Foods play a powerful role in how we feel, both inside and out.
The right foods can help build a healthier brain, boost energy, increase processing speed, and function at our most efficient level.
In this episode, NASM Master Instructor Angie Miller, and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Michelle Ricker, discuss proper nutrition and foods that impact our health and well-being.
Let “Strong Mind. Strong Body” fill your craving when it comes to the food you’re putting in your body.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Angie Miller:
Hey, everyone, welcome back to our "Strong Mind. Strong Body' podcast. I'm your host, Angie Miller. And today we are going to talk about foods that boost your brain and build a better mindset. I don't know about you, but I really think that food plays such a powerful, powerful role in how we feel and function. It has everything to do with our level of energy, how good we are regulating our emotions, and maintaining emotional balance. It just, it plays such a big role in our lives. And today I have someone who has become a good friend, and she's a great speaker. And she was on a previous podcast talking about sugar. And now we are going to talk about food and the brain and food in our emotions. And we're going to deep dive into inflammation and things like cognitive health, all those other interesting things that food really has an impact on. So I have Michelle Ricker. Michelle is an RDM. She has done a lot of work with NSM. And I know that she spoke at Optima last year. So welcome, Michelle, welcome back to our "Strong Mind. Strong Body" podcast.
Michelle Ricker:
Thank you so much, Angie, I'm very excited to be here. Yeah, this is a very near and dear topic to me, like I feel very connected to our brain health, because I think a lot of times, we don't really talk about it, and we don't think about it so much, you know, it's it's it's impacts our day to day so much, you know, as the way that we think the way we perform, I mean, especially in the fitness space that we're that a lot of people are in on this, you know, our response times the way that we can actually be present with things and the way that we perform in our jobs. So it's something that we really need to like pay attention to.
Angie Miller:
Oh, absolutely. And you know, if you've had it hit your family, my mom passed from cognitive decline. And so if you've had it hit your family, trust me when I tell you think about it all the doggone time, right. So you think about all the influences on your brain health, from your sleep to your fitness level to the foods that you put into your mouth, it is definitely on your mind. So Michelle, I'm so glad that we are going to deep dive into that. So my first question for you, what I really want to know is last year at Optima, I know that you did a session on cognitive performance and the aging brain. And my brain is aging. I'm aging every day. I don't know about you. But today I woke up one day older What? And so and now I'm a minute older than I was a minute ago when we started. So how on earth do I eat foods that are going to kind of slow down or stabilize that aging process? because pretty much that's why I'm here, I really want to know this. Can you tell me?
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I don't have I don't have the magic ball, I don't have the magic wand. You know, genetics plays a really big role in this. And but there is something that we can do. It's you know, epigenetics, so I've studied a lot around our DNA and the way that it influences our nutrition and our fitness. And a lot of it has to do with what we call epigenetics and how we play on that. So I don't want anyone listening to this, to think that they're doomed, just because like you said, they have a family member that's had cognitive decline, or something like that. So I want you to think that there are a lot of things that you can do to actually boost the brain today, and maybe even heal it a little bit so that you won't have the tendency for dementia or Alzheimer's, or you know, that memory loss that everybody like gets worried about, you know, even at 25. Sometimes you're like, no, where are my keys, my sunglasses? Oh, right there on my head, you know, those kind of things we're like, it happens. But you know, when it comes to nutrition, one of the big things that we can do is really like pay attention to what the brain is and how its fuel. So number one is the brain is, is a pretty fatty organ in our body. So good fats are actually really good for the brain, if you think about it that way. The other thing is there are foods that give it that are really rich and antioxidants that can actually play a role in healing the brain and keeping it sharp. The other thing that I want to mention real quick before we dive into like exact foods is the connection between the gut and the brain. And I think that is so big, we have such new science on this, that I want to talk about it a little bit more because if we can keep the gut, healthy, the gut meaning your small and large intestine and keep that good microbiome going in there. It actually is related to the brain health. So those are the things that I want to kind of like dive into a little bit more with you as we go through the foods themselves.
Angie Miller:
Yes, I love that and you're absolutely right. I'm a big one on I don't believe my but my genetics To find my future, I'm way too hopeful and positive for that. And I feel like I've lived a lifestyle that that very much would call that bluff. And so I'm very much not a person who thinks doom and gloom. I always think about opportunity, right? Not fear, but opportunity, what's my opportunity to live as healthfully as I can while I'm here, and to believe in that power? And I do think like you said, with all the research and epigenetics, we have a lot more power than we realize. I like to call it positive control. Where do I have positive control? Well, one of those areas is how I eat, what do I put into my mouth? So you talked about good products, you talked about antioxidants? And you talked about the gut brain health connection. So Wow, drumroll, where do we start? You know, what do you think?
Michelle Ricker:
Um, yeah, well, let's dive in. You know, like, the biggest things that we could do for our brain is, like I said, to kind of keep our inflammation down, because one of the big things that happens is when we eat the standard American diet or kind of junk food, right, what that does is it causes inflammation in the brain. And that's one big thing that's going to cause it to, like inflammation causes kind of water around it. And that's unhealthy, then we can't think right, it's not functioning properly, right? So if we can get that inflammation down, over time, it's going to stay more healthy. Alright, so how do we do that, like when I mentioned the standard American diet, the things that we're doing wrong, let's start there, are eating processed foods, fried foods, like industrial oils, meaning all the canola oils, the body looks at that as foreign. So it's going to try to fight it and give the inflammation in the brain. Okay, those things we know are bad for us. But we eat them right? sugars, we had a podcast before. And we talked about how sugar causes inflammation in the brain. All those things, if we can start decreasing those in our lives, we know how the air fryers, I mean, hallelujah, that we can move away from getting a deep fat of Greece, to get something nice and crispy to give us satisfaction. So those kind of things, if we can do that, we can start decreasing the inflammation in the brain and keep it more fresh. So those are the places that I think that we should start.
Angie Miller:
OK, well, you know, I have to do a pause here. Okay, so it's interesting. I've never really been a fried food girl. So that's never been one of my things. I drive by a place that smells greasy, and I'm actually physically nauseated. And so I'm not a fried food girl. That's never going to be my demon. My demon is sugar, and always will be. And so, but recently, one of my daughters was like, I want an air fryer. And I did a lot of research on that. That's like me, and I don't know about that. There's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff out there that I'm not sure I supported or don't support it. But I think what I hear you say is, if you had to choose fried food, or you had to choose an air fryer, you'd go with an air fryer. Is that kind of what I hear you say?
