The Top Foods and Tactics to Maintain Optimal Brain Health

All of our movements, thoughts, decisions, emotions, and bodily functions start in one place the brain. Maintaining the health of our brain is crucial for our health and wellbeing. Each day the brain sends electrical signals for different functions in the body. As we age, those signals get weaker and weaker, making it harder for our body to function normally. These signals get weak due to a lack of maintenance or proper care. We can better take care of our brain through nutrition, mental fitness, and social interaction. In today’s article, I will be sharing the top ways to maintain a healthy brain and prevent disease.

Brain + Processed foods= Disease

What we eat can have a negative impact on the way our brain functions. Our brain is responsible for secreting hormones, helping our gut digest food, managing stress, and helping cells communicate. Consuming inflammatory foods can cause things like brain fog, insulin resistance, hormone dysregulation, and the release of stress hormones.

In a recent study done at Ohio State University found that just after four weeks of being on a diet that consisted of highly processed foods led to a strong inflammatory response in rats, and was accompanied by behavioral signs of memory loss.

Even though they conducted the study on rats, it proves that processed foods negatively affect the brain. Some of the worst processed foods that you can have in your diet are:

1. Refined carbohydrates: White rice, bread, pasta, ice cream, candy bars, and much more.

2. Sugary candies sodas

3. Foods high in metals like tuna, swordfish, mackerel, shark, & tilefish.

4. Fast food

Sugar & Hidden ingredients destroy brain function

Glucose is the brains main source of energy. Which is why sugar is a important nutrient the brain needs to run efficiently. The brain calls for a balanced amount of sugar, and when your glucose levels are too high it can become a problem. High blood glucose levels can affect the brain’s functional connectivity, which links brain regions that share functional properties, and brain matter. It can cause the brain to atrophy or shrink. Higher glucose levels have also shown to develop vascular dementia. When we consume too much sugar in our diet, it can lead to type two diabetes. This disease has also shown to cognitive decline.

Sugar is not the only substance that can negatively effect your brain health. Artificial sweeteners, food colors, and other hidden ingredients increase the risk for diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, anxiety, depression, and behavioral disorders such as ADHD/ADD.

The percentage of American children and adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increased from an estimated 6.1% to 10.2% during the past 20 years. Concerns about increasing rates of ADHD and other behavioral disorders prompted the California Legislature to ask OEHHA to conduct the food dye assessment.

Our pre frontal cortex is an important part of the brain. This part of the brain is where we make decisions, maintain self-control, planning, creativity, and much more. As we get older our abilities to make decisions, plan things, and our creativity become weaker. With foods that contain food coloring and other harmful chemicals can cause this process to speed up. Foods that contain these substances are as follows:

1. Sports drinks

2. Sodas

3. Juices

4. Processed foods (Cookies, cakes, baked goods, and more)

5. Candy

Food coloring and sugar are not the only ingredients that can hinder your brains health. Preservatives such as sodium benzonate and other nitrates have shown to cause ADHD in kids and alter the microbiome of kids and adults. Hydrogenated seed oils such as soybean oil have shown to cause anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, obesity, and autism.

In 2015 scientist conducted a study with soybean oil on a group of mice. UC Riverside research team found in 2015 that soybean oil induces obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance, and fatty liver in mice. The scientist also found that soybean oil mainly effected the hypothalamus. A part of the brain, which regulates our metabolism, body temperature, our growth and regulates stress hormones.

Eliminating these types of foods from your diet can preserve the health of your brain. Some great tactics that you can use are as follows:

1. Read ingredient labels- Instead of paying attention to just the nutritional facts, look at the ingredients. They will tell you the story of how they put that product together. When reading the label, it is good to remember that the first ingredient is the most abundant and the last ingredient is the least. You want to look for all organic ingredients. If you do not know some of the ingredients in the product, it is best to put it back.

2. Pack snacks strategically- Travelling, vacations, business trips, and other ventures makes these harmful foods more available to us. Packing with intention can help prevent you from buying these types of foods. Like nuts & seeds, natural ingredient bars like Lara bars, or rx bars. Creating awareness around these harmful ingredients can help you make healthier decisions.

Sleep deprivation & Overstimulation

How do you feel after a good night sleep? Do you feel rested, full of energy, and motivated for the day? Our body is supposed to feel that way each day. If you wake up feeling groggy, un-motivated, moody, and have brain fog, then this could mean you are not getting good quality sleep. Sleep is crucial for many reasons, such as fighting off toxins that build up in the brain, muscle recovery, and creating new memories. When we do not get enough sleep, it can cause problems such as memory loss, brain fog, depression, anxiety, and weight gain. Sleep deprivation has also shown to decrease the productivity levels of employees. How do we know that we are getting good sleep?

