Brain Food, a book by neuroscientist and certified integrative nutritionist Lisa Mosconi is on my desk at home, partially finished.  She writes about the different nutritional needs of the brain and the body.  Obviously, the brain and body work together as one system.  I’m sure there is a more scientific way to describe that, but as a political science major and law school grad, those words are not a part of my vocabulary. 

Fortunately, this PhD writes in manner a social scientist can understand, and the book is fascinating.  She describes the different needs or demands of the brain and the body.  Mosconi explains what nutrients best provide each side of this brain/body equation its optimal resources, and through which foods it is most readily accomplished.

Dr. Mosconi’s book includes side by side MRI brain scans of two similarly situated individuals, except for the diet they each consume.  One has been on a Mediterranean-style diet most of her life, the other, a Western diet.  Both are healthy, dementia-free people.  On the surface, both seem to be in decent shape.

But when you look at the images, the differences in the health of the brains is startling.  The woman eating a Mediterranean diet has a much healthier brain.

Reading this book made me wonder about the health of our body politic.  It too has different parts, with different needs.  But how healthy is it really?  On the surface, much like the two women, our country looks pretty good, a constitutional federal republic, with tremendous economic power, and influence around the world.  But if you could take a scan of our body politic, what would it show?

Would it show the reapportionment plans, beginning in 1990, started to reduce decade by decade the number of swing seats in Congress, thereby making the left and the right unfamiliar with each other’s language?

Would it show the amount of listening to opponents has diminished?

Would it show that micro-targeting of voters, instead of softly shaping the message to each individual voter, has actually eliminated the message of we’re all in this together?

What ingredients do you think our body politic needs today to help it be strong? Or is it in great shape?

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