If you use your noggin, you'll eat for your brain as well as your heart

The On Health newsletter from Consumer Reports explores "8 Power Foods for Your Brain," concluding leafy greens, such as fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil, above, may improve brain health "because of their high levels of vitamin K, folate (a B vitamin), and the antioxidants beta carotene and lutein.

Editor's note: We buy a lot of high-quality produce, and canned and fresh fish  from Costco Wholesale so an April newsletter from Consumer Reports was welcome news.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Just when I thought a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet was the only one I needed, Consumer Reports said I can do more to reduce my risk of Alzheimer's disease. 

"The MIND diet is a hybrid of the heart-healthy Mediterranean and blood-pressure-lowering DASH diets," according to On Health, a newsletter from Consumer Reports.

(MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay).

That's a mouthful, but in layman's terms, MIND limits red meat, butter and stick margarine, pastries and sweets, fried and fast food, and cheese.

A few foods play a starring role, according to "8 Power Foods for Your Brain" in the April 2016 edition of the newsletter.

They are vegetables/leafy greens, nuts, berries, beans, fish/poultry, olive oil, whole grains and wine (one glass a day).

Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix contains a lot of leafy greens, here dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. At Costco Wholesale in Teterboro, a 1-pound container of the organic salad mix was $4.29 on Friday, as it has been for a few weeks, but the new Costco Wholesale Business Center in Hackensack charged me $4.79 for the same spring mix on Tuesday.

Consumer Reports says leafy greens improve brain health, but the article doesn't mention eggs or sweet potatoes.

The omega 3 fats in fish  "may improve learning and memory by increasing the brain's ability to send and receive messages," Consumer Reports says. Organic whole wheat shells from Whole Foods Market, above, are wonderful with sardines and anchovies from Costco Wholesale. Below, wild caught white bass ($2.99 a pound at H Mart in Little Ferry) with sweet peppers, tomatoes and fresh herbs baked in aluminum-foil packages.