We know that there is a strong connection between your physical health and work performance.

我們都知道，食物在很大程度上關系到你的身體健康和你的工作表現。

I consider myself a pretty healthy person: I try to run one half marathon a year, and exercise four or five times a week.

我覺得我自己是個挺健康的人：我每年跑半個馬拉松，每周鍛煉4到5次。

But like most people, I have my unhealthy habits.

但像很多人一樣，我也有一些不健康的習慣。

While I try to eat a healthy diet of lean meat and vegetables about 70% of the time, I resort to junk food when I’m stressed and drink way too much coffee when I don’t get enough sleep.

雖然我70%的時間都會吃瘦肉和蔬菜構成的健康飲食，但當我有壓力的時候就會狂吃垃圾食品，而當我睡眠不足的時候就會喝過多的咖啡。

Somewhere in the process, my brain slows down and it becomes excruciating to think properly for what seems like a long stretch in the afternoon.

在這個過程中，我的大腦變慢了，而下午有很長一段時間都會覺得用腦是一件痛苦的事。

I’ve tried adopting “diets” for the sake of my brain and energy levels–but have largely failed due to its all-or-nothing approach.

我以前試過為了我的大腦以及精力來采取一些”飲食法“，但由于它們那些”不成功便成仁“的特性，大多都半途而廢了。

Diets like the Slow- Carb diet, the Ketogenic diet, Whole 30, Paleo, and the Bulletproof Diet all tout amazing brain function as a result, but I hated their restrictive nature.

這些飲食方式包括：低碳飲食、生酮飲食、全30、古法飲食、防彈飲食，它們都聲稱能夠帶來驚人的大腦性能，但我受不了它們的嚴苛。

The fact that a slip-up can undo a week of discipline discouraged me from continuing with any of those eating plans for longer than two weeks.

只要一餐吃錯，一周的罪就白受了，這讓我沒法堅持2周以上。

But since I notice a difference in my sleep and clearheadedness when I’m more conscious of what I eat, I was determined to find a plan that works.

但是，由于我發現我的睡眠質量在我合理飲食的時候變得更好了，我決心要找到一個真的好用的飲食方式。

A lot of Googling led me to the MIND diet, which was designed purely for greater cognitive function, as opposed to weight loss like most of the diets above.

于是，在谷歌上搜了一通之后，我發現了MIND飲食法，它是單純為了讓你獲得更好的認知能力而設計的，而不是像上面那些一樣是為了讓你減重。

The best part of all? it’s not all or nothing, adopting parts of diet supposedly still gives you mental benefits. I was IN.

而最好的一點是什么呢?那就是它并不是”不成功便成仁“，據稱，即使你只是部分遵守這個飲食方式，它也會為你的大腦帶來好處。于是我就入坑了。

A Diet for the Brain

為大腦設計的飲食方式

The MIND diet is a hybrid of the popular Mediterranean and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets.

MIND飲食法是時下流行的地中海飲食法和DASH飲食法的結合，DASH飲食法指的是“防高血壓飲食法”。

The MIND diet encourages high consumption of 10 “brain-healthy” food groups such as green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, and fish.

MIND飲食法推薦多食用10種“健腦的”食材，包括：綠葉蔬菜、其他蔬菜、堅果、莓果還有魚。

It limited (note: not banned) consumption of unhealthy food groups like red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, sweets, and processed foods.

并且限制(注意，不是“禁止”)食用紅肉、黃油、濃稠的人造奶油、乳酪、甜食以及精加工食品這類不健康的食材。

Embracing Higher Grocery Bills and Eating the Same Meals

恭喜你會在食材上花更多的錢，而且每天吃的東西差不多

The first thing I had to swallow on this diet was higher grocery bills.

我必須忍受的第一件事就是更高的食材支出。

Salmon, extra-virgin olive oil, blueberries, and nuts are not cheap items, and these are staples on the MIND diet.

三文魚、特級初榨橄欖油、藍莓還有堅果都不是便宜的東西，而這些都是MIND飲食法里的主要食材。

I also bought three times as many leafy greens (kale and spinach) than I usually do because I wanted to incorporate more of them in my meals.

我還比平時買了3倍多的綠葉蔬菜(甘藍和菠菜)，因為我希望我在三餐里能多吃點它們。

That week, I was shopping for one because my husband was out of town, and I still ended up with a bill that was $20 more than what I’d usually pay when I shopped for two.