Michelle Ricker:
I did say that. Yeah, yeah. Because you know what it is when we get fried foods. Number one, that process of frying is actually horrible on the food and breaks down and that those chemical changes are hard on the body. But the types of oils that we use when we do fried foods are so bad for us. And like I said, our body looks at him as foreign, and then we start trying to fight it. And that's where it causes the problems. So yeah, I would definitely choose an airfryer if you really want that type of food, you know, because it's it is not processing, you know, anything fried food processed, you know, those convenient foods are all going to give us that same response in the body. So yeah.
Angie Miller:
Yeah, absolutely. So let's keep going then let's talk about that inflammation and what we're doing that's creating it and and because we know that inflammation, we know that it has a terrible impact on the brain. And so let's go there. Let's start talking about the foods or what's related to that. Tell me.
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, awesome. Yeah. because like you said, I mean, that's the number one thing we're talking about cognitive decline is like I said, we want to like keep the brain as fresh as it can be, you know, like, those are the things so if we start feeding it ways, different foods that help decrease that inflammation, and give antioxidants so like I said, the inflammation you know, our diet, the environment, you know, we are so like, I live at the beach in Los Angeles, and I can tell you like the the pollution is not nice in Los Angeles, right? I was in China two years ago, and that was ridiculous. So our world is now giving us this pollution or you know, things that are in our materials like in our mattresses, things that are going into our system that are causing inflammation to the body looks at us foreign tries to fight it, those kinds of things. So when we We look at the food that we're eating and related to our brain, we really need to look at things that are decreasing inflammation, and giving us that protection. So those are the two places that I really think you look at when you look at food. Okay, where can we go? Number one, decrease inflammation. Number two, give us that good power to like, keep the brain as strong as it can be.
Angie Miller:
So yeah, so decrease inflammation and then increase protection. So you know, how, what do we do there. And so by the way, I'm talking with Michelle Ricker, and we are talking about foods that boost your brain health and build just a better mindset, better emotional stability. And I mean, he and we are deep diving into this, because I think that this is such a fascinating topic. I mean, hey, if the foods that I eat can impact my brain health, sign me up. And so what Michelle's saying here is, we've got to look at it as a two fold equation, we have to decrease the inflammation, but we also have to increase our protectiveness. It's like, we got to wear a helmet when we ride a bike, or we have to put on her seatbelt when we get in the car. Right? So Michelle, I'm turning that over to you.
Michelle Ricker:
Absolutely, yeah. And you know, as a dietitian, like, it's, it's so true, that foods, you know, do help us with weight loss, right, they also help us keep powered, so that we can, you know, focus so that we have our memories so that we can be productive. So then our neurons kind of connect the way they should, you know, sometimes when you don't remember something, and you're trying to, you know, you walk in the kitchen, and you're like, Okay, now what was I doing here, you know, sometimes it's just they kind of miss each other. And if we can give it some good stuff to connect, that's what we're looking at, right? Those are the things that are going to keep us long term healthy. And one of the big things with that is omega threes. And I've talked about this a lot. But omega threes, you look at like the fish oils that are out there, the olive oil, avocado, any of those kind of things, like I said, the brain is mostly fat. And what those do is it fuels the brain, and it also decreases inflammation. So omega threes are a really great place to start. So all those fatty fishes that are out there, the salmon, sardines, you know, the herring, those kinds of things. If you like any of those, go for it, if not take a fish oil, or do both, actually, you know, but Quality Matters with those. So make sure that you're getting you know, high quality with those products. And then also, we have really nice options these days, like when I grew up in Ohio, and, and I was in the suburbs of my aunts and uncles were in the on the farm. And we used to butcher. And if you think about cows and pigs back, then they ate off the land, right, the meat that we're buying now is fed corn and soy and whatever. So that's not getting the same omega threes that the grass fed stuff is. So we have nice options now in the stores. So if you're buying a grass fed butter or grass fed meat, that's giving you more omega threes to help with your brain. A lot of other things that it's doing with inflammation within the body, like even joints and stuff. But that's where I would start with like really trying to boost those omega threes.
Angie Miller:
Yeah, I love that. And I love that you brought up the whole grass fed thing, because I think that that's really, really important. Because I think there's all this confusion, you know, well, there's organic, and there's grass fed and yellow. But I'm glad that you brought it up in terms of meat. And if ever you've watched any of those shows about where our meat is, is processed and how we're getting our meat these days, you're like, I don't know if I ever want to have meat again. So yep, we're not gonna go there. Okay, but anyway, so omega three, that's what I hear omega three, omega three. And I hear that we can get it from Vishal from salmon. And I hear that we can also take an in supplement form and, and I just have to ask you, so if people don't like salmon, or they don't like fish, do you think it's okay, just to take a supplement, then?
Michelle Ricker:
I think it's the same thing for sure. Yeah, I actually would recommend both. I'd say like try to get as much you know, omega three, and you can do, like I said, olive oil or olive, avocado, walnuts, those kind of things are all really good for omega threes as well. You know, hemp seeds, those kind of things. If you're not, you know, if you're vegetarian or plant based even. So you don't have to do that. And they also make a marine based omega three, so you can get it from the seaweed as opposed to getting it from true fish oil. So there's multiple ways to get it but get it in is really the key I think for for anything related to the brain.
Angie Miller:
I'm glad that you said that about marine-based because I've been reading more about that and so it's no wonder everyone is so confused because all this stuff kind of changes all the time and thanks again. More and more watered down based on all these companies kind of getting some skin in the game. And it's really hard to find the authentic stuff anymore. So I agree it also is though the quality of the omega three and where you're getting it from So, so we're talking about the omega three, I'm talking with Michelle Ricker, and we're talking about, you know, the impact on the brain. And we're talking about protective measures. And so Michelle, what I hear you say is things like the fish oil in this theme, and in the avocado. Those are protections against, you know, those kind of boosts give us that healthy fat for our brain. So what else? What else is out there?
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, I mean, as a dietitian, like when I talk to people, one thing I really tried to find out too, is how much of like I said, the standard American diet, how much junk or food that's maybe causing inflammation, maybe we don't call it junk, maybe it's just a matter of lifestyle, right? Like you said, you know, maybe you don't eat the fried foods, but you do eat more sugar, right, which is causing inflammation, there's a big thing in the body, that's a ratio between omega six and omega three. And you may have heard of this, but omega six is what causes our inflammation. And that's when we eat those other types of foods that we talked about a minute ago, cause the inflammation in our body tries to get this nice ratio of omega three, omega six. So if you are a person that's eating a little bit more, let's say junk food, fast food, or even like sugars, you may need a little bit more omega three than just kind of, you know, anyone else that's eating more salmon and avocado to try to balance out that ratio. And I think that's really important. So I'm saying, you know, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing, it'd be fabulous for your brain long term, to get rid of some of those inflammatory foods. But if you're not, then really work on boosting your omega three, I think.
