At Maggie Beer's expansive property in the Barossa Valley, she has 200 pomegranate bushes growing and bearing fruit.
The cook, food author, restaurateur and food manufacturer is a big fan of the red, gem-like seeds.
"I've always loved pomegranates so much so that I've grown so many and I use it every way when it's in season," she tells SBS.
"I use it for everything - I throw pomegranate kernals into every salad, on to every dish, and I love the juice with Campari or just by itself."
But it's only since meeting, professor of neurobiology at Macquarie Univeristy, that she has learnt how amazingly good for your brain health pomegranates are.
Martins is also Foundation Chair in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease at Edith Cowan University and has spent the past 33 years working towards diagnosing, preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer's.
He knows that a healthy diet can help reduce a person's risk for developing Alzheimer's and some other forms of dementia, and slow its progression.
from Maggie's Recipe for Life.
Pan-fried whiting with celery and pomegranate salad Source: Maggie's Recipe For Life/Simon & Schuster
"From Ralph I've learnt that what pomegranates have is this amazing protection in terms of antioxidents, and it's a very potent inhibitor of an enzyme that generates that toxic beta-amyloid build-up in the brain.
"It's got this compound that has been shown to be important for longevity, it's called Urolithin A and B but it's also great for the gut.
"So you know, pomegranate is something I love so much, and I use it a lot, and it has the most incredible goodness in it."
Now Beer and Martins have teamed up on , a cookbook of more than 200 recipes full of food that will aid your brain health and help reduce your chances of Alzheimer's and other lifestyle diseases.
"It was Ralph's idea entirely that we should do a book together where he provided the science and I put the food to go with his science," Beer says.
"Taste is what drives me - it's flavour, natural and simple, and health and pleasure, all tied up in one. So for me it was about putting the science behind what I felt instinctively was really powerful for me."
from Maggie's Recipe for Life.
Turmeric, soy and ginger chicken Source: Maggie's Recipe For Life/Simon & Schuster
There are more than 413,106 Australians living with dementia, according to , and it's the second leading cause of death of Australians. Alzheimer's disease, which damages the brain, resulting in impaired memory, thinking and behaviour, is the most common form of dementia, affecting up to 70 per cent of all people with dementia.
Beer, who is currently dealing with the sad news that a "vibrant and fiercely intelligent" friend of 55 years is now succumbing to Alzheimer's, says: "I don't know anyone who is not touched by [the disease] in someone that they are close to.
Martins says it's a growing problem in Australia.
"So far, we know that the brain damage that ends up causing Alzheimer's begins developing in the brain 10-20 years before symptoms start to show, and that having type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease increases our changes of getting Alzheimer's," Martins says.
"We also know that once symptoms set in, there is no known cure. But the good news is that we have begun to identify the factors that can reduce a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's and some other forms of dementia, and slow its progression."
With drugs of limited effectiveness, food can help, he says.
Martins recommends the Mediterannean diet - eating mostly plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts), fish or other seafood, some poultry and eggs, a moderate amount of cheese and yoghurt, using extra virgin olive oil instead of butter, and using herbs and spices rather than salt for flavour.
Living in a Mediterrannean-style climate on her rural property, Beer already considers the Mediterranean diet the basis of the way she eats.
from Maggie's Recipe for Life.
Miso, eggplant and soba noodle salad Source: Maggie's Recipe For Life/Simon & Schuster
But some of Martins' other recommendations came as a surprise to the seasoned foodie.
"[It surprised me] that common and ordinary parsley is so full of antioxidents, which was amazing," she says.
"Or the fact that spices, such as turmeric, have real power. The fact that our native Australian ingredients, particularly the , are even more powerful than blueberries.
"And even just things that I already knew were really good for you, but why they were good for you - having the science accessible to everyone and giving reasons for why you choose something, I just find very powerful."
Most of the foods on Beer and Martins' list of "20 foods to embrace" are reassuringly every-day - things such as nuts, onion, garlic and leeks, legumes, tomatoes, avocado, fish, turmeric and ginger.
"It's really back to basics, if you think about it," Beer says.
"But it is also huge variety. The strength of variety is another thing I learnt from Ralph. So you're not just stuck in a rut having the same thing, but you react seasonally and you look at all the foods that can do you so much good."
from Maggie's Recipe for Life.
Chocolate cloud cake with nut cream and rose petals Source: Maggie's Recipe For Life/Simon & Schuster
Beer, who says she has never gone in for fad diets or food trends, is also not a fan of excluding foods. She believes it's about getting the most out of your food, and your life.
"You'll find some sugar in there, you'll find some white flour in there. It's not about excluding, it's about balance," she says.
"The term superfood I just hate. We're talking about real food, in season, that has great health properties but great flavour when used to its advantage."
Recipes extracted from Maggie’s Recipe for Life by Maggie Beer with Professor Ralph Martins, published by Simon & Schuster Australia, RRP $39.99. Photography © Dragan Radocaj
