when self-regulation is your weakest character trait, you don’t mess around with having dark chocolate in the house. Triple sigh.

Food is medicine not only for our bodies but for our brains too. And since both my sister and brother developed Alzheimer's at an early age, this is also something I want to pay attention to.

Focusing on food as medicine includes turning my back on flour and sugar, which are known to cause a dopamine release that leaves you craving more and can make you more susceptible to an eating disorder. More importantly for me, too much sugar can lead to cognitive decline, memory issues, and even the risk of Alzheimer’s, exactly what I’m trying to avoid. Bottom line, I’d rather remember who Dane and Jessica are while sporting a face full of rivers and tributaries and a significant, dare I say powerful rump.

And while I can still remember things, I want to share with you my memory-enhancing recipe that I call my million-dollar, super brain, protein-filled, anti-inflammatory breakfast.

In a small pan, mix 1/3 cup steel-cut oats with 2 level teaspoons each of poppy, hemp, and chia seeds. Stir in 4 teaspoons of collagen powder, 1/2 teaspoon of lion’s mane mushroom powder, one scoop of creatine powder, and a generous amount of cinnamon. Now add water: I start with a half cup and then, as it heats up on the stove, I add in more as needed. Keep stirring it over low heat—do not wander away to answer the phone, scroll on social media, or pick up your favorite book with only one chapter left. Keep your eyes on the pot and don’t let it boil or let the bottom burn. When the oats are cooked, add a heaping teaspoon of coconut oil, six ounces of blueberries and, when it’s all smooth and toasty warm, toss in a generous handful of walnuts.

Bon appétit, my body and brain!