Food for Thought- Brain Food

In everyone’s small world, your brain is kind of a big deal. You know, it’s responsible for your every thought, memory, emotion and action. That being the case, it behooves oneself to take care of it in any way possible and one of the ways to take care of your brain is to feed it well.

Grace Slick had it right when she sang in the Jefferson Airplane song, White Rabbit, “feed your head.” (except she was talking about drugs). Yes, there are foods out there that help prevent cognitive decline such as memory loss and lapses in concentration. Below are a few of those foods…

• Fatty fish, like salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, herring, mackerel and trout are full of omega-3 fatty acids. Your brain is comprised of 60% fat, and half that fat is omega-3 fatty acids. That should give you an idea of how important omega-3 fatty acids are to brain health. Omega-3 fatty acids assist you in building nerve and brain cells and are necessary for learning and memory.Omega-3s have also been shown to stave off Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline. Research has also suggested that those who consume fatty fish on a regular basis have more grey matter which controls decision making, emotion and memory.
• Blue and other colorful berries such as rasp, straw and black largely due to their antioxidants. Antioxidants can prevent or slow cell damage caused by unstable molecules, called free radicals, which are waste products produced by cells as the body processes foods and reacts to environmental factors. If the body cannot effectively remove these free radicals, cell damage and diminished bodily (see brain) functions can occur. Antioxidants help to neutralize these free radicals and reduce the inflammation they cause. The antioxidants found in blueberries tend to accumulate in the brain and assist communication between cells and have been found to increase memory and other cognitive functions among the elderly.
• Broccoli and other foods rich in vitamin K help the body produce sphingolipids, a type of fat that’s found in the brain. This has been linked to improved memory and other cognitive functions. Broccoli also possesses antioxidants which you just learned about in the section on blueberries…good-bye free radicals.
• Pumpkin seeds, yes, pumpkin seeds due the fact that they contain copper (which controls nerve function and is necessary to fight Alzheimer’s disease), Magnesium (which assists learning and memory and a lack of which can cause migraines and depression), zinc (which supports nerve communication within the brain), and iron (which improves brain function and combats brain fog).
• Dark chocolate, due to its high cocoa content, which contains antioxidants, caffeine and flavonoids, which are plant compounds that provide a variety of health benefits among their six varieties. These ingredients have been found to improve memory and learning as well as slow down age-related cognitive decline. Dark chocolate has also been found to boost mood. Who isn’t happier eating chocolate?
• Walnuts and other nuts high in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E. We’ve already covered antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids. As for vitamin E, it has been found to slow age-related mental decline and to protect cells against free radical damage.
• Eggs assist brain functions due to their high content of vitamins B6 and B12, choline and folate. Choline, found in the yolk, helps regulate memory and mood. B vitamins help combat cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia as does folate.

Look, these foods do not fall into the exotic, hard to find or taste horrible categories. They are everyday foods that we simply need to consume more of, rather than unhealthy foods, in order to improve or at least maintain brain functions well into our golden years…loved that show.