How to Improve Your Memory and Concentration With the Right Food

Improve Your Memory Through Food Yes, you can speedread and mindmap every subject you are reading/learning, but if you don’t have the energy to start, then it’s going to be a long and heavy road. When I was still at Uni, I was totally amazed by how much food I could eat. And most of it was things that nowadays I’d call non-live-food. You know the stuff I mean right? The cheap and convenient foods that give you that instant sugar rush. Things like chocolate bars and fizzy sodas. You can study pretty effectively for the next hour or so on those, and then you start to feel pretty tired again. Actually, you start to feel even more tired than you were before.

“But why is this?” You ask. Well, I wondered the same thing which is why I did a lot of research into the ways that food your affects your brain.

Food for Your Mind

There really has been a lot written about the effects of food on your brain and your memory. When I was first browsing the internet, I came across many articles about things like super food. Most of them immediately recommended a few items which I could simply add to my grocery list. Eat more spinach, broccoli, and berries was the standard advice. I, on the other hand, think that it’s important to start with the fundamentals, and to give you a strong and solid foundation on which you can easily build. Don’t worry though, I will get to those super foods in another post.

You Are What You Eat

This little phrase is something that has always stuck with me. I used to say it out loud to myself whenever I had a food based decision to make and it always inspired me, or maybe even scared me into making the right choices. Well, over time I also developed a little phrase of my own, not so catchy maybe, but equally as thought provoking … “You are what you digest”. You see, whatever it is that you eat or drink, the digested parts will always have a direct influence on the biochemistry of your body. Moreover, this biochemistry defines the very functioning of your brain. And so the simple truth is, that if you’re feeding your body on its optimum fuel, then your mind is going to be performing at its optimum level. Just ask the acclaimed life coach and sports motivator, Tony Robbins, he calls energy “the fuel of excellence”, and he calls it so because he believes a good physical state and healthy biochemistry are crucial if you want to fulfill your potential.

Super Charge Your Brain

Your brain is composed of lipids, proteins and water. It uses more of your body’s energy than any other organ. According to the Daily Mail, it also uses around one fifth of your daily calorie intake. It needs a plentiful supply of glucose and oxygen in order to function at its best. So how do you get the best quality fuel for it? How do you super charge your brain?

First Principle: Oxygen to Detox Your Brain

what to eat to improve your memory

The simple act of breathing ensures that two things will happen:

Oxygen and nutrients are transported through your bloodstream to your organs.
Toxins and other waste materials are disposed of by your lymph system; which is essentially your body’s sewage department.

Your lymph fluid circulates around your body when you’re breathing deeply and moving your muscles. This is in contrast to your blood, which is helped around your body by the pumping of your heart. Oxygen is needed for combustion. Without enough oxygen you feel sleepy, but with too much oxygen you might feel light headed, and your short term memory is going to be pretty bad if that happens. This is because the nitrogen level in your blood declines when the oxygen level is too high, as a result of this your pH level will also drop and your neurons will become easily irritated by the increase in acidity.

Tip 1. Power-breathing Through Your Belly Three Times a Day

By breathing through your belly instead of through your lungs, a method also known as ‘deep diaphragmatic breathing’, you will inhale more oxygen and use up more of your nitrogen. In this way you will be able to provide all your organs, and especially your brain, with enough fuel to super-charge them. Do this type of breathing in a slow and controlled way, and pay attention to the upward and downward movements of your belly. You’ll soon find out that if you do this when you’re stressed you will become relaxed, and if you do this when you’re tired you will feel energized and more alive again. I like to do it at least three times a day, no matter how I’m feeling. By doing so, I know that my body is getting just the right amount of oxygen and getting rid of just the right amount of toxins. I started out with just the formula below, it’s enough to expand your current lung capacity and to make your breathing more effective. But if you want to super-power the process and to expand them even more, then just add on another second every time you do the exercise. Just remember to listen to your body, and stop right where it tells you to.

Close your mouth and breathe in through your nose. Do this for 5 seconds.
Hold your breath in for a further 20 seconds (4 times the inhalation time).
Exhale through your mouth. Make the exhalation period last for 10 seconds (2 times the inhalation time).

Tip 2. Do Aerobic or Yoga Exercise Every Day

Aerobic exercises are also known as ‘exercise with air’. This doesn’t mean you need the outside air, or that you need to be close to a fan. But it does mean that the exercise requires deep breathing. In fact, you don’t even have to do yoga to reap the benefits. You could just run, or swim. As long as you can have a normal conversation while you’re doing so, and not be out of breath, then the exercise is an aerobic one.

Second Principle: Water as a Main Component of Your Brain

water to improve your memory 60 per cent of your body is made up of water, but for your brain that figure is 75 per cent. Replenishing enough of your supply is therefore crucial if both are to perform to their optimum. Signs that you don’t have enough water, and that you are ‘dehydrated’, include headaches, diminished levels of concentration, and problems with your short term memory.

Tip 3. Drink Water Until Your Urine is Almost Colorless

And by ‘water’ I mean the good stuff, the pure stuff. No sodas, tea, coffee, beer, wine, or other alcoholic beverages. Alcohol, for a start, is a ‘diuretic’ which means it will make you go to the bathroom … a lot. This will lead to excessive water loss and you’ll end up feeling even more dehydrated. Instead you should aim to drink a lot of water, and more than 1.5 liters of it when it’s hot or when you’ve just exercised. But don’t forget to get your minerals/electrolytes too, as too much water will flush too many of these minerals from your body.

