Most of us are under stressful times. We are filled with busy schedules and that makes us often chase our tails. Furthermore, there is not much time for cooking and our diet hits a roadblock. Now you can end up going for the faster fix that involves the usage of sugar and caffeine.
This can lead to huge troughs and peaks in terms of energy and that too when it is related to the physical and mental ones. You must think about concentration and that must be followed by good memory and focus. Also, there lies the act of being calm and balanced, which ensures that there are not any dips in the mood or energy.
In this article, you will come across some of the major foods that can fuel your brain and boost it by keeping you fully focused and alert.
All You Have to Think About Is Brain Food
For a long time, it has been stated that one needs to have a good abundance of great and specific nutrients. These would affect the emotions and the cognitive procedures. Sometimes there would be the described influences of the dietary factors and that too on the neuronal functions. These would lead to the presence of the synaptic plasticity that brings out the important mechanisms.
The mechanism is related to the action that diet can have on brain health and even mental functions. Here most of the gut hormones can enter the brain and some of them would be the ones produced in the brain itself. That can have a huge impact on your brain’s cognitive ability.
Furthermore, some well-established regulators are concerning synaptic plasticity like the brain-derived neurotrophic factors. These would function like metabolic modulators and they can respond to peripheral signals like food intake.
A good understanding of the molecular basis can show the effect that it has on the food and on the cognition that can assist in finding out how it is best to manipulate the diet for increasing the resistance of the neurons that can insult and promotes mental fitness.
How Has Food Risen to Become the Major Necessity of Life?
Now as we all know food that we eat has been classified as something that can provide you energy and is the building material of the human body. It can avoid and secure the body against all kinds of diseases.
Multiple research works state that food and dietary factors have an effect on certain molecular systems. Plus, they do play a major role in the mechanism that is related to maintaining the mental function of the human body.
Here for instance the human body would be having a huge diet that is extremely rich in omega-3 fatty acids. This can support the requirement of the cognitive procedures in the human body. Furthermore, unregulated genes are necessary for the maintenance of synaptic functions.
Also, a good diet is necessary for the concept of keeping high in saturated fats and those are becoming a huge notorious for lowering the molecular substrates that help to support the cognitive procedures and increasing the huge risk involved in the chances of getting neurological dysfunction.
Of Course, Some Fats Are Great
Do you know that avocado is one of the most delicious and healthy snacks? It is easy to eat and even you can make salads or even into guacamole by just mashing it using a fork and some tasty, diced tomatoes along with lime juice.
Many people are not aware that avocados are filled with a good fat like omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, and vitamin E. Most people have got fat phobic however, they never realize that good fats are required for providing optimum brainpower. It can help to keep depression and stress at bay. You can get good fasts from fish oils, seeds, and nuts, avocados. Such oil is necessary for fuelling one’s brain and making sure that it functions in a proper way. Plus, it can help in the contribution of strong immunity, production of good and necessary sex hormones, as well as stress hormones. When your body does not have fat, then the blood sugar level would reduce rapidly. All this would lead to a drop in energy and reduces your concentration.
Providing a Good Booster as Breakfast
Just begin your day with a small bowl of porridge and that can lead to a long-lasting brain boost. One of the best breakfasts at your disposal is the oats and they can easily fuel your brain. Unlike other cereals, this is one of the major ones that has not been tarnished by the food industry. Plain oats mixed in water or milk along with some berries and honey would be a great brain booster for you.
Rather than going with the slabs of buttered toast with jam or marmalade, which can make you feel starving within two hours, you can have a bowl of porridge that would make you and your grey cells live for a longer time.
Unlike other healthy snacks, oats are filled with B-group vitamins and can easily cushion the nervous system. Also, they can reduce one’s stress. Without a B vitamin, you might begin to suffer from poor memory and concentration, low mood, stress, irritability, etc.
What Is the Best Food for Your Brain?
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Dark Chocolate
Have you ever thought about dark chocolate? They are filled with cocoa and are filled with flavonoids which is nothing but a certain type of antioxidant. Keep in mind that antioxidants are necessary for brain health. The brain is too much susceptible to oxidative stress and that can lead to age-related and cognitive decline as well as brain diseases.
Many studies support that cacao flavonoids are great for your brain. Not only that they help to encourage the growth of blood vessels and even neurons. They play a huge role in your brain’s activity in terms of learning and memory.
Even they can stimulate the blood flow present in the brain. Certain research shows that flavonoid components present in chocolates would reverse the memory issues. This was experimented on snails by renowned scientists.
Oily Fish
Fish are indeed a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. They can easily assist in building membranes around each of the body’s cells and these include the brain cells too. Therefore, they even help to improve the structure of the brain cells that are called neurons.
