Brain Protective Chocolate and Apricot Energy Balls

November is Alzheimers Awareness Month and a perfect time to focus on lifestyle and nutrition practices, recipes and information that empowers to support our optimal brain health.

You might wonder why eating to support brain health should be a priority in your thirties, forties fifties and sixties woman and in return I would ask you; 

Do you have stress?

Do you sleep like a baby for 8 hours a night?

Have you ever experienced brain fog, anxiety or the blues?

Be real with me here sister! All of the symptoms mentioned above are ones we talk about when we meet for coffee and joke about being part and parcel of the midlife female experience.

Between 2000 and 2017 death’s in North America due to Alzheimers increased by 145% and two thirds of all sufferers of Alzheimers are women.

For many years we have lived with the rationalization that because women live longer than men, they are by default going to make up a greater percentage of Alzheimers patients but as the women live on average only 5 years longer than men and the onset of Alzheimers from commencement to diagnosis averages 10 year…this math did not make sense.

Finally more research into women experience of Alzheimers is being carried out and there is currently an ongoing re-think around the female pathway into dementia as it differs significantly from that of men.

And, so, opinions are changing and science is learning that

1.     Womens’ brains may need more ‘protection’ than male brains, from stress and poor eating habits.

2.     That women with Alzheimers are not being detected under current testing regimes with tests designed by and for men. Women universally have greater verbal skills (shout out to the chat, the gossip, verbal connection and talkiness that defines the beauty of women!) and so pass verbal testing despite having early onset Alzheimers.     

3.     That women have more divergent thinking patterns than men and that this contributes to the unhealthy protein that lays down plaque in the brain as part of Alzheimers disease to be more widely spread throughout different centers of the brain.

4.     That moving through menopause pre-disposes a womans brain to dementia because of the loss of the neuro-protective properties of estrogen. Studies are not claiming causation for menopause and Alzheimers BUT that if you are predisposed to Alzheimers then menopause can act as a trigger.

All of this information brings us back to point one and the only message we really need to receive… Womens brains need more protection than mens from the onset of Alzheimers and dementia.

Easy to make in only 15 minutes, below is a recipe that will help you to balance your blood sugar levels and fuel your brain on a daily basis. Make a batch of 12 of these Chocolate, Apricot Energy Balls to keep in your refrigerator and know that when you reach for a snack, you are also deeply protecting your future cognitive function!

If brain health is your priority, you need to check out my recipe for Omega 3 Rich Sardine Pate. Click here for a recipe.

Brain Protective Chocolate, Apricot Energy Balls

Ingredients

                          11/2 cups unsulphured dried apricots

                          1 cup shredded coconut

                          1/4 cup cacao paste or organic cocoa powder

                          1tbsp coconut oil

                          zest of 1 orange

                          1/4tsp sea salt

Instructions

·      In a food processor pulse the dried apricots until they form a paste.

·      Pulse in the cacao paste or cocoa and orange zest to combine.

·      In a large bowl plug the shredded coconut, sea salt and spirulina and combine.

·      Add the apricot/chocolate paste and coconut oil and combine all ingredients with the hands.

·      Form into balls and roll in additional shredded coconut if desired.

Store in the refrigerator.