5 Secret Brain Foods to Accelerate your Learning

Written by Oklahoma DaVinci scholar, Director of Launch Academy, and University Guest Speaker

Pst! I got a secret. You want number-crunching, vocab-spitting super brain food?

Ok, perhaps the imagery of your brain spitting isn’t the most attractive but read on and I guarantee it’ll be worth your while!

Most students (and people in general) fill their precious think tank with so much funky junky food and then wonder why they feel like they’re in a fog all day! It’s cuz you put yourself there, dummie!

why would keep your brain in such a fog??

Thankfully, you are no dummy, and if you make it a habit to use these brain-boosting foods, you’ll be jumping over school topics like an olympic athlete!

1) ORANGES:

Which came first, the color or the fruit? I will let you ponder this profundity. Either way, this citrus delight gives your brain a jolt of honest-to-goodness glucose (or
sugar), which is basically pure brain fuel! Glucose is your body’s natural fuel for powering the brain’s functions but it normally has to convert all the other food you eat into it before being able to use it. By eating oranges and other sweet fruits, you’re essentially accelerating the process and accelerating your learning.

2) FISH:

Ok, hear me out here. I know a lot of people don’t like fish, but, really, if you can eat some fish it will change your life. Loaded with the famous omega-3 fatty acids (which are essentially for building connections in your brain), fish has been shown to improve long-term memory – a much appreciated commodity come testing time!

If you really can’t stomach the aquatic goodness, at least take fish oil vitamins. They have brands that don’t taste like fish and they’ve even found that mothers who took it prenatally had children with higher IQs.

3) BLUEBERRIES:

It’s a good day for rats! After performing several blueberry experiments on them, scientists found that significantly improved both the learning and muscle function of aging rats, making them mentally equal to much younger rats. Imagine what that means for you!

Blueberries make your brain young AND provide with a nice supply of glucose and fiber (plus protect you from cancer – a nice bonus). Blueberries are the triple-power brain booster. If you can only eat one fruit, eat these!

4) CAFFEINE (yes, I know it’s not a food):

Starbucks-aholics unite! Studies have shown that your all-time favorites of coffee, chocolate, and energy drinks can energize and help you focus and concentrate. Caffeine gives you that unmistakable wake-up buzz — though the effects are short term. But don’t overdo it on caffeine – it can make you jittery and uncomfortable. Also, loading your coffee with a hill of whip cream and artificial sweetener is only going to give you a sugar high that’ll send you crashing later.

5) OATMEAL:

If you’re on the Atkins diet, I’m sorry but oatmeal is still amazing! Up there with oranges, oatmeal’s glucose is easily absorbed by the body for brain power and also oatmeal digests slowly, meaning it provides a more consistent stream of glucose as it’s getting broken down. Add a little honey on top and combine with orange juice, and you’ve got a recipe for a
lean, mean, learning powerhouse machine!

Now, most of these sound like breakfast items and they purposefully are! Eating breakfast has been shown to SIGNIFICANTLY (let me say that again. SIGNIFICANTLY) increase brain alertness and learning ability. This isn’t just a good idea, people, it’s science! Eat breakfast, eat the 5 items above, stay active during the day, and your body and brain will be like a jet plane in your classroom!

STAY SMART.
Dominick