Best Foods To Boost Your Brain And Memory

When it comes to optimizing brain health, the saying ‘you are what you eat’ holds true. The brain thrives on particular nutrients to function at its optimum, just as the body needs correct nutrition for optimal performance.

Today, considerable research shows the impact of nutrition on your cognition, mental health and wellbeing and neurological functioning. This role of nutrition in brain wellness is based on multiple factors. It is not about the impact of a single food on the brain but with numerous interactions between multiple nutrients, metabolites, different food groups, and other factors like environment and genetics.

You may increase cognitive performance, memory, and overall brain health by including these brain-boosting foods in your diet. Let’s explore the realm of intellectually stimulating cuisine.

How are nutrition and brain health linked?

According to research from the University of Cambridge, the nutrition–genes interactions play a significant role in your brain health, including cognitive functioning and neurological disease.

Nutrition can profoundly alter the expression of genes, which can have major implications for brain development, metabolism, overall health, and the quality of life.

To cull the role of diet in brain health:

• It gives a stable source of energy. Your brain uses 20% of your energy.
• The right foods help your brain manufacture neurotransmitters that transmit signals to stabilize mood, focus on your task and improve memory.
• Antioxidants in the diet keep the brain ‘clean’ by reducing the effect of oxidation in cells.
• Your diet provides useful fats. Essential fatty acids (EFA) help protect the cell membrane, transmit messages, reduce inflammation, and support reproduction of neurons.

- Water is a part of your diet. Since the brain is 78% water, you need enough hydration to keep your brain quenched. A thirsty brain doesn’t work optimally.

Natural foods for brain health

1. Pumpkin seeds

• These nutritious seeds are one of our best natural sources of zinc, which is vital for cognitive function – our ability to think, learn and reason.
• They’re also high in magnesium, which helps nerve signals travel around the body, including to and from the brain, as well as essential fatty acids and protein.
• Try roasted pumpkin seeds sprinkled over a salad or into a soup to add flavour and crunch as well as a boost for your brain.

2. Seaweed

• A staple food in Japan, seaweed is well known for its content of health-boosting minerals, particularly iodine.
• Like magnesium, iodine plays an important role in the health of our nervous system and brain and, like zinc, supports cognitive function.
• It can be difficult to get enough from the average modern diet, and so seaweed could actually be our ‘missing key’ to better brain function!

3. Dark chocolate

• Cacao, the raw, pure version of cocoa, is high in flavanols. These plant substances are thought to have a powerful antioxidant effect, including for the brain, and have even been researched for their potential to protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
• In addition, cacao is high in the minerals magnesium, iron and zinc, which play a role in the health of our nervous system and brain. But avoid those with high sugar content.
• Instead, go for a high-cocoa chocolate – at least 70% cocoa. And for maximum benefits, choose a bar made with raw cacao.

4. Dark leafy veggies

• Dark leafy greens like spinach and romaine lettuce, and the cruciferous veggies cabbage, kale, mustard greens, arugula, and bok choy are low in sugar and packed with vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients that the brain needs to function properly.
• Having vegetables, and dark leafy greens in particular, benefits both brain and body, and is inversely related to dementia risk and other various biomarkers for ageing.

Best fruits for your brain

1. Avocados

• They are rich in vitamin E and are also a potent repository for the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which can boost your brain’s processing speed.
• Each serving of avocado gives you more than 20 essential vitamins and minerals, including folate, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, and several different B vitamins. B vitamins also support healthy metabolism and can help reduce inflammation.
• Avocados, among fruits, are the richest source of monounsaturated or ‘good fats’ essential to cardiovascular health. This is great not only to lower your risk of heart disease, but also vascular dementia.

2. Apples

• Apples contain pectin, a soluble form of fibre that helps reduce ‘bad’ cholesterol.
• Quercetin, a polyphenol found in apples, is believed to help repair damage from free radicals.
• Apples also help your brain produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is important to promote REM sleep that plays an important role in dreaming, memory, emotional processing, and healthy brain development.

3. Berries

• Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and even cranberries are nature’s gift to your brain health.
• Every serving is rich in fibre, and the phytonutrients that give berries their colours give them their powerful antioxidant properties.
• Blueberries are among the highest in antioxidant capacity because of their abundance of compounds called flavonoids.
• The most abundant flavonoids in blueberries are anthocyanins, which enhance signalling in parts of the brain that handle memory.

4. Cherries

• Cherries help your brain function because they are abundant in the antioxidant cyanidin 3-glucoside (C3G), which has been found to neutralise the effects of neurotoxicity in the developing brain of toddlers, children, teenagers, and young adults.
• The neuroprotective benefits of C3G will still apply even if you’re over 25 and can help prevent the premature death of neurons.

