Six Foods For The Brain That Improve Productivity

It is essential to supply the brain with the right nutrients since our work nowadays mainly consists of mental work. Nutrients, vitamins, and minerals directly influence the brain cells and, thus, the brain functions. But they also affect our mood, concentration, and performance. Eating the right foods will help protect your brain from disease in the long term.

The right carbohydrates

Even if our brain only occupies an average of two percent of our body weight, it consumes around 20 percent of the calories we consume every day. Therefore, our brain needs the most energy, in the form of sugar, or glucose, and fats.

To stay fit throughout the day, you should start eating long-chain carbohydrates at breakfast. You can find long-chain carbohydrates in whole grain products, oatmeal, potatoes, vegetables, and fruits.

Fat

Fats are essential sources of energy. Omega-3 fatty acids found in nuts, high-fat fish, and vegetable oils play an important role in brain functions.

Proteins

Proteins are vital for the flow of information in the brain. They ensure that information is quickly transferred from one cell to another. Besides fish and seafood, good protein sources are lean dairy products, lean meat, legumes, whole grains, and nuts.

Fruits

A good source of vitamins is fruit. Fruits have all the vitamins that our body needs, including vitamin C and B. These vitamins, are essential for regeneration and performance. They strengthen the immune system and provides the body with energy. As a small snack, fruit ensures a balanced blood sugar level and provides long-term energy for the body and brain, and increases productivity.

Six foods you should include in your diet

So our diet has a greater effect on our performance than we think. To increase your productivity in the long term and accelerate the processing of information in your brain, you should ensure a varied, balanced diet. We have put together six foods that you should include in your diet.

Water

According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are made up of 73% water. While most people know the importance of drinking enough water, many are unaware of dehydration's real consequences. Dehydration is one of the primary triggers of headaches, makes it difficult to concentrate, and can make people feel hungry.

Water is critical to a good flow of information as it enables oxygen to be transported to power the brain. Drinking enough water is probably the easiest and healthiest trick to keep your mental performance stable and stay fit in high mental stress phases. Drink at least three liters a day, and make sure you carry a water bottle whenever you're going out.

Nuts

Nuts are full of vitamins B and E, minerals, antioxidants, and the neurotransmitter choline. The vitamin E contained in nuts protects the vessels in the brain and keeps them from calcification. B vitamins are good for the nerves and enable better responsiveness and motor skills.

They also prevent nervousness and lack of concentration, for example. Magnesium, which is mainly found in cashew and Brazil nuts, prevents stress and aggression and ensures a regulated protein and carbohydrate metabolism.

Avocado

Avocados provide the brain and nerves with plenty of energy and lift the mood. They are rich in vitamins B1, B6, vitamin E, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, and lecithin. Lecithin protects the brain cells and increases concentration.

Avocados also contain unsaturated fatty acids, which promote blood flow to the brain. Unsaturated fatty acids improve thinking, working, memory and learning and even influence the brain's size and brain cells. They also ensure that the abundant vitamins in the avocado can be better absorbed. The high-fiber carbohydrates also have a positive effect on the entire organism and make you feel full.

Green tea

Green tea contains numerous valuable ingredients that protect the brain from degradation and decay, among other things.

Drinking green tea increases concentration, memory, and alertness. For example, the caffeine in green tea has a longer-lasting effect than caffeine in coffee or black tea.

A study published in the journal "Molecular Nutrition & Food Research" revealed an active ingredient in green tea called EGCG (Epigallocatechin-3-gallate). According to the study, this antioxidant contributes to the formation of new brain cells to the strengthening of memory and spatial learning.

Banana

Banana is a quick supplier of energy and puts you in a good mood. The fruit can do this because of the amino acid tryptophan it contains, which is converted by the brain into the happiness hormone serotonin. Bananas make you happy and are healthier than chocolate, which is said to have a similar effect.

Banana also has one of the highest glucose levels among the various types of fruit, which increases the brain's performance. Glucose is an important energy source that ensures that blood sugar levels remain constant, preventing tiredness and exhaustion.

Broccoli

Green vegetables are full of iron, chlorophyll, vitamins C and E, which are considered free radical scavengers. To be able to work, the brain needs enough oxygen. However, the resulting free radicals can damage brain cells. Green vegetables are, therefore, ideally suited to protect the brain cells from these free radicals.

Broccoli also contains ingredients that have been proven to counteract degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and are therefore even used in medicines.