Brain Food: Ingredients That Helps Develop and Sustain Brain Function
Eating brain food shouldn’t just be to encourage for development of their minds, better for school. It should also be for our grandparents who struggle to stay lucid so they can enjoy the fruits of their hard work while making worthwhile memories with their grandchildren. While many activities help improve and maintain brain function, the body still needs food to sustain the process. The best part is, some of this food is easy to find. Here are some foods that help improve and sustain brain function:
Salmon
Looks like our kids were on to something, gobbling all that salmon sashimi. Salmon has high omega-3 content, which is usually found in the belly or in the skin. The gelatinous thing we see whenever we enjoy Sinigang ng Salmon or a hearty, large, grilled salmon steak is where the omega-3 sometimes concentrates. Usually, the brain-building mineral is distributed throughout the fish.
However, if the family has a history of gout or high uric acid, then only have these in small portions.
Gingko Biloba
Often served as a tea, Gingko Biloba is known to encourage brain function. In some cases, it’s also known to boost memory. However, it does so in a different way from omega-3. By enhancing blood flow to the brain, Gingko Biloba makes us more active and vigilant. It somewhat stimulates the mind to process and perceive more information.
They usually sell Gingko Biloba as a mixed tea with other berries and fruits to make the taste more bearable. It’s available in health-oriented markets like Healthy Options.
Avocado
For those who love their Avocado toast or bowl of iced milky Avocado, that’s a good thing. Avocado is rich in healthy fats and lutein, which is useful for maintaining the brain cells’ (or neurons) ability to send messages to one another. Think of it like an electrical wire: the fat functions as the “rubber” surrounding the wire to prevent the electricity from escaping.
Avocados are also seasonal fruits and are usually abundant in September in the Philippines.
Eggs
It looks like we found the reason why omelettes, boiled eggs, and scrambled eggs will forever be a classic breakfast meal. Eggs contain a lot of minerals and vitamins that improve brain and cognitive function. It’s also a pretty versatile ingredient, often used as a binder, sauce, and many other things in dishes. The Chinese even enjoy it as a comfort food: scrambled eggs with tomatoes!
Walnuts
Although a bit on the pricy side, walnuts offer omega-3 similarly to salmon and avocado. They are also calorie-dense without the sugar, making them an ideal snack for people who have a family history of diabetes. It may be hard to find these, but they are worth the time and effort. However, if they’re not found in typical groceries, they usually are sold on online stores like Lazada and Shopee or healthy stores like Healthy Options and Heyday.
Kangkong
The humble local “sewer cabbage” or “water spinach” also has much to contribute. We eat this veggie in so many ways — often tossing it in adobo sauce, steaming with garlic or blanching and then eating with bagoong.
Kangkong offers antioxidants that help prevent the brain from suffering from oxidative damage (or damage caused by oxygen). It is a good source of folate, which is one of the crucial minerals for building and repairing neurons. As a green leafy vegetable, it even has fiber, which helps the intestines absorb nutrients better.
This brain food is usually very cheap, running at PHP 10.00 to PHP 20.00 a bundle. When cooking the veggie, make sure their color is still bright green. Any darker means it has lost some of its nutrients already.
How to add this into our kids’ baons or our grandparents’ meals
The easiest way to incorporate these ingredients is in pasta. Like kangkong leaves can be blended with malunggay, garlic, basil, and walnuts to make a nutrient-loaded pesto. Salmon can be the “protein” for said pasta.
Eggs are a common ingredient for omelettes, and kangkong can be shredded into pieces to make it into a Spinach Omelette. When cooked and seasoned right, and if our kids aren’t food critics, they wouldn’t notice the difference. Kangkong leaves, after being cooked for around three minutes or so, seem to have a “sea-like” taste which can be masked with cheese, garlic, and pepper.
However, the important part is making sure our kids and grandparents have these foods in their diet. While kids need the brain food to retain what they learn in school, grandparents need the food to make sure they stay lucid to make more memories.
More about food?
Canned Food Recipe Hacks: How to Easily Make Canned Food Good
