Healthy Mind, Healthy Body 9 Foods to Improve Your Mental Health

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The Mental Health Month is right here. We need to spread awareness and break the stigmas associated with mental health conditions. It’s good time to cover some foods that could help improve the mental health.

You may already be knowing that dark chocolate can decrease blood pressure, boost insulin resistance, and protect the heart. But you’ll be more than excited to know about latest studies claim that eating dark chocolates can also improve the mental health.

Dark chocolate with 70% cacao has been known to reduce stress and rejuvenate your mood and memory. It also helps reduce inflammation and boosts immunity. So, chocolate lovers have another reason to feast on those chocolates but there are other foods also that help in development of brain. Therefore, add these super foods to improve the health of your mental systems.

Blueberries

These are packed with polyphenolics and antioxidants. This helps in improving concentration and boosting memory. They also help protected against age related conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia. This is because these prevent the accumulation of toxins in the brain resulting in clarity in thoughts.

Tea

Both black tea and green tea are rich in antioxidants that prevent decline in cognitive abilities and loss of memory. Further it also improves the reaction time and boosts mood. Black tea is known to calm the nervous system which boosts concentration and memory. Thus, it improves mental health.

Pomegranates

Pomegranates and its juice are among the top foods for boosting mental health. Not only do they protect you from Alzheimer’s but also protect the liver and kidneys, enhance the immune system, and reduce allergies. Thus, they are essential for the overall wellness.

Walnuts

These have omega-3 fatty acids and polyunsaturated fats. Walnuts promote mental health. Studies say that just about a handful of walnuts can improve concentration, memory, and cognition. It also has vitamin E which prevents against mental decline in older adults.

Sage

Generally, people don’t opt for herbs as the first few methods of disease prevention, but it helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Sage prevents damage to genetic material and activates DNA repair in damaged cells.

Avocados

These are rich in Vitamin K and omega-3 fatty acids. They help promote brain function by decreasing the chances for age related mental health conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Vitamin K has been known to improve cognition, memory, and attention.

Tomatoes

These have an antioxidant known as lycopene which helps in maintaining the function of the brain and ensuring that it works optimally well. Lycopene helps body fight against free radicals which are responsible for causing age related damage to mental abilities. This food helps improve focus, attention, and memory.

Salmon

Generally, American diets have trans and saturated fats which are bad for the brain but the omega 3 fatty acids present in oily fishes can help fight against symptoms of depression , schizophrenia, ADHD and other mental health conditions. Omega 3 fatty acids boost memory and learning capabilities.

Ginger

It reduces the inflammation in the brain. It protects against free radicals which can damage the brain.