Brain Foods: The Smart Way to Eat!

Excerpts From An Article By Shawn McKee

Building your brain can be pricey with all the supposed brain-boosting pills on the market, so to keep your waist thin, your wallet fat and your mind moving here are the foods that keep you healthy, wealthy and wise.

Food for Thought

Nuts and Seeds are very rich in selenium, vitamin E and phytochemicals, nuts and seeds protect against brain aging.

Their plant sources of omega-3 fats also contribute to healthy brain cells.

Therefore, it is important to eat more nuts and seeds to keep yourself wise and alert! You may want to snack on this instead of titbits while you work.

A cup of green or black tea provides polyphenols, special plant compounds that keep brain neurons healthy and blood vessels elastic so that nutrients can flow to the brain.

Choose green tea to enhance memory and alertness and improve attention span. You may want to keep a cup of green tea by your side when you need to concentrate on your work.

Whole grains supply the brain with its preferred source of fuel: carbohydrates.

Whole grains also contain three B vitamins important for brain energy: folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12.

Whole wheat pasta, barley, oatmeal, brown rice and whole grain breads are all sources for complex carbohydrates.

A Cart of Many Colors

In general, think colors when perusing the produce aisle. If it’s brightly colored, it is brain food -- loaded with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that maintain brain health and enhance mental performance.

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables contains many antioxidants, vitamins and minerals essential for optimal brain function and memory.

All berries are good, but especially blueberries are rich in anthocyanin pigments and potent antioxidants that build a protective shield around the brain, guarding against aging and damage to the brain.

Spinach is an antioxidant powerhouse, bursting with beta-carotene, vitamin C and folic acid that help to keep blood vessels healthy and brain nerve impulses working properly. The iron in spinach is important for getting oxygen to the brain and improving concentration.

To improve your brain function, even out your blood-sugar level by eating and drinking water regularly -- try a meal or snack every three to four hours.

The best sugars for the brain are complex carbohydrates. Starches and fruit sugars (fructose) do not cause the roller-coaster mood swings that junk sugars do. The molecules in complex carbs are long, so it takes longer for the intestines to break them down into the simple sugars the body can use. They provide a time-released source of steady energy, instead of a sudden surge followed by a sudden drop.

Now challenge your friends to a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit to show them just how smart you are, and remember:

"One cannot think well, love well or sleep well if one has not dined well."
--Virginia Woolfe

Back to MAIN