Eat Yourself Clever

Improve your memory with this new plate plan

- Kate Wills

Still bringing up that ‘A’ you got in Year 10 French? Oui. Make a point of letting everyone know when you get a question right on The Chase? Affirmative. But if that’s not you and you’re in need of a boost upstairs, we have some good news: clever cuisine. Eating for the brain, aka neuro-nutrition, is the hot new area researchers are keen to explore in the mind-food connection. It looks at the ways in which food affects how we think, feel and age. “The brain consumes an immense amount of energy in comparison with the rest of your body – about 25 per cent of our total energy expenditure,” explains Dr Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist and author of Think & Eat Yourself Smart. “Therefore, it makes sense that the transfer of energy from the foods you eat to neurons in the brain has a big impact, not only on its function but on how you behave. Clearly, there are huge implications to this – not only regarding what we feed growing minds in school but what you put on your plate every day.”

DOES MY BRAIN LOOK BIG IN THIS?

Let’s talk about fat for a minute, and how good it is as fuel for your brain cells. “The brain is your fattiest organ, at around 60 per cent fat,” says Leaf. “Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs), found in foods like oily fish, kiwifruit and walnuts, are the building blocks of brain cells and are integral to how fast a signal travels between them.” It’s why stringing a sentence together is difficult when you’re days into a low-fat diet. “Oily fish is an exceptional source of a particular omega-3 that is critical for brain function – docosahexaenoic acid (DHA),” adds Leaf. “In fact, low levels of DHA have even been linked with depression, premature brain ageing and Alzheimer’s.” Whoa!