The Best Diet for Brain Health

There are countless articles on the Internet about "The Best Diet For Abs." But, there is very little out there about the best diet for the most important part of your entire being... Your brain!

Lucky for us, living a healthy life is not only good for abs, but also very good for your brain.

Related - How to Biohack the Brain

By following the seven guidelines listed below, your brain will be running like a finely-tuned machine. This will lead to better gains in life, business, and even the gym.

Grab a glass of water and take your fish oil, it’s time to optimize brain function.

How to Eat for Brain Health

#1 - Consume Adequate Fat and Omega 3 Fatty Acids

The human brain is up to 60% fat. More fat isn’t necessarily better, so you keto diet lovers can stop celebrating with the “cabbage patch” or “robot” dances, but not enough is bad since it is essential.

What does it mean to be essential? You need fat to absorb vitamins and minerals and to… Not die.

There are essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, meaning they are needed for survival, but believe it or not carbs are not essential. So what should be done to ensure we consume adequate fat?

• Consume .3-.5g fat per pound bodyweight. It is a simple rule of thumb and .3 should only be when you are hypocaloric and trying to lose fat. This means a 200lb person would eat 100g fat every day. You can eat more, I just don’t think it will be of further benefit.
• Aim for an EPA to DHA ratio of 2:1 as found in Ethitech Nutrition Omega 3 Fish Oil.
• Take 3g combined EPA/DHA per day, or 5 softgels of Ethitech Nutrition Fish Oil to ensure an adequate balance. We should aim for a 1:1 omega 3 to omega 6 ratio but with modern day foods, this is nearly impossible. The 3g recommendation simply tips us more in favor of omega 3’s, which have the aforementioned brain benefits as well as many other positive effects on health.
• Adding in Ambrosia Ritual AM into your morning will provide essential fats as well as external ketones, or BhB’s, to enhance brain function.

#2 - Carb Control

I am not going to advocate ketogenic diets, since carbs are a part of our culture, it’s hard to give them up. And... I just don’t feel ketogenic diets are optimal. But that is well beyond the scope of this article. However, I do believe we should get our carbs from wholer food sources.

Full of micronutrients (more on that later) and when combined with other foods containing protein and fat will control insulin release. Why control insulin? To avoid that CRASH that will leave your brain foggy… Like when you stare at your computer screen in a daze after an office lunch at El Torito.

Here is what we will look for:

• Consume 1g per pound body weight per day. This is rough, but based on the minimum established by the ISSN. It's enough and not overkill.
• Consume .3-.5 grams of fat per pound of body weight per day. Explained above. Strive to get it from mainly omega 3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats like macadamia nut oil, nuts and avocados.
• Fill in the rest with mostly whole food carbs.

This includes:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Potatoes
• Whole grain or Ezekiel breads
• Oatmeal

And if your macros allow, some fun foods. A little treat won’t hurt you!

#3 - Stay Hydrated

The brain is 70% water. This easy rule of thumb is simplistic, but it is measurable and easy. Aim to consume one gallon of water per day and all liquids count, even coffee.

I have opined that the human body will signal thirst and you can just drink as needed, but I have met enough people who “forget” to drink or don’t listen to that who benefit from the one gallon rule. I am also not going to recommend carrying a gallon jug around with you all day, that just looks silly!

#4 - Exercise

The brain uses 20% of the total oxygen in body. While not “diet” per se, I would have to kick my own butt if I didn’t mention the need for exercise for brain function – it’s that important!

Exercise causes nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and protecting them from damage. Since oxygenation is key, cardio health is ESSENTIAL! I recommend:

• Tabata 1-2x a week. For more on Tabata click here. 
• Jogging or something similar. If you have bad knees, a good pace on the elliptical will suffice. BUT if you do HIIT or Tabata, this isn’t 100% necessary. Some people just like jogging!
• HIIT: Hill sprints, etc. This is amazing for so many reasons! Here are some great examples. 
• Increased activity. Simple things like parking further from the door in a parking lot. 

#5 - Micronutrients

Being deficient in any vitamin or mineral can negatively affect your function. Choose whole foods over empty calories and aim to eat a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables.

Supplementing with MTS Nutrition Machine Greens + Multi will help you hit these goals!

#6 - Sleep 5-9 Hours

Your brain repairs and forms new cells during sleep. Sleep is individual, hence the range of sleep needed.

Experiment with different amounts of sleep to see what works best for you. An app I recommend to help track and record sleep patterns and how much you need is Sleep Cycle. It’s very inexpensive and I use it nightly. It has helped me a ton! Here is the link to it and FYI, this is NOT a paid mention, I simply love the app!

#7 - Tan or Get Sunlight

Tan 1-2 times a week.

But tanning can kill you, right? With anything, there is good and bad but the vitamin D among many other benefits make it worth moderate tanning. I explain why here.

Think Positive

All of this will help, but optimism and appreciating the great things you have in life like family and health are just as important. Implement these seven things today to improve your life immediately! Comment below to not only get rewards points, but to share with others how you optimize your brain function.