Tip 4. Eat Food Thats Contains a Lot of Water Some of the more holistic health practitioners discourage the drinking of many forms of water. This is because toxins like chlorine and fluoride can be found in most of them. They would advise you to drink only distilled water, but I’ve read that the plastic bottles excrete small levels of toxins. My advice is simply to check what you’re drinking before drowning yourself in it! But alternatively, eating enough water-rich food will also give your body all the water that it needs. In fact, it is probably the most beneficial way to do so.

Water rich foods are fruits and vegetables. So next time you feel like a snack, just pick up a piece of fruit instead of a chocolate bar, and a salad instead of a Maccy D’s . Of course, you can drink the juice from your fruits and vegetables as well! See the many posts on juicing for further tips and examples.

Third Principe: Complex Carbohydrates as a Stable Source of Brain Fuel

complex carbs to boost your memory The cells in your body need glucose to function. Glucose is derived from complex or simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates, such as that found in vegetables and starch, are broken down slower than the simple carbohydrates. This leads to a slower increase of the glucose levels in your blood. As a result, the glucose levels in your blood will remain stable for a longer period of time and their declines are less severe. Simple carbohydrates, on the other hand, cause a quick increase of the blood sugar level, which in turn demands that your pancreas works harder to supply enough insulin to lower it again. This causes you to feel fatigued as your blood sugar level is now lower than it should be.

Tip 5. Keep Your Blood Sugar Level Stable to Provide Enough and Constant Energy for Your Cells

You can do this by consuming complex carbohydrates. These can be found in vegetables, fruit, starch, brown rice, buckwheat, beans, sprouts, peas, and lentils. “But what about whole grain bread?” You might ask. “After all, a ‘brown’ bread sandwich is a healthy option, isn’t it?” It’s true, whole grains do contain complex carbohydrates but they also contain gluten which is hard for us to digest. But if you do feel the ‘healthy’ urge to eat whole grains, eat them as they are found in nature and not processed in your bread. Also, avoid simple carbohydrates which are found in sugar, honey, syrup, sodas, white bread, corn, non-fresh fruit juices, chocolate, candy, and pastry.

Fourth Principle: Unsaturated Lipids as an Essential Building Block For Your Brain

how omega's can boost your memory and conentration Did you know that a great part of your brain consists of lipids (fat)? Lipids are an essential part of the insulation cap (myelin sheath), which is wrapped around the axons of your neurons and ensures the quickest possible transport of electrical signals. Lipids also serve us as a reserve source of energy. It’s important, however, to differentiate your good lipids from your bad lipids. The bad ones are saturated lipids and trans-fats which cause your blood to clog. Saturated fats are mostly derived from animals, and trans fats are produced through the heating of monounsaturated fats. You can easily recognize the bad lipids since they are solidified at room temperature. The good ones are unsaturated lipids which are found in some vegetables and greasy fish. Omega 3, for example. I get my daily dose of omega 3 by adding Hemp oil to my salads.

Tip 6. Viva la Omega’s

Make sure you’re getting enough of your unsaturated lipids. You can do this by eating nuts, seeds, and kernels such as linseed, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, and sunflower seed. I always have a box of nuts by my side while I’m studying, and I mix my seeds into my salads or my homemade muesli. You can also add natural oils, like hemp or olive oil, to your food. But don’t heat these monounsaturates as they’ll turn into trans-fats. You should further avoid the saturated lipids which are found in meat, butter, and whole milk, as well as the trans fat; a staple ingredient of fast food and highly processed snacks such as crisps and cookies. Other, more natural ways to get your omega’s are via flaxseed, hempseed or chia seeds; which can be found either in oil form or as a ground meal.

Fifth Principle: Food to Avoid

Being a raw vegan, it’s very hard for me to eat food that will clog my system. But as long as more than 80 per cent of your food is raw organic live food, then your brain and body will be working at its full capacity too. The other 20 per cent of your processed food must not contain:

– Any soda, coffee or tea, except herbal tea (preferably of the white or green variety).
– Food that is hard-to-digest, all meat products, for example.
– White products, like white bread, white pasta, white cookies, etc….
– Anything with sugar in it.

Tip 7. Eating Before Bedtime

This is something I got from the Tim Ferriss book: The 4-Hour Body. Tim tells us that if we don’t eat anything before bedtime then by the time we’re in the last hours of our sleep, our blood sugar level drops and our sleep becomes restless. He gives us his recommendations too, but I swapped out his recipes and added something more conducive to my own vegan lifestyle:

Each night before bed, I will eat 1 whole avocado with some Himalayan salt and half of a squeezed lemon as its topping. I will accompany this with 3 Brazil nuts (because they contain the highest known source of selenium, which helps in the night time production of testosterone).

For Further Reading About How to Eat to Improve Your Brain, I Recommend:

[amazon_link id=”0684845776″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Unlimited Power, Chapter 10 Energy: The Fuel of Excellence, by Anthony Robbins[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id=”1591202590″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]New Optimum Nutrition for the Mind: Expanded & Updated, by Patrick Holford[/amazon_link]
[amazon_link id=”0060984406″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Your Miracle Brain: Maximize Your Brainpower, Boost Your Memory, Lift Your Mood, Improve Your IQ and Creativity, Prevent and Reverse Mental Aging, by Jean Carper[/amazon_link]