DISCLAIMER: What I am about to write about concerning a \”creativity diet\” involves neuronutrition, of which I am no expert. Instead, I rely on research for the claims I am about to make, which are not academically or clinically based and are always susceptible to change. Do not treat the following information as diagnoses for any disease. If you are looking for an individualized diagnosis, please consult a medical professional.
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In order to truly understand how creativity is fostered, it involves how the brain operates. Creativity can only exist when there are neural pathways that connect the brain, so the person does not forget anything. In order to maintain health of the brain, it is strongly advised that you watch what you eat. You are what you eat, as the saying goes. In the case of the brain, it is the most susceptible to damage if you have a poor diet.
If there is such a thing as a Creativity Diet, then it would involve lessening the risk of developing neurological diseases like dementia and developing better neural pathways.
What Is The Creativity Diet?
The following are just the basic items of the diet, which is the Mediterranean diet. It is easy to assume that omega-3 supplements are all you need to delay neurological disorders, however they will not guarantee it, because omega-3 natural sources are more effective. These natural sources include:
- Animal Byproducts: this applies more to the Mediterranean diet than the vegan diet. Specifically, cow milk provides an abundant amount of tryptophan, and honey provides slightly more glucose than dried apricots.
- Fish/Shellfish: particularly salmon, herring, cod, mackerel, and black caviar (or high-value algae if you intend to pursue a vegan diet). since they contain polyunsaturated fat, which therefore contains omega-3, which is a protein that is incredibly important for the brain. Polyunsaturated fats are the rare forms of fat that the brain craves yet cannot produce on its own.
- Fruits/Vegetables: since they contain water (especially watermelon, strawberries, and cucumbers). Vegetables like sweetpeas, cucumbers, and tapioca are abundant in phosphlipids, therefore abundant in omega-3s. There are also fruits and vegetables that provide necessary amounts of glucose, such as spring onions, turnips, dried apricots, grapes, and kiwis. Fibrous foods help prevent the quick metabolization into sugar, which include grapefruit, pumpkin, carrots, and butternut squash.
- Eggs: not just chicken eggs, but also including all bird eggs, such as quail or ostrich, which contains lots of choline.
- Green Tea: it can reduce the risk of Alzheimer\’s due to green tea containing catechins. It also has L-Theanine, which gives the brain relaxation while coupling it with the caffeine, making sure that you achieve the balance of focus and stimulation.
- Hard Water: it is better than filtered tap water, because it contains minerals and nutrients. Our bodies are mostly filled with water, and drinking hard water is important. It produces energy production of the electrolytes in the brain, since water is constantly flowing in and out of the brain. Therefore, the average recommendation is to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day to increase brain performance by 30%.
- Aloe Juice: contains over 200 vitamins and minerals
- Coconut Water: high in potassium
- Spring Water: high in magnesium and calcium
- Nuts/Seeds: particularly flaxseed oil, flaxseeds, hempseeds, chia seeds, and sesame seeds.
Why A Creativity Diet?
The Mediterranean Diet has been proven to improve cognitive function by delaying the onslaught of dementia and other neurological disorders. It is important to note that, as neuronutritionist Lisa Mosconi, PhD noted in her book Brain Food how:
\”…Diseases like cancer, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases in large part arise from the interplay of a multitude of genetic and lifestyle factors rather than from a single genetic mutation.\”
Brain Food, Pg. 11
While genetics can play a role, so also can dietary lifestyle. Simply put, the nutrients within the food break down and the body and the brain absorb them.
Mosconi further provides an example of how the Mediterranean diet can maintain the well-being of the hippocampus–which is the part of the brain responsible for memory, emotions, and learning–by comparing two middle-aged women. One was fed a Mediterranean diet most of her life, while the other was fed the Western diet. It turned out that the Western diet (fast foods, processed meats, dairy, refined sweets, and sodas) can cause atrophy between the connections of the brain. Therefore, atrophy causes a decrease in memory and the increased risk of developing dementia.
While it is recommended to eat twice as much omega-6 compared to omega-3, the average American diet eats exponentially more omega-6, leading to inflammatory diseases. As such, high cholesterol can lead to increased risk of dementia.
Overall
The brain is the most important part of the body, for it is where the source of your creativity comes from. It is also the one thing that you will always possess. You literally would not live without it. The Mediterranean diet is incredibly important as the Creativity Diet, since you\’re creativity would become so much more difficult when memory loss and dementia happens.
Sources
- Anderson P, Morris R, Amaral, Bliss T, O\’Keefe J (2007). \”The hippocampal formation\”. In Anderson P, Morris R, Amaral, Bliss T, O\’Keefe J (eds.). The hippocampus book (first ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Doctor Mike. \”7 Health Benefits of Green Tea & How to Drink it | Doctor Mike.\” YouTube. 2017.
- Martin, JH (2003). \”Lymbic system and cerebral circuits for emotions, learning, and memory\”. Neuroanatomy: text and atlas (third ed.). McGraw-Hill Companies. p. 382.
- Mosconi, Lisa, PhD. \”Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power.\” Avery. 2018.