Increase your consumption of healthful fats like extra virgin

In the nourishing and enlightened words of David Perlmutter, we hear a call to return to the wisdom of the body and the balance of nature: “Increase your consumption of healthful fats like extra virgin olive oil, avocado, grass-fed beef, wild fish, coconut oil, nuts and seeds. At the same time, keep in mind that modified fats like hydrogenated or trans fats are the worst choices for brain health.” Though his language is that of science, his message carries the cadence of timeless truth — that what we eat shapes not only our bodies but our minds, our vitality, and the very spirit through which we experience life. Perlmutter reminds us that health is not an accident, but an act of alignment — a sacred harmony between human life and the natural world.

Since the days of the ancients, the wise have known that food is medicine, and that the health of the mind is born in the health of the flesh. The great philosopher Hippocrates, called the Father of Medicine, proclaimed more than two thousand years ago, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” He understood that nourishment was not simply fuel, but the foundation of all clarity, strength, and wisdom. Perlmutter, a neurologist and scholar of the modern age, walks in this same lineage. His words are the echo of that enduring teaching: that the mind — the seat of reason, emotion, and memory — depends not upon pharmaceuticals or machines, but upon the sacred chemistry of the foods we consume.

The origin of this quote lies in Perlmutter’s study of the connection between nutrition and the brain, most notably expressed in his groundbreaking work, Grain Brain. In a world seduced by processed foods and artificial substances, he rose as a voice of restoration, urging humanity to reclaim the wisdom of our ancestors — to eat as nature intended. The fats he names — olive oil, avocado, wild fish, and nuts — are not inventions of industry, but gifts of creation. They are the fats that sustained ancient civilizations, that built strong bodies and clear minds long before the laboratories of modern science. In honoring these foods, we honor our own biological heritage.

History offers us lessons in both wisdom and folly. Consider the tale of the Mediterranean peoples, whose diets for centuries have centered on olive oil, fish, and grains grown beneath the sun. These were cultures of longevity and resilience, where age did not always bring decay, but often wisdom and vigor. Contrast this with the modern era, when industrialized nations replaced natural fats with hydrogenated oils and trans fats — creations of convenience and profit. The result has been an epidemic of illness, obesity, and cognitive decline. The lesson is as clear as it is ancient: when we turn from nature’s design, we invite disease; when we return to it, we restore balance.

Perlmutter’s emphasis on brain health adds a new dimension to this old truth. For while the ancients spoke of the heart and body, he reminds us that the mind, too, feeds upon what we eat. The human brain is nearly sixty percent fat — it thrives on the pure oils and natural lipids that sustain its cells. To feed it artificial fats is to cloud its light, to dim its memory and distort its function. In this, his teaching is not merely about diet, but about consciousness itself: if the brain is the vessel of thought and imagination, then the food we eat shapes the quality of our very awareness. To eat wisely is, therefore, an act of spiritual discipline as much as it is physical care.

Yet, Perlmutter’s message is not one of fear, but of empowerment. He does not command us to abandon pleasure or tradition, but to reclaim the joy of true nourishment — to taste again the richness of the earth, the sweetness of ripe fruit, the purity of fish from open waters. The healthful fats he praises are not luxuries, but the building blocks of life. To eat them with mindfulness is to partake in the divine rhythm of nature, to strengthen the mind, to sharpen the senses, and to honor the body as the sacred vessel of being.

Let this, then, be the lesson passed to future generations: choose what sustains, not what destroys. Let no false food, born of greed or haste, take the place of what the earth provides in abundance. Seek the golden oil of the olive, the nourishment of the seed, the purity of food untouched by artifice. Eat as your ancestors ate, not in excess, but in harmony with the world around you. As David Perlmutter teaches, the path to mental clarity and physical strength begins not in the pharmacy, but in the kitchen, in the simple act of choosing wisely.

And so, O seeker of health, remember this truth: the brain is a temple, and the body its sacred ground. Guard them both with the gifts of nature. For when you feed yourself with wholesome fats and pure foods, you are not merely sustaining life — you are honoring the miracle of consciousness itself.