[0:00] Welcome to Artful aging with your host Amy are you a senior or caregiver of a
looking for support and Direction best selling author educator and expert in Senior Living Amy Friesen is here,
with the help you need while providing you with an important and valuable support network so now please welcome the host of Artful aging Amy Friesen.
[0:28] Good morning everyone I'm Amy Friesen and this is artfully aging with Amy were alive on Bold Brave TV.
Intellectually we all know that we should be eating a well-balanced diet full of nutrients minerals healthy fat and all the rest in fact many of us have been learning this and taught this throughout our whole lives.
[0:49] Consider your brain is always on
therefore it needs a steady flow of fuel to operate optimally optimally think of the brain as a car so if you don't feel your car with the proper gas it's not going to run
as efficiently sure it's going to run but you're still setting yourself up for more problems and issues along the way as that kind of the gas does not treat your car properly and things start to erode joining me today is Julie Gervais
Julie is a holistic nutritionist and the certified brain health coach,
prior to her studies in nutrition Julian and undergraduate degree in Psychology and a master's degree in theology.
[1:28] She worked for numerous years in the mental health field within the multidisciplinary environment
where she learned that each person is a complex system and with mental physical and spiritual needs that needed to be addressed in order to reach fulfillment and happiness,
little did she know that her experience in mental health field
in combination with her interest for who matters would lead to her nutrition where she would finally combined all of her interest so welcome Julie thanks so much for joining me today,
well thank you for having me I'm very excited to be here,
I'm thrilled that you're here and like I said we're all learning about the stuff all the time so let's let's answer some questions and give some extra information to our audience so Julie one thing that I hear quite often is that nutritious meals are not tasty,
the too long to prepare let's squash this misconception right out of the gate could you help us with this.
[2:21] Absolutely okay so first of all when I talk to my clients I kind of remove the word nutritious meals and I talked about balanced meals so a lot of.
Especially aging clients like you know my parents generation they nutritious like sounds complicated it sounds like I need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and,
I really did miss the fire that and I say no no we're not talking we're talking about just making sure you're getting,
all the nutrients you need doesn't have to be complicated just needs to be balanced we're all familiar with and we all kind of.
I know how important it is to have a bad life I have balance moods and I just talked about having balanced meals so it's really aunt.
We're not talking about balanced meals I'm talking about.
[3:18] Specifically three macronutrients like you mentioned it briefly in the introduction and those are proteins healthy fat.
And complex carbohydrates okay and what I'm talking about complex carbohydrates I'm talking about carbohydrates.
Fruits and vegetables you know grains but that are rich in fiber okay and there's a reason for that we'll talk about that later but really we want to be balancing those three macronutrients.
So we can balance the blood sugar so it's.
[3:55] So yes are talking about nutrition these are the three new true nutrients that we want to be focusing on Protein healthy fats and carbohydrates.
Can be very very simple doesn't need to take a lot of time in the kitchen.
Most of my most of my clients are moms and caregivers,
okay and they don't have time they have kids they have a life I have three kids of my own I've got my own business I've it,
and I have aging parents as well so I am busy I don't have time to spend in the kitchen so I always talk about Simplicity there's.
There's different kinds of nutritionist okay there's some nutritionists are.
[4:41] I specialize in vegetarian there are more or ghetto or maybe Paleo Diet,
and these are words that we're hearing more and more that our people are familiar with they don't always know what they mean but we hear them a lot right the keto diet paleo diet I do not.
Focus on any specific diet I'm a very practical nutritionist that's what I like to call myself very practical and which means it as simple as possible because.
Most of us don't have time.
[5:15] So I think a lot of that our generation of caregivers right now so let's say about 45 to 65 ish.
Caregivers for adult are aging parents a lot of them are stuck in that mindtrap of the dieting I'm going to call it fads begin to say the whole kind of gamete right you know and
not all of them are concentrating like you said on balance right it's more so low carb or
you know high fat or whatever right like keto and different things like that and I think that,
that's probably complicated what everybody thinks is nutrition or balanced nutrition because they go from one,
one thing so one type of diet that may be worked that didn't work then down the way and then they change and they try something else and it's gets very very complicated and I think maybe that's where everything is got a little bit muddy,
so let's continue this conversation Julie we're going to take a break and we're going to talk a little bit more about what our body and our mind actually need for balanced nutrition so after the break we will see you this is artfully aging with Amy.
