Genius Foods

it pretty popular around the body. These enzymes are tasked
with helping you generate energy and repairing damaged
DNA, which is the underlying cause of cancer and aging,
and even plays a role in Alzheimer’s disease. Sadly,
magnesium consumption is inadequate for 50 percent of the
population. But lucky for us, anything green is usually a
good source of magnesium, as this mineral is found at the
center of the chlorophyll molecule (which gives plants their
green pigmentation). Perhaps this is why a recent study has
shown that people who ate just two servings of dark leafy
greens a day had brains that looked eleven years younger
on scans!
Dark leafy greens also provide an undeniable benefit to
us by way of the fiber that they contain. In chapter 7 you
learned all about the gut microbiome and its collective
ability to produce short-chain fatty acids like butyrate—a
powerful inflammation inhibitor. The number one way to
feed these microbes (and in turn extract butyrate for
ourselves) is to increase vegetable consumption, which
ensures a diverse and ample pipeline of fermentable,
prebiotic fibers for our microbe friends. Leafy greens even
contain a newly discovered sulfur-bound sugar molecule
called sulfoquinovose (try to say that three times fast) that
directly feeds healthy gut bacteria.
Overall, consumption of vegetables—and dark leafy
greens in particular—benefits both brain and body, and is
even inversely related to dementia risk and various
biomarkers for aging.
How to use: Eat one huge “fatty salad” daily, which is a
salad filled with organic dark leafy greens like kale, arugula,