Eat More Brain Foods And Function More Powerfully

If they had legs they could leap off of a tall building in a single bound. If they had eyes they could see an ant foraging from 20 miles away in the desert. If they had a brain, they would be more powerful than any computer ever built.

What are they?[adToAppearHere]

Brain foods and if you listen to the experts, they are capable of enhancing and improving the brain to do almost anything.

“Our greatest human adventure is the evolution of consciousness. We are in this life to enlarge the soul, liberate the spirit, and light up the brain”.……..Tom Robbins

The thought provoking site expresses webmd.com, “Listen to the buzz about foods and dietary supplements, and you’ll believe they can do everything from sharpen focus to enhance memory, attention span, and brain function.

But do they really work? There’s no denying that as we age, our body ages right along with us. The good news is that you can improve your chances of maintaining a healthy brain if you add “smart” foods and drinks to your diet.”

They continue, “A protein source linked to a great brain boost is fish — rich in omega-3 fatty acids that are key for brain health. These healthy fats have amazing brain power: A diet with higher levels of them has been linked to lower dementia and stroke risks and slower mental decline; plus, they may play a vital role in enhancing memory, especially as we get older.

For brain and heart health, eat two servings of fish weekly.[adToAppearHere]

Nuts and seeds are good sources of the antioxidant vitamin E, which is linked to less cognitive decline as you age. Dark chocolate also has other powerful antioxidant properties, and it contains natural stimulants like caffeine, which can enhance focus.”

Exceptional start.  Let’s probe more sources regarding brain foods.

The respected source bbcgoodfood.com takes a look at some other possibilities. “Like everything else in your body, the brain cannot work without energy. The ability to concentrate and focus comes from the adequate, steady supply of energy – in the form of glucose in our blood to the brain. Achieve this by choosing whole grains with a low-GI, which release glucose slowly into the bloodstream, keeping you mentally alert throughout the day. Opt for ‘brown’ cereals, wheat bran, granary bread and brown pasta.

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) cannot be made by the body and must be obtained through diet. The most effective omega-3 fats occur naturally in oily fish as EPA and DHA. Good sources include linseed (flaxseed) oil, soya bean oil, pumpkin seeds, walnut oil and soya beans. They are good for healthy brain function, the heart, joints and general wellbeing.

There is good evidence to suggest that lycopene, a powerful antioxidant found in tomatoes, could help protect against the kind of free radical damage to cells which occurs in the development of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s.

Just a handful of pumpkin seeds a day are all you need to get your recommended daily amount of zinc, vital for enhancing memory and thinking skills.

A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests that a good intake of vitamin E might help to prevent cognitive decline, particularly in the elderly. Nuts are a great source of vitamin E along with leafy green vegetables, asparagus, olives, seeds, eggs, brown rice and whole grains.”

Before we look for more, let’s review out list. Thus far we can appreciate the value of fish, nuts, brown cereals, pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, green vegetables and eggs. I feel my brain power increasing already. Let’s use our brain power and keep searching for more.

Let’s look at two sources of brain food that may not be often associated with our mental capacities. Our source bbcgoodfood.com goes further.

“Evidence accumulated at Tufts University in the United States suggests that the consumption of blueberries may be effective in improving or delaying short term memory loss. Widely available, so there’s no excuse.

Vitamin C has long been thought to have the power to increase mental agility. One of the best sources of this vital vitamin is blackcurrants.

Sage has long had a reputation for improving memory and although most studies focus on sage as an essential oil, it could be worth adding fresh sage to your diet too.”

Here is why a review of essential brain foods is worth a look due to what happens as we age and how differently our brain functions based upon some very subjective factors. Said another way, we may all start with close to the same brain activity but as we live life, depending upon how and what we supplement our brains with, the gap between how we individually function can begin to widen immensely.

The information site mpib-berlin.mpg.de reports, “According to a recently published study by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, high mental performance requires that brain activity be adjusted to the difficulty of the task, a conclusion that applies equally to younger and older adults. In both age groups, participants whose brain activity increased as the difficulty of tasks rose achieved better performance than those whose brain activity levels held steady or declined.

The brain’s working memory capacity varies from person to person. Over the course of an adult’s life, these differences become more pronounced, because some people experience a sharper decline in performance than others. In previous fMRI studies, these differences had often been overlooked, since the results were generally averaged out among all of the people in a single age group.

Under what conditions can mental performance capabilities be maintained in advanced age? The results of the newly published study show that high-performance brains of older adults work similarly to those of younger adults.”

So please take an interest in the foods that you eat and use your brain for higher performance tasks. This will send you down a pathway leading to greater brain activity for a longer period of time.

That’s what we all want isn’t it?  

~ ~ ~

Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, webmd.com, bbcgoodfood.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, femcompetitor.com, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.