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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Feeling brain-dead? Eat this when you need to get smart fast.

Listen up, smart guy. That brain of yours? Every day, you rack it, tax it, and let other people pick it, but there’s one thing you don’t do - feed it. Sure, you eat plenty, but you never whip up anything special for your grey matter. In fact, we’d say that your cerebrum is starving, based on the trouble you’ve had focusing at work, remembering birthdays (your own), and answering Mr Maggs’ questions without using a lifeline.

Don’t recall any of that happening? Our point exactly. You need emergency help. That’s why, like UNICEF for your malnourished mind, we’ve prepared a relief package and parachuted it onto these pages. Each food has an immediate benefit (improved memory, sharpened concentration, wittier pick-up lines) that’ll give you a brain boost anytime, but especially when you need it most - on the job. We call it ‘The Thinking Man’s Diet’ and, frankly, you’d be an idiot not to try it.

Monday, 8am
PowerPoint presentation
You need: Oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar.
University of Toronto researchers recently found that eating certain carbohydrate-rich foods like oatmeal is the same as having a shot of glucose, aka blood sugar, injected into your brain (without having to explain why there’s a syringe sticking out of your head).

“Your body quickly takes glucose out of the carbohydrates and feeds it to your brain to help it function,” says former director of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute, Dr Arnold Scheibel. In other words, the higher the concentration of glucose in your blood, the better your memory and concentration. No oatmeal? Or just can’t stand the stuff even with cinnamon and brown sugar? Grab a banana or a bagel instead; they turn into glucose fast, too.

Tuesday, 3.30pm
Mid-afternoon slump
You need: one cup of coffee and two chocolate-chip cookies The original fresh-brewed brain fuel. In one study, British researchers found that those people consuming the caffeine equivalent of approximately one cup of coffee experienced improved attention and problem-solving skills. Try downing your coffee with two chocolate-chip cookies, a doughnut, or a slice of cheesecake.

“The fat in foods like these triggers the release of cholecystokinin, a hormone that slows stomach emptying, which may help maximise your absorption of caffeine,” says professor of food science, Dr John Allred. Stop at one cup though - another study found that men given more caffeine did worse on attention tests.

Wednesday, 10.30am
Emergency meeting with the boss
You need: A handful of raisins.
Skip the exotic fruits; raisins are loaded with old-fashioned boron. Researchers found that subjects taking in the most boron - 3.2mg a day - performed about 10 percent better on attention and memory tests than those eating the least.

“Half of all men get only about 1.2mg of boron a day,” says research psychologist, Dr James Penland. Raisins help you make up the difference with 1.8mg in a half cup. Apples, pears, green leafy vegetables, legumes and nuts pack boron, too.

Thursday, 6.45pm
Putting in overtime
You need: an egg-salad sandwich and a glass of milk
Eggs and milk are the richest sources of choline, a nutrient that’ll make for a memorable evening. Studies have shown that university students given three to four grams of choline one hour before taking memory tests scored higher than those who didn’t receive the choline supplements. “We believe choline increases the release of acetylcholine, a neuro-transmitter that helps your brain store and recall information,” says professor of nutrition, Dr Steven Zeisel. Although studies have used supplements, Dr Zeisel says that eating your choline should do the trick just as well.

Friday, noon
Working through lunch
You need: Nando’s take-aways.
Chicken contains the amino acid tyrosine. US military researchers found that soldiers did better on multitasking and memory tests when they had eaten a tyrosine-enriched food an hour earlier. “Tyrosine may help your body maintain brain levels of dopamine, one neurotransmitter important to working memory,” says the study author, Dr Patricia Deuster. Burgers are also high in tyrosine, but hold the bun; carbohydrates can interfere with the absorption of the amino acid.

Caution: Old abandoned mind
With age comes wisdom - and Alzheimer’s. Wise up now, while you’re still young, and start eating this insurance policy we took out on your brain.

Pizza with vegetables. Possibly better than formaldehyde for preserving your brain (and better-tasting, too). Just ask the rats. Researchers found that rats fed a diet of antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruits actually showed a turn-around in their age-related mental decline. “Antioxidants should repair oxidative damage in the human brain the same way that they do in the rat brain,” says neuroscience laboratory chief, Dr James Joseph. Try snacking on dark-coloured fruits, such as strawberries and blueberries, in between your slices of vegetable pizza.

Tuna-fish sandwiches. Skip the cat-food quality cans and buy solid tuna in springwater instead; it’s filled to the gills with docosahexa-enoic acid (DHA), a type of fat that may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. In one study of more than 1 000 people, those with the highest DHA levels in their blood had a 40 percent lower risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s than those with low levels. Tired of tuna? Crack walnuts; they’re one of the best non-seafood sources of DHA.