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10 foods which boost your brain and help you to learn programming faster

This article was originally published at What to eat to improve brain functioning?


Learning is a long process of getting new knowledge, and it’s not always going as easy as we would like to. Sometimes it’s not easy to remember something or understand, and then we start to look for something to improve our ability to remember things and boost our brain. It’s not necessary to look in the pharmacy, because we can find a lot of natural brain boosters in grocery.

A good diet is essential for the proper functioning of our brain, and I realized it in my example. This is why I would like to share with you 10 natural things I eat to improve brain function.

I’ve also prepared a video episode about it with a bonus recipe at the end, so feel free to take a look.

Let’s start.

1. Nuts

Nuts are one of the best natural brain boosters, and it’s easily accessible in every grocery. The main advantage of nuts is that it’s rich in omega 3 acids, and it is also full of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. Omega 3 acids are great for improving brain functioning.

I believe that nuts may not be your favorite snack for every day, but you can easily get the advantage of the nuts eating good quality peanut butter. Of course, you can combine it with something else to make it tasty. The other way is to add a bunch of nuts to your oatmeal, for example.

2. Avocado

Avocado is another easily accessible food which is also a brain booster. It contains Vitamin K and folate, which are responsible for improving your memory and focus. And those two are very important when you are learning.

Avocados are also rich in Vitamin B and C, which makes avocados the best fruit to improve memory. Those brain-boosting benefits may be the reason why avocados are so popular right now.

If you like the taste of avocados, you can eat it with toast, or feel free to add it to the smoothie of creating tasty guacamole.

3. Water

Water doesn’t have any particular vitamins that boost your brain, but taking into consideration that the human body consists mostly of water, we seriously have to take care of proper hydration.

Water is also an essential part of our brain, and it feels every decrease of the water amount. It can cause slower reactions, headaches, or mood swings, and much more serious issues. So, the first thing necessary to remember is to drink water!

4. Green tea | Yerba mate | Caffee

Green tea and yerba mate boost your brain as well with the caffeine they contain. Caffeine can affect the alertness and focus, but besides this, it also affects the mood and helps to improve the memory.

I prefer green tea and yerba mate as a substitute for coffee, but a cup of good coffee is a solution too.

Green tea contains many more components good for our brains. One of them is l-theanine which is an amino acid which can activate GABA neurotransmitter. It decreases neuron activity, and reduce stress and reduces the feeling of tiredness, helping to relax as well.

Green tea also can help to improve memory and the ability to learn new things, which can be very helpful when you start learning programming.

5. Oranges

Oranges contain a lot of Vitamin C, which has a positive impact on our brain and can help to protect it.

Vitamin C helps to clear harmful free-radicals, which can bring damages to our brain, affecting especially memory and the ability of learning.

It also has a positive impact on taking care of our brain while we are getting old.

6. Dark chocolate

Another tasty position in our brain boosters list is dark chocolate. It's done with coca, which contains flavonoids. Flavonoids are the antioxidants that help to protect the brain accumulating in the area responsible for the memory and prevents damages to this area.

Flavonoids can also help to prevent cognitive decline. What’s more, they are able to improve the cognitive functions of our brain and help to improve the plasticity of the brain, which is crucial in learning.

7. Oily fishes

Oily fishes are a great source of omega 3 acids, which is crucial for the proper functioning of our brains. It’s also a booster for memory and cognition skills.

Especially recommended are fishes like salmon or mackerel. I believe not everyone is the biggest fan of fishes, but you may create a tasty salad or paste with fish and eat this with a toast. It’s recommended to consume fish dishes two times per week, but if you are not able to do it, maybe you should think about supplements with omega 3 acid.

8. Eggs

Probably you didn’t have any idea how beneficial for your brain can be scrambled eggs eaten in the morning.

Eggs contain several brain-boosting components, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, choline, and foliate.

Those are responsible for the regulation of sugar level in the brain, prevent memory loss and cognitive decline, and it even affects your mood, improving it.

Eggs are one of the best food on this list, so you should already think of a tasty egg dish for the next breakfast.

9. Blueberries

Blueberries are one of the tastiest brain boosters on the list. They contain Vitamin C and Vitamin K and help you to improve spatial memory.

The biggest advantage of blueberries is that they help to protect the brain from potential risk caused by inflammation. Components included in blueberries also prevent memory loss caused by age.

Blueberries can be used as an ingredient in a smoothie or added to your porridge or omelet.

10. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a tasty addition to your sandwiches, salads, or sauce, but did you know about their impact on your brain?

Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a very powerful antioxidant, which helps to reduce cell damages, and it also helps to prevent depression.

Another nutrient included in tomatoes called carotenoids helps to improve cognitive ability and memory.

So, from now, add some more tomatoes to your everyday diet.

Conclusion

In the list above, I shared with you 10 natural brain boosters, which you can easily find in the grocery shop and prepare tasty food. It can be a small addition to your everyday food, which will make a massive difference for your brain functioning, abilities to learn, and will help you to prevent your brain from damages.

Especially if you are learning a lot and need to remember a significant amount of things, pay some attention to your brain, which is so important for you.

