February Food For Thought

Let's catch up on BHK

Catching the early morning light on February 1.

Hello, brain health enthusiasts. Happy February! I ran into a former patient at the grocery store yesterday and she really got me thinking. We hadn’t seen each other in a few years—there was much hugging! She told me that she loves subscribing to the newsletter but was getting behind on reading it. She had bookmarked so many articles and at least a dozen recipes to cook! November and December were a blur of busyness. January was more of the same. Now, here we are in February. Where should she start?

So, while I was getting ready to share this week’s newsletter about the now-famous study comparing vegan and omnivorous diets in identical twins, I thought: perhaps it’s a good time to slow down and catch up? I’ve shared a lot of really important brain health information with you in the last few months. Let’s take a look at what I don’t want you to miss.

And, for all you free subscribers, I’ve unlocked key posts from 2023 so you can read them in their entirety.

Now, why don’t you join me as we take a look back? I’m going to stoke up the fireplace, make a cup of tea, and settle into my favorite chair where I can see the alpenglow briefly light up the Tetons before they go dark.

This first newsletter of the month is full access for all subscribers.
Feel free to share.

How’s Your Sleep?

Photo by Benjamin Child on Unsplash

On January 1, I declared that 2024 would be the year everyone would fix their sleep. How is that going? Are you making sleep a priority this year?

I’ve unlocked the sleep series so everyone can access these posts.

• Why Getting Enough Sleep Is Crucial For Brain Health with 10 strategies to turn on the brain’s own clean-up system.

• Fix Your Sleep goes into which sleep strategies work and which ones waste your time and money. Plus, when to see a sleep doctor.

Your Brain On Cholesterol

Cholesterol was a hot topic in 2023! Fresh thinking based on new research meant our knowledge needed an update. In this 3-part mini-series, I covered what you need to know to keep your heart and your brain healthy. I’ve unlocked the first one so everyone can access it.

• Your Brain On Cholesterol

• My Top 10 Favorite Cholesterol-Lowering Foods

• Do Statin Drugs Cause Dementia Or Prevent It

You may want to look into getting a hearing test this year: Why Hearing is Key To Your Brain Health, and What To Do About It.

Keep this article handy to prepare for your next health care visit: How to Talk To Your Doctor About Brain Health—5 things to have checked and a guide to specialized tests. It’s open access.

Menopause and the Healthy Brain

Have you noticed that everyone is talking about menopause this year? Back when I was a certified (by the North American Menopause Society) Menopause Expert, the only one who cared about menopause, it seemed, was me and my patients going through it. Last year I wrote to you about many of the key studies about menopause and the brain. I’ve unlocked the first 2 articles from menopause series so everyone can access them. Please share!

• Talking to your doctor about hormone therapy

• Can HRT help protect women from Alzheimer’s and dementia?

• Menopause and the healthy brain

• The Surprising Link Between Hot Flashes and Alzheimer’s

New Brain Health Retreats

Meet me in Italy, Costa Rica, or Mexico this year!

I can’t wait to meet some of you this year at upcoming brain health retreats. I love hosting these week-long vacations to help you focus on cultivating brain healthy habits for life. We travel to beautiful places, enjoy fabulous brain-healthy food, and we have a lot of fun.

• Last month I announced 2 new Brain Health Retreats in Sicily and I am excited to see spots filling up. This post will fill you in: Italy: Brain Health Retreats for 2024. (Don’t miss the special offer—join me in Palermo and Ortigia and enjoy 5% off.) To learn more and reserve a spot, click on the button below. Questions? Just reply to this email. 

• If a rainforest next to a warm sandy beach is more your style, join me in January 2025 for the Brain Health Retreat in Costa Rica. To learn more and reserve a spot, click on the button below. As always, you can send me a question by replying to this email.

• Wouldn’t it be cool if we could all hang out together for a week of wellness in Tecate, Mexico at Rancho la Puerta? I’ve been teaching at the cooking school since 2015 but this November I’ll be hosting my first BHK group. This means we can cook together, chat each morning over huevos rancheros and cafe de olla, and I get to offer you some sweet discounts.

New Ideas in Brain Self-Care

• When I learned about the new Brain Care Score developed by neurologists at Harvard, I immediately thought of all of the brain health ambassadors here at BHK. This super simple scorecard can help you keep track of how you are doing with your brain-healthy lifestyle. Did you take the score? Was it helpful? I would love to know.

• Did you make a New Year’s resolution last month? Now is a good time to check in and see how that’s going. Early in January I wrote about how to make New Year’s resolutions stick by tapping into your Brain Health Mindset (the why of having a healthy brain) and some recently published science.

Try a New Recipe

Here’s how to get out of a winter cooking rut—try a new recipe! Something you’ve never made before. How about falafel? It’s easier than you may think. I shared a lot of recipes in the last few months and there are many more in the Archives and in my book. Paying subscribers get a recipe package every 6 months—collection of recipes in pdf form that you can download and print.

• Here’s the menu from the BHK book’s first birthday party with links to some of the dishes we served, including the Red Lentil Falafel Burgers with Lemony Tahini Sauce, the Creamy Tomato Soup, the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and the Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies. Over on Instagram I shared a series of BHK subcribers’ faves, including the Glazed Citrus, Almond and Olive Oil Cake.

• Everyone seems to be enjoying this recipe for Protein-Packed Pancakes with Wild Blueberries. I show you how to make the pancake version in this short video. I’d love to hear if anyone waffles it!

• Mind Body Green shared these two recipes from my book: Turmeric and Black Pepper Granola and Coffee Berry Smoothie. Plus, I wrote this article for them: I’m a Brain Health Expert: 3 Things I Eat Daily For Alzheimer’s Prevention.

• Seeds are important for a well-rounded, brain-healthy diet. In my 5 Brain Healthy Things post, I gave you a discount code for the best Simply Seeds mix. The code is good on all their products through the end of February, 2024.

Finally, we kicked off a mini-series on metabolic health with this Open Thread discussion: Blood Sugar and Brain Health. Soon we will be diving into how being mindful of blood sugar helps keep your brain healthy. We’ll debunks some myths, talk about continuous glucose monitors, look at the glycemic index of foods, and I’ll share practical tips for cooking and eating with metabolic health in mind. And, I have a special Valentine’s recipe coming up. 

Free subscribers: upgrading your subscription gets you full access to all the archived posts and recipes. Plus, you can ask me questions, get personalized answers, and participate in community discussions here.

I’ll be back next week. Until then, there’s plenty to catch up on! Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or just want to say hello. Thank you for being here. And thank you for taking the best care of your brain. 

Love,

Annie