A Dispatch From My Foraging Expedition in the Panama Jungle

Looking for brain-healthy foods and secrets of locals’ longevity

Hello from Panama! Today is the last day of the Brain Health Retreat in Cambutal, an island-like peninsula as far south as you can go in Central America. I’ve had a lot of questions from subscribers about what exactly happens at a brain health retreat. I promise to give you a full report soon. But for today, I want to share one of my highlights from this week: a hike into the jungle where we foraged for medicinal foods. You can probably imagine how excited I was to discover how many of these foods have brain health properties. 

You may not know this about me but I am a passionate forager. For over 30 years, I’ve been hunting wild mushrooms like morels and chanterelles. I’ve dabbled in finding wild greens, too, like stinging nettles that I use to make bright green gnocchi or a bracing tea. In August, I always set aside time to hunt for huckleberries. The tiny seeds of these tart, wild blueberries burst in your mouth with sweetness, and are especially rich in brain-healthy anthocyanins. So, when local Panamanian biologist Brian Goldner from Azuero Adventures floated the idea of offering a jungle foraging hike for our Retreat guests, I was all in. 

Read on for the secrets of the locals' brain healthy living and why I believe Cambutal is an undiscovered Blue Zone.