[6:24] Hi and welcome back so habit formation is a process where we make behaviors automatic so think about brushing your teeth or shouting how these habits
happen every day pretty much and that they're automatic and you don't have to think about it so how do we get habits big tin for nutrition.
It's quite helpful to have habits in all areas of your life whether it's work or home or your personal
personal life and how you operate your body so Julie could you maybe share with us why it's important to build habits around food as well and give an example about how we go about doing this.
[7:03] Yes of course as you mentioned habits it's all about making something more automatic right and I truly believe it's important when it comes to food to making it a habit so we.
So it clears up space in our heads right it just it's just you just do it and.
For me it's and I report my clients in that like my hole.
My whole the whole Services I offer is really about supporting my clients and creating those habits because that's where people struggle.
They struggle with that so a healthy habit it's it prevents you from basically grabbing something that like.
[7:48] At the last minute because you're hungry and.
Usually when you're hungry it's because your blood should flow okay and then you don't always make the best decisions at that time your Panic eating almost every liquor and you want to bring that blood sugar up right and
we tend to grab something sweet something that will bring it up quickly obviously but we'll also bring it right back down and that's what we don't want so by having these healthy habits in place
when it comes to food is it prevents them it just prevents those moments where you're like oh my gosh I have to eat something right and.
How do you do that in the kitchen really it's all about having.
These recipes that you enjoy.
[8:40] You don't have to have a hundred recipes you can have just like five recipes seven recipes that you know you and joy that are eh.
Add you include that in your routine on a weekly basis that's really what it's all about so.
Putting like you know those 23 breakfast ideas that you enjoy and knowing that,
on a Monday or like Sunday afternoons you will be preparing for Monday and Tuesday's breakfast and same thing with you no snacks,
you find a time during the week that you know you have maybe a chunk of time usually for me it's Sunday afternoons it can be different for everybody and you prepare those snacks for the week you can freeze them as well.
But the key is really about finding those recipes that you enjoy the foods that you enjoy and.
[9:40] Just repeating it think the process week after week and that's a know that.
[9:46] All right go ahead no I'm just going to say that's just it's about keeping it simple what you want to make sure is always always.
Is it balanced do I have my three macronutrients am I getting my Protein healthy fats and carbohydrates and all the meals and snacks that you're eating.
I know that once I get into those habits of meal prep or even thinking about what's going on or even just
using a we're going to talk about apps and things later but using one of my apps to schedule at the week I found a really interesting way to do it especially because I'm a business owner as well right and I find that you know like you said
habits free up your mind space and that is super valuable because people don't realize how much
mine spacer taking up with trying to remember to eat right and try to remember to prep this but
once you get going yes for the first bit it's going to you know you're going to have to try to remember or write it down or put on a alarm or something like that but eventually the
plan is to get that ingrained so that you stop thinking about it right and but you know habits can be very difficult to form up because they take a little bit of a you know you have to get a running start it you have to get the momentum right.
And for that to help people crab it I've got it.
[11:04] Kind of a system in place where I ideally what you want to be doing is actually connecting this new habit to something that you're already doing.
Right for example like let's say.
You have your coffee like let's say I don't know you have your coffee in the morning that's something that you're already doing it's consistent every morning you have your coffee but you know you.
Okay for it like supplements or you've got up you've got this smoothie that you want to prepare you make sure that okay after my coffee I'll just have my smoothie.
Or it's just taking something that you're already doing and adding something else to it a lot of my clients take supplements for example II and,
they forget about taking them because that's another way to kind of make sure that your nutrients that you want especially for agent clients sometimes they're picky sometimes they they have there.
Eating habits already in place and they're not getting all the nutrients they need so we sometimes need to supplement and they forget to take their supplements but then it's again let's let's connect that new habit.
With something that you're already doing so that way you can you know it just eases the process.
The nutritional habits to would be beneficial and helpful I would suppose to balance blood sugar so maybe you could tell us why it's important to balance blood sugar even if you're not diabetic.
[12:34] Yes absolutely you don't want to wait to be diabetic you don't want to wait to be even diagnosed as pre-diabetic to start.
You know making blood sugar I already balancing that blood sugar being a priority because.
[12:53] Your blood sugar is intimately connected to your mental health if your blood sugar is going like this.
Your mental health your moods will be will be doing this as well.
