Learning to Eat Color for Your Mitochondria and Brain

These are some of my notes from a lecture from Dr. Deanna Minich, Phd.  "Brain Nutrition and Mitochondrial Health."

Foods have energy that we use.  Healthier foods give more.  Eating sub quality food will lead to premature aging.  These are the signs.
1.  Inflammation.  Any type is considered aging.  New term, infla-aging.  Many times undetected.
2.  Pain.  Inflammation has to be present for there to be pain.
3.  Not able to eat foods you used to be able to.
4.  Lack of energy.
5.  Muscle mass loss.
6.  Muddled thinking and lack of concentration.
7.  Worsening eyesight.
8. Loss of elasticity of tone in the skin.
9. Graying, lackluster hair.

Put a lot of focus on eating "Color."  Most people have a phytonutrient gap.  It's not all about the macronutrients.
69% fall short in GREEN
78% fall short in RED
86% fall short in Purple/Blue
79% fall short in YELLOW/ORANGE
The average person consumes only 3.6 servings of fruits and veggies per day.

Why?

Phytonutrients have physiological location and specificity and have both structure and function. For example, Lutein for the macula and vision.  Anthocyanin's for brain and cognition.
Phytonutrients communicate messages to cell networks.  They protect the brain with antioxidants.

It's not all about the Carbs/Fats and Protein.  Focus on getting quality/diverse/frequent color and most diets clean right up.