1. Make sure you are going to bed and waking up at the same time

2. Analyzing how you feel when you wake up in the morning

For more on how to get quality sleep, scroll down to the top ways to enhance brain health.

What does it mean to be overstimulated? When we feel overstimulated, we are trying to do more than our brain can handle at one time. Overstimulation causes your body to release stressful hormones. Hormones such as cortisol, the bodies fight or flight response. With all of the technological devices and availability of information, it can be easy to become overstimulated. Staying overstimulated for too long can cause us to sleep poorly, have anxiety, depression, concentration problems, & poor eating habits.

The top foods for optimal brain health

As you can see, what we eat affects our brain and overall health. It makes you wonder what foods are good for my brains long-term health. Listed below are the top foods that can enhance your brain and bodies health.

Dark leafy vegetables - Vegetables such as Kale, Swiss chard, Collards Spinach, Broccoli, & Bok choy contain essential nutrients. Such as B vitamins, Vitamin K, Folate, & lutein, which have shown to slow cognitive decline. Broccoli contains choline, a powerful nutrient that enhances memory and mental clarity.

Fatty fish – Fish like Salmon, trout, cod, maceral, & sardines contain omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are building blocks for your brain. These fatty acids can help with memory, mood, and hormone secretion. Eating fatty fish 2-3 times a week can improve cognitive health.

Colorful fruit and vegetables – Foods like colorful bell peppers, colorful root vegetables like beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, cabbage, berries, bananas, papaya and many more all have different roles in your body. These foods contain anti-oxidants, phytonutrients, and polyphenols. These are important for your microbiome and help your cells communicate more efficiently. Your brain will receive nutrients faster and more efficiently by adding more of these foods into your diet. I always recommend keeping a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables in your diet on a weekly basis.

Nuts and seeds – Nuts and seeds contain nutrients like magnesium, tryptophan, selenium, protein, fiber, calcium. You can find these in foods such as, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, cashews, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, & macadamia nuts. These nutrients are all associated with enhancing memory, focus, mood, lowering cholesterol, oxygen to the brain, and better sleep.

Eggs – Eggs contain choline, and all nine essential amino acids your body needs for muscular recovery, brain function and reducing inflammation.

Dark chocolate – What if I told you some of the longest-lived people in the world ate chocolate almost daily. Yes, in some of the longevity hot spots such as Italy, Greece, Japan, and Costa Rica, people eat dark chocolate on a regular basis. I am not talking about 40% to 50% dark chocolate. It is recommended to consume 75% and above because it is more nutrient dense. These nutrients improve brain function and slow down cognitive decline.

Coconut oil – coconut oil contains MCTs (medium-chain triglycerides) a type of fat that your body turns into ketones. Ketones are your brains source of fuel. These ketones can improve memory, mental clarity and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Just by taking 1-2 tablespoons a day.

How to improve brain health as you age

Listed below are some different lifestyle hacks that can benefit the longevity of your health.

Get quality sleep – Getting an average of 7-8 hours of sleep a night improves cognitive performance, memory, work productivity, and decrease symptoms of oxidative stress. Some tips to help you get better sleep are to keep your bedroom at temperatures of 65 degrees and below. Take a warm bath before bed to relax your muscles and mind. Taking supplements such as kion sleep or peak sleep can help to keep your circadian rhythm balanced.

Keep your mind present – Meditation does not only helps you stay relaxed, it also helps to open more neurons in the brain. Which creates more space for you to learn new things, create new memories, and increase creativity. Meditation helps with stress and anxiety through deep belly breathing. Belly breathing puts your body in a parasympathetic state or in a state of homeostasis, our body’s state of balance.

Stay physically and mentally fit – Exercise is great for our overall health and wellbeing, but what does it do for our brain? It can actually make our brain stronger, giving us the ability to have more energy and think more quickly. Being mentally fit decreases cognitive decline. Doing activities like reading, crossword puzzles, sudoku, board games, playing cards with friends, and more all help to keep your brain functioning efficiently.

Our brain is the most complex part of the human body. We discover something new about it every day. Providing your brain the essential nutrients, rest, and exercise will give you the power to be more energized, productive, and happier as you age.

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