Eat to Keep Your Brain Sharp

By Editorial Staff

Cognitive decline – of all the "C's" related to health, it may generate the most fear except for the dreaded word cancer. After all, there's a sense you can fight cancer, go into remission, defeat it somehow; but what do you do when your brain starts to fail you? That's the fear most of us progressively develop as we age.

Back to our question: What can you do when your brain starts to fail you? Whether it's starting to fail, or you're interested in preventing (or at least delaying) it from failing in the first place, one answer lies in the foods you eat. The good news: according to new research, some of the foods that are beneficial might be a pleasant surprise.

We're talking about foods like cheese, red wine (and alcohol in general) and lamb, all of which appear to improve fluid intelligence – the ability to abstract problem solve without prior knowledge. Higher fluid intelligence is associated with lower risk of cognitive decline, whereas lower FI increases decline – and elevates the risk for the most common form of dementia: Alzheimer's disease. The latest study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggests daily alcohol and cheese intake, and weekly lamb intake, are effective in improving FI.

Cheese, red wine, lamb – sounds like the fundamentals of a gourmet meal to us. Who knew it could potentially help keep your brain sharp? But don't jump to conclusions: these foods might help, but so can a variety of other foods, suggests research:  whole grains, fish, nuts, etc. Click here for 10 foods you should be eating to promote brain health and reduce your risk of Alzheimer's – and five foods you should be avoiding.