Dr. Lisa Mosconi, PhD, INHC is the Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC)/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She joins Janeane to talk about her latest book, BRAIN FOOD: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power

LISTEN to today's conversation with Dr. Lisa Mosconi!

Many scientists do not see the connection between our food choices and cognitive function, but renowned neuroscientist and nutritionist, Dr. Lisa Mosconi, does. In BRAIN FOOD, Dr. Mosconi provides a neurological framework and a diet regimen to enhance brain power. By drawing on more than fifteen years of scientific research and experience, she provides expert advice to prevent mental decline and sharpen memory.


DR. LISA MOSCONI

Renowned Neuroscientist and Nutritionist

BRAIN FOOD:

The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power


Adapting a brain healthy diet helps you maintain peak cognitive performance well into old age, and therefore delaying—and perhaps even preventing—the appearance of debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s. At the same time, eating well and leading a wholesome lifestyle reduce the risk and severity of other medical illness that also affect the brain, such as heart disease, diabetes, and various metabolic disorders. Busting through others’ advice rooted in pseudoscience, Dr. Mosconi uses medically sound recommendations for a complete food plan, while calling out noteworthy surprises.

She addresses controversial and novel subjects such as:
The gluten controversy. There is no strong evidence that gluten hurts the brain but plenty of proof that eating a low-fiber diet can wreak havoc on it. Avoiding gluten often leads to eating less fiber.
Your DNA is not your destiny. The genetic lottery might determine the cards in your deck, but the way you are living your life deals you the hand you are actually playing.
Revising your perception of a nutritious diet. Dr. Mosconi provides the evidence showing exactly why we need to drink more water, go back to eating egg yolks, revise your paleo diet to emphasize fish, and make sure you get plenty of the right kind of sugar.
Using brain scans to show the impact of a poor diet on the brain. Dr. Mosconi reveals the alarming difference between the brain on her diet and the brain on the Standard American Diet (SAD). The SAD brain is full of holes.
It’s Not Too Late! Even if you eat poorly, this plan can help reverse the damage you have done.


BRAIN FOOD Conversation Starters:
The top 5 foods necessary to maintain brain health
How to maximize cognitive fitness over a lifetime, through your diet
Why there is so much confusion about nutrition and the brain
How your gut health affects your brain
What you can do to prevent Alzheimer’s disease
How brain imaging allows you to see cognitive decline
How a gluten-free diet impacts the brain
How drinking enough water improves functionality of the brain
How to start your baby on a path to optimal cognitive power


BRAIN FOOD includes thorough lists of what to eat and avoid, a detailed quiz that will tell you where you are on the brain-health spectrum, and delicious brain-boosting recipes grown out of Dr. Mosconi’s own childhood in Italy. Packed with science, but devoid of academic jargon, she supplies the ultimate plan to augment cognitive power.


Twitter: @dr_mosconi


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Lisa Mosconi, PhD, INHC is the Associate Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC)/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where she was recruited as an Associate Professor of Neuroscience in Neurology. She also is an adjunct faculty member at the Department of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, at the Department of Nutrition at NYU Steinhardt School of Nutrition and Public Health, and at the Departments of Neurology and Nuclear Medicine at the University of Florence (Italy). Formerly, Dr. Mosconi founded and was the director of the Nutrition & Brain Fitness Lab at New York University School of Medicine (NYU), and an Assistant Professor of the NYU Department of Psychiatry, where she served as the director of the Family History of Alzheimer’s disease research program.


Dr. Mosconi holds a PhD degree in Neuroscience & Nuclear Medicine, and is a certified Integrative Nutritionist and holistic healthcare practitioner. She is well known for her research on the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease in at-risk individuals using brain imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). She is passionately interested in how risk of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease can be mitigated, if not prevented through the combination of appropriate medical care and lifestyle modifications involving diet, nutrition, physical and intellectual fitness.