Boosting your brain health with these foods
Did you know there is actually a 'brain healthy' way to eat?!
Brain fog, memory loss, poor concentration, low mood, emotions that go up and down, poor sleep... while they are non specific and can be due to many factors, these may all also be signs that your brain is struggling, and that your diet needs a 'brain boost'.
It's obviously a good idea to see your doctor to rule out other causes, but if no other reason is found, then it's a great time to focus on feeding your brain 😊
While 'brain boosting' is a bit of a fad term, there is also a lot of research showing that diet has a huge impact on brain function.
Our brains are incredibly energy hungry - using over 20% of our energy every day, despite being only 2% of our body weight.
But given that our brain is the ‘control centre’of our body, this also makes sense - and means we need to feed it well for it to work well!
Diet can affect our brain in multiple ways :
✔️Brain healthy diets provide the vitamins and minerals our brain needs to function well
Lack of nutrients such as iron, folate, B12, omega 3 and vit D can all directly impact brain function (B12 is a known reversible cause of dementia), as they are needed for various important functions in our brain
✔️ Levels of inflammation in our brain are also affected by diet.
Inflammation can impact on cell function, new brain cell formation, and cell 'pruning' ie getting rid of old brain cells - it's also thought to be a significant contributer to mental illness
✔️Western style diets can reduce blood flow to the brain via clogging arteries with cholesterol plaques (atherosclerosis), which causes mini strokes (a common cause of dementia)
✔️And on the flip side, plant focused whole food diets high in antioxidants protect the brain from oxidative stress (makes it more resilient to damage, and more able to heal from injury)
✔️Whole food high fibre diets also promote good gut health, which in turn helps regulate inflammation and mood (see our article on the gut brain connection)
✔️Whereas diets high in sugar and refined carbs can cause raised insulin and blood sugar spikes, which cause oxidative stress, and have been directly linked with reduced brain function (even in kids!)
They also cause large fluctuations in blood sugar levels, which can affect the 'energy supply' to the brain (ie sugar crash)
✔️Polyphenols (compounds only found in plants) can increase BDNF levels (the hormone that promotes brain growth and new brain connections).
Diets high in polyphenols have also been shown to improve cognitive function in clinical trials
So what is a brain healthy diet?!
Diets such as the Modimed diet (used for depression) and the MIND diet (used for dementia) are solidly backed by science, and have been proven in clinical trials to have a measureable impact on brain health and mental health.
They are also very similar, and both:
✔️are whole food diets, containing minimal ultra processed foods
✔️mostly plant based
✔️are rich in variety, with a large diversity of different coloured plant foods (‘eat a rainbow ‘)
✔️have moderate omega 3 and low in omega 6
✔️are low in added sugar, refined carbs, red meat, added salt, alcohol, and saturated fat
✔️contain a good variety of unsaturated (plant based) fats ie nuts, seeds, olive oil
✔️ have high levels dark green veges and berries 😊
And as a bonus, they're also anti inflammatory diets, and great for gut health, heart health, and longevity to boot - what more reason could you need to try them!