Best Foods to Boost Brainpower & Memory

From your overall mood to your mental focus and clarity, your brain is what’s calling the shots in your body. Knowing this, you’d probably think that you’d want to keep it properly fueled and nourished to maintain a healthy level of cognitive health. A happy brain equates to a happy you, so be sure to include these brain-boosting foods in your daily diet.

Oily fish

If you haven’t heard already, healthy fats are absolutely essential in a healthy diet. Healthy fats include Omega-3’s, which are commonly found in oily fish like salmon, trout, and mackerel. Omega-3 fats are great at helping your body maintain healthy levels of EPA and DHA, the active form of these fats that are known to lower your risk for dementia. They also help you manage your overall stress and keeps chemicals like serotonin pumping through your brain, increasing your overall mood.

Tomatoes

Not only are they versatile and tasty, tomatoes have a powerful antioxidant called lycopene, which has been shown to protect your brain from damage caused by free radicals. Lycopene can have beneficial effects in keeping your mind sharp and decrease the risks of developing neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimers.

Dark Chocolate

That’s right, your favorite bittersweet snack can actually help your brain function more optimally. Dark chocolate is packed with flavonoids, powerful antioxidants that gather in areas of the brain that deal with learning and memory. Research has shown that these compounds can contribute to enhanced memory and can even slow down age-related decline your mental health. Plus, it can be a major mood booster, so go ahead, you deserve that extra piece of chocolate.

Blueberries

I’m sure you’ve heard that blueberries are the literal rockstars of the superfood world, and let me tell you, what you’ve heard is completely true. Blueberries provide a long list of health benefits, but brain food is the name of the game, and they get an A+ in this category. Packed with anthocyanins, these powerful antioxidants fight back inflammation, brain aging, and neurodegenerative diseases. Other antioxidants in blueberries have been shown to strengthen communication between brain cells, and help improve memory and even delay short-term memory loss.

Coffee

Not just your saving grace during your groggy mornings, coffee is also great for your brain. No need to feel guilty for being a self-professed caffeine junky, as this stimulating compound can actually improve brain function! Caffeine increases alertness, improves your mood, and allows for sharpened concentration, by blocking adenosine, a chemical messenger that makes you sleepy. Studies have even shown that coffee over the long term is linked to reduced risk of neurological diseases. 

Avocados

So our obsessions with avocados isn’t too bad after all. These emerald beauties are packed with healthy fats that keep the arteries that feed to your brain functioning properly. Keeping these arteries healthy reduces your risk for Alzheimer’s, so you keep doing you with your guacamole and avocado toast.

Broccoli

Growing up, you probably had put up a big fit about chowing down your broccoli, but it might surprise you to find out that it is fantastic for keeping your memory sharp. Its high levels of vitamin K and choline will leave your brain nourished and firing on all cylinders.