What we eat impacts every aspect of our health, including our brains. As the link between food and mental health strengthens, researchers are turning to nutritional psychiatry for improved brainpower. Here are three key steps to eating your way to a healthier brain from nutritional psychiatrist Georgia Ede, M.D. over at MindBodyGreen.
- Make sure you’re eating for optimal brain function. The nutrients that our brains need to properly function come directly from what we consume. This is why it’s so important to eat foods with high bioavailability, foods with nutrients our body can easily absorb. For our brains, this means pairing foods rich in fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K) along with fats (avocado, olive oil).
- Replace potentially damaging foods with healthier alternatives. When it comes to damaging brain foods, the usual health culprits re-emerge. Avoid processed, high sugar foods, and instead, replace them with whole foods. For example, opt for whole grains rather than white flour and ditch sugary beverages for whole fruits.
- Optimize your metabolism. Damaged carbohydrate metabolism, insulin resistance, or prediabetes can impact the brain’s ability to extract necessary energy from the foods we consume. Given that 50 percent of Americans now have insulin resistance, this is a big issue. Focus on balancing your blood sugar and getting regular exercise.
Eating healthy has endless positive health impacts. In addition to longevity, happiness, energy, and wellbeing, you can add boosted brainpower to your healthy eating goals!
