Washington Park Chiropractic

By: Emily Cooley

I’ve started noticing that as the week progresses, my coffee intake slowly increases from 1 cup on Monday to 3 by Friday. So in an effort to decrease the amount of caffeine I consume, I have tried to find other energy-altering foods. Here’s just a taste of what I discovered:

There are numerous foods that have been tested and proven to help improve concentration and brain function. You can literally eat your way to improved concentration.

Whole Grains for Concentration and Brain Activity

Whole grain foods, such as oats, buckwheat, popcorn, barley, wheat berries, and more can help with your concentration. These foods have been proven to increase the flow of oxygen to the brain, through increased blood flow, and this makes the brain more active.

By adding more whole grain foods to your diet, and especially snacking on whole grains between meals, you will notice that you not only have a greater level of concentration and that your thoughts are clearer, but also that your memory has improved.

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Tis’ the season to be feasting on fresh tasty strawberries! Strawberries have great taste and make an excellent addition to ice creams, yogurts, milkshakes and desserts. Strawberries have lots of health benefits and here are just a few!

Rich in Nutrition: Strawberries are rich in a wide range of vitamins namely Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin and Folic acid. It also contains Magnesium, Copper, Manganese, Omega-3 fatty acids and more. Vitamin C found in strawberries is more abundant than other fruits. Daily intake of strawberries supplies more than the sufficient amount of vitamins needed for the body.

For a Healthy Heart: Important heart-healthy nutrients such as Vitamin C, Potassium, and fibers are present in strawberry.  Strawberries have various phytonutrients such as phenol and anthocyanin and these phytonutrients fight against heart diseases. The phenol content present in strawberry makes it a heart protective fruit.

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With time, research is revealing that nuts and seeds do not deserve their bad reputation. Absolutely, they are high in fat. But it’s the good fat, not the bad, and when eaten in moderation, their health benefits far outweigh the dangers of their fat content. The fact is, the more we learn about nuts and seeds, the more we realize that they’re one of our best snack food options.

Isn’t Fat Bad?

We know that nuts and seeds are high in fat. An ounce of almonds and sunflower seeds both have 14 grams, cashews have 13 and pecans have a total fat count of 20 grams. It’s when we consider what kind of fat they contain that we see the difference between these and other foods with a high total fat count.

Saturated fats are those that raise our bad cholesterol levels and increase our risk of heart disease and strokes. These are the fats that are high in most snack items and put our health at risk. An ounce of almonds contain 1 gram of saturated fats, and cashews and pecans have 3 and 2 grams respectively.

Where nuts and seeds are high in fat is in the mono and polyunsaturated fats, but these are good for us, raising our “good cholesterol” levels and typically containing essential vitamins like A, D, E and K.

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