Angie Miller:
So it can be kind of an equation you can kind of, you can play a little plus and minus, because I feel like sometimes I try to do that with sugar. And I mentioned that in our in a previous podcast we did on sugar, I talked about how I used to think, well, I can eat sugar, because it's not impacting my weight, and I'm exercising and yada, yada, but sometimes plus minus doesn't work that way. You can't outrun a bad diet. But I think what I hear you say is a little bit of balance, if you're not going to completely cut out those, those negative habits, like running through the McDonald's drive thru, then at least add some salmon or a good fish oil to your diet.
Michelle Ricker:
Right? Totally. Yeah, yeah. Because that ratio does matter. The brain pays attention to that, you know, and, and it can cause decline if you don't do that,
Angie Miller:
Smart, you know, we actually use it for quite a few things. I mean, you know, I never served me very well in math class, but Doggone it, I guess it recognizes those ratios,
Michelle Ricker:
you probably needed a little more salmon in your life. I think I needed it in my life back then.
Angie Miller:
I think that's a sure thing, Michelle. So I think that is a sure thing. So you know, um, any other foods that you can think of as far as what we can add on because you know what, I love where we're going with this, because I'm going to tell you why. I think that a lot of times we tell people what they need to get rid of, well, you need to stop doing this, you need to stop doing that. Preach, preach, preach. Nobody's like whatever, you know, lamb lamb lamb. So how about tell me some things like an ad, and I love that we're doing this, we're talking about, look, these are some things you can add. We're not saying you're going to turn your lifestyle upside down. And again, it's fit pros. You're out there, and you're like, Hey, I got the perfect diet. And that's awesome.
Michelle Ricker:
Oh my gosh, you're so right. And I love that too. Thanks for bringing that up, Angie. Because Yeah, this is something that we can be like, these are good. These are things that you can add. And hopefully you like them, there's enough options that you can actually get them in. So, you know, I think a lot of people will be happy to hear that. Caffeine is a really good bonus for the brain. Not an extreme measures. But you know, it does give us that concentration. You know, there's a lot of research on pilots and caffeine, and how it helps them not only stay awake while they're flying for hours on end, but it helps that focus, okay, and when we're talking about the brain, we need to talk about all aspects of it, right? It's not just the cognitive decline, it helps us with our focus, it helps us with memory, it helps us with you know, just like the whole optimization of how we kind of process things. So there's a lot of things. So when we think about that caffeine really does help us with focus. So adding that in is not a bad thing. Another thing is like blueberries, blueberries are fabulous. It's almost like the magic food. If you could have a handful of blueberries a day, there's some studies that show that you could probably diminish your cognitive decline. I mean, they're that powerful. And so is like pomegranates anything in that? That blue purple kind of queue and we talked about eating the rainbow, eat all your colors, but in that color scheme in that blue purple, if you can get as much of that in there that really helps give those true powerful antioxidants to the brain.
Angie Miller:
I love that. I'm gonna have to add pomegranate and I eat blueberries by the ton, but I'm not gonna lie. I'm a true confession to you. I don't know maybe I think that confession but the other day I caught myself putting a little cool whip in there. And I was like, yep. Okay, yeah, you got to put the Cool Whip away. But Gosh, darn, it's so good. But I absolutely love blueberries, I could just eat them all day long. They're not great for your teeth, by the way, they kind of can make your teeth kind of kind of blow if you're not careful. I recommend brushing your teeth afterwards.
Michelle Ricker:
The funny part is that it's that resveratrol that that that color the same in red wine, white, those that that's the powerful thing. And in that color foods is going to give you like you said it's going to stain things but it's also like giving you that really powerful boost. Yeah, well, that's good to know.
Angie Miller:
See, the more the impact that it has on your teeth and your clothing and everything else. That's actually a really good thing, right? That natural color is great. We got we got blueberries, chalk one up for blueberries. We got pomegranates, we've got omega threes, the fish oils, the salmons.
Michelle Ricker:
So you had a podcast a while ago on sugar. And we talked about dark chocolate as a substitute. If you look at brain power, the dark chocolate 72% or higher, and especially the true cacau, like the cocoa nibs that you can buy in the store those little little crunchy things that might not be as sweet, they're a little bit better, but they give you a little bit of that chocolate taste so powerful for the brain to like add that into the mix. Again, it has that same kind of flavonoid those same antioxidants as those blueberries and pomegranates and and things like that. So yeah, so that's another really great one to add in there. That boost.
Angie Miller:
You know what? And don't you guys don't tell Michelle, I told you but we talked in the last podcast about those cookout, nips, and the real true ones. And I had those recently. And I was like, yep, that's different from the kind of sugar I've been eating. And so it really, really opened my eyes to what true authentic, healthy, dark chocolate tastes like. And it really made me realize, yeah, that dark chocolate, I've been eating the store bought stuff not so much. So careful with that dark chocolate. I mean, if you're taking away more than you're adding, yeah, I don't know.
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, I would say you know, add them into your shake or something like that, that already has flavor has some fruit added to it that might be you know, satisfying. And it just gives you that extra nutritional value, you know, for the brain. So it gives you those those antioxidants. It's not, it's not going to be a comfort food. I'll tell you right now that could count if they're not going to be like that, oh my gosh, I just crave them and I really need them. It's not.
Angie Miller:
Yes, but it's gonna it's gonna definitely wake you up to what authentic authentic true dark chocolate tastes like. Learning for me.
Michelle Ricker:
I mentioned in the very beginning a little bit about gut health related to brain health. So when we talk about food, we really need to talk about how foods impact the brain through the intestines. Okay, so it sounds so counterintuitive. I know it does. But there is such a tight connection. Like if you think about when you eat, how how do you feel full other than your stomach hurting? Let's just say let's, let's rule that one out, right? Like you eat too much. Oh my gosh, my stomach hurts. But outside of that, what happens is when you eat certain types of food, it connects to the brain and says, Okay, we're full, we're good, we're satisfied. Those are the things that the gut tells the brain when we eat. Okay, so it does the same thing when it's talking about overall health. Alright, so when we eat foods, and it breaks down the good microbiome, the good intestinal flora, right in our small intestine, large intestine, it actually does we don't metabolize properly. The brains not getting the fuel that it needs. It takes like 20% of the food that we eat is fueling our brain. It's so powerful. It's working all the time, almost like our heart, right? We need these to function. So we need to feed it and if our gut is not working, right, and like I said, we break that down with just all of our processed foods. Again, our sugar or our packaged foods are fried It's all those things fast foods, it starts breaking that down and stress. And this is a big one that I know that you would love to like talk about. But stress actually decreases all of our good bacteria in our gut. And that actually influences inflammation, and also that connection to the brain to make it unhealthy. So it's like this really crazy process that we have in our body. So we need to take care of our gut for that.