So you want to be balancing that blood sugar as much as possible even in children like this this should start as
as possible you want to learn how to balance blood sugar and the best way to do that is learning how to balance those macro-nutrients,
as I mentioned earlier you want to make sure and all your meals that you're getting some protein that you're getting those healthy fat and that fiber.
Because each macronutrient has its role to play so protein are the building blocks,
feel good chemicals that you need every day feel happy to focus to remain calm when things are stressful okay those are those feel-good chemicals that our body builds but we need building blocks for the build those chemicals,
and protein is one of those building blocks okay the healthy fats you want to be getting them because your brain is mostly made out of fat,
so you need those healthy fats support brain health and it's also a very good source of energy so.
[14:15] It when you're getting energy from healthy fat.
The energy that you're getting is will last you a lot longer than if you're getting energy from glucose which comes from the carbohydrate.
So that's another reason for the healthy fats and then you get the carbohydrates and carbohydrates it's lots of fiber you want to get fiber in those carbs.
Don't fruits and vegetables because that helps the balance the blood sugar the fiber helps the balance the blood sugar.
Find that a lot of people too because like I said there's so many people that have done different diets or different eating are terrified of fats I know that even when I've talked about it with my parents because they're not of that generation they,
you know it started for them but that's so counterintuitive to what they've learned so that to try to to reframe it so.
Head out for a break Julie let's pose this question to our audience
do you have healthy habits that you've put in order to make your lifestyle a little bit healthier consider maybe what those are write them down and see if you can elaborate on them a little bit after the break we will continue this conversation will see you in a few.
[15:26] Hello and welcome back to Artful aging with Amy many of the folks watching today
or listening to today's conversation for how to care for their aging parents trying to get tips and tricks many have concerns that their aging loved ones are not eating properly there's definitely,
scenario called tea and toast syndrome which is also what my company is called as many of you know as tea and toast and one of the reasons is that tea and toast although it's comfortable and easy
if somebody is eating that too often that's going to cause some significant issues and I actually log up to how to maximize your tea and toast because there's definitely ways,
to add these nutrients that Julie's talking about into Tian toads that are super easy so you can definitely see that over at The Artful aging with Amy
site but for now Julie can how can we support our aging parents eating habits and make sure that they're getting these specific nutrients to support the brain health.
[16:27] Okay so first thing you want as I mentioned earlier you don't,
you don't want to remove what they already enjoy so you want to start instead of just making sure you're adding the nutrients to what they're already eating so if they,
enjoy their tea and toast fine let's let's just make sure that.
Those proteins were adding the healthy fats and the fiber that they need to that tea and toast okay so it once again it's all about keeping it simple.
[17:03] Remaining it like and having the Whole Foods in your like you want to be avoiding the process food.
As much as possible so when you're focusing on Whole Foods,
you are getting more protein you're getting more healthy fats and more fiber and you're avoiding the chemicals and the bad fats that you want to be avoiding for your brain health so.
To answer your question how to support your aging parents in their eating habits keep it simple make sure you're balancing,
those three macronutrients for having whatever they're having don't necessarily you don't want to take away what they're eating just make sure that they're adding like maybe when you're talking about protein,
nuts nuts and seeds nuts and seeds also have healthy fats in them you know and add a fruit to that.
[18:04] It just about adding little things like that and eventually happens as well is a lot of people will have you know.
[18:14] Sweet Tooth right and that's because they grew up with that that's what they've known right and that that guy increases over time you want more and more sweets or something more and more salty.
So that can,
you can change that over time by gradually exposing them to foods that are maybe not as sweet initially and,
taste buds do change over time they really do and so you wanted also always educate your parents.
On balancing that blood sugar if they can just understand how important balancing blood sugar is to just their overall mental Wellness.
[18:57] That will be a huge the right direction huge huge step and how to balance that blood sugar once again,
I always am repeating myself and I'm very aware of this because it is so so key you want to make sure you're getting,
those and I'm going to give you examples of healthy fats we're talking about nuts and seeds we're talking about.
While the egg you know a lot of Aging of boiled eggs is so easy you got protein in there you got some healthy fats in there avocado just a simple avocado or if they don't like avocado add the avocado oil.
You know and in terms of oils we're talking focusing mostly on olive oil.
Avocado oil and then you got the coconut oil so these are the three oils that you can focus on to use for or just for salad dressings or to sprinkle on top of something on their salads so you're adding those healthy fats when you're doing that.
