With summer in full swing, it’s no wonder you get distracted at work by gazing longingly out the window. But thankfully there are foods you can snack on during the day to help keep daydreaming to a minimum. The next time you get the urge to eat junk food, opt for these healthful brain boosters instead.
Whole-Grain Cereal and Orange Juice
Start your day out right by eating whole grain cereal and
drinking a glass of orange juice for breakfast; both are rich in
folic acid (also known as folate), which has been shown to
contribute to better memory and faster information processing. For
midday munching, you can get folate from foods like soybeans, green
peas, broccoli, and lentils.
Cauliflower and Peanuts
A recent study done by McLean Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard
Medical School, suggests that taking a minimum of 500mg of
citicoline supplements a day can help
boost mental energy and efficacy. Citicoline, a natural
substance found in all living cells, can also be ingested via
cauliflower and peanuts—both are sources of choline, which is
converted to citicoline in the brain.
Broccoli, Sprouts, and Spinach
When ordering your salad at lunchtime, be sure to include these
veggies; a 25-year Harvard Medical School study of more than 13,000
women showed that participants who ate cruciferous and leafy greens
retained their memory best. The more you eat of these vegetables,
the better!
Berries, Grapes, and Plums
In terms of fruit, berries have some of the
highest concentrations of antioxidants. Plus, they’re packed
with anthocyanin, a phytochemical that may help reverse age-related
memory loss and protect against the breakdown of brain cells.
Quercetin, another phytochemical, produces similarly
beneficial results. Blueberries, red apples, and darker-colored
grapes (red, black, and purple) are superpowerful, as they contain
both of these flavonoids.
Salmon and Sardines
Numerous studies have revealed the memory-boosting properties of
omega-3 fatty acid and certain fish—namely salmon, mackerel,
sardines, and herring—are full of omega-3s. Eating
these kinds of fish at least once a week will keep you thinking
younger—three years younger, to be precise (a study by Rush
University Medical Center in Chicago found that men and women who
ate fish at this frequency had memory functions equivalent to a
person three years their junior). Not a fan of fish? Consider
taking fish-oil supplements instead.