Angie Miller:
Yes, you know what I'm so so glad we're talking about this, because that whole process and you're absolutely right, is that I can't I can't even recap that because that was just like my mind, just like, I need to listen to that again later. But you know, that whole gut health thing and all these probiotics that we read about and or not read about, but take, I need, I need a shortened version of what's a good probiotic. And then there's prebiotic, and, and what is the best thing I can do for my poor little gut, so that my brain and my gut can go on a really good date? And like each other?
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah. Oh, my God, that's so well said, you know, they do need to like each other. And, you know, when we're talking about dementia, and Alzheimer's, you know, Parkinson's, all those things can be diminished or even, like, prolonged potentially even gotten rid of if we take care of our gut. And so like you said, I mean, prebiotics, probiotics, you know, let's start with food first, you know, let's, number one, get rid of the junk, you know, those are the things or minimize it. So if we're doing that, the other thing we should do is really feed it vegetables. Okay. And I say that, you know, you need to eat your vegetables, right? We hear all the time. Yes, yes, yes, they're good for me, whatever. But what they do is they actually, you know, this prebiotic probiotic, that fiber that we're talking about it, like you said, it gets really confusing. The thing you need to know is fiber goes into the body, and the body kind of keeps some of it, it actually like plant seeds. If you think about it, just like a garden, you know, that's the prebiotic, you're going in you're planting, you're giving different types of bacteria. So different vegetables, mostly greens, herbs, things like that are gonna give you different good bacteria, then you need to feed that good bacteria. It sounds so strange, it lives in your intestines. I know it sounds kind of gross, but it does. And we have millions of them. Millions, like hundreds of millions, like this is crazy stuff that's working on our metabolism, and also helping our brain health. Okay, so not only would we feel better, energetically, you know, our stomachs won't hurt, we'll be able to process better, we'll be more aware will be more present, right? And we'll have good energy like not as depressed if we can give a good bacteria to our gut. So that's what we're doing that's where the prebiotic and then the probiotic then we need the fermented foods. You know, think about me so right. I know. Sauerkraut my friends make fun of me. I just kind of eat it by the spoonful is it sounds ridiculous, but like you got to get it in right? If you like kombucha those kinds of things, any type of fermented things, you need to get those in so we need to plant that good bacteria and then continue to feed it. Does that help?
Angie Miller:
Yes, so plant the good bacteria sorry heard vegetables and I love that because I'm super addicted to vegetables. So I do buy them frozen. I hope that's okay. I do buy them fresh Of course sometimes too. But you know, with the way I eat vegetables, like go through tons of them. So I buy those massive bags at Costco, the the organic vegetables and just like the frozen ones, but I'm kind of addicted. So it's just a side note. Frozen is great. You know, okay, good. Thank you, because I was gonna have to start crying and then right now because I was like, well, then I'm gonna need a moment. So okay, so I heard festivals, I heard sauerkraut. I don't know, I can join you on that one. I heard kumbu cha. I have a daughter who lives in Denver. And she initially introduced me to kombucha and I was like, what's this computer stuff? This was, you know, I don't know, a lot quite some time ago. But anyway, I heard that you know, the fermented stuff that we need to get in there. So we need to feed that bacteria. Kind of weird, right? But hey, I feel like I'm back in science class, we're looking at the petri dishes.
Michelle Ricker:
Exactly. You know, it is we think about our body. There's so many different pH is going on. There's so much chemistry happening in it. And here, we think, oh, gosh, I probably just gonna eat a blueberry, you know, and the body's like, Oh my gosh, let's take it and we'll like feed the good bacteria. And then we'll feed the brain with it. And we're like, it's a blueberry, you know, so like really is doing stuff inside of our body that we need to just kind of be aware of and that's why these things are so Important like, you know, kale gets a bad rap because it tastes gross unless you cook it right? You know, make sure you get in some spinach. It's better if you cook it because of the oxalates, things like that. We'll talk about that at another time. But yes, I mean like anything that's like green, chia seeds, anything that it's going to give you a little bit of that fiber in there, but like you said, I mean, broccoli, any of the cabbages, like any type of different greens. All those are so good for the gut health. And then also, like I said, is going to continue to like decrease inflammation in the brain and really help it with its power.
Angie Miller:
I love this. I love it because I'm all about adding stuff. Hey, tell me what to add. I will add it I will add it to the list. I mean, I'm gonna go buy chia seeds and, and I gotta buy hemp seeds. We're gonna get to the grocery store, vacation tomorrow. I mean, the stuff I got to bring with me. So um, Michelle, you know, before we end, though, I do want to get to one last thing, because we've deep dive and again, I'm talking to Michelle Ricker. She's an RDN. And she does a lot of work here with our NASM friends and she spoke at Optima last year. And are you speaking this year? Michelle, I'm speaking in optimate this year as well. Are you speaking this year?
Hey, everyone, welcome back to our "Strong Mind. Strong Body' podcast. I'm your host, Angie Miller. And today we are going to talk about foods that boost your brain and build a better mindset. I don't know about you, but I really think that food plays such a powerful, powerful role in how we feel and function. It has everything to do with our level of energy, how good we are regulating our emotions, and maintaining emotional balance. It just, it plays such a big role in our lives. And today I have someone who has become a good friend, and she's a great speaker. And she was on a previous podcast talking about sugar. And now we are going to talk about food and the brain and food in our emotions. And we're going to deep dive into inflammation and things like cognitive health, all those other interesting things that food really has an impact on. So I have Michelle Ricker. Michelle is an RDM. She has done a lot of work with NSM. And I know that she spoke at Optima last year. So welcome, Michelle, welcome back to our "Strong Mind. Strong Body" podcast.
Michelle Ricker:
Thank you so much, Angie, I'm very excited to be here. Yeah, this is a very near and dear topic to me, like I feel very connected to our brain health, because I think a lot of times, we don't really talk about it, and we don't think about it so much, you know, it's it's it's impacts our day to day so much, you know, as the way that we think the way we perform, I mean, especially in the fitness space that we're that a lot of people are in on this, you know, our response times the way that we can actually be present with things and the way that we perform in our jobs. So it's something that we really need to like pay attention to.
Angie Miller:
Oh, absolutely. And you know, if you've had it hit your family, my mom passed from cognitive decline. And so if you've had it hit your family, trust me when I tell you think about it all the doggone time, right. So you think about all the influences on your brain health, from your sleep to your fitness level to the foods that you put into your mouth, it is definitely on your mind. So Michelle, I'm so glad that we are going to deep dive into that. So my first question for you, what I really want to know is last year at Optima, I know that you did a session on cognitive performance and the aging brain. And my brain is aging. I'm aging every day. I don't know about you. But today I woke up one day older What? And so and now I'm a minute older than I was a minute ago when we started. So how on earth do I eat foods that are going to kind of slow down or stabilize that aging process? because pretty much that's why I'm here, I really want to know this. Can you tell me?