How about avoiding the margarine a lot of our parents grew up on that margarine right.
Replace it with grass-fed butter or at least butter.
Want you know because those are Fat Brain your brain thrives on okay then you've got again.
[20:21] Fish,
okay that's more like a meal and some people don't like fish you can just have fish oil as a supplement which is really really rich in those healthy fats that you want for your brain.
And meet a lot of agent baby don't you know they're app if they don't have very big appetites often and they don't always want to eat meat there's.
[20:48] You don't need much you really don't need much to get the proteins that you need the thrive on.
So these are all different little things that you can just add to what they're already eating.
[21:01] Key the key is educate people on this.
How where do you find those proteins that you need where do you find those healthy fats that you need and the fiber is mostly fruits and vegetables and Grains.
[21:16] And it's all about focusing on Whole Foods even,
even just as one thing for the complex curves right A lot of people if they're eating tea and toast for instance a lot of people eat white bread right so let's swap it out for a complex carb like whole wheat or what not right
when you say that that would even just be like even because we're we have a lot of picky eaters right like at all stages of life right and so even like you said one thing at a time and just start to introduce something you don't have to do
everything at once all the time out of the gate right would you agree.
Absolutely absolutely it and it's just adding that one fruit that extra fruit that normally they don't have with their 10 Toes or having that you know.
I dig the egg it's so easy you know or like half an avocado and maybe they won't like it initially but there's different ways that you can just prepare that avocado it can be in a smoothie,
it could be you know drizzle what I love Is Just drizzling it with like olive oil and some lemon juice or like some people like balsamic vinegar.
Anything that makes a tasty for them but I think also it's if they understand how important it is.
To get that blood sugar balance and why.
[22:42] Can help with you know opening their minds to different foods you know it because they understand how important it is.
Um and with picky eaters sometimes supplementation really does help you know I try to,
not a void supplementation get sometimes it's necessary initially but it's not something that I recommend long-term really want to focus on making sure they got the nutrition right that they're eating the Whole Foods.
Voiding the processed foods the key is about also avoiding the processed foods and when I talk about processed foods I'm talking about like the package.
[23:24] Anything that's package that has a list of ingredients it is what we call processed foods and with that comes the chemicals that are bad for your brain was that,
bad fats that you want to be avoiding for your brain health or your memory which is something that we really want to be focusing on right when our parents are aging
how do we support that memory right well and a lot of a lot of seniors that we come in contact with that are living alone and looking maybe for retirement living or some advice
are eating those packaged you know meals that they just
pick up in the frozen food section because they're easy and that's one of the main pieces of advice we give people and then also we tell them you know what the difference is if they make a move for instance right and there's being prepped for them and it's being cooked and how much of a difference but you have to start adding it up and you almost have to,
believe someone like yourself right to say yes okay we're going to buy into this and we're going to do it because a lot of people stop doing things
quicker than they see them benefiting them so it's very tricky,
but let's take a break Julie everybody could get up grab a cup of tea if you'd like to stretch your legs and we'll see you in a couple minutes on our flea Jean with a neon bulb right TV.
[24:38] Welcome back I'm Amy and I'm your host of Artful aging with Amy today we're talking about to Julie about nutrition and brain health,
we are looking at possible malnutrition there are many warning signs and symptoms to keep top of Mind a senior could see these signs and themselves or a caregiver might notice,
Julie could you maybe talk to us a couple about a couple of the warning signs that either could look at that maybe is helping or starting to happen in themselves or maybe if a caregiver catches something.
[25:07] Yes absolutely one warning sign but you don't want to wait till one starts really bring probable attic is a memory loss,
right if you're noticing that your aging parent is forgetting things.
But you're like ah it's normal they're just aging or even yourself you know if you're forgetting you're like I'm just busy I've got a busy mind.
These are signs that you don't want to take lightly because loss of memory doesn't it doesn't start.
At the end of your light this this is a process that can like it can have started like 20 years ago.
So you it's a long process and you want to start really supporting your memory.
Like in your 40s like it's not too early really isn't to make sure that you are you know not going to have any memory problems later so loss of memory is a huge one next one is.
[26:09] Brain fog you know if you have troubles focusing that is a sign that your brain is unhealthy but in needs more support,
you've got anxiety and depression are huge ones in our society today ones and often anxiety and depression are connected to digestive issues by the way.