那一周，我只用給自己一個人買菜，因為我老公不在城里，而我還是比平時給兩個人買菜的時候多花了20美元。

I also found myself eating almost the same meals every day.

我還發現我每天吃的東西都差不多。

Breakfast would be two eggs, spinach, and salmon–with black coffee and a teaspoon of coconut oil.

早餐會是2個雞蛋、菠菜、三文魚還有加了一勺椰子油的黑咖啡。

Lunch would be chicken breast salad with kale, spinach, edamame, and sautéed broccoli, with a handful of almonds.

午餐是雞胸肉沙拉，里面加了甘藍、菠菜、炒西蘭花，還有一把杏仁。

Dinner was lentil curry with vegetables and brown rice.

晚餐是扁豆咖喱加蔬菜和糙米。

The biggest change for me was cutting out dairy and refined sugar, so I substituted my usual afternoon snack of flavored greek yogurt and granola with unsweetened coconut cream “yogurt,” blueberries, and chia seeds.

對我來說最大的變化是：去掉了乳制品和精致糖。所以我把下午的零食換成了調味希臘酸奶加無糖的椰子優酪乳、藍莓和奇亞籽。

I replaced my milky iced coffee with peppermint green tea.

我把冰拿鐵換成了薄荷綠茶。

The only time I deviated from this was when I ate out, which happened twice that week, where I devoured greasy carb-laden foods.

我只在外出吃飯的時候不遵從這個飲食法，那一周總共是2次，我當時大吃特吃又油又高碳的食物。

I Was Less Hungry Throughout the Day

我在一天當中更不容易餓了

I was surprised at how quickly the effects kicked in.

我很吃驚地發現，這個飲食法見效真的超快。

It only took me about two days to get past the sugar and dairy cravings, and on day one of the diet I fell asleep much quicker and naturally woke up earlier.

我只花了大概2天就克服了對于糖和乳制品的渴望，而且采取這個飲食法的第一天我就能更快地入睡了，并且第二天更早地自然醒了。

I also noticed that I snacked less, even though my food portions weren’t that much bigger.

我還發現自己吃零食的次數也少了，雖然我總共吃的東西并沒有更多。

As a result, food occupied less space in my brain, and I was able to focus for longer stretches of time.

其結果就是，食物在我腦子里的比重更小了，于是我能夠將精力投放到更長遠的事情上。

I Feel More Motivated to Eat for My Brain than to My Body

我更愿意為了大腦而吃，而不是為了體型而吃

Unlike other diets, I wasn’t tempted to binge on terrible foods. I suspected that there are two reasons for this.

與采取其他飲食法的時候不同，我并沒有想要狂吃垃圾食品。我覺得這可能有2個原因。

One is that although they discouraged consumption of certain foods, the diet didn’t dictate that I had to cut out certain things.

第一個是，雖然它建議少吃某些類型的東西，但它并沒有禁止你吃它們。

Second, I found eating for my brain much more motivating than eating for my body.

第二，我發現自己更愿意為自己的大腦而不是體型來吃東西。

That said, I definitely felt a positive change in my body. I suspected that the elimination of refined sugar probably played a big part.

不過雖然如此，我還是感覺到我身體上有些積極的變化。我覺得這應該是剔除了精制糖的功勞。

Fruit began to taste like candy.

水果現在吃起來就像糖果一樣。

Moderation Is My Happy Medium

節制讓我快樂

It’s been two weeks since I started the diet, and for once, I’m actually thinking of sticking to this beyond the experiment.

我采取這種飲食法已經兩周了，現在，我實際上打算在實驗結束后繼續這么吃。

One of the things I really appreciated about this diet was the lack of restrictions.

這種飲食法有一點特別讓我喜歡，那就是它并沒有那么嚴苛。

Staying away from dairy and refined sugar will continue to be a challenge, but knowing that I can indulge every once in a while makes this diet bearable.

雖然不吃奶制品和精制糖依舊是個挑戰，但只要想到我偶爾還能吃一吃就覺得可以忍受。

I’ll have to swallow the additional money in my grocery bills, but compared to other diets, the increase isn’t too steep.

另外，雖然我還得承受這多出來的飲食開銷，但和其他的飲食法比起來，這個漲價額度也不是太離譜。


 

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