By Michelle Pollard, LNHA, Care Center Administrator, Lutheran Hillside Village
If “you are what you eat” as the saying goes, how is your brain faring? Michelle Pollard, LNHA, Care Center Administrator at Lutheran Hillside Village, shares the following inside look on food and your brain’s health.
While we’ve always known that what we eat affects our body, we’re just now beginning to learn how food specifically affects our brains. The following five foods are personal favorites and are great for your brain.
Avocado
Although in the past they were incorrectly deemed as “too fatty,” avocados are breaking out with studies indicating that avocados supply fats that are good to our brains. Good fats? Yes! Omega-3 fatty acids are a form of polyunsaturated fat, and they’re arguably the closest you can get to a miracle food for the mind. Bring on that second bowl of guacamole!
Fish
It’s been found that those who eat fish have more gray matter within their brain. Why is gray matter so important? Gray matter gives us our information processing power to understand and react to what our senses are telling us. On top of that, fish, like avocados, offer a great supply of omega-3 fatty acids, which is concentrated in our brains and appears to be very important for cognitive functions. Salmon, trout, and halibut are a great way to get these nutrients.
Sunflower seeds
Eating them raw and unsalted provides Vitamin E, which plays a key role in protecting the membranes of your brain from free radicals.
These free radicals are groups of atoms that are incorrectly linked together and create damage to brain molecules. Sunflower seeds with their Vitamin E are able to safely mop away free radicals and are a healthy and easy snack that you can take on the go.
Red wine
Raise a glass to this news that drinking a glass of red wine every day can help keep your brain healthy. Red wine’s polyphenols remove protein plaques that accumulate in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, creating more consistent neurological movement within the brain.
Dark green veggies
Fiber, minerals, and vitamins can all be found in dark veggies — think kale, bok choy, collard greens, spinach, and broccoli. In one study, people who ate one to two servings a day of these veggies had the cognitive abilities of someone 11 years younger!
Lutheran Hillside Village offers Memory Care Assisted Living with caring and dedicated staff on hand to help with daily living and health monitoring as needed. Call Bridgette at 309-689-9605 for more information and to set up a personal tour.