Calling all you real estate agents who are too busy to eat a proper meal, eat in your cars, or skip eating altogether. Your brain health is at stake here. According to CNN, 8.8 million people ages 65 and above will develop a degenerative brain disease. It’s time for you to pay attention to eating some, if not all, of these fruits and vegetables on a regular basis because these foods can help safeguard your future brain health.
Of course, there are several proactive steps you can take to help safeguard your brain health and, of course, you’ve heard them all before: exercise daily, keep your mind active with mentally challenging and/or stimulating activities, and eat to maintain and protect your health. Here is a list of 8 fruits and vegetables that ought to be on your “to eat” list, and more than half of them are easily portable:
- Blueberries – Tufts University just reported its findings on a study entitled Blueberries May Reduce Memory Loss. This study indicates that blueberries improve short term memory and may reverse neurological function deficits. Blueberries are also rich in cancer fighting antioxidants. If you’re worried about calories (1 serving of blueberries has 13g of sugar), and/or diabetes/hypoglycemia is an issue for you, split your daily serving of blueberries into 2 snacks.
- Tomatoes – Psychology Today says that tomatoes help give the brain its ability to fight inflammation. Tomatoes, loaded with carotenoids, help protect the necessary fat required in the brain to function properly.
- Broccoli – Is it a superfood? Perhaps it is because broccoli contains good amounts of Vitamin C, choline, Vitamins K and folic acid. All these elements improve memory and help ward off Alzheimer’s and depression.
- Avocado – Avocados contain monounsaturated fat, crucial for healthy blood flow. Avocados also reduce the risk of hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and help brains stay strong.
- Celery – This crunchy vegetable contains a good amount of flavonoids, especially luteolin. Luteolin, according to the Huffington Post, helps combat neurological diseases.
- Spinach – Just like broccoli, spinach contains good amounts of Vitamin K. Chicago’s Rush University found that eating spinach daily provides people 65 years and up with the same level of mental clarity and cognitive skills as non-spinach eaters 10 years younger.
- Carrots – If you don’t like celery, eat carrots. If you like them both, eat them both as both have luteolin which staves off memory loss and helps reduce brain inflammation.
- Apples – Yes, an apple a day really is good for you but make sure you eat the skin because the skin is where the quercetin, an anti-inflammatory, lives. In addition to the quercetin, apples have free radicals that attack and help prevent cognitive decline. Apples are also great for reducing the risks of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and hypertension.
