Food for Thought: How Healthy Eating Makes You Smarter

Omega-3 oils from fish have been touted for years as good for the brain; the Economist writes that it is just the tip of the nutritional iceberg.

"Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a fish-loving professor of neurosurgery and physiological science at the University of California, Los Angeles, believes that appropriate changes to a person’s diet can enhance his cognitive abilities, protect his brain from damage and counteract the effects of ageing. Dr Gómez-Pinilla has been studying the effects of food on the brain for years, and has now completed a review, just published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, that has analysed more than 160 studies of food’s effect on the brain. Some foods, he concludes, are like pharmaceutical compounds; their effects are so profound that the mental health of entire countries may be linked to them."

The article discusses folic acid-"ward off the cognitive decline that accompanies ageing."

anti-oxidants-"reckoned by many to protect against the general effects of ageing."

berries-"These have been shown to have strong antioxidant effects"

and of course, Omega 3. "improved learning and memory, and resistance to depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, attention-deficit disorder and dyslexia."

Good eating in the EconomistGood eating in TreeHugger:Organic Milk Really is Healthier rGreen Eyes On: Hemp, RevisitedOn Giving Up Salmon for Sardines On Planet Green:How Much is Enough to Eat?Eat Like Michael Pollan : Nutrition Vegetables Cook with Foods that Fight Cancer: SeaweedCook with Foods that Fight Cancer: Flax Seeds