So if your digestive tract and you had digestive issues.
You might be actually you might also notice that you are suffering from anxiety or mild depression or even severe depression your whole life there's a connection your digest is what we call your second brain.
This is where all your feel-good chemicals are being built so if your digestive tract is not healthy.
[26:59] You are not building the right feel good chemicals you need to stay focused happy
calm and all those good feelings that we want right then you've got mood swings a huge one mood swings is a Vindication of often most often than not that you have unbalanced,
blood sugar this is the the hangry right this is the hangry this is yeah absolutely and like anger Outburst you know someone that's constantly getting angry and unexpectedly right,
balance blood sugar you that's the first thing you want to be focusing on.
What else lack of energy like you know when you're like falling asleep at 11 you're falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon that's another sign that you want to be taken seriously as well so these are all signs of.
[27:51] Brain that needs more support and there's different ways of supporting that brain,
with food as I mentioned you want it first thing you want to do is balance out blood sugar okay first first thing when it comes to mental health you do.
I cannot stress that enough and another way is also with supplements are different supplements that you can take.
[28:13] To help you feel better to help you deal with the stress to help you feel with the mood to deal with the mood swings because we're all biochemically different so some of us are maybe not making those some.
Feel-good chemicals that we need to have those Balance moods for example fish oil is the number one supplement I meant for anyone,
because it's so rich in omega-3 fats and we want to be giving our bodies our brains,
omega-3 fats why because our brains and our bodies don't produce them we need to get these fats from the food that we eat.
So if our diet is not rich in omega-3 fast please make sure you're getting them from supplements okay your brain really needs a provides then you've got.
Supplements like Gaba which is something that it's a amino acid which is.
Comes from the Protein that's one of those building blocks I was talking about okay and some of us are not making a lot of those.
[29:22] Building blocks certain building blocks and one of them is Gaba and Gaba helps with stress,
do you have someone you're caring for someone or even yourself and you find that you easily get overwhelmed that you easily get stressed out when there's lots going on in your life,
Gaba can truly truly help.
Calm that nervous system called that brain down and it just allows you to deal with the situation a lot calmer right,
people will have those like that hamster wheel going on in their heads you know those people that are Maybe,
baby bit more obsessive compulsive Behavior we all know don't judge me Julie I was gonna save myself as well,
so Sabbath for that kind of behavior like that hamster wheel or obsessive-compulsive a little bit there on the side 5-HTP is it beautiful mint you can have because from the 5-HTP you are building serotonin.
[30:27] Serotonin is one of those feel-good chemicals that we need to have balanced moods and it just helps to calm down that little hamster wheel of ours.
Another one that's very very common that I recommend is l-tyrosine that's again for people who have troubles with their brain fog difficulty focusing or.
People that don't you we all know people that.
Tend to not always make the best decisions or very spontaneous they do things before they think this is often because it's their executive brain which is the front part of the brain that's maybe.
Needs a little bit more.
[31:11] And l-tyrosine can really really help us make better decisions remain focused and just be able to plan organize.
And all those good things so these are very common supplements that.
End up recommending for my clients because it just once your brain works right and once your.
You are better you are in a better position to make better decisions,
a lot of people say well I want to lose weight okay let's get your brain right first let's make sure your brains healthy and you're making good decisions because if your brain is healthy and it works right.
You will be able to make better decisions when it comes to your health when it comes to your weight when it comes to making that choice between the apple and the donut you will make better decisions.
[32:03] So she put the Apple in the donut and then then you can.
It's true though and there's lots of other things that go along with that right they stuff that I'm even dealing with my life like proper sleep and all these other things like and and instead of just looking at
some people just focus in on the cassette a specific diet or what not but you're right get your brain working properly
and don't concentrate so much on being specific right and so that you can get the brain going properly this lyrically and things start to get and move easier as what I'm finding.
We didn't talk about this but yeah lifestyle is super key for sure we have so much stuff Julie we're gonna have to do a second show let's go for a break up.
Aging with Amy Julie and I are going to discuss my favorite to P Words which is prevention and proactivity of course you're not going to want to miss this so stay tuned I'll see you in a few minutes.
[33:00] Welcome back to Artful aging with Amy I hope you had a minute to get up and get stretched and have your coffee or your tea
as usual let's discuss prevention and how to be proactive
and mindful in your eating Billy I know that you have a lot of suggestions for us could you please give us a few suggestions that our audience could do either caregivers or seniors that might work for them.