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I don't have I don't have the magic ball, I don't have the magic wand. You know, genetics plays a really big role in this. And but there is something that we can do. It's you know, epigenetics, so I've studied a lot around our DNA and the way that it influences our nutrition and our fitness. And a lot of it has to do with what we call epigenetics and how we play on that. So I don't want anyone listening to this, to think that they're doomed, just because like you said, they have a family member that's had cognitive decline, or something like that. So I want you to think that there are a lot of things that you can do to actually boost the brain today, and maybe even heal it a little bit so that you won't have the tendency for dementia or Alzheimer's, or you know, that memory loss that everybody like gets worried about, you know, even at 25. Sometimes you're like, no, where are my keys, my sunglasses? Oh, right there on my head, you know, those kind of things we're like, it happens. But you know, when it comes to nutrition, one of the big things that we can do is really like pay attention to what the brain is and how its fuel. So number one is the brain is, is a pretty fatty organ in our body. So good fats are actually really good for the brain, if you think about it that way. The other thing is there are foods that give it that are really rich and antioxidants that can actually play a role in healing the brain and keeping it sharp. The other thing that I want to mention real quick before we dive into like exact foods is the connection between the gut and the brain. And I think that is so big, we have such new science on this, that I want to talk about it a little bit more because if we can keep the gut, healthy, the gut meaning your small and large intestine and keep that good microbiome going in there. It actually is related to the brain health. So those are the things that I want to kind of like dive into a little bit more with you as we go through the foods themselves.
Angie Miller:
Yes, I love that and you're absolutely right. I'm a big one on I don't believe my but my genetics To find my future, I'm way too hopeful and positive for that. And I feel like I've lived a lifestyle that that very much would call that bluff. And so I'm very much not a person who thinks doom and gloom. I always think about opportunity, right? Not fear, but opportunity, what's my opportunity to live as healthfully as I can while I'm here, and to believe in that power? And I do think like you said, with all the research and epigenetics, we have a lot more power than we realize. I like to call it positive control. Where do I have positive control? Well, one of those areas is how I eat, what do I put into my mouth? So you talked about good products, you talked about antioxidants? And you talked about the gut brain health connection. So Wow, drumroll, where do we start? You know, what do you think?
Michelle Ricker:
Um, yeah, well, let's dive in. You know, like, the biggest things that we could do for our brain is, like I said, to kind of keep our inflammation down, because one of the big things that happens is when we eat the standard American diet or kind of junk food, right, what that does is it causes inflammation in the brain. And that's one big thing that's going to cause it to, like inflammation causes kind of water around it. And that's unhealthy, then we can't think right, it's not functioning properly, right? So if we can get that inflammation down, over time, it's going to stay more healthy. Alright, so how do we do that, like when I mentioned the standard American diet, the things that we're doing wrong, let's start there, are eating processed foods, fried foods, like industrial oils, meaning all the canola oils, the body looks at that as foreign. So it's going to try to fight it and give the inflammation in the brain. Okay, those things we know are bad for us. But we eat them right? sugars, we had a podcast before. And we talked about how sugar causes inflammation in the brain. All those things, if we can start decreasing those in our lives, we know how the air fryers, I mean, hallelujah, that we can move away from getting a deep fat of Greece, to get something nice and crispy to give us satisfaction. So those kind of things, if we can do that, we can start decreasing the inflammation in the brain and keep it more fresh. So those are the places that I think that we should start.
Angie Miller:
OK, well, you know, I have to do a pause here. Okay, so it's interesting. I've never really been a fried food girl. So that's never been one of my things. I drive by a place that smells greasy, and I'm actually physically nauseated. And so I'm not a fried food girl. That's never going to be my demon. My demon is sugar, and always will be. And so, but recently, one of my daughters was like, I want an air fryer. And I did a lot of research on that. That's like me, and I don't know about that. There's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff out there that I'm not sure I supported or don't support it. But I think what I hear you say is, if you had to choose fried food, or you had to choose an air fryer, you'd go with an air fryer. Is that kind of what I hear you say?
Michelle Ricker:
I did say that. Yeah, yeah. Because you know what it is when we get fried foods. Number one, that process of frying is actually horrible on the food and breaks down and that those chemical changes are hard on the body. But the types of oils that we use when we do fried foods are so bad for us. And like I said, our body looks at him as foreign, and then we start trying to fight it. And that's where it causes the problems. So yeah, I would definitely choose an airfryer if you really want that type of food, you know, because it's it is not processing, you know, anything fried food processed, you know, those convenient foods are all going to give us that same response in the body. So yeah.
Angie Miller:
Yeah, absolutely. So let's keep going then let's talk about that inflammation and what we're doing that's creating it and and because we know that inflammation, we know that it has a terrible impact on the brain. And so let's go there. Let's start talking about the foods or what's related to that. Tell me.
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, awesome. Yeah. because like you said, I mean, that's the number one thing we're talking about cognitive decline is like I said, we want to like keep the brain as fresh as it can be, you know, like, those are the things so if we start feeding it ways, different foods that help decrease that inflammation, and give antioxidants so like I said, the inflammation you know, our diet, the environment, you know, we are so like, I live at the beach in Los Angeles, and I can tell you like the the pollution is not nice in Los Angeles, right? I was in China two years ago, and that was ridiculous. So our world is now giving us this pollution or you know, things that are in our materials like in our mattresses, things that are going into our system that are causing inflammation to the body looks at us foreign tries to fight it, those kinds of things. So when we We look at the food that we're eating and related to our brain, we really need to look at things that are decreasing inflammation, and giving us that protection. So those are the two places that I really think you look at when you look at food. Okay, where can we go? Number one, decrease inflammation. Number two, give us that good power to like, keep the brain as strong as it can be.
Angie Miller:
So yeah, so decrease inflammation and then increase protection. So you know, how, what do we do there. And so by the way, I'm talking with Michelle Ricker, and we are talking about foods that boost your brain health and build just a better mindset, better emotional stability. And I mean, he and we are deep diving into this, because I think that this is such a fascinating topic. I mean, hey, if the foods that I eat can impact my brain health, sign me up. And so what Michelle's saying here is, we've got to look at it as a two fold equation, we have to decrease the inflammation, but we also have to increase our protectiveness. It's like, we got to wear a helmet when we ride a bike, or we have to put on her seatbelt when we get in the car. Right? So Michelle, I'm turning that over to you.
