The 5 Best Foods That Improve Memory and Concentration

The happiest and most successful people tend to have great equilibrium between their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Many factors in your life can have tremendous impacts on the way you feel, how you work and live, as well as how healthy you are. The choices you make every day can provide balance to your life, help you feel better, and get you where you want to go.

Your diet and what you consume every day can affect a wide variety of functions and systems within the body, as well as the mind. The food you eat can affect your health, emotions, brain function, focus and energy, and more. Eating the right foods that improve memory and concentration can fortify your mind and help you reach your fullest potential.

The Effects of Nutrition and Diet on Your Brain, Emotions, and Well-Being

The nutrition your body receives not only provides value to your body- muscles, organs, etc. Food can also have strong impacts on your mental state and how it develops, how you get through your life, and how successfully you do it. Food can also provide your mind and body with everything it needs to stay positive, productive, focused, and sharp. It can be a strong, deciding factor in the health of your overall well-being.

How Food Affects Your Emotions and How You Feel

Serotonin is made within the body and used to regulate your mood, comfort and pain, sleep patterns, and appetite. It may surprise you to know, however, that roughly 95% of the serotonin found in your body is made within the gastrointestinal tract. Your digestive system uses the food it digests to create the neurons responsible for creating serotonin. This means that your “gut” can have a heavy influence on your emotions, both directly and indirectly. While some foods promote this equilibrium, others can fight against the creation of serotonin; impairing brain function and affecting your mood and emotions.

How Food Affects Your Memory, Cognitive Function, and How Your Brain Works

The nutrients you receive from your diet are responsible for providing the foundation for all of your brain’s functions. Not just responsible for how your mind makes you feel, food is also responsible for how your brain grows, responds to situations, remembers things, focuses, and more. These nutrients can also strengthen the brain’s function to avoid or prevent many complications and issues. Having an ideal balance of brain-boosting nutrients, or not, can strongly impact localized and spatial memory, response retention, focus and productivity, and overall cognitive function.

The Best Foods That Improve Memory and Concentration

Your brain requires a lot of fuel to stay strong; more than you may realize. It uses around 20% of your body’s daily calories, so providing it with the right nutrients ensures your mind and body can focus, concentrate, and stay motivated throughout the day. The proper food also helps you regulate and balance stress, ward off anxiety, and stay positive.

1. Berries

Many berries are rich in antioxidants, which can help improve the communication between cells in your brain, increase its plasticity to boost learning, and fight against the decline of cognitive function. With a low glycemic index, they are a wonderful source of glucose and fiber for fueling the brain. Berries that are richest in these brain-boosting nutrients include blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. A healthy diet of these berries has also been shown to reduce the risk of cognitive-related and neurodegenerative diseases that occur with age.

2. Fish

Fatty or oily fish like sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna, and anchovies contain a plethora of vitamins and minerals like B6, B12, iron, magnesium, and choline, but that’s not all. These fish also contain protein and omega-3 fats, which are one of the greatest defenses against losing memory and cognitive function. Omega-3s can assist in building new cells in the brain, as well as protecting their structure. There are also connections between this nutrient and your brain’s ability to think quickly and effectively.

3. Nuts and Seeds

Rich with omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, nuts and seeds are powerhouses for mental fortitude. They are also rich with vitamin E, mostly responsible for improving cognition and safeguarding the heart. They can also pack a punch of protein, which helps keep the mind focused and productive throughout the day. The protein and unsaturated fats within these foods provide all the fuel your brain needs, without any of the unhealthy additives. The healthiest nuts and seeds for providing your brain a boost of power include hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, and peanuts.

4. Eggs

One of the smallest yet mightiest of foods, eggs are an excellent source of vitamins B12 and B6, as well as folic acid, calcium, and choline. These nutrients are responsible for creating new neurotransmitters in your body that regulate your mood, boosting your memory and problem-solving abilities, and warding off depression. The yolk of an egg is always the most nutrient-loaded, providing low-calorie fuel for powering your brain.

5. Green or Cruciferous Vegetables

Not just low in calories, green vegetables are loaded to the brim with almost everything your brain and body needs for success now and in the future. Green, leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, and collards are excellent sources of beta carotene, folate, vitamin K, and lutein, while cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower provide a vast array of fiber and other vitamins and minerals. All of the healthy nutrients are crucial to your nervous and digestive systems, both responsible for how you feel, emotionally and physically. The vegetables also provide protection against damage to your brain’s cells.

The way you live every day and the lifestyle choices you make can create both good and bad effects within your body and mind. It is important to understand the way your diet affects your mood, strength, endurance, focus, and memory, to help you succeed in being the best you possible. These 5 foods that improve memory and concentration can be added to your daily diet to help fortify your mental health, stay motivated, and reach any goal you set.