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When it comes to our brains, choline is a nutrient you certainly don’t want to skimp on. “Choline is a building block for a special category of fats called phospholipids found in cell membranes and the nerve chemical acetylcholine , which regulates memory,” says Somer. “In fact, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by an underproduction of acetylcholine,” she adds. Findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggest that a greater dietary intake of phosphatidylcholine, a form of choline, is linked to a lower risk for dementia and enhanced cognitive performance. And if you are a mom-to-be you want to make sure to get sufficient amounts of choline, since evidence suggests it can benefit infant brain development.
Somer stresses that although the body manufactures choline with the help of other nutrients, such as folic acid and vitamin B12, sometimes it doesn’t produce enough to maintain normal brain function. That’s where eggs can lend a big assist. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , eggs, more specifically the yolks, are just about the richest source of choline in the supermarket, second only to beef liver. A single egg delivers about 30 percent of the daily requirement for brain-benefiting choline. The key source of phosphatidylcholine in the diets of participants of the aforementioned study were eggs. And people who regularly eat eggs typically take in twice the amount of choline as those who don’t consume eggs, per a study in the journal Nutrients .
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Green tea and matcha supply a unique amino acid called L-theanine, which at higher intakes may be associated with cognitive improvements, including better performance on memory tasks, as reported in the Journal of Medicinal Food
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Spinach is especially high in carotenoid antioxidants including beta-carotene and lutein, which a study published in 2020 in the Journal of Nutrition found can lower the odds of moderate or poor cognitive fu...
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What’s more, black lentils, like all legumes, are an excellent source of dietary fiber. Most people fail to get the fiber they need each day — 28 grams per day for adults on a 2,000-calorie diet, according to the
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A growing body of research shows that certain foods have the nutritional makeup to help maintain mental sharpness.
Food is one of the most important levers we can pull when it comes to brain health. Some foods have the compounds to help keep your brain performing well, while others lack any...
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These inexpensive canned fish are one of the best sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in the supermarket, which some research suggests may help slow age-related cognitive decline. An
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All vegetables are good for you, but Popeye’s favorite green is one of the top choices to help protect your noggin and keep it sharp. Why? Spinach is especially high in carotenoid antioxidants including beta-carotene and lutein, which a
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Could tossing strawberries on your oatmeal or yogurt or blitzing them into your smoothies help protect your brain from Alzheimer’s? Maybe so, say researchers at RUSH University. Their research, published in Ju...
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People who ate avocado daily for six months saw a significant boost in working memory and problem-solving efficiency, a study in the journal Nutrients found. The investigators attributed the benefit to the high bioavailable levels of ...
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Some of the essential nutrients can be acquired from supplements. However, nutrients such as taurine are easily overlooked. Others are so obscure that vegans are unlikely to have even heard of them.
Vitamin B12 is only found in animal products like eggs and meat.
Low B12 is widespread in vegans. There are some cases of children whose brains failed to develop because of their vegan parents.
Later in life, the IQ is directly correlated with the amount of B12 in a person's blood. th...
It's a set of proteins that form the primary structural component of connective tissues like skin and cartilage. Of the 28 different types of collagen, 90% is of 'Type 1', found in the skin, tendons, organs and parts of the bone. The other types of are found in cartilage, bone marrow, bas...
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