Women Empowering Women: Bonnie Kaplan, Brain Health and Tikkun Olam

by Regan Lipes

Join Bonnie Kaplan on July 30 at 7 pm at Owl’s Nest Brittania in Calgary for a reading and book signing with the scientist / author. 

(AJNews) – Good nutrition was always a part of our family-life growing up,” Dr. Bonnie Kaplan explained to Alberta Jewish News in a recent phone interview. Kaplan cites Jewish values as the foundation for her upbringing in Ohio. “We were not rich, but the priorities were health, family, and education. There would be nutritious meals on the table, dinners were family sit-down dinners, and there was always money for education,” she continued. Even if Kaplan had not been conscious as a youngster of these early lessons about health and happiness, she can now look back and appreciate the influence of formative lessons in childhood.

The focus on education propelled Kaplan to some of the most prestigious academic venues in the United Sates, and having graduated from the University of Chicago, and Brandeis University, this PhD continued to make her mark on the Ivy League by completing postdoctoral work at Yale University’s School of Medicine. It was during her time at Brandeis that Kaplan first began investigating the link between diet and brain health, publishing her first article in 1972, which focused on malnutrition and IQ. The interest in that article was so strong that she became determined to study nutrition and brain health in the future. After her postdoc in neuroscience, she remained on the research faculty at Yale for a couple years, where she became aware of some colleagues in the Department of Neurology who were investigating the ketogenic diet for control of epilepsy, which further cemented her interest in the relationship between dietary intake and brain function. Despite her American upbringing, Kaplan has always been connected to Canada, as her mother was originally from Montreal. By the time this research psychologist relocated to Calgary in 1979, she had already set out on a path to be a trail-blazer in mental health studies.

Kaplan is now technically retired from the University of Calgary, but she could not be busier. As Professor Emerita she still has her finger on the pulse of current research and spends her time advocating for better education about nutrition as early as the primary school years. She thinks that even young children would make better food choices if they understood what nutrients actually do when they reach their brains. “I spent my career in hospitals. Some of my students became physicians, some finished their PhDs and became academics or clinicians, but they all learned how important a healthy diet is for nurturing a healthy brain,” she emphasized.

“Parents tell their kids that they need to eat properly to grow strong bones and muscles, but what we should be telling them is to eat good food for the organ that requires the most nutrients — their brains.” Kaplan provided the following example: “Most people know that our brains depend on neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, so ask your friends what foods contain serotonin and dopamine. It’s a trick question, because the answer is that there aren’t any! We need to consume foods that contain lots of vitamins and minerals, which our clever little brains are able to utilize to synthesize the neurotransmitters.” Mental health is a primary topic of discussion when trying to address many societal problems. In 2017, Kaplan was honoured as one of the 150 Difference Makers in Canadian Mental Health.Parents may need to prod their little ones to finish their vegetables, but Kaplan encourages them to be informed that it is not just a matter of vitamin-rich foods, but also mineral intake that builds healthy brains. This is what she and her colleague Julia Rucklidge explore in their book The Better Brain, published by Harper Collins: how can our dietary intake improve the health of our brains? The research published by Kaplan and her colleagues shows that this is key to improving mental health. Her website notes that this research is a “paradigm-shifting approach to treating mental disorders like anxiety, depression, and ADHD with food and nutrients.” In 2021, amidst the chaos of COVID that saw a profound decline in the mental health of so many, Kaplan was recognized as one of the Top 7 Overas 70 by the City of Calgary, and she has used the momentum of this honor to continue to promote awareness and education throughout her community and beyond.

For those who have never heard the term ‘micronutrient,’ Kaplan’s website (BonnieJKaplan.com) should be their next internet browsing destination. It provides videos and other resources, plus information about the two charitable funds she oversees. Donations there are helping up-and-coming researchers in the area of nutrition-based mental health studies. After 37 years at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Kaplan has seen her share of anxiety, mood-dysregulation, and even depression in kids. She is hopeful that through her work with charitable funds that support the research of younger scholars in the discipline, she will be able to promote a legacy that will benefit generations to come. To learn more about building a healthier future Kaplan’s website is packed with information and explanatory videos. For Kaplan, the discoveries she has made about the link between proper nutrition and mental health, and her ongoing efforts to inspire and empower junior scholars has been, and remains, a passionate endeavor of Tikkun Olam. She would like to do her part to create an optimistic future for today’s kids to ensure a brighter tomorrow.

Regan Lipes is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter