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Health & Fitness

The Birches Hosts a Brain-Boosting Summer Smoothie Party

When it comes to keeping your brain active, alert, and Alzheimer’s free, good nutrition is key. Foods that are high in antioxidants and flavonoids are particularly important for boosting your brain health, but it’s not always easy to squeeze a full serving of kale, spinach, or blueberries into your diet on a daily basis.

Luckily, there is a simple yet effective nutritional solution that can pack a serious punch in your quest for a healthy brain: the smoothie. According to The Birches Assisted Living’s Director of Encore and Memory Cares Services Jackie Raschke, smoothies are an extremely convenient and palatable way to increase your nutrient intake and support brain health.

“Not only are smoothies easy to make, but you can fill them with all sorts of delicious and healthy ingredients. It’s a win-win,” said Raschke.

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To educate The Birches community about the benefits of brain-boosting foods (and the fun of drinking them in smoothie form), Raschke is hosting an Open House and Brain-Boosting Smoothie Party in The Birches’ Encore memory care neighborhood.

At the party, Raschke will be making smoothies using fruits and veggies that are high in antioxidants and good for the brain. She will provide a list of ingredients and allow residents and other guests to custom order their own special smoothie combination. Some of the ingredients she will provide include blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, kale, spinach, beets, oranges, red grapes, kiwi, and banana.

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Although the potential brain-boosting smoothie combinations are endless, some of the ingredients that should be on the top your smoothie shopping list are fruits that are high in antioxidants like blueberries and bananas, nuts and seeds that contain essential fatty acids like walnuts and hemp seeds, and leafy greens that contain the Alzheimer’s fighting vitamins B12 and B6 like kale and spinach.

For many, the idea of drinking dark, leafy greens like kale and spinach in a smoothie sounds a little strange to say the least, but these are actually some of the healthiest ingredients to sip down in smoothie form. And if you complement them with some delicious and healthy fruits, they can even make for a downright tasty smoothie.

Most importantly, dark leafy greens are full of iron and antioxidants, and have been scientifically proven to enhance brain health.  According to a study of 13,000 women performed by Harvard Medical School, women who ate the most cruciferous vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli lowered their brain age by one to two years.

Fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber are also important ingredients to toss into your blender for your next brain-boosting smoothie. Fiber regulates blood sugar, and since glucose is the brain’s primary energy source, stable blood sugar levels are crucial to a healthy brain. Kiwis, for example, are a good source of fiber as well as vitamin C. Beets are also full of fiber as well as folate, beta carotene, phytonutrients, and natural nitrates that promote blood flow to the brain.

With so many delicious and brain-boosting smoothie ingredients to choose from, Raschke is excited to share the benefits of this never-ending list of nutrient-rich smoothies with The Birches community.

“Any way we can get more of these brain-boosting foods into diet is a good thing. It’s good for our brains and keeps us healthy as we age,” said Raschke.

The Birches’ Brain-Boosting Smoothie Party and Open House will take place on July 24 at 2:00 pm in the Encore memory care neighborhood. The smoothie party is part of a Brain-Boosting Food and Drink series hosted by Encore throughout the year. The Encore neighborhood hosted a Tea Party in the winter, French Wine Tasting in the spring, and will host a Dark-Chocolate Fondue Party in the fall to complete the four-part series.

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