Yes of course so the first thing I recommend is every time you have a meal every time you're having a snack.
[33:33] First thing you can ask yourself is this good for my brain or is this bad for my this is a simple question.
But that can really help you make better decisions,
I have to ask you does that mean that it makes your brain happy because a chocolate bar is good for my brain yes and I could you can be good,
now you can ask yourself okay what chocolate white chocolate bar can I pick right so there's all so it's good for my person is a bad for my brain and.
Another thing also is every time you're having a meal you're having a snack.
[34:11] Always think do I have proteins in here do I have this is just a simple way like it doesn't do I have proteins do I have some healthy fats.
Am I getting some Fiber so let's take that donut you know that sometimes is very tempting right well okay you look at the donut.
Am I getting protein in here yeah I don't think so am I getting sugar oh yeah I'm getting a lot of carbs but I'm getting simple carbs I'm not getting fiber.
[34:40] Am I getting healthy fats no you're getting bad fat.
So this is definitely something you want to avoid right then you've got the healthy my homemade muffin right with an in the muffin you got maybe some,
pumpkin and you got some nuts and seeds and it was made with coconut oil.
These are all things your brain thrives on.
Okay so am I in that muffin do I have those proteins yeah I've got I've got the nuts.
You know am I getting some those complex carbohydrates yes,
the pumpkin in there and the flower if it's you know depending on what kind of flower you got in there but it's mostly the pumpkin the fruits and vegetable fruits that you'll put in there.
You know what I did Julie when I started learning what proteins were what fats were wack complex I literally,
I went online and I said what are good fats what are good proteins whatnot and I print when I put them on my fridge well I was trying to learn this right and so you're looking at the fridge and you don't have to guess it's just is it on the list right,
exactly and there's actually there's actually like a.
[35:54] A chart that I provide my clients where it's like you've got these Foods they're like there's three bubbles one is proteins one is healthy fats and water complex carbohydrates and some are some actually.
Between themselves because some foods have all three.
[36:11] So it really helps to visualize for people and absolutely I agree I put that on your fridge you know and another really simple thing too.
That can really help make sure that you're getting the nutrients that you need how much how much color is in my plate.
[36:27] Go get the colors of the rainbow the more color you have in your plate that means you're getting,
those fruits and vegetables you're getting that fiber that you need to balance the blood sugar and you're getting those antioxidants that you need to have a healthy immune system.
So you want color if your plate is Bland because you've got the rice and then you got.
Bread like okay I need to add color here what can I do to add color it so that's a simple tip that's that can be very helpful for our aging parents but also for our kids for ourselves you know.
Another another trick is well trick tip is avoid anything that's packaged.
[37:16] You know as soon as this package good chance for it's filled with chemicals that are not good for your brain.
And it's filled with the bad fats those vegetable nice a bad fats I'm talking those vegetable oil.
And processed foods that's what they use they use vegetable oils because it's cheap it's easy,
you know so at those are like the corn oil canola oil these are the awesome talking about soil.
[37:51] Yeah like safflower oil these are all.
[37:55] Bad oils for your brain unfortunately because of the way they've been processed it's mostly because of that.
[38:03] Now to avoid the processed foods what else.
[38:07] Okay anything that's whole so if you're a packaged Foods what else can I eat anything that's whole.
[38:16] Once flew that wants Ram you know that that once swam that once was grown in our in our the Earth you know it's just.
It's hole.
It was it's not in a packaged envelope in plastic it's whole there's no list ingredient list so why the processed foods include Whole Foods instead.
That allows it to keep it simple as well a whole food is just like a banana apple you know get that cute cucumber slice it up.
You know take a few pieces of carrots have a few nuts in your hand for snack.
Right then you've got oh yeah the vegetable oils as I mentioned void that if you just want to make sure you're getting the right oils to cook focus on three oils.
[39:06] Olive oil avocado oil and you've got the coconut oil these are the main ones.
To keep it simple and you know that they're healthy for your brain okay then you've got.
[39:22] The colors of the rainbow as I mentioned and create those habits find those simple recipes that you enjoy and repeat the process just make.
557 recipes that you enjoy and just know when am I going to have this throughout the week when am I going to when I'm going to have.
