Brain Foods: 5 Natural Cognition and Brain Boosters

Posted by Alcyone _Featured_, Nutrition Monday, October 8th, 2012

By Elizabeth Renter | NaturalSociety

It’s quite simple – you can eat foods that nurture health, or you can eat foods that create disease. Similarly, you can eat brain foods that boost your brain power, or you can eat those that quite literally dumb you down.

So, which came first—the intelligence or the healthy diet? While we can’t be certain, there is definitely a link between food choices and brain function. The better you eat, the sharper your focus. The more sugars and processed foods you consume, the cloudier your concentration becomes. So, here are some brain foods to help you get your thinking on track and boost cognitive performance.

1. Brain Foods – Walnuts

It’s no coincidence that these nuts resemble the brain in appearance—they are an excellent source of brain-boosting antioxidants – more than other nuts. One study reveals they have a dramatic impact on the brain’s ability to process information and come to conclusions (interferential reasoning). Other studies have shown that a diet including more than 2% walnuts was able to reverse brain aging,including age related motor and cognitive defects.

And the other health benefits of walnuts are some you will not want to miss.

2. Blueberries

There is all sorts of data available on the health benefits of blueberries. They are loaded with antioxidants that can prevent damage from free-radicals. In the brain, these powerful compounds can fight age related cognitive decline, improving neuron function. In addition, blueberries prevent brain degeneration and can boost memory dramatically. In one study, test subjects who ate the most blueberries and strawberries “delayed their memory decline up to 2.5 years when compared with those who did not report eating berries.

3. Olive Oil

Olive oil, and particularly extra virgin olive oil, has many health benefits, mostly because it is a potent source of beneficial monounsaturated fats. While saturated fats, found in meats and full-fat dairy products, have actually been shown to age the brain more quickly, monounsaturated fats seem to slow the aging of the brain. One study showed that women who had a high consumption of monounsaturated fat had brains that were about 6 to 7 years younger than their biological age!

See the other two brain-boosting superfoods at NaturalSociety