Healthy Foods for Your Brain

Have you seen those commercials on TV for brain supplements?  You take some pills and you can remember things better, you think better.  Well, I don’t know about pills, but there are some foods that help promote a healthier brain.  Foods that can help your memory and thinking.  My sister sent me the article, The Best Brain-Healthy Foods to Protect Your Memory and Cognition, highlighting some healthy brain foods. 

Many of the healthy foods for your brain are found in two diets that promote overall good health.  One of the best diets for good health is the Mediterranean Diet.  As I wrote it my blog, Best Diets for Health 2021 , the Mediterranean Diet is ranked by US News & World Report as the number one Best Diet Overall.   Why?  Because eating the Mediterranean Diet way is good for weight loss, for good heart health, and for brain health.  It also can help prevent cancer and prevent or help control Type 2 Diabetes.  The other diet for good health is the DASH diet which was designed to help control high blood pressure but is also a diet good for one’s health.  Not only are these two diets known to boost the health of your brain, they also may reduce the risk of dementia.  The Mayo Clinic notes: Studies show people who closely follow a Mediterranean diet are less likely to have Alzheimer’s disease than people who don’t follow the diet. 

Both of these diets focus on:

• Fresh fruit and vegetables
• Whole grains
• Olive Oil
• Seafood
• Nuts, seeds, and beans

Both diets cut back on:

• Red meat
• Processed foods
• Refined grains (white bread, white crackers)
• High-sugar foods

Another diet that promotes brain health is the MIND diet.  This diet is actually a combo of the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet and specifically focuses on foods good for a healthy brain.  This diet, developed by Martha Clare Morris from Rush University, found the MIND diet lowered Alzheimer’s risk by about 35% for people who followed it moderately well and up to 53% for those who adhered to it rigorously.  One doesn’t have to strictly follow the MIND diet to benefit brain health.  The Mayo Clinic states that even modest dietary changes can have a positive benefit, eating two vegetable servings a day, two berry servings a week and one fish meal a week, appeared to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. 

While emphasizing vegetables, berries and fish, the foods to cut back on in the MIND diet are:

•  Processed foods
•  Red meat
•  Added sugar
•  Fried foods

Hard to cut back on “processed foods” because even bread and cereal are “processed”.  I had a student that focused his eating on “foods from the land” – the closer to nature the food was, the better.  Thus, he would eat an apple, not applesauce.  He focused on eating fresh fruit and vegetables and whole grains as they were less processed.  Sugar is added to so many foods.  But as I note in Added Sugars and Risks for Your Health, cutting back on sugar-sweetened beverages like Sunny D, sodas, lemonade, fruit punches, sweet tea, energy drinks are a good way to cut back on your added sugar intake.  

The MIND diet

Take some easy steps to improve your brain health.  Aim for at least 2 vegetables a day.  I now always have some baby carrots with lunch.  We always have a vegetable for dinner, so I know I am getting 2 vegetables a day and often more.  My husband always has some blueberries for breakfast and now I add some to my cereal.  I am not a big fish fan but I will eat some salmon, which we had last night.  Even if your fish is fish sticks, which I do like, at least you are getting some fish in your week.

Sources:  article , Best Diets for Health 2021 , Best Diet Overall , DASH diet , dementia , Mayo Clinic , MIND diet , diet , dietary changes , Added Sugars and Risks for Your Health   Image Sources:  Mediterranean Diet Pyramid , DASH diet , MIND diet