Michelle Ricker:
Absolutely, yeah. And you know, as a dietitian, like, it's, it's so true, that foods, you know, do help us with weight loss, right, they also help us keep powered, so that we can, you know, focus so that we have our memories so that we can be productive. So then our neurons kind of connect the way they should, you know, sometimes when you don't remember something, and you're trying to, you know, you walk in the kitchen, and you're like, Okay, now what was I doing here, you know, sometimes it's just they kind of miss each other. And if we can give it some good stuff to connect, that's what we're looking at, right? Those are the things that are going to keep us long term healthy. And one of the big things with that is omega threes. And I've talked about this a lot. But omega threes, you look at like the fish oils that are out there, the olive oil, avocado, any of those kind of things, like I said, the brain is mostly fat. And what those do is it fuels the brain, and it also decreases inflammation. So omega threes are a really great place to start. So all those fatty fishes that are out there, the salmon, sardines, you know, the herring, those kinds of things. If you like any of those, go for it, if not take a fish oil, or do both, actually, you know, but Quality Matters with those. So make sure that you're getting you know, high quality with those products. And then also, we have really nice options these days, like when I grew up in Ohio, and, and I was in the suburbs of my aunts and uncles were in the on the farm. And we used to butcher. And if you think about cows and pigs back, then they ate off the land, right, the meat that we're buying now is fed corn and soy and whatever. So that's not getting the same omega threes that the grass fed stuff is. So we have nice options now in the stores. So if you're buying a grass fed butter or grass fed meat, that's giving you more omega threes to help with your brain. A lot of other things that it's doing with inflammation within the body, like even joints and stuff. But that's where I would start with like really trying to boost those omega threes.
Angie Miller:
Yeah, I love that. And I love that you brought up the whole grass fed thing, because I think that that's really, really important. Because I think there's all this confusion, you know, well, there's organic, and there's grass fed and yellow. But I'm glad that you brought it up in terms of meat. And if ever you've watched any of those shows about where our meat is, is processed and how we're getting our meat these days, you're like, I don't know if I ever want to have meat again. So yep, we're not gonna go there. Okay, but anyway, so omega three, that's what I hear omega three, omega three. And I hear that we can get it from Vishal from salmon. And I hear that we can also take an in supplement form and, and I just have to ask you, so if people don't like salmon, or they don't like fish, do you think it's okay, just to take a supplement, then?
Michelle Ricker:
I think it's the same thing for sure. Yeah, I actually would recommend both. I'd say like try to get as much you know, omega three, and you can do, like I said, olive oil or olive, avocado, walnuts, those kind of things are all really good for omega threes as well. You know, hemp seeds, those kind of things. If you're not, you know, if you're vegetarian or plant based even. So you don't have to do that. And they also make a marine based omega three, so you can get it from the seaweed as opposed to getting it from true fish oil. So there's multiple ways to get it but get it in is really the key I think for for anything related to the brain.
Angie Miller:
I'm glad that you said that about marine-based because I've been reading more about that and so it's no wonder everyone is so confused because all this stuff kind of changes all the time and thanks again. More and more watered down based on all these companies kind of getting some skin in the game. And it's really hard to find the authentic stuff anymore. So I agree it also is though the quality of the omega three and where you're getting it from So, so we're talking about the omega three, I'm talking with Michelle Ricker, and we're talking about, you know, the impact on the brain. And we're talking about protective measures. And so Michelle, what I hear you say is things like the fish oil in this theme, and in the avocado. Those are protections against, you know, those kind of boosts give us that healthy fat for our brain. So what else? What else is out there?
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, I mean, as a dietitian, like when I talk to people, one thing I really tried to find out too, is how much of like I said, the standard American diet, how much junk or food that's maybe causing inflammation, maybe we don't call it junk, maybe it's just a matter of lifestyle, right? Like you said, you know, maybe you don't eat the fried foods, but you do eat more sugar, right, which is causing inflammation, there's a big thing in the body, that's a ratio between omega six and omega three. And you may have heard of this, but omega six is what causes our inflammation. And that's when we eat those other types of foods that we talked about a minute ago, cause the inflammation in our body tries to get this nice ratio of omega three, omega six. So if you are a person that's eating a little bit more, let's say junk food, fast food, or even like sugars, you may need a little bit more omega three than just kind of, you know, anyone else that's eating more salmon and avocado to try to balance out that ratio. And I think that's really important. So I'm saying, you know, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing, it'd be fabulous for your brain long term, to get rid of some of those inflammatory foods. But if you're not, then really work on boosting your omega three, I think.
Angie Miller:
So it can be kind of an equation you can kind of, you can play a little plus and minus, because I feel like sometimes I try to do that with sugar. And I mentioned that in our in a previous podcast we did on sugar, I talked about how I used to think, well, I can eat sugar, because it's not impacting my weight, and I'm exercising and yada, yada, but sometimes plus minus doesn't work that way. You can't outrun a bad diet. But I think what I hear you say is a little bit of balance, if you're not going to completely cut out those, those negative habits, like running through the McDonald's drive thru, then at least add some salmon or a good fish oil to your diet.
Michelle Ricker:
Right? Totally. Yeah, yeah. Because that ratio does matter. The brain pays attention to that, you know, and, and it can cause decline if you don't do that,
Angie Miller:
Smart, you know, we actually use it for quite a few things. I mean, you know, I never served me very well in math class, but Doggone it, I guess it recognizes those ratios,
Michelle Ricker:
you probably needed a little more salmon in your life. I think I needed it in my life back then.
Angie Miller:
I think that's a sure thing, Michelle. So I think that is a sure thing. So you know, um, any other foods that you can think of as far as what we can add on because you know what, I love where we're going with this, because I'm going to tell you why. I think that a lot of times we tell people what they need to get rid of, well, you need to stop doing this, you need to stop doing that. Preach, preach, preach. Nobody's like whatever, you know, lamb lamb lamb. So how about tell me some things like an ad, and I love that we're doing this, we're talking about, look, these are some things you can add. We're not saying you're going to turn your lifestyle upside down. And again, it's fit pros. You're out there, and you're like, Hey, I got the perfect diet. And that's awesome.
Michelle Ricker:
Oh my gosh, you're so right. And I love that too. Thanks for bringing that up, Angie. Because Yeah, this is something that we can be like, these are good. These are things that you can add. And hopefully you like them, there's enough options that you can actually get them in. So, you know, I think a lot of people will be happy to hear that. Caffeine is a really good bonus for the brain. Not an extreme measures. But you know, it does give us that concentration. You know, there's a lot of research on pilots and caffeine, and how it helps them not only stay awake while they're flying for hours on end, but it helps that focus, okay, and when we're talking about the brain, we need to talk about all aspects of it, right? It's not just the cognitive decline, it helps us with our focus, it helps us with memory, it helps us with you know, just like the whole optimization of how we kind of process things. So there's a lot of things. So when we think about that caffeine really does help us with focus. So adding that in is not a bad thing. Another thing is like blueberries, blueberries are fabulous. It's almost like the magic food. If you could have a handful of blueberries a day, there's some studies that show that you could probably diminish your cognitive decline. I mean, they're that powerful. And so is like pomegranates anything in that? That blue purple kind of queue and we talked about eating the rainbow, eat all your colors, but in that color scheme in that blue purple, if you can get as much of that in there that really helps give those true powerful antioxidants to the brain.
