Do You Eat These Common But Powerful Brain-Boosting Foods?

You don’t need weird or expensive foods for your brain-healthy diet. Nourish your noggin today with this list of common, delicious foods.

As I dragged over-stuffed boxes of decades-old craft supplies, useless kitchen tools, and a dozen pairs of black straight-legged jeans down the hallway for my husband to carry out of the house and donate, I was dispirited with a sense of loss.

Not the loss of things, but the loss of money wasted on unnecessary things. And all the terrific things or experiences I could have bought with those funds.

That’s why I felt irked later when an older man asked my opinion of turmeric and kombucha for brain health. Not irked at him. I was irked at the social media post that told him he had to have these things to protect his memory and brain function.

My thoughts: They’re fine. They’re expensive. You don’t need them. Unless you enjoy them.

Photo credit: Ratul Ghosh

We don’t need turmeric and kombucha to keep our brains sharp anymore than I need another pair of black straight-legged jeans. But if I wore all of my jeans, and if you liked turmeric and kombucha, they’re great choices. Otherwise, you’re wasting your money.

A brain-healthy diet isn’t complicated, expensive, and filled with hard-to-find or hard-to-enjoy foods. A brain-healthy diet can be totally uncomplicated.

Nourish your noggin with these brain-healthy foods

Typically, what’s good for your heart is good for your brain. Both organs thrive because of healthy blood vessels.

Put these foods on your shopping list for your brain-healthy, heart-healthy diet. The best part is that these are all common foods – nothing weird or hard to find. And they’re delicious.

#1 Fruits, vegetables & pulses

No surprise here. Is there a time when I’m not pushing fruits, vegetables, beans, and lentils?

These gems give you ample potassium, which is critical for healthy blood pressure levels. High blood pressure damages the lining of your arteries in the brain and makes them stiff, which slows or blocks blood flow.

Most people do not consume adequate potassium.

Do bananas come to mind when you think about fruits and potassium? Potassium comes in way more than bananas. Think white potatoes, sweet potatoes, prunes, white beans, lima beans, oranges, tomatoes, spinach, apricots, cantaloupe, avocado, broccoli and many, many more.

Add these fruits and vegetables regularly

• Apples and pears: Not exotic and mostly white inside. But these favorite fruits should be part of your brain-healthy diet. One study found that a high consumption of apples, pears and other white fruits and vegetables may protect against stroke. Why? Maybe it’s the fiber. And maybe it’s quercetin and isorhamnetin, 2 types of health-boosting flavonols linked to less Alzheimer’s disease risk. Maybe it’s lots of different things.

• Berries: These tiny nutrient powerhouses are rich in anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid phytonutrient. Among older women, greater intakes of blueberries and strawberries were associated with slower rates of cognitive decline –  the equivalent to as much as two and a half years of delayed cognitive aging.
• Spinach & kale: Lutein, a cousin to beta-carotene, appears to boost cognitive performance in older adults. Researchers also found higher levels of lutein in the brains of centenarians with healthy cognition compared to those with cognitive impairments. Lutein is also found in other leafy greens, winter squash, corn, peas, avocados, pistachios and even egg yolks.

And it’s probably not just lutein. Important flavonols linked to less risk of Alzheimer’s disease are present in spinach, kale, broccoli, oranges, tomatoes, olive oil and more!

Pro tip: Aim to eat fruits and/or vegetables with every meal and snack. Cook up pulses and other legumes at least a few times each week. Check out 12 delicious ways to eat more beans.

#2 Fish

Fish eaters show slower rates of developing dementia or mild cognitive impairment. In one study of older adults, 31% of non-fish eaters suffered such declines, but among those who ate the most baked or broiled fish, only 3.2% developed either dementia or mild cognitive impairment.

Other studies suggest that the omega-3 fatty acids in fatty fish (EPA + DHA) protect both the heart and the brain. DHA is an important component of the brain structure. Choose fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, sardines, tuna and trout. Here’s your heart-healthy fish list. They also belong on your brain-healthy diet.

Pro tip: For your brain and your heart, enjoy fish a couple times each week. Learn more about safe seafood choices here.

This easy wasabi salmon is just the right amount of spice and fits perfectly on a brain-healthy diet.

#3 Nuts, avocados and liquid oils

More heart-healthy fats here. Diets high in saturated fats appear to harm cognition, whereas eating foods rich in monounsaturated fats might help. High saturated fat diets also increase insulin resistance, which is part of the disease process in prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar levels are connected to cognitive decline.

• Cook with oils instead of butter, margarine, and semi-solid fats like coconut oil.

Not sure which oil to use? Check out the healthiest oils to cook with.

• Snack on nuts instead of sweets.
• Add sliced avocado to a sandwich.

Here’s your primer on heart-healthy fats What are the Good Fats for Diabetes and Heart Disease? (also good for the brain).

#4 Coffee and tea

Enjoy coffee or tea or both daily unless you have a medical reason not to. Decaffeinated options are also good choices. Just be wary of the creamy, sugary add-ins. These plant-based beverages are loaded with phytonutrients that boost health and stave off disease.

Pro tip: Enjoy a cup of brewed black or green tea in the afternoon to get a dose of tea’s health-boosting flavonoids. And here’s how to brew the perfect cup of tea.

America’s favorite drinks – coffee and tea – are loaded with health-boosting compounds.

#5 Herbs and spices

These flavor bombs give us the same types of disease-fighting nutrients and phytonutrients that are in fruits and vegetables. Sprinkle more herbs and spices and less salt and other sodium-containing seasonings to keep your blood pressure down.

Turmeric is a great choice, but you don’t have to sprinkle it on each plate of food. Use a variety of herbs and spices to get a variety of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds, and taste bud dazzlers.

#6 Eggs

Every egg gives you a boost of choline, an under-consumed vitamin linked to brain health. We need choline to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory, mood, and other nervous system functions. Other top sources of choline include liver, beef, and soybeans. You can find smaller amounts in fish, milk, kidney beans, and broccoli.

Nutrition and the Brain

The brain is one amazing organ, so let’s feed it right! The brain is critical for everything from thinking and feeling to breathing and walking. It makes up about 2% of your body weight, but requires about 20% of the body’s oxygen and energy.

And this is the connection between the heart and the brain. A healthy heart is necessary for pumping oxygen and nutrients to the brain, and healthy blood vessels are necessary for carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain.

So yes, it’s not surprising that what you eat can help you keep your mental edge as you age, as well as help with your mood, memory and more.

What else is part of a brain-healthy diet and lifestyle?

• A Mediterranean-style diet is a heart-healthy and brain-healthy diet. Check it out.
• Don’t smoke.
• Avoid highly-processed and sugary foods like toaster pastries, cookies, and snack crackers.
• Get regular exercise.
• If you drink alcohol, do so only in moderation.
• Manage your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Ask your healthcare provider to check these critical health measures regularly.
• Manage your weight.
• Get a good night’s sleep – regularly.
• Stay socially connected and intellectually stimulated.

Check out the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Stroke Association for lots more info.

Do it now!

• Commit to eating fruits and/or veggies with EVERY meal and snack.
• Treat yourself to a soothing cup of tea.
• Check your refrigerator and pantry for brain-boosting foods. Don’t have enough? Add a few to your shopping list. And smile because they all taste great and you don’t need something weird, expensive or hard to find.
• And download your free guide to heart-healthy (brain-healthy) food and ingredient swaps.

LOVE Your Heart & Your Brain

Get a 6-page list of heart-healthy food & ingredient swaps