4 Foods to Help You Focus Better
March 20, 2012 6:36 pmSo much of what we do these days requires a good sense of focus, but we’re surrounded by distrac….oh look at that shiny thing over there…tions. Let’s take a quick look at some foods that can really help boost your mental focus:
Leafy Greens
A 2006 study in Neurology showed that people who ate two or more daily servings of vegetables, especially leafy greens such as kale, chard, spinach, and broccoli had the mental focus of people five years their junior. So why not try just two times a week having a big salad for lunch instead of the juicy burger or sautee up some spinach with lemon at dinner.
Whole Grains
Studies show that eating a breakfast of whole grains helps sustain mental focus better than a morning meal of refined carbohydrates or no breakfast at all. Three to try: steel-cut oats with applesauce and cinnamon, a whole-grain cereal with milk, or eggs with whole-wheat toast.
Coffee
It might come as no surprise that coffee can help your mind feel sharper (Goodbye, brain fog!), but did you know that coffee affects men and women differently? Men actually feel more alert more quickly than women do after drinking a caffeinated beverage, according to research from the University of Barcelona. In the study, men reported feeling less drowsy after only 10 minutes and sustained the mental boost for a half hour. Women got a kick from the espresso, too, but rated it weaker than the men did.
Moderate coffee drinkers are also less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and have fewer cases of certain cancers, heart rhythm problems, and strokes.
Chewing Gum
What?
It’s not technically a food, but a 2011 study found that people who chewed gum during a stressful task were more alert afterwards than when they did the task without gum.
And there you have it : )