The Best Brain Foods And How They Work

As a struggling student, you can try alternative learning methods or extra tutorage, to see if you get better results. But who really has the time and resources for that? No, there is a possible solution that is much easier to embrace than any of that; eating ‘brain foods’. Here are seven foodstuffs that are considered to benefit the brain, and how exactly they are supposed to work:

1) Fish

We’ve all been told throughout our lives that fish is incredibly good for us. Fish, particularly salmon and tuna, is highly enriched with Omega-3 fatty acids. Our brain soon begins to degrade, and Omega-3 fatty acids are fundamental to help the growth and repair process of brain cells. Conclusion: students should eat more fish, ASAP.

2) Garlic

Substances as free radicals can enter our bloodstream and attack brain cells, as we get older. But fear not, because you can easily destroy these harmful substances with a commonly-found molecule in food, called an antioxidant. The greatest weakness to a vampire-and the bringer of very bad breath- garlic, contains an extremely high amount of antioxidants and is an absolute must for the diet of a student.

3) Eggs

Your brain is made up of neurons, and in order to function they rely on chemicals called “neurotransmitters.” The components of a neurotransmitter, such as tyrosine, are not always regularly produced by the body, and that’s where eggs come in. High in tyrosine, eggs will enrich the neurotransmitters in your body, leaving you feeling alert and able to concentrate for much longer periods of time. So, there is no reason to slack off from revising after your egg and soldiers.

4) Spinach

Pop-Eye may have taught you when you were younger, to believe spinach is good for improving your strength, but it is also of fantastic help to your brain. Although your brain relies heavily on sugar (glucose), it is important that your bloodstream does not deliver too much sugar to the brain all at once; the absorption process of fiber (found in spinach), forces your digestion to slow down, emitting the sugar to your bloodstream at a much more gradual pace. Your brain, therefore, is not overloaded with sugar and is able to work better and quicker. Who knew cartoons could be so helpful?

5) Peanuts

You can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that you shouldn’t feel guilty dipping your hand into the bowl of peanuts at the student bar. Well, not as guilty, because peanuts are still high in fat, but they are also high in Vitamin E, known to be very good for your brain. To be precise, Vitamin E helps improve the speed of neurological functions, allowing you to come up with those important answers quickly, as and when you need them.

6) Oranges

Vitamin C is the building block of all building blocks for your body – it drastically improves cell reconstruction, and invigorates your nervous system with dopamine and adrenaline. Widely known to be packed with Vitamin C, oranges can be very valuable to a student looking for improved brainpower, tackling those brain cells, and improving your concentration exponentially. So, grab an orange, eat it, sit down and then begin your work… just remember to wash your hands first, because eating an orange can get quite messy.

7) Cheese

Cheese can be very agreeable to the brain, because of the amount of calcium it contains. Signals are constantly being sent to the brain, and it is the job of the calcium ions, within a brain cell, to transmit the signal from the outside of the cell to the inside. Without the amount of calcium needed for this process, cells will become sluggish, and eventually become despondent altogether. Therefore, it is your responsibility, your duty, to eat all the cheese!

There you have it – eating lots of food, can be good for your brain. But, of course, motivating pupils to feel ready and able to work to the best of their ability, is something that cannot be altered by ‘brain foods’, alone. Much more book learnin’ has to be done, but healthy food is certainly a good place to start!