Welcome back to our brain food summer meal series, everybody. I’m Dr. Drew Ramsey. I’m a board-certified psychiatrist and Nutritional Psychiatrist. Give a save, give a follow, share this one because everybody, you’ve got to nourish your brain this summer. And there’s so much going on. People start to skip meals. We start to grab whatever’s on the go because we’re traveling or we’re being more active or outside more. Sometimes we’re just not making the right choices. So this series is to help you get all the nourishment your brain needs because all summer long you’re doing lots of activities. You need quick, easy meals. And so we’ve talked about a template for you: this formula, the idea that we’re looking for something that’s easy, it’s no heat, we can put it together quickly. This formula we’ve been talking about starts with that one of our favorite healthy proteins. And this video we’re going to get into an amazing Greek yogurt.
Now, quickly remember our formula here to beat the heat. We’re looking for a no-heat, no cook bowl that we can assemble really quickly. It’s a template, it’s a formula. We want to start out with one of our favorite healthy proteins. We’re going to add on some beautiful colors, some rainbows, some vegetables and fruits that are beautiful and have all these amazing polyphenols we’re to talk about in a second. Then we’re going to add on some healthy fats. We really love the olive oil, but there are a bunch of them that we like. We’re looking for more monounsaturated fats and more long-chained omega-3 fats. Then we’re going add in some fiber to make sure that microbiome is getting the fuel that we need. That is the template for our brain food bowls. And so let’s get into this one that’s just absolutely delicious.
Why? Well, look, we do a lot of savory dishes in brain food. Everybody knows that we’ve got the pestos, we’ve got the amazing bowl that we did last week, some wild salmon. Delicious, right? But but I got a little sweet tooth. And I bet you might have one too. A lot of folks who have concerns or issues with mood or anxiety also use a lot of sweets. Sometimes that’s for emotional eating. Sometimes there’s a theory it’s because we want to get more tryptophan into our brain. We can get more into that in another video. But right now, the point is this bowl is delicious and it’s filled with a natural sweetness. It helps you adjust your palate and get back to eating the natural sugars like the ones and the berries in this bowl that are absolutely great for us, that are delicious, that help sustain us and help make this a little bit of a sweet treat that also nourishes your brain.
All right, let’s get into this formula, our Greek yogurt brain bowl. So, first of all, Greek yogurt is a great healthy protein. I like the Greek yogurt because the protein has these amino acids we need to make things like dopamine, serotonin, all of our favorite neurotransmitters in psychiatry. Also, you’re going to get a lot of satiation. The complete whole fat yogurt is just very satiating. So you don’t need as much to feel full. On top of that, yogurt is a fermented food. And this is becoming increasingly important in Nutritional Psychiatry. You want to think not just about more fiber to help feed the microbiome, all these organisms in your gut, but we also want to think about increasing fermented foods and our consumption of fermented foods and the diversity of fermented foods that we eat. Yogurt is a great starting point. It also helps pre-digest a food. So if you have concerns about dairy, some folks find that fermented dairies go down a lot easier and they don’t have as many concerns because the bacteria predigests it for us. And remember we want this as a refrigerated yogurt product because we want those live bacteria.
Next, we’re going to add in some berries. We just love berries for brain health. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries. Why? Because they’re filled with these polyphenols called anthocyanins. Those dark purple, blue, and black pigments are particularly good for the brain and for brain health. They modify the microbiome in a way that was discovered in a Nature paper about three years ago and really helped us understand more of the importance of the brain-gut connection.
In addition, berries are a low glycemic index fruit. That means you’re not going to get a big spike in blood sugar. It means you’re going to get more fiber. For example, raspberries just are loaded with fiber. And on top of this, you get lots and lots of vitamins and minerals that are just packed with vitamin C. Berries are just an absolutely delicious source of healthy sweetness. So make sure and have a generous portion in this yogurt bowl.
Next up, let’s add in our healthy fats. This one might surprise you: walnuts. Walnuts are filled with oleic acid. It’s like putting a little drizzle of olive oil on this brain food bowl because olive oil also mostly contains oleic acid. Walnuts are also great because they bring fiber, they bring a little bit of protein, and they bring some nice slow-burning carbs. Walnuts are a great example of an easy add, and all of a sudden your diet is more like the Mediterranean dietary pattern that’s linked to so many great health outcomes when it comes to brain health, cognitive health, mood, anxiety. So more walnuts, absolutely great in this brain food bowl. No single food is responsible for your brain health benefits, but for a healthy dietary pattern, walnuts and nuts in general are one of those foods that just show up over and over again in healthy dietary patterns that protect our mental health and brain health.
Next, we’re going to add in our fiber, and I just love pumpkin seeds. They also also called pepitas. You’re looking for a raw, unsalted pumpkin seed, in my opinion, especially on this dish. Pumpkin seeds bring in incredible minerals like zinc, iron, magnesium, and these are absolutely essential for mental health. Magnesium is involved in something like 300 chemical reactions in your brain. Magnesium is also just, I call it “Mother Nature’s Chill Pill.” It’s just one of those nutrients a lot of people take as a supplement. I think you should take as pumpkin seeds. So sprinkle those on, and that just really rounds out this amazing Greek yogurt bowl.
We’re always looking for that next extra step as brain foodies. Just a little more spice or an herb or maybe some colors. And in this one we’re going to top it off with some amazing delicious cinnamon. Cinnamon, like a lot of herbs and spices, is just packed with phytonutrients. And also, hey, it’s a cinnamon stick. You also get a little extra fiber in there. You add this nice, warm, delicious, familiar flavor. Sometimes maybe a little drizzle of honey or maple syrup if you like that. And wow, just think about this beautiful, colorful, fiber-filled brain bowl that is easy to make, really quick to construct, especially for a family. Just get your four empty bowls out there and get it all going. It’s a delicious, wonderful dish. Sometimes I top this with a little sprig of mint. Brain bowls like this, again, help us in our quest to get great nutrition when it’s hot outside, when we don’t feel like cooking, when we just want to construct something, but we want to make sure and get all the nutrients that our mental health and our brains need. And we want to do it in this dish in a way that gives us little delicious natural sweetness. What a great way to get brain health this summer.
What I love about this formula and I love about this brain food bowl is how quickly you build something that’s delicious and nutritious. You’ve got your healthy proteins, healthy fats, you’ve got amazing fibers, you’ve got great colors and plant-based nutrients. It’s exactly what your mental health needs this summer. Everybody, I hope this series is helping you get more brain nutrition and construct really easy meals, easy bowls with this formula that give us a diversity of flavors, a variety of nutrients, and are just simply delicious. I hope this helps you and your family keep eating for your mental health and employ the rules of Nutritional Psychiatry.
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