You are What You Eat

Imagine your body is a car, if you only use your car on

the weekends then you will not have to put a lot of fuel

or oil into it, you will not have to replace the tiers very

often, the battery will last a longer, and so on. But if

you use your car fifteen hours a day then you will have

to put more fuel and oil into it and the tiers, battery,

lights, seats and engine will all wear- out quicker. If you

want to be an Athlete in the Olympics you will have to

eat the right foods to build your muscles and if you

want to be an Einstein you will have to put in different

foods to build your brain.

On

our new Eat This, Not That! Web site

, we rounded

up the best foods to munch/eat on when you need a

mental boost

—

and found studies that show, in fact,

that you can be up to

200 percent

more productive

if

you make the right eating choices. Stock up on these

items to, jog your memory, sharpen your senses,

improve your performance, activate your feel-good

hormones, and protect your quick-witted sharpness,

whether you’re 15, 40

years old.

WATER:

The Body’s

Most Important Nutrient.

Water is your body's most important nutrient, it is

involved in every bodily function, and makes up around

80% of your total body weight. Water helps you to

maintain body temperature,

helps

in digestion,

lubricates/oils

and cushions organs, transports nutrients,

and

flushes/wash-out

toxins from your body.

Everyone should drink at least 2 liters per day, and if

you exercise or are overweight, even more. Your

blood

is approximately 90% water and is responsible for

transporting nutrients and energy to muscles and for

taking waste from tissues.

Not enough of water will make a person get tired

quickly and have low concentration powers.

FOR SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Drink This!: COFFEE

Fresh-brewed coffee is the ultimate brain fuel. Caffeine

has been shown to

retard/slow

the aging process and

enhance short-term memory performance.

In one study, British researchers found that just one

cup of coffee helps improve attention and problem-

solving skills.

Naturally do not drink it before bedtime

and don’t drink

too much.

FOR LONG-TERM MEMORY

Eat This!: BLUEBERRIES

Antioxidants

in blueberries help protect the brain from

free-

radical damage and cut your risk of Alzheimer’s

and Parkinson’s diseases

when you get older. They

can also improve cognitive processing

(translation

thinking). Wild blueberries, if you can find them, have

even more brain- boosting antioxidants than the

cultivated variety.

Not That!: THE UNRIPE AND UNREADY

Here’s a cool tip: if your favorite berries are out of season,

buy them frozen. The freezer locks in peak flavor and

nutrients, so the

berries’ antioxidant capacity is maxed out.

Those pale, tough, and expensive off- season berries usually

ripen on a truck, rather than on the bush, so they’re

nutritional imposters compared to the real thing.

TO THINK FASTER

Eat This!: SALMON OR MACKEREL

So put salmon or mackerel on the grocery list. The

omega-3

fatty acids

found in fatty fishes are a primary/major building

block

of brain tissue, so they’ll

boost up your thinking power.

Salmon is also rich in niacin, which can help ward off

Alzheimer’s

disease and slow the rate of ageing.

Not That!: FULL-FAT ICE CREAM

Not all fats are created equal: Beware foods high in

saturated

fats

, which can clog blood vessels and prevent the flow of

nutrients and blood to the brain. Ice cream is not a brain-

health food.

TO ENERGIZE:

Eat This!: HIGH-PROTEIN SALAD WITH VINEGAR and

OLIVE OIL.

The oil in the dressing will help slow down digestion of

protein and carbohydrates in the salad, stabilizing blood-

sugar levels and keeping energy levels high. Build your

salad on a bed of green spinach for an added boost in

riboflavin, and add chicken and a hard- boiled egg for more

energizing protein.

For other tips on how to build the perfect salad, check out

the Eat This, Not That!

ultimate salad selector

.

TO CALM DOWN

Eat This!: LOW-FAT YOGURT OR MIXED NUTS

Yogurt and mixed nuts are some of the best food sources of

lysine; nuts pack loads of arginine which will make you alert

and quick thinking.

Not That!: SODA

A study from the American Journal of Public Health found

that people who drink 2? cans of soda daily are three times

more likely to be depressed and anxious, compared with

those who drink fewer. So Coca Cola is a Mental No No.

TO CONCENTRATE

Eat This!: PEPPERMINT TEA

The scent of peppermint helps you focus and boosts

performance, according to researchers. Need to reach

Chicago before nightfall, and you’r

e stuck in traffic around

Cleveland? One study found that peppermint makes drivers

more alert and less anxious.

Not That!: CANDY

Sugary foods incite sudden surges of glucose that, in the

long term, cause sugar highs and lows, leading to a fuzzy

state of

mind. So you’ll need to avoid all the attention

-

busting sugar bombs on this list of the

20 most sugar-

packed foods in America

.

FOR GOOD MOODS AND SMILES

Eat This! ARUGULA OR SPINACH SALAD

Leafy greens

—

arugula, chard, spinach

—

are rich sources of

B vitamins, which are key components on the assembly line

that manufactures feel-good hormones such as serotonin,

dopamine, and nor-epinephrine. According to a study

published in the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, a lack of

B6

can cause nervousness, irritability, and even depression.

Not That!: WHITE CHOCOLATE

White chocolate isn’t chocolate at all, since it conta

ins no

cocoa solids. So it won’t stimulate the euphoria

-inducing

mood boosters like serotonin, as real chocolate does. Grab

the real thing, the

darker

the

better

. More cacao means

more happy chemicals and less sugar, which will eventually

pull you down

.

FOR SHARPER SENSES

Eat This!: 1 TBSP OF GROUND FLAXSEED DAILY

Flax is the best source of , or ALA

—

alpha linolenic

healthy

fat that improves the workings of the cerebral cortex, the

area of the brain that processes sensory information,

including that of pleasure. To meet your quota, sprinkle it on

salads or mix it into a smoothie or shake.