Brain foods: 9 ways to eat to help improve concentration and memory
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Reviewed by Christina Neider, EdD, Dean,听College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
At a glance
- The MIND diet helps establish overall wellness while also possibly improving brain function, brain health, memory and concentration.
- Brain foods that can help slow down cognitive decline include leafy green vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, meat and aquatic foods (in limited quantities), berries and colorful veggies.
- What you cut out can be just as important as what you consume. White, processed foods (think bread and sugar) top the list of no-gos.
- Look for foods that provide antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, nutrients and vitamins 鈥especially vitamins C and E 鈥 all of which may help improve brain function and health.
This article was updated on 12/7/2023.
Eating with purpose
Hippocrates was onto something when he observed, 鈥淟et food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be food.鈥澨Food impacts the way we feel, from how much energy we have to how well we can pay attention. And if you鈥檙e juggling school, work and family, you may find you need all the help you can get when it comes to brain health, feeling present and being able to focus.
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A simple internet search will yield plenty of insight to 鈥brain food鈥 鈥 those unicorns of the food pyramid that someone swears will enhance your cognitive abilities. But before you head to the farmers market, Linnea Axman, associate dean for undergraduate and doctoral studies in the听College of Nursing at 爱污传媒, has some tips about what to add and what to subtract from your diet.
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The opportunities and limitations of your diet
Axman has been a nurse practitioner for 30 years. Her focus, she says, has been to work with people on听disease prevention, wellness promotion and managing chronic illnesses.
Diet plays a complex role in all that, but (contrary to Hippocrates鈥 maxim) it doesn鈥檛 always dominate.听Food and exercise, in other words, are important components for听general wellness, but they can鈥檛 always cure ailments or prevent disease. Both are mitigating factors in the right direction more than solutions in and of themselves.
The key, Axman suggests, is to听consider your overall lifestyle. From this perspective, she endorses the听MIND diet, which stands for听. It combines foods听found in both the Mediterranean and DASH diets 鈥斕齮wo of what are听considered听the healthiest diets 鈥 that have been shown to be associated with helping improve brain health. These foods are high in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, nutrients and vitamins (such as vitamin E).
The MIND diet, she says, 鈥渉as been shown to slow cognitive decline; improve heart health [and] blood sugar highs and lows; prevent some cancers; [and] decrease symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. 鈥 Multiple studies have found that听decreasing inflammation and oxidative stress听protects the brain, improves circulation and stabilizes blood sugar, which also will听assist with memory and cognitive function.鈥
Good cardiovascular health, in other words, optimizes the flow of blood to the brain, which helps optimize its performance. That this diet is also associated with听decreasing the negative effects of stress, improving sleep and even improving symptoms of depression is just icing on the (sugar-free) cake.
9 brain foods for focus
So, what kinds of brain foods make the MIND cut for improved memory and concentration? Here鈥檚 the skinny:
1. Whole grains
Put away the Wonder bread. We鈥檙e talking grains like听quinoa, oats, wild rice and brown rice听 three or more times a day.
2. Leafy greens
Kale, spinach, broccoli, collard greens听鈥 the stuff of a dietitian鈥檚 dream. Try to get more than six servings a week.
3. Non-leafy green vegetables
Think听carrots, beets and colorful veggies听that are neither white (potatoes) nor leafy and green. Aim for more than a serving a day.
4. Nuts
Walnuts, almonds, pistachios听鈥 try to get five or more 1-ounce servings each week. Certain nuts are a great source of fatty acids. (Peanuts also count, even though they鈥檙e technically legumes.)
5. Beans and legumes
Shoot for four or more servings a week of听black, pinto, kidney or navy beans, or legumes like听lentils and chickpeas.
6. Berries
MIND guidelines suggest two or more servings of crowd-pleasing听blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries each week. Berries, especially blueberries, are a great source of antioxidants.听
7. Poultry
Add听turkey or chicken听to your meal plan twice a week.
8. Aquatic food
Once or more a week, enjoy a meal with听cod, catfish, shrimp, salmon, sardines, scallops, tuna听or another 鈥渂lue food.鈥 These foods are high in omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients.
9. Olive oil
If you need to work with added fat, try to make it olive oil. In fact, you should strive to get less than one tablespoon of butter or margarine daily. Olive oil is a good source of vitamin E.听
The fine print
What all these foods have in common is their virtues: They鈥檙e听high in vitamins,听antioxidants, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids. They鈥檙e also听minimally processed.