This meal throughout the week and just plant it in your schedule repeat it,
it doesn't have to always be new and different it could be the same as long as you're getting those nutrients that you need.
And one thing I didn't mention is hydrate hydrate hydrate.
Like water is so key our brain is 80% water.
We need water and if you want to make sure you're getting enough water.
[40:14] Basically an easy way of knowing how much water you need is half your weight in ounces.
[40:21] Is pretty much how much water you need for healthy brain okay and someone who's dehydrated.
[40:30] We'll have behavior issues like if you see behavior issues in your aging parents like like you know like really suits wings or like.
[40:41] Outburst or look at how much water they're drinking.
Look at her water they're drinking and it helps with energy as well for sure and it's it
it's a daunting task when you're trying to add that water you're not used to it but once you get doing it it's like second nature I mean I've got jugs of water I have them here right just jugs of them but you cannot see
prior yeah like you know herbal tea That's why Julie like I said we've got like 12 shows worth of stuff so we're going to have to bring you back on but
what I wanted to thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us and for extra information on Julie head over to Artful aging with a me.com and her bios are and links to her website Julie thanks again for coming on.
Pleasure thanks for having me a me the Break we're going to talk about my top tips for today stay tuned and I'll see you in a few minutes.
[41:34] Welcome back today's conversation was full of great tips and suggestions and frankly how we can all eat are no matter what age or stage you're at
I know with Eva who's for we have to do a lot of work arounds because she is a quite a picky eater and I found ways to sneak protein in and fat into her meal
without a really realizing it,
and we really lean hard into the vegetable she's likes she loves P She loves broccoli and asparagus which just happened to be super green which is
beneficial so she gets those didn't even my husband the other day minced and some broccoli into our tomato sauce and I didn't even know he did it and it was terrific because you don't always have to be obvious about what you're doing especially when you're prepping
for somebody else you can always hide the vegetables or hide the proteins and fats in
even using a little bit of collagen powder or something just to help with a little bit of a boost.
[42:31] If you're interested in the TN toast society as Rome blog that I wrote that I was talking about head over to Artful aging with a me.com for the link and you can have a read there
so my top tips for today if you were wondering my tip number one is like Julie was saying eat Whole Foods
avoid the processed foods a lot of our seniors are eating
processed foods because they don't cook anymore because you know they don't go for gross but not and they grabbed these because they think okay well eating something is better than nothing which you know generally I guess would be true.
[43:06] They're not actually
fueling their body and for all those reasons Julie talked about today we need to fuel our bodies and so if you have an aging loved one that's eating these meals
see if you can do some meal prep together see if you can even boil a couple of eggs and have them in the fridge there's lots of workarounds for it but first you know the first step is becoming aware of what's actually happening.
[43:29] Tip 2 as Julie said again is balance your Macros which is the protein the healthy fats and the car bro the complex carbs that will help
keep your blood sugar elevated that will help not get hangry which is that up and down I have definitely had this in my life and I know you know if I haven't eaten properly in the morning I mean oh now because I'm always trying to balance it and so if I miss out on a protein or something in the morning
my body tells me now
but you have to get there and so stay the course and add in these macros and just stay for awhile and let them adapt to your body.
[44:07] Number three
is drink the water so again half your body weight in ounces so if you're 150 pounds you should be about in about nine eight ounce glasses of water a day
it gets tricky like I said I have a water jug that I refill multiple times a day eventually you get used to it and you start your body starts craving that water,
it like Julie said if you can't drink that much water or you have a mental block about it drink tea
drink something like put some lemon in it or some orange in it anything that kind of
navigate that a bit to get that water intake up I know that I'm always kind of harping on my husband to get more water as well but it really does help.
[44:53] So there you have it next week's show we're going to be looking at modifications to what you can do to your home as we age in place with our guest Margo.
If you've enjoyed Today's Show I would love if you could like us and share the show with your network help other people finder show as you know we are full of,
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you can also find over at Artful aging dot sorry Artful aging with a me.com you can find links to everybody's bio you can find free downloads,
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so thank you so much for joining us today again this is Artful aging with Amy on board Braves and for me to all of you I hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday.
[46:09] You've been listening to Artful aging with host femi many folks just like you feel they're alone in their journey and helping a loved one or.
So tune in each week and let a me show you that help is around the corner and it's just one conversation way here on Artful Aging with Amy.