Thank you for reading,
Anna from Duomly


Duomly - Programming Online Courses

Oldest comments (20)

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lampewebdev profile image
Michael "lampe" Lazarski

When I read an article about boosting I have some questoins

by how much?
How much do i have to take?
How long do i ahve to take it?
Is it a significant change?
Should it ont be a mix of things I have to do? (In this case like enough sleep)

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maryvorontsov profile image
Mary Vorontsov

forget it, it's just another "buzzfeed" type of an article. Nothing to do with programming.

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attkinsonjakob profile image
Jakob Attkinson

Came here looking for these answers. Left disappointed.

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pontiacgtx profile image
PontiacGTX • Edited

Foods wont help the amount of chemical compounds in every food probably wont be absorbed unless it is some extract (or plant) for example even if some of these had Thiamine (like B1) it wont be absorbed because it will be water soluble unlike Sulbutiamine which is fat soluble and has 2 molecules of thiamine, in this case taking sulbutiamine is effective and its effect will be noticeable

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pontiacgtx profile image
PontiacGTX • Edited

the only thing will work are nootropics look for this survey that was done in 2017 about the effect that some people noticed here:
darktka.github.io/

P.S PRL-8-53 is an experimental drug which is not approved by some medicine/health institute so I wouldnt even consider it since there arent studies about its MoA(outside the own lab's studies which were made in the 80s)
P.S2.
Some nootropic are offlabel prescription medicine while other might be considered suplements, in the list there are equivalent to amphetamines used for ADHD treatment(Adderal, methylpenidate) or medicine used to stay awake for prolonged periods of time (armodafinil,adrafinil)and overdosing could result fatal (probably amphetamines and caffeine along others in the list), also mixing some of them could result in problems like Arrythmia (those dopaminergic/epinephrine)

My advice would be research the MoA before buying and see if you dont have any problem that might get triggered by these compounds (caffeine and amphetamine related might trigger Arrythmia so those with Tachycardia might end up getting too elevated heart rate)

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maryvorontsov profile image
Mary Vorontsov

avocado? really? how about this: canr.msu.edu/news/avocado_consumpt...
by contributing to "avocado" market you're contributing to killing this planet.

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princebuchi12 profile image
Prince Buchi

What happened

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antonmelnyk profile image
Anton Melnyk

Same for basically any product we consume. You won't save planet by not eating avocado.

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aimerib profile image
Aimeri Baddouh

I can understand that sentiment, but that kind of fallacy isn't super helpful to help the discourse. The point isn't to never eat avocado again, but rather lower the consumption of avocado to a sustainable level. Same thing with eating meat, or using plastic products: one doesn't have to stop doing those things to help contributing with lowering our footprint in the planet, but lowering the frequency with which we do those things would certainly help, especially if everyone did it.

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hnnx profile image
Nejc

"As a result of the demand from the US for avocados, farmers in Mexico are influenced to increase the size of their farms, which is now leading to environmental issues"

So does the majority of the foods we eat.

"According to several news sources, avocado growers and pickers in Mexico reported being extremely unhappy with the wages they receive"

If this magical fruit is in such high demand, then I think the farmers ought to decide the value.

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kor3k profile image
kor3k

as others already stated, this is true for almost every kind of food. the problem is not "eating avocado", the problem is "overpopulation".
and all those environmental damages and high carbon footprint are results of just that.
stop eating avocados, stop using cars, stop making gadgets, technology etc., that targets the consequence, but not the cause.
the only permanent solution to that is colonization of other worlds. yes, i mean planets, moons, etc. dilute the population amongs more worlds. the earth will completely regenerate just by itself if we cut it's population in half.
we must focus all of our resources and efforts to colonization, not to that "green BS" which does not solve anything in long term.

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princebuchi12 profile image
Prince Buchi

Wow that cool

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Sloan, the sloth mascot
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mixmastoras profile image
mixmastoras

B12 is also really important for your brain, a good natural source is lamb/beef liver (huge amounts) and some fishes like salmon mackerel and other small fish. Most people though I guess would rather buy it as a pill.

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angryitguy profile image
angryITGuy • Edited

In the words of Bill Gates, "that's the stupidest f-ing idea I've ever heard.".

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vasudevanep profile image
Vasudeva

What kind of nuts would you recommend

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duomly profile image
Duomly

I like almonds, peanuts and pistachio, but I just like them, I’m not sure you should eat these instead of another ones.

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erebos-manannan profile image
Erebos Manannán

There really needs to be a law to require quoted scientific research before claiming anything has magical powers of "healing", "brain boosting", or similar.

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cliokounte profile image
cliokounte

Dark chocolate helps me, too, especially when I need to feel less sleepy. it works better than coffee

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luperciohungary profile image
luperciohungary • Edited

But what about dietary supplements? Can you recommend some to increase brain functions? I already eat a lot of nuts and chocolate to help my brain function better, but I feel I need something more.
There is a Mind Lab Pro dietary supplement Review I read online, and it looks exactly like something I need. It helps to improve brain and memory functions, become more emotionally stable, and fight anxiety.
Does any of you have any experience taking such supplements? How long do they usually need to work? And can I mix it with other medications?