Eat THIS to Upgrade Your Brain Power
Sometimes, we make health more complicated than it needs to be.
Take our diet, for example. It’s simple—eat healthy, and you’ll be healthy.
There’s a good reason the old saying, “You are what you eat,” has endured for so long. When you put certain foods in, you can expect certain results to come out.
Eat foods rich in carotenoids, like spinach and carrots and your eyesight will benefit.
Munch on more fiber-rich foods (think oatmeal, lentils, and leafy greens), and your gut will be healthier.
And focusing on brain-friendly foods leads to better cognitive function.
In fact, one in particular is proven to preserve brain health and enhance cognition—at ANY age.
Recent research on omega-3 fatty acids found that having higher omega-3 levels in your 40s and 50s is associated with better brain structure and cognitive function.
This connection has been made in older adults, but this study is one of the first to see if this protective effect also extends to middle-aged people.
Not surprisingly, it did.
Higher omega-3 levels were associated with:
- Larger hippocampus volume. This is the area of the brain that’s involved in learning and memory.
- Better abstract reasoning.
- And in folks with an APOE4 gene, which increases the risk of cardiovascular and vascular disease, there was less small-vessel disease. This protects against vascular dementia and heart disease.
This research proves that you’re never too young—or too old—to reap the brain-protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids.
The best way to get them is to include more omega-3-rich foods in your diet. Fatty fish like salmon, cod, and sardines are excellent sources of the brain-friendly oil. Supplements are available in a pinch.
P.S. Now you know how beneficial omega-3s are for your brain health, but they ALSO offer impressive benefits for your heart. CLICK HERE for the scoop.
SOURCE:
“Association of Red Blood Cell Omega-3 Fatty Acids With MRI Markers and Cognitive Function in Midlife: The Framingham Heart Study,” 5 October 2022, Neurology, DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201296
