As you probably know, there are certain foods that are good for the brain. These brain foods should be eaten and enjoyed as often as possible. Click the link for a great list of these healthy and delicious foods and, remember, what’s good for the brain is good for the heart – so you’re doing your body as much good as you are your mind.
What many people may not realize is that there are foods that are as bad for our brains as certain foods are good – foods that do untold damage to our minds as well as our bodies. These are the foods we should avoid with every ounce of willpower we can muster.
Junk food, fast food, and overly sugary foods and drinks aren’t just harmful for our waistlines and hearts, they’re damaging to our brains. Many experts attribute the alarming rise in Alzheimer’s cases to the American diet. Many restaurants and food manufacturers are trying to turn the tide, but it’ll only be as successful as each individual (that’s you and me, kid!) allows it to be.
Make healthy switches in your daily diet and you’ll reap benefits in your body and mind. You’ll find that instances of “brain fog” fade away and you’ll feel sharper almost as soon as you make the healthy changes. In the long run, if you replace junk food with healthier choices, you’ll be taking great strides in preventing memory loss and different types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease.
Below are just a few ideas for you to incorporate into your daily life:
- Completely swear off fast food breakfasts. These are some of the unhealthiest meals imaginable. Eat oatmeal or cereal at home, with berries (your brain loves berries!) added for extra oomph.
- Fall in love with fruit smoothies and green smoothies. I’ve replaced my typical breakfasts with green smoothies and find that I no longer snack before lunch. The nutrients in the greens, vegetables, and fruit in these smoothies aren’t just great for your brain’s health long-term, they help keep you sharp today.
- For lunch, replace burgers and fries with healthier wraps, salads, and soup.
- When eating out, always choose grilled, baked, or blackened over fried. Try to equate the word fried with “fried brain cells.”
If you try to quit fast food and junk food cold turkey, you probably aren’t going to be very successful in the long run. That’s why you need to find foods and drinks that can serve as viable replacements. Experiment until you find restaurants that have salads, wraps, grilled chicken, soups, and other healthy options that you LOVE. Zaxby’s, Cracker Barrel, Subway, Panera Bread, and Beef O’ Brady’s have wonderful salads and other healthy options.
It won’t take you long to realize that healthy foods are 10 times more delicious than unhealthy foods.
Make each moment (and bite!) count double,
~ Joi
, recently wrote about a surprising “brain food,” the humble (and popular) onion. Personally, I love it when a food I eat regularly is touted as healthy – either physically or mentally. Onions have been proven to have BOTH physical and mental benefits, meaning there’s a lot more to this common food item than we ever realized.
. Click through for a closer look.
, we’re told that apple juice aids in the production of acetylcholine, referred to as the “memory chemical.” In fact, according to Thomas Shea, Ph.D. of the University of Massachusetts, apple juice “pushs” production of this memory chemical in a way that’s similar to the popular Alzheimer’s drug Aricept.