Angie Miller:
I love that. I'm gonna have to add pomegranate and I eat blueberries by the ton, but I'm not gonna lie. I'm a true confession to you. I don't know maybe I think that confession but the other day I caught myself putting a little cool whip in there. And I was like, yep. Okay, yeah, you got to put the Cool Whip away. But Gosh, darn, it's so good. But I absolutely love blueberries, I could just eat them all day long. They're not great for your teeth, by the way, they kind of can make your teeth kind of kind of blow if you're not careful. I recommend brushing your teeth afterwards.
Michelle Ricker:
The funny part is that it's that resveratrol that that that color the same in red wine, white, those that that's the powerful thing. And in that color foods is going to give you like you said it's going to stain things but it's also like giving you that really powerful boost. Yeah, well, that's good to know.
Angie Miller:
See, the more the impact that it has on your teeth and your clothing and everything else. That's actually a really good thing, right? That natural color is great. We got we got blueberries, chalk one up for blueberries. We got pomegranates, we've got omega threes, the fish oils, the salmons.
Michelle Ricker:
So you had a podcast a while ago on sugar. And we talked about dark chocolate as a substitute. If you look at brain power, the dark chocolate 72% or higher, and especially the true cacau, like the cocoa nibs that you can buy in the store those little little crunchy things that might not be as sweet, they're a little bit better, but they give you a little bit of that chocolate taste so powerful for the brain to like add that into the mix. Again, it has that same kind of flavonoid those same antioxidants as those blueberries and pomegranates and and things like that. So yeah, so that's another really great one to add in there. That boost.
Angie Miller:
You know what? And don't you guys don't tell Michelle, I told you but we talked in the last podcast about those cookout, nips, and the real true ones. And I had those recently. And I was like, yep, that's different from the kind of sugar I've been eating. And so it really, really opened my eyes to what true authentic, healthy, dark chocolate tastes like. And it really made me realize, yeah, that dark chocolate, I've been eating the store bought stuff not so much. So careful with that dark chocolate. I mean, if you're taking away more than you're adding, yeah, I don't know.
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah, I would say you know, add them into your shake or something like that, that already has flavor has some fruit added to it that might be you know, satisfying. And it just gives you that extra nutritional value, you know, for the brain. So it gives you those those antioxidants. It's not, it's not going to be a comfort food. I'll tell you right now that could count if they're not going to be like that, oh my gosh, I just crave them and I really need them. It's not.
Angie Miller:
Yes, but it's gonna it's gonna definitely wake you up to what authentic authentic true dark chocolate tastes like. Learning for me.
Michelle Ricker:
I mentioned in the very beginning a little bit about gut health related to brain health. So when we talk about food, we really need to talk about how foods impact the brain through the intestines. Okay, so it sounds so counterintuitive. I know it does. But there is such a tight connection. Like if you think about when you eat, how how do you feel full other than your stomach hurting? Let's just say let's, let's rule that one out, right? Like you eat too much. Oh my gosh, my stomach hurts. But outside of that, what happens is when you eat certain types of food, it connects to the brain and says, Okay, we're full, we're good, we're satisfied. Those are the things that the gut tells the brain when we eat. Okay, so it does the same thing when it's talking about overall health. Alright, so when we eat foods, and it breaks down the good microbiome, the good intestinal flora, right in our small intestine, large intestine, it actually does we don't metabolize properly. The brains not getting the fuel that it needs. It takes like 20% of the food that we eat is fueling our brain. It's so powerful. It's working all the time, almost like our heart, right? We need these to function. So we need to feed it and if our gut is not working, right, and like I said, we break that down with just all of our processed foods. Again, our sugar or our packaged foods are fried It's all those things fast foods, it starts breaking that down and stress. And this is a big one that I know that you would love to like talk about. But stress actually decreases all of our good bacteria in our gut. And that actually influences inflammation, and also that connection to the brain to make it unhealthy. So it's like this really crazy process that we have in our body. So we need to take care of our gut for that.
Angie Miller:
Yes, you know what I'm so so glad we're talking about this, because that whole process and you're absolutely right, is that I can't I can't even recap that because that was just like my mind, just like, I need to listen to that again later. But you know, that whole gut health thing and all these probiotics that we read about and or not read about, but take, I need, I need a shortened version of what's a good probiotic. And then there's prebiotic, and, and what is the best thing I can do for my poor little gut, so that my brain and my gut can go on a really good date? And like each other?
Michelle Ricker:
Yeah. Oh, my God, that's so well said, you know, they do need to like each other. And, you know, when we're talking about dementia, and Alzheimer's, you know, Parkinson's, all those things can be diminished or even, like, prolonged potentially even gotten rid of if we take care of our gut. And so like you said, I mean, prebiotics, probiotics, you know, let's start with food first, you know, let's, number one, get rid of the junk, you know, those are the things or minimize it. So if we're doing that, the other thing we should do is really feed it vegetables. Okay. And I say that, you know, you need to eat your vegetables, right? We hear all the time. Yes, yes, yes, they're good for me, whatever. But what they do is they actually, you know, this prebiotic probiotic, that fiber that we're talking about it, like you said, it gets really confusing. The thing you need to know is fiber goes into the body, and the body kind of keeps some of it, it actually like plant seeds. If you think about it, just like a garden, you know, that's the prebiotic, you're going in you're planting, you're giving different types of bacteria. So different vegetables, mostly greens, herbs, things like that are gonna give you different good bacteria, then you need to feed that good bacteria. It sounds so strange, it lives in your intestines. I know it sounds kind of gross, but it does. And we have millions of them. Millions, like hundreds of millions, like this is crazy stuff that's working on our metabolism, and also helping our brain health. Okay, so not only would we feel better, energetically, you know, our stomachs won't hurt, we'll be able to process better, we'll be more aware will be more present, right? And we'll have good energy like not as depressed if we can give a good bacteria to our gut. So that's what we're doing that's where the prebiotic and then the probiotic then we need the fermented foods. You know, think about me so right. I know. Sauerkraut my friends make fun of me. I just kind of eat it by the spoonful is it sounds ridiculous, but like you got to get it in right? If you like kombucha those kinds of things, any type of fermented things, you need to get those in so we need to plant that good bacteria and then continue to feed it. Does that help?
