16 fruits and vegetables for a sharper memory
While vitamins and supplements are essential to Limitless physiology, our bodies are designed to pull nutrients from organic fruits and vegetables.
So it really is essential to eat in-season, locally-grown foods along with supplements to feed our minds everything that they need. Vegetables and fruit are packed with antioxidant vitamins along with minerals and fiber. Experts urge you to eat as much and as many fruits and veggies as you can pack in — 10 servings if you want. A serving is one whole fruit or vegetable, a half-cup cooked, or 1 cup raw greens.
Psychology Today encouraged readers to think about color when browsing the produce aisle at the grocery store. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are high in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.
A lot of the foods below are rich in the phytochemical anthocyanin.
Anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables are usually red, purple, or blue. Anthocyanin is a great thing to put in your body; not only does it boost memory, but it’s also an antioxidant that fights cancer, aging, neurological diseases, inflammation, diabetes, and bacterial infections. Interestingly, phytochemicals benefit our mind and body synergistically in whole food form. This means that the benefits from the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, when consumed in whole form, are greater than the sum of their parts. It has not been conclusively proven that we can get anthocyanin and the needed phytochemicals from supplements, so it’s necessary to eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.
Tip: If you don’t have the time, patience, or expertise to prepare fruits and vegetables for consumption make a healthy shake with a blender. Add your protein, your whole food fruits and vegetables (make sure to eat the skin as well), and blend away! Blending whole foods is superior to juicing. Juicing isn’t bad for you but it removes a lot of the important nutrients.
Blueberries — Are shown to do wonderful things for the memory and the brain in general. Old rats that are fed blueberries score the same on memory tests as young rats. Also, they make a great, healthy snack! A reminder; the purpose of berries in our ancestral diet was actually to fatten us up before winter, as explained in The Plant Paradox by Dr. Gundry, don’t eat berries year-round unless you want to end up looking like Santa Claus!
Acai Berries — With proven ORAC antioxidant levels higher than any other berry ever tested, Acai’s unique combination of health properties makes it a true superfood for the brain and body. Interestingly, it also contains omega-3 — an essential fatty acid for the brain.
Pomegranate — Pomegranates contain a blueberry-like level of antioxidants, which your brain craves. An excellent way to fend off stress. Opt for the fruit over the juice so you get more fiber.
Rosemary — contains carnosic acid which is neuroprotective and helps prevent neurodegenerative brain conditions. Rosemary has for millennia been known to improve brain power, in fact, Greek mythology associates it with powers of the mind. Rosemary is also an anti-aging agent for the transhumanists out there. Some studies have shown that the scent of rosemary can improve memory in workers so you may want to keep some by your desk — take a whiff in the morning!
Avocado — Contains protein and monounsaturated fat that helps blood circulate faster to the brain. Avocado and eggs make for a Limitless power breakfast.
Bananas — Contain about a third of your daily Vitamin B6 needs. B6 is essential to cognition, memory, and the feel-good hormones’ receptivity.
Apples — Red apples contain a high amount of anthocyanins in their skin and quercetin which is also a brainpower phytochemical.
Spinach — Spinach boosts memory thanks to its folic acid. A half-cooked cup of spinach provides two-thirds of your daily folic acid requirement.
Onions — Red onions are another good source of anthocyanin and quercetin. Onions have been used as a folk remedy for improving memory in India for centuries.
Broccoli — Broccoli is a good source of quercetin and folic acid.
Red Beets — More quercetin and folic acid.
Cherries — Another red food that is a good source of anthocyanin.
Eggplant — Another source of anthocyanin and nasunin, an antioxidant that protects the lipids in brain cell membranes.
Curcumin — Spice used in India, elevates neurotrophic factors, helps with depression and memory deficits.
Garlic — Get ready to repel vampires with your fire breath! If you can stand it, fresh garlic is one of the most potent nutritional weapons in your arsenal. It does a Rockstar job on your cardiovascular system in addition to giving your brain more antioxidants. Avoid: chopped or peeled garlic as it has no nutritional benefits.
Grapes — Red, purple, and black grapes contain quercetin and anthocyanin. Red wine contains a lot of good phytochemicals but more than a glass day may negate the effects — Dry Farm Wines in California offers truly organic biodynamic “healthy” wine.
So getting more of these delightfully colorful plants will at least maintain your memory BUT don’t expect them to enable Limitless-like memory recall — for that you something more than anthocyanins. Namely…
- SuperMemo — This free “flashcard learning” app is powered by an algorithm that hacks your forgetfulness.
- Dual N-Back Pro — 15 minutes a day of brain training with this app will upgrade your IQ and working memory which is crucial to the reconstitution of memory and semantic recall.
- Nootropics — Or “smart drugs” feed your brain precise formulations of nutrients, vitamins, and, yes, drugs to unleash brainpower.
Stack these memory “Biohacks” and you’ll surprise yourself with how much you can learn and recall effortlessly!
