DIET AND MEMORY
It has been proved beyond doubt that `you are what you eat’. There is a direct correlation between the food you eat and your physical and mental fitness. Diet influences not only your physical growth and prowess but also your memory. This is because your diet supplies the nutrients and energy required by your brain to function well. Your alertness and ability to concentrate and to remain focused is dependent upon the ability of your brain to function at its optimal best. This ability of the brain in turn is dependent upon the kind of nutrients supplied to it through your diet. Hence diet and memory are closely linked.
Once you are aware of the connection between the two, you can work on improving your diet so that your memory also improves. One of the things to do is to eat what are called brain foods, i.e. foods that improve your brain power.
Brain Foods
Brain foods include:
Apples
Avocados
Bananas
Blueberries
Dark green vegetables such as spinach
Flaxseed oil
Salmon
Eat variety of foods since each of them provides a certain quality of nutrient needed for your brain.
How Do Brain Foods Work?
Your body produces harmful compounds called `oxidants’. These are destructive and contribute to various health problems over a period of time, including memory loss. The brain foods release `anti-oxidants’, which are natural chemicals that work at breaking down the oxidants. So the brain foods work at removing the harmful effects of oxidants. Again, these foods contain important nutrients that are essential for you to be healthy.
Examples of antioxidants are:
Vitamin A source: Fruits, vegetables, carrots, squash and broccoli.
Vitamin C source: Citrus and green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin E source: soybeans, raw nuts, seeds, whole grains, peanuts, green leafy vegetables and sweet potatoes
Bio-flavonoids source: berries and green tea.
Studies have shown that vitamin E helps prevent the loss of memory that accompanies increasing age. Other studies have shown that Vitamins C and E can help patients who suffer from dementia.
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