For those who feel like they aren鈥檛 getting all the nutrients they need, Axman recommends discussing supplements with a healthcare provider. (This is more than an obligatory disclaimer: Some supplements can听interact with prescribed medications听in dangerous ways, so definitely check before taking them.)听Vitamin D3, B-complex vitamins, fish oil, SAM-e, acetyl-L-carnitine and N-acetyl-cysteine听have all been shown to 鈥渋mprove mood and preserve cognitive function,鈥 Axman says.
Foods to avoid
鈥淲hen I talk to my patients about what to do, I tell them what not to do first, because that鈥檚 a shorter list,鈥 Axman says.
Admittedly, working in six servings of this and three servings of that can feel daunting, especially if you鈥檙e busy with school and work. So, when it鈥檚 easier to start with the no鈥檚 rather than the yeses, here鈥檚 how to do it.
Take the white out of your diet
White bread, white rice, white pasta 鈥 all of it鈥檚 better for you when it鈥檚 brown.
Minimize sweets and pastries
Whether it鈥檚 cake after dinner or doughnuts at breakfast, sweets should make an appearance only rarely. (Think fewer than five servings a week.)
Cut back on red meat
If you eat red meat, try to limit servings to fewer than four a week.
Same goes for cheese and fried foods
Yes, feta is part of the Mediterranean diet. No, that doesn鈥檛 count for much in this adapted plan. Axman recommends just one serving of cheese or fried food each week.
How to make it all work
Meal planning听is usually the most effective way to avoid lapses and stick with the good stuff that will make you feel and think better. Axman likes to make healthy shakes for one or two meals a day and then have a third meal of whole foods.
鈥淪hakes can be made ahead of time and stored, but fresh foods will lose significant nutrients if stored, so try to consume them within a day or two,鈥 she advises.
Another trick?听Apps and websites听can help with meal planning, so you don鈥檛 have to try to dredge up what you had for lunch three days ago. Some of Axman鈥檚 favorites are:
Using apps and websites to plan also encourages听mindful eating, which is beneficial on multiple levels.
鈥淯sing all your senses to experience food promotes a more enjoyable eating experience,鈥 Axman says. 鈥淢indful eating can 鈥 combat distracted eating, which can lead to anxiety, emotional eating, overeating, binge eating and weight gain.鈥
Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. But the Mediterranean and MIND diets are especially good for听stabilizing your blood sugar听relatively quickly, and feeling good from that may just be the best incentive to keep with it.
Focused eating: 3 recipes for enhanced concentration
Wondering where to start incorporating these foods into your diet? Here are three supercharged recipes to try!
5-minute smoothie
- 3/4 C frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and/or blackberries)
- Handful of spinach or kale
- 1/4 C spontaneous brain booster (e.g., banana, orange, avocado, more berries, etc. Anything you have on-hand will work, and it's a great way to use up fruits or greens that are about to go bad)
- 1 C milk of choice
- 1 T coconut oil or avocado oil (if not using avocado as your brain booster)
- 3 T old-fashioned oats
- Agave, stevia, honey, maple syrup or monk fruit to taste (optional)
1. Add your milk to a blender.
2. Blend in your frozen berries, sweetener and your 鈥渂rain booster.鈥 Puree until smooth and creamy.
5-minute superfood salad
- 1 bag of spinach and arugula mix
- 1/4 C blueberries
- 1/4 C strawberries
- 1/3 ripe avocado
- 2 T walnuts
- 1/4 lemon
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
1. Toss three handfuls of spinach and arugula mix, blueberries, strawberries, avocado and walnuts into a bowl.
2. Squeeze the lemon over everything. Then, drizzle olive oil over the salad and serve.
Time-saver turkey chili
Serves 4
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped听
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb lean ground turkey (substitute soy crumbles, soy curls or Burmese tofu if you want to skip meat)
- 1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 T tomato paste
- 1 14-oz can corn kernels, drained and rinsed
- 1 14-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 4-oz can diced jalapenos
- 1 T chili powder
- 3/4 C shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat a non-stick skillet on medium. Add olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook for about three minutes.
2. Add ground turkey (or meat substitute) and break into pieces. Brown the meat for about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, corn, black beans, jalapeno and chili power. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 to听15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, and add shredded cheese. Mix well and serve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Exline has been telling stories ever since she won a writing contest in third grade. She's covered design and architecture, travel, parenting, lifestyle content and a host of other topics for national, regional, local and brand publications. Additionally, she's worked in content development for Marriott International and manuscript development for a variety of authors. Today, if given a free hour and the choice, she'd still prefer to curl up with a good story.
