Yes, there are some foods that make you smarter! Tracking the food you eat can be seriously eye-opening. Have you always wondered why you struggle to concentrate after a heavy meal? Or get stomach pain after eating bread? If you track what you eat, you’re more likely to spot patterns and discover that something you thought was harmless actually has a huge effect on your body and your mind. We recommend keeping track of what you eat every single day in your planner and even included a meal plan section in the Getting Stuff Done planner for just this. That way, you can see if something you’ve eaten could actually be the cause of a bad mood, loss of focus, or anything else.
So how exactly can what you eat affect your brain? It helps to keep your body’s immune response under control, which helps you deal with stress, and good hormones in your gut can actually help your brain understand and process new information and stay focused. Some foods are definitely better for your brain than others, so if you want to start the genius diet, here are a few you need to be eating if you want to smash your goals in 2019.
1. BOOST YOUR MEMORY
When it comes to foods that make you smarter, avocado is top of the list. If you struggle with your memory, you need to add more avocados to your diet. Avocados have high levels of good fats, so adding them to any meal can help you keep blood sugar levels steady and your skin glowing. They contain vitamin K and folate, both of which protect your brain from blood clotting and help improve your memory and concentration levels.
They’re also rich in vitamin B and C, and they have the highest protein and lowest sugar content of any fruit. Which means they’re great all-rounders. This autumn salad recipe is comforting and will help you get a nice dose of avocado to boost your memory.
2. GET SMARTER
If you’re tracking your meals in your planner, you’ll already know what foods you eat a lot and which you barely ever touch. And beetroots might not be on the top of your list of foods to eat, but if you want to boost your mental performance, this might just be what you’re missing.
Beetroots reduce inflammation, the nitrates boost blood flow to the brain which means you’ll perform better in exams, or under pressure from work. While most people don’t know how to use beetroot in the right way, or how to cook with it properly, this pesto pizza with kale cheese is super healthy and will give you a boost of brain power.
3. INCREASE YOUR FOCUS
Procrastination is a real devil when you’ve got a deadline. But broccoli is one of the best brain-boosting foods out there. It’s loaded with vitamin C, vitamin K, and choline which all help to keep your memory sharp and improve your focus. You might not know this but broccoli really is one of those foods that make you smarter.
This recipe for broccoli and white bean soup is a really easy meal to plan this week and will help you get those brain-boosting benefits. If you often find that you lose focus and procrastinate, you’ll need a dose or two of broccoli. A cup full contains 150% of your recommended daily vitamin C intake, so it definitely can’t help to prepare this soup.
4. BEAT BRAIN FOG
Brain fog is essentially that feeling you get when you can’t remember why you’re doing something, or when you’re doing too much that you don’t know how to focus anymore. And to combat that, you need a huge boost of omega-3 fatty acids to improve your brain performance.
The best way to get this is through eating salmon, it has a huge amount of omega-3s, which besides helping your brain stay on top form, can even prevent cancer and kill tumors!
5. STAY ALERT
Being alert doesn’t just mean being focused, it means being aware of your surroundings and able to stay ahead of whatever you’re working on. It means you need to be fast, with an eye for detail, and able to anticipate change. You need to boost your brain to get that level of concentration, and the good news is turmeric can help.
Turmeric is one of the best foods that make you smarter, it boosts antioxidant levels which keeps your immune system healthy and improving your brain’s oxygen intake. This will help you stay alert and boost your ability to process information. There are so many ways you can include turmeric in your diet, from turmeric lattes to using it in soups and curries. The easiest way would be to add it to a soup, especially at this time of year.
Do you know any other brain-boosting foods? Let us know in the comments below if you’ve tried planning your diet around any of these and if it worked for you.