Angie Miller:
Yes, so plant the good bacteria sorry heard vegetables and I love that because I'm super addicted to vegetables. So I do buy them frozen. I hope that's okay. I do buy them fresh Of course sometimes too. But you know, with the way I eat vegetables, like go through tons of them. So I buy those massive bags at Costco, the the organic vegetables and just like the frozen ones, but I'm kind of addicted. So it's just a side note. Frozen is great. You know, okay, good. Thank you, because I was gonna have to start crying and then right now because I was like, well, then I'm gonna need a moment. So okay, so I heard festivals, I heard sauerkraut. I don't know, I can join you on that one. I heard kumbu cha. I have a daughter who lives in Denver. And she initially introduced me to kombucha and I was like, what's this computer stuff? This was, you know, I don't know, a lot quite some time ago. But anyway, I heard that you know, the fermented stuff that we need to get in there. So we need to feed that bacteria. Kind of weird, right? But hey, I feel like I'm back in science class, we're looking at the petri dishes.
Michelle Ricker:
Exactly. You know, it is we think about our body. There's so many different pH is going on. There's so much chemistry happening in it. And here, we think, oh, gosh, I probably just gonna eat a blueberry, you know, and the body's like, Oh my gosh, let's take it and we'll like feed the good bacteria. And then we'll feed the brain with it. And we're like, it's a blueberry, you know, so like really is doing stuff inside of our body that we need to just kind of be aware of and that's why these things are so Important like, you know, kale gets a bad rap because it tastes gross unless you cook it right? You know, make sure you get in some spinach. It's better if you cook it because of the oxalates, things like that. We'll talk about that at another time. But yes, I mean like anything that's like green, chia seeds, anything that it's going to give you a little bit of that fiber in there, but like you said, I mean, broccoli, any of the cabbages, like any type of different greens. All those are so good for the gut health. And then also, like I said, is going to continue to like decrease inflammation in the brain and really help it with its power.
Angie Miller:
I love this. I love it because I'm all about adding stuff. Hey, tell me what to add. I will add it I will add it to the list. I mean, I'm gonna go buy chia seeds and, and I gotta buy hemp seeds. We're gonna get to the grocery store, vacation tomorrow. I mean, the stuff I got to bring with me. So um, Michelle, you know, before we end, though, I do want to get to one last thing, because we've deep dive and again, I'm talking to Michelle Ricker. She's an RDN. And she does a lot of work here with our NASM friends and she spoke at Optima last year. And are you speaking this year? Michelle, I'm speaking in optimate this year as well. Are you speaking this year?
Michelle Ricker:
Um, I have two different lectures. Yeah.
Angie Miller:
Okay, fantastic. So awesome. Awesome. So the last thing that I want to talk about is food and the impact on our emotional health, that it may be just that we just sum up and say, Hey, everything that we just said, pays attention to our emotions as well. But I think that emotional regulation and balance and stability has everything to do with our diet, too. And is it safe to say that, Michelle, that if my gut is healthy, and it's feeding my brain good information, it's highly likely that my emotions are going to be more stable?
Michelle Ricker:
I think you just nailed it. You so nailed it. I mean, it's really crazy how synergistic our body is, like I said, and, you know, if we're feeding it properly, and we're giving it these types of things, where it can actually thrive with these certain foods, then our emotions will come and play. And like I said, when I talk about gut health, it's, it sounds so ridiculous to say that your gut health is going to play on your emotions. But if you have a really good microbiome, it actually will, will send messages to the brain to say, Hey, we're good. You know, and it actually gives like more serotonin, it gives you that nice, feel good dopamine responses, all your endorphins are gonna like flow. And it's going to change your mindset, you can actually decrease depression and anxiety by keeping your gut healthy. So it's that connected to the brain that we need to talk about, you know, and there's a lot of other supplements that we can spend a whole nother podcast on to talk about that we can use for, for that connection and to help with energy and also that mindset, as well. And also taking care of the brain. But yes, that's so powerful to kind of stay healthy, across the board in our body.
Angie Miller:
Yeah, absolutely. And don't worry, Michelle will will deep dive into some of those topics in the future. So I know where you live now. So so thank you so much. I mean, if I had Michelle Ricker, we talked about the power of food to boost our brain health and build a better mindset. And if you miss a previous discussion, we talked about sugar and so sugar, sugar, sugar. So you know what, I'm so glad that you all join me in this is a good topic for just overall wellness, just the impact of food, food, food, so nobody likes to hear the word diet, but everybody likes to hear the word food, you say food and I get happy. So I'm Angie Miller, thank you so much our NASM and AFAA audience. Thank you all who are listening. If you know if you don't catch us live, you can share on Spotify, you can catch us on Apple podcasts. There's different ways to catch us but do you know send me your thoughts information rate us, give me your opinions on Hey, I'd love to talk about this in the future. But thank you so much for joining us and we will see you next time.
Michelle Ricker:
I think you just nailed it. You so nailed it. I mean, it's really crazy how synergistic our body is, like I said, and, you know, if we're feeding it properly, and we're giving it these types of things, where it can actually thrive with these certain foods, then our emotions will come and play. And like I said, when I talk about gut health, it's, it sounds so ridiculous to say that your gut health is going to play on your emotions. But if you have a really good microbiome, it actually will, will send messages to the brain to say, Hey, we're good. You know, and it actually gives like more serotonin, it gives you that nice, feel good dopamine responses, all your endorphins are gonna like flow. And it's going to change your mindset, you can actually decrease depression and anxiety by keeping your gut healthy. So it's that connected to the brain that we need to talk about, you know, and there's a lot of other supplements that we can spend a whole nother podcast on to talk about that we can use for, for that connection and to help with energy and also that mindset, as well. And also taking care of the brain. But yes, that's so powerful to kind of stay healthy, across the board in our body.
Angie Miller:
Yeah, absolutely. And don't worry, Michelle will will deep dive into some of those topics in the future. So I know where you live now. So so thank you so much. I mean, if I had Michelle Ricker, we talked about the power of food to boost our brain health and build a better mindset. And if you miss a previous discussion, we talked about sugar and so sugar, sugar, sugar. So you know what, I'm so glad that you all join me in this is a good topic for just overall wellness, just the impact of food, food, food, so nobody likes to hear the word diet, but everybody likes to hear the word food, you say food and I get happy. So I'm Angie Miller, thank you so much our NASM and AFAA audience. Thank you all who are listening. If you know if you don't catch us live, you can share on Spotify, you can catch us on Apple podcasts. There's different ways to catch us but do you know send me your thoughts information rate us, give me your opinions on Hey, I'd love to talk about this in the future. But thank you so much for joining us and we will see you next time.
