A top psychiatrist has shared his best refrigerator basics and brain-healthy pantry to keep him sustained throughout the week — and why focusing on a negative attitude or “deprivation” will make you “foggier” and feel sicker for longer.
Brain specialist Dr. Daniel Amen from California listed his favorite foods for building and then sustaining health, including eggs, quinoa, dips, eggs, and berries.
Amen said to stay away from sugary beverages and fast foods and opt for nutritious, high-quality, and delicious foods to reduce illnesses like cancer, dementia, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and early death and inflammation.
Dr. Amen is a renowned celebrity brain specialist known for using SPECT. This unique brain scan is said to uncover a variety of ailments, including epilepsy, strokes, trauma, some kinds of dementia, and heavy drug use.
“Your attitude, or mindset, may be the most important factor in feeling better fast. When your mindset is one of deprivation, and your focus is on what you cannot have, you are more likely to remain mired in illness and brain fog,” wrote Amen.
Amen recommends putting dips like guacamole and salsa, hummus, cage-free, organic eggs, macadamia or almond-nut oils, healthy oils such as coconut, and coconut or almond spreads or butters in the trolley during your weekly food shop.
The doctor recommends coconut wraps, raw, unsalted nuts, and seeds like hemp or flax, protein powder, quinoa, and fresh or frozen fruit like raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries as brain-healthy foods.
Amen also said he uses sweeteners like sweet leaf or Stevia rather than sugar and is sure to include superfoods in his diet, like maca root, a Peruvian vegetable said to have various health benefits, and goji berry powder, which is packed with antioxidants.
Dr. Amen’s top refrigerator and brain-healthy pantry basics
- Healthy oils like almond oil, macadamia nut oil, and coconut oil
- Nut spreads and butters like coconut and almond butter
- Protein powder
- Coconut wraps
- Condiments for dipping, like salsa, hummus, and guacamole
- Cage-free, organic eggs
- Sweeteners like Stevia
- Quinoa
- Unsalted, raw nuts and seeds — hemp, flax and chia
- Small amounts of frozen or fresh fruit like organic raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries
- Superfoods like goji powder and maca root
“To feel better fast and make it last for a lifetime, it is critical to develop an abundance mindset, where you focus on the high-quality, nutritious, and delicious foods you can have that build and sustain your health.”
Additional foods on Amen’s grocery list included raw pistachios, almonds, cashews, sesame, and pumpkin seeds, as well as lemons, apples, grapes, and kiwis.
His top vegetables range from cabbage, artichokes, and cauliflower to horseradish and seaweed.
When it comes to probiotic foods, the doctor recommended miso soup, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, and pickle, and he listed turkey, salmon, scallops, and sardines as brain-healthy fish and meats.
