Healthy Foods for a Healthy Memory

You can have a powerful memory through your diet. Digesting very nutritious foods can help develop not only a healthy body, but also a healthy brain. Each and every cell in our body, including our brain cells, needs consistent supply of oxygen and nutrients to function properly. These very important substances are being distributed to the brain through the bloodstream. Anything that interrupts blood flow leads to brain cell starvation resulting to cognitive malfunction and memory loss.

For optimal brain health, you should check your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. You have to know your numbers and if they are elevated, immediately do something to bring them down. You can do exercises, eat a healthy diet, and if your doctor prescribes you medication, take it.

Researchers have shown that eating the right kinds of food can really enhance or boost your memory capacity. Here are some foods that you can include in your diet to keep your memory healthy and sharp.

1. A healthy heart makes for a healthy brain. To lower down cholesterol levels, eat oatmeal, oat bran and high fiber foods. Oatmeal has soluble fiber that reduces your bad cholesterol or low-density lipoproteins. Bad cholesterol can accumulate in the walls of the arteries forming a plaque that would further result in obstruction of blood flow. This condition is called atherosclerosis. If the obstruction affects the brain, then memory loss is most likely to happen. Soluble fiber can also be found in foods such as apples, pears, prunes, barley and kidney beans. Olive oil is good too. It also lowers bad cholesterol.

2. Eat foods rich with antioxidants. Antioxidants are elements that destroy harmful free-radicals which are natural byproducts of our body. Antioxidants also prevent brain cell damage which is essential for long-term memory function. Foods rich on antioxidants are strawberries, blueberries, red grapes, peaches, carrots, watermelon, tomatoes, and green leafy vegetables.

3. Vitamin B6 and B12 enriched foods are important also. Examples are soy beans, eggs, shrimps, yeast, walnuts and dairy products. Vitamin B helps keep an amino acid called homocysteine at a healthy level. High homocysteine levels can lead to increased risk of Alzheimer's and a faster rate of brain shrinkage in the elderly.

4. Have fish oil and Omega 3 in your diet. Fish is rich with Omega 3, a very important fatty acid that lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of developing blood clots inside the arteries. Omega 3 cannot be produced by the body so that is why we need to consume foods that are rich with this fatty acid. It is recommended by doctors to eat at least two servings of fish a week.

5. Folate, also known as folic acid, can improve your memory. Studies show that people eating lots of foods rich in folic acid had faster information processing and memory recall. Foods rich in folate include fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, broccoli, wheat germ, lentils, black-eyed peas, green peas, soybeans, spinach, artichokes, beets and oranges.

A powerful memory can have numerous benefits. But in order to achieve that, you must eat the right foods. You lose brain cells when you age. But if you take care of yourself and eat the right foods, you can keep your memory at its full capacity.