5 Nutrients That Can Help Your Brain Thrive

It’s no surprise that your brain controls everything in your life. Work, relationships, emotions— they all depend on your brain and how it’s functioning. Feeding your brain the right food and upgrading it can improve your entire world.

Seriously. Your brain creates the fabric of your entire reality and therefore the energy that your brain runs off of will shape your reality. Your brain thrives off of certain nutrients— some that are hard to come by in a regular modern diet— but with a little tender love and care you can strengthen your neurons and prevent aging.

Here are some of the best brain foods to help you thrive.

Choline For Mental Endurance And Attention

Choline is the primary building block for acetylcholine which is a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in attention, learning, memory, and motivation. You use a lot of acetylcholine during mentally-taxing tasks and choline helps you create more so you can work harder and longer. Choline has also been linked to decreasing inflammation in the brain.

The best sources of choline are chicken liver, egg yolks, and grass-fed beef liver. Eat your egg yolks as runny as possible to get the maximum amount of nutrients. Take 250-500 mg daily in the morning.

Vitamin D for Anti-Aging and Inflammation

Vitamin D is no doubt one of the best brain foods you could consume. It is a substrate for estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and other hormones. It also acts on over 1,000 different genes. It influences brain calcium absorption and can decrease inflammation. Therefore Vitamin D has been linked to slowing down brain aging and stronger cognitive function.

Vitamin D is important enough that your body can produce it on its own if you get enough sunlight. But you can also find it in grass-fed liver. You can also take a supplement to add more to your diet. Take 5,000-10,000 IU daily in the morning.

Methyl B12 And Methylfolate For DNA Repair

Methyl B12 and methylfolate work together to control methylation reactions that are responsible for repairing your DNA and regenerating your brain cells. You have about three times as much methylfolate in the fluid around your brain and spine (cerebral fluid) as you do in your blood, making it a very important brain food. Methylfolate works hard to repair DNA mutations and maintain nerve connections.

B12 and folate are particularly important in anti-aging. An imbalance of the two can cause one or both to decrease rapidly resulting in decreased brain function and even depression. You can take supplements or consume grass-fed liver on a regular basis to get enough B12 and folate. Take 5,000 mcg methyl B12 and 800 mcg methyl folate daily with food.

Polyphenols For Neuroprotection And Cognition

Polyphenols are a type of brightly colored antioxidant. They are the primary reason that colorful foods like green tea, raspberries, blueberries, red cabbage, cacao, and coffee are considered brain foods. Polyphenols are powerful neuroprotectors. They shield your brain from free radical damage and stress. They are one of the most effective brain foods when it comes to boosting your brain’s resilience. Polyphenols also slow down aging and enhance learning and memory.

There are many different types of brain-enhancing polyphenols. You would have to eat a wide range of plants to consume them all. While you should certainly try to eat a plethora of plants in your diet you can also take a supplement to help. Take 1,00mg/day in the morning.

Final Thoughts

Many of these brain foods will not appear in a normal everyday diet. Though you should strive to eat a well-balanced diet with lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains it is okay to supplement when necessary. You may have noticed that grass-fed liver contained four out of the five nutrients listed. That’s because organ meats are exceptionally nutrient-dense and will make a great addition to your diet if you can tolerate them.