7 ways to eat to boost your brainpower, without taking supplements

In our recent pursuit to become smarter, faster, a new pharmaceutical market has been born for a type of supplement called ‘nootropics’. Also known as ‘smart drugs’, nootropic supplements promise to enhance your cognition function and supercharge your memory. Take a nootropic pill regularly, marketing claims suggest, and you’ll be able to learn new things, feel more motivated, have better memory recall and boosted concentration rates. Yet the sale of nootropic supplements raises one vital question: do we really need to be taking pills to boost our daily brain performance? “But, for the general population, I believe food should be our main source of our nutritional needs, for all situations including cognitive performance.” Melanie McGrice, a spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia , tells SBS that we don’t need to turn to pills for brainpower. We can boost our memory, concentration and mental performance by eating the right foods: nootropic foods. “Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule: people who are unable to meet their nutritional requirements because they’ve had gastrointestinal surgery, have a food allergy or intolerance, a specific illness or are pregnant,” says McGrice, an Accredited Practising Dietitian. “But, for the general population, I believe food should be our main source of our nutritional needs, for all situations including cognitive performance.” Here are nootropic foods – ‘smart foods’ – that McGrice recommends we eat to maximise our brain’s performance. 1. Caffeine You’ve probably already experienced how a cup of coffee or tea has boosted your mental alertness. But research also suggests that caffeine may be able to improve various memory types. A study conducted by researchers at John Hopkins University shows that caffeine enhances certain memories for at least 24 hours after it is consumed. The research, published by the journal Nature Neuroscience in […]

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