Improve Your Brain Health with These Superfoods

Mental HealthFebruary 8, 2018

How many times have you skipped a meal or grabbed a quick lunch from the McDonald’s drive-thru because your busy schedule won’t allow you to prepare your own healthy food? Eating good food packed with nutrients isn’t just beneficial for your physical wellbeing but also for your mental wellbeing.

Providing nutrition to boost your brain health means that you’re able to power through the entire work week without feeling tired or sluggish while improving your memory along the way – who doesn’t want that? Here are five amazing ways you can improve your diet to achieve optimal brain health.

Steer Clear of Sugary Foods

Studies have found that increased insulin levels for prolonged periods of time are linked to poor memory and higher Alzheimer’s risk

This is probably not the first time that you’ve told to stay away from junk foods loaded with processed sugar, and for good reason, because sugar can spike up your blood glucose level leading to a surge in insulin production inside your body.

If this process occurs too often, your insulin level can become chronically elevated and your body eventually develops an insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes. Moreover, a sudden increase in blood glucose can also damage the arteries and veins through a destructive process called glycation.

Load Up on Mushrooms

Mushrooms are a delicious and versatile superfood, but not all people know about the health benefits of incorporating it in your diet. Researchers have discovered that those people who eat mushrooms regularly are at a decreased risk of developing brain-related diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The key ingredients in mushrooms that prevent cognitive decay are ergothioneine and glutathione, two potent antioxidants linked with increased life expectancy and better memory.

Love Your Fiber

A salad a day can keep your doctor away, and science guarantees that!

Fiber isn’t just good for promoting healthy bowel movements and the growth of gut bacteria but has also beneficial for strengthening your memory. Researcher have found that fiber promotes the production of a brain hormone called BDNF which is helpful for creating neural connectivity in some parts of the brain related to memory.

Help yourself to a hearty salad every day packed with broccolini and cabbage along with other fresh fruits and vegetables which aren’t just nutritious but also provide plenty of fiber and antioxidants to your body.

Meat is Great Too

You must have heard that red meat is the enemy when it comes to maintaining a healthy diet – but in fact, eating organic, grass-fed meat is linked to a number of health benefits such as reducing depression and anxiety as well as boosting cognitive functioning. However, most people tend to overindulge in fatty meats when they should actually be eating only twice or thrice a week, according to experts’ recommendation.

Be Generous with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Nutritionists say that olive oil can act as a powerful drug to ward off the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases so go ahead and drizzle this liquid gold on all your foods to reap its health benefits

The best diets of 2018 according to experts all have a common underlying theme: they promote the consumption of healthy fats, especially good quality extra virgin olive oil. The anti-inflammatory properties in olive oil make it beneficial for physical and mental health. Other sources of healthy fats such as avocados, fish, nuts and seeds are also awesome superfoods to boost your memory.

Practice Moderation

It’s true that junk foods are bad for you and you should avoid them as much as possible. But it’s undesirable to cut out an entire food group from your diet – especially carbs which are often vilified by the health industry – which is why it is important to practice moderation. Even if a certain food offers no health benefits, you can still eat it occasionally if you’re craving it. After all, nobody wants to eats broccoli and Brussel sprouts all their lives.