Five High Octane Foods for a Healthy Brain

Some rights reserved by petur rWe all know that eating healthy foods has benefits to the body, but what about the brain. It turns out, just as there are foods that are good for the body, there are foods that benefit the brain as well. Read on to find out which five foods improve the function and health of your brain.

Keeping your brain healthy is just as important as maintaining the health of your body. After all, what good is having a healthy body when your brain is mush? To keep your brain healthy it is important to get plenty of sleep, keep it active with puzzles and games, and eat foods that improve its health. Below is a list of five foods that have a positive impact on your brain’s health. There are many more, these are just a few of the more beneficial ones.

Blueberries and Acai Berries
Berries in general are known to be a good food for the brain. These two are especially beneficial to the brain in many ways.

Blueberries, often called “brain berries”, have been shown to protect the brain from oxidation, as well as improve learning capacity, motor skills, and fight the effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Adding one to two cups of fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried blueberries to your daily diet can help you take advantage of these effects.

Acai berries are a trendy new health food. These berries contain antioxidants, vitamins, fatty acids, and protein. This is on top of the benefits found in similar berries such as blueberries. However, this is only true of fresh berries or those that have been flash freeze-dried or flash frozen from fresh. So make sure you are getting the freshest acai possible to gain the most benefits of this amazing berry.

Green Tea
Scientific studies have shown that green tea to be an encouraging source of antioxidants, which are known to help prevent age related memory loss. This means that green tea could be helpful in fighting and treating dementia in the elderly.

Salmon
Salmon has many health benefits to the brain and body. The best salmon for you is wild salmon, as these salmon must endure the rigors of the wild and thus are more healthy and full of nutrients. Salmon contains high levels of protein, essential fatty acids such as Omega-3, and are low in saturated fats. All of this means that eating wild salmon can improve brain function, boost mood, improve arteries, reduce risk of stroke, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.

Coffee Beans
While you may think that coffee is unhealthy and addictive, the beans used to make it have several health benefits. And you can capture these benefits by consuming coffee that is lightly roasted and by avoiding filling it with unhealthy fats and sugars such as milk and flavorings. The caffeine in coffee has been shown to decrease mental decline and is also a good source of antioxidants. Regular consumption of coffee has been shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Apples
It turns out that an apple a day really does keep the doctor away. Red apples contain chemicals called phenolics, which help protect the brain from damage from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. They also have the benefit of lowering the risk of prostate, colon, and lung cancer. Just eat one or two apples a day or drink a glass of fresh apple juice to improve the health of your brain and body.

Zach Ball is a freelance writer for http://www.coggno.com and writes articles on health, wellness, food and nutrition.

Comments

[James Dugan]

Welcome to lunch and great choices to choose from. I figure we could have a perfect meal just with the selection above. I love the line:

"The best salmon for you is wild salmon, as these salmon must endure the rigors of the wild and thus are more healthy and full of nutrients."

I am going to change it a bit and use it on my resume. I do endure the vigors of the wild everyday when I go to work.

I want to add carrots to the list. They are fun to eat and taste good cold. They go with almost any lunch and if you eat them two times a week instead of chips or pretzels, you start to look forward to them.

I appreciate you addition and that coggin place is very cool. I hope you will come back to lunch often.

[Nick Carraway]

Good ideas here and I'm glad to see my two favorite (non-alcoholic) beverages are included. After reading this, I've decided to switch to green tea in the afternoons. That way I'll get brain stimulation two times, coffee in the am, and green tea after lunch.

Thanks for posting.

[Daisy]

I just wanted to comment and say that I really enjoyed reading your blog post here. It was very informative and I also digg the way you write! Keep it up and I’ll be back to read more in the future.
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