Certain people having a high level of omega-3s suffer from having increased blood flow present in the brain. The researchers would be able to identify the basic connection between omega-3 and good cognition followed by great thinking abilities.
Some of the examples of oily fish that have high levels of omega-3 are mackerel, salmon, herring, tuna, sardines, etc. You can even get omega-3 from nuts, flaxseeds, etc.
Berries
Like dark chocolates, various berries have flavonoid antioxidants. Scientific studies show that they can be used for making the berries that are best for your brain. Not only that, but antioxidants would also assist in lowering inflammation and oxidative stress. The antioxidants present in berries consist of caffeic acid, anthocyanin, quercetin, etc.
Antioxidants like berries have many positive effects on the brain. Some of them are –
- Reducing inflammation all around the body
- Improving the communication among the brain cells
- Improving the plasticity that allows the brain cells to make new connections and even boost memory and learning, lowering the age-related neurodegenerative disease and even cognitive decline.
The berries having huge antioxidant berries are blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, black current, etc.
Whole Grains
Another best way to gain benefits from the effects of vitamin E is through the consumption of whole grains. These are filled with the best source of grains like barley, brown rice, oatmeal, bulgur wheat, whole-grain pasta, whole-grain bread, etc.
Seeds and Nuts
At times consuming more seeds and nuts will not be great for your brain. Furthermore, seeds and nuts are filled with the right mixture and source of antioxidant vitamin E. This can save you from many types of oxidative stress that are majorly caused by free radicals.
A Glass of Coffee
Unlike most caffeine drinks, coffee is a great concentration aid. It can help you to remain awake and encourage you to get focused. Caffeine is known to block the substances called adenosine that make a person feel sleepy. Also, they can help you to be alert and even studies are showing that caffeine can help to increase the capacity of the brain in processing information.
Certain medical research shows that caffeine leads to the increase of brain entropy, and this refers to the variable and complex brain activity. Whenever the entropy is quite high, the brain would be able to process more details. Another major advantage of coffee is that it is the basic source of antioxidants, and that can support one’s brain health as and when one becomes old.
Regular consumption of coffee leads to reducing the risk of stroke, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, etc. Nowadays, most doctors never recommend the consumption of caffeine as it can affect your sleep.
Peanuts
Think of a legume that is filled with nutritious benefits and you would find peanuts the perfect choice. They are filled with a whole lot of unsaturated protein and fat. Also, they can help in keeping the energy levels of people up all around the day.
Besides these features, peanuts would provide you with major minerals and vitamins that can make your brain healthy. Peanuts that you consume have a high amount of resveratrol and vitamin E. Now, most people will not know what resveratrol is. It is nothing but a natural non-flavoured antioxidant that is commonly found in mulberries, peanuts, and rhubarb.
Avocados
The best source of healthful and great unsaturated fat is avocados. They can easily support the brain. When you consume monounsaturated fats, it will lower blood pressure. As we all know having high blood pressure is commonly linked with cognitive decline. When blood pressure is reduced, the unsaturated fats present in the avocados would reduce the risk of suffering from cognitive decline.
There are other major sources of unsaturated and healthy fat. These are cashews, almonds, peanuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, sunflower, soybean, canola oils, etc.
Eggs
One of the major foods that people enjoy as breakfast is the egg. They are effective brain food and contain good sources of vitamin-B like vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6, folic acid, etc. Certain research shows that these vitamins would avoid the shrinkage of the brain and reduce cognitive decline.
Broccoli
Considered one of the lowest sources of dietary fibre, broccoli is best for your brain function. It is filled with rich components called glucosinolates. When the human body breaks it down, it can lead to the production of isothiocyanates. The isothiocyanates can lower oxidative stress and even the chances of getting neurodegenerative diseases.
Soy Products
Soybean products are hugely abundant in certain antioxidants called polyphenols. Studies show that polyphenols lower the risk of dementia and improved cognitive abilities along with the aging process. Furthermore, soy products have polyphenols called isoflayones and these contain genistein and daidzein. Such chemicals would act as antioxidants and provide a good amount of benefit to the human body.
Taking Supplement for Brain Function
Of course, you need to make some dietary changes. Certain people often think about taking supplements for improving their brain functions. The only question is if these supplements work? When you take vitamin B, C, and E, etc; these improve the functions of the brain especially for people that have any deficiency in them. Hence, if a person does not have any deficiency, then these supplements won’t work and improve mental performance.
Wrapping Up
As we all know food is the major source of energy. When you consume food that boosts your brain functions, it would make you more active and live a happy life. Go ahead and try them. However, check out with your doctor or dietician before making the change in your diet.