5. Grapes

• Grapes help boost brain health because grape seed extract may help prevent plaque formation in the brain, which is associated with Alzheimer’s.
• There is also evidence that it can protect against brain injury in the case of stroke, both before and after a stroke, and that it protects against neurotoxins.
• Grape seed extract contains antioxidants, which help prevent free radicals from damaging brain cells.
• Guavas, bananas, plums and oranges are also some other brain-healthy fruits that can help prevent age-related mental decline and cognitive damage.

Foods not good for the brain

• Avoid ‘white foods’ like white flour, white rice, and other refined grains. Because they lack fibre, they’re digested faster than other complex carbohydrates. Their sugars are released into the bloodstream more rapidly, so they affect blood sugar in much the same way as sugar. 
  
  They are also lower in nutrients like vitamin E and the B vitamins. Refined grains are found in white bread, pasta, many flour tortillas, and even in many breads labelled ‘wheat bread’. Read the labels.
• Avoid artificial sweeteners, and sodas with added and hidden sugar. These include corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, glucose, maltose, and so on, artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose, sodas and diet sodas, and candies, cakes, and other sweetened baked goods. Refined sugars and sweeteners are harmful because they contain no nutrients beyond carbohydrates for energy. 
  
  During refining and processing, minerals like chromium, manganese, zinc, and magnesium are stripped away. Your body, therefore, has to use its own reserves of these minerals, as well as B vitamins and calcium, to digest the sugar, resulting in depletion of all of these nutrients, many of which are important for preventing anxiety and depression.
• Avoid all boxed and processed foods and all foods containing artificial colours and other additives, such as flavouring agents, like monosodium glutamate (MSG) and its many variants. Common culprits are canned and instant soups, cheese spreads, breakfast cereals, frozen TV dinners, high-calorie energy bars, canned goods, processed meats, fast food, and condiments.
• Avoid excess alcohol and caffeine. Sugar and alcohol may contribute to elevated levels of lactate in the blood, which can cause anxiety and panic attacks.
• Trans fats and hydrogenated oils, produced by industrial processes, are inherently unhealthful. They show up in margarine, coffee creamers and baked goods. Avoid them.

Top 5 nutrients for the brain

1. Omega-3 fatty acids

• Used to stop or slow the cognitive decline in the elderly, used to treat mood disorders, help in the improvement of cognition in traumatic brain injury, and used to prevent or slow Alzheimer’s disease.
• Top sources: Flax seeds, chia, kiwi fruit, butternuts and walnuts.

2. B vitamins

• Research shows that supplementation with B vitamins has positive effects on memory performance. B vitamins like thiamin and niacin help metabolise nutrients for the brain for energy.
• Others, like vitamins B12 and folate, can help protect against dementia by breaking down homocysteine, a harmful substance that may lead to Alzheimer's disease.
• Top sources: Whole grains, fruits and vegetables

3. Protein

• Eating good sources of protein helps to boost our levels of serotonin and dopamine. They help to boost energy, improve mental clarity, and better your mood.
• They also regulate pain, reduce anxiety, and initiate deep sleep.
• Top sources: Yogurt, cheese, tofu, beans, and lentils.

4. Zinc

• Zinc is vital for enhancing memory and thinking ability. It modifies communication between certain neurons, particularly within the hippocampus - a region of the brain strongly engaged in learning and memory formation - as well as in other parts of the brain that govern smelling, hearing and somatosensory perception like pressure, pain, warmth, sight, balance or taste.
• Lack of zinc has been implicated in impaired DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis during brain development.
• Top sources: A handful of pumpkin seeds counts as a daily dose of zinc, but it can also be found in dark chocolate, beans, nuts, whole grains and potatoes.

5. Choline

• Choline is an essential nutrient that is converted into a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which helps muscles to contract, activates pain responses, and plays a role in brain functions of memory and thinking.
• Top sources: Potatoes, legumes (beans, peanuts), cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage, and sunflower seeds

Conclusion

Nourishing your brain with the right foods is a proactive step towards optimizing cognitive function and promoting long-term brain health. 

By incorporating these best foods to boost your brain into your daily diet, you can harness the power of nature’s nutrients and enjoy improved memory, enhanced focus, and overall cognitive well-being. 

So, the next time you plan your meals, remember to add blueberries, dark chocolate, nuts and seeds, and turmeric to your grocery list. Fuel your brain with these delicious and nutritious options and unlock your cognitive potential, one bite at a time. 

It’s important to remember that we are all unique, with individual biochemistry, imbalances, and life stages and circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all magic solution, even when we choose the healthiest diet. Do your research, and speak with certified nutrition experts to help you determine what helps you the best.