Feeding feeling good

Sunday, November 28, 2010  4:54 pm

One of the most interesting talks I heard at FNCE (Food & Nutrition Conference & Exhibition) earlier this month was by neurologist David Perlmutter.  If you wonder if the challenge of following a healthy lifestyle in our anything-but-healthy culture is worth it, Perlmutter may inspire you to try.

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change as a result of one’s experience. It’s a fairly recent idea, but is good news for those in the middle or later years of life, as it suggests we can, to some extent, heal our brains from injury or lifetimes of poor choices and unhealthy lifestyles. It also suggests that we can take preventive measures against the neurodegeneration of the aging brain. Perlmutter says that neuroplasticity is currently  known to be influenced by three things:

• diet,
• physical activity and
• spirituality.

Perlmutter has a book coming out in Feb ‘11 co-authored with medical anthropologist and author Alberto Villoldo PhD called “Power Up Your Brain: the Neuroscience of Enlightenment”.  Should be a hot read.

No drug yet to expand or maintain neuroplasticity, though of course they’re working on it.  In the meantime, you can optimize your brain’s ability to map new neural pathways  by following the basics of a healthy lifestyle.  I’ll go deeper into the details of that in upcoming posts.

Have a fascinating week.

Annie

Women, Food & God

Saturday, June 12, 2010  2:27 pm

I’ve been a fan of Geneen Roth’s writing for some time – I love her humor and heart, and am glad that she’s continued the writing and teaching she has.

Check out  Dr. Susan Corso’s review of Ms. Roth’s new book. Roth will be doing a workshop around her new book at Kripalu in September.