The health supplement industry is big business — in just the USA people cough up around 30 billion dollars on vitamin, mineral, and herbal supplements annually. About 3 billion dollars of this amount is invested in the quickest growing segments of the health supplement industry: brain-enhancers known as nootropics.
A nootropic is any supplement or drug that will boost cognitive (brain) abilities — the cognitive (mental) functionalities dealing with logic (rather than emotions). People take nootropics with the goals of improving memory, focus, learning, or creativity.
A lot of the people who study up on nootropics really get into them. It’s not unusual for a person to pay a hundred dollars or more per month on consuming what they think is the most ideal combo of brain-boosting supplements. The majority of us would be very delighted to take a capsule that boosts our gray matter’s functionality, but few of us are able to justify or afford dropping such serious money on nutritional supplements. The good thing though is that anyone can obtain the rewarding effects of these supplements at very little cost. That’s because nootropics are a natural part of a number of the foods we often eat.
Very Dark Chocolate
Chocolate is well-known for being delectable, however not very healthful. This characterization is well-deserved — for milk chocolate, but not for dark chocolate. Measured up to milk chocolate, dark chocolate contains less sugar and more cocoa. And we know that it’s the cocoa that’s the healthy ingredient of chocolate. Cocoa is powder derived from cacao seeds which are rich with flavonoids — nutrients that are present in a lot of plants. Flavonoids boost brain blood flow and boost oxygen levels, events which improve cognitive function. If you like to occasionally indulge in chocolate, by all means continue to take pleasure in your snack. Just keep in mind, when it pertains to chocolate, darker is much better.
Red Wine (It’s the Red Grapes)
Resveratrol is a compound found in several plants, including several types of grapes and berries. Red grapes are especially rich in resveratrol, and that high level turns up in red wine. Resveratrol is an antioxidant, meaning it’s a substance that can slow the aging of a person’s cells. Resveratrol promotes the growing of brain cells (neurons) in the brain’s hippocampus — known as the memory center of the brain.
Why red wine, and not other wine types? Although white wine does have a small amount of resveratrol, red wine contains much, much more. In addition, red wine has a fermentation period that lasts longer than white wine, so much more of the resveratrol present in the skins gets into the wine.
First dark chocolate, and now it’s red wine. Exactly who would probably have considered boosting your cognitive capabilities can be both very simple and fun.
Rich, Oily Fish
The oily part of oily fish may sound less than healthy, but in this context we’re discussing omega-3 fatty acids, which are important, desirable fats. Over 62 percent of the brain is made up of fat, with omega-3 s the most significant type of that fat.
Omega-3 fatty acids are important to the development of the membranes that encompass brain cells and contribute to the management of neuron connections. Inadequate levels of omega-3 fatty acids are linked with memory issues. It’s felt that sustaining ample amounts of this fat may supply shielding against Alzheimer’s disease.
You just can’t go wrong by enjoying a couple of servings every week of an oily, rich fish like herring, salmon, or sardines. In addition to providing brain benefits, omega-3 fatty acids are thought to help in preventing heart disease and arthritis.
Coffee
You can probably figure out what chemical in coffee provides a mug of coffee the ability to boost your cognition. It turns out that caffeine is probably one of the most frequently found ingredients in nootropic stacks — any supplement that contain a number of nootropic ingredients. As just about any coffee drinker understands, caffeine has been shown to improve your energy. But, it also increases a number of brain functionalities including motivation, memory, and alertness.