How certain foods can help boost intelligence and improve mood

Max Lugavere reveals how our diets can be adapted to optimise cognitive function

There are plenty of age-old myths about the magical powers of vegetables that parents have been spreading for years in a bid to diversify the diets of their stubborn and veg-averse children.

We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but the truth is that carrots probably won’t help you see you see in the dark – and eating bread crusts probably isn’t going to make your hair any curlier.

That’s not to say that food can’t have healing properties – in fact, according to health journalist and author Max Lugavere, certain foods can improve cognitive function to a degree not too dissimilar from the old wives’ tales we’ve come to know and mock.

“Food has a powerful role in cognitive health by supplying the micronutrients the body needs to repair the damages that occur due to the stresses of modern life,” explains Lugavere, whose book Genius Foods claims that eating the right stuff can actually foster intelligence and boost memory.

“Foods that are high in two plant pigments, lutein and zeaxanthin, have been linked to greater crystallised intelligence,” says Lugavere, “which is the ability to use the knowledge you’ve acquired over a lifetime.”

He explained that these pigments are found in high concentrations in a myriad of foods that most of us already perceive as healthy, such as kale, spinach and avocado.

However, that doesn’t mean you need to live your life according to greens, Lugavere explains, as lutein and zeaxanthin are also found in the yolks of pastured eggs and in the fat of grass-fed beef.

“These two compounds have been found in a trial in young and healthy college age students to boost visual processing speed, which is important for athletic performance and responding to visual stimuli,” he adds.

Maximise your potential: Lugavere says lutein and zeaxanthin in people’s diets can improve their intelligence (Max Lugavere)

According to Lugavere, inflammation and the brain are inextricably linked – and applying key nutritional principles could help curb feelings of depression and anxiety that inflammation can provoke.

“Inflammation is a cornerstone of chronic non-communicable diseases, which now accounts for 60 per cent of all deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organisation,” he says.

“These types of diseases were relatively rare in antiquity, and include Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. But inflammation, having evolved as a protective mechanism, also signals to our ancient brains that our bodies are under attack.”

One of the most powerful food groups to combat inflammation, he argues, is cruciferous vegetables ie broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

These vegetables produce a compound called sulforaphane, which studies have also linked to improving autism symptoms, protecting the skin from prematurely ageing, and boosting memory.

“Young broccoli sprouts in particular have 100 times the amount of this compound as adult broccoli,” he adds, “and green tea can be useful to increase non-sedated relaxation due to the presence of both caffeine and another psychoactive compound called theanine.”

Genius Foods also praises the likes of blueberries, extra-virgin olive oil, avocados and dark chocolate for their brain-boosting properties.

Interestingly, despite endless studies lauding the physical and environmental benefits of veganism, it’s not a diet Lugavere would recommend from a cognitive perspective.

“Veganism likely isn’t what historically led to the evolution of our brains,” he says.

“Researchers believe, based on the current archaeological record, that it was access to meat, and even cooked meat, that allowed us to more easily access brain-building fats like DHA and nutrients that led to the evolution of our brains.

“When you look at people of European ancestry, they are less efficient at converting plant-based forms of omega-3s to their usable form in the body, which tells you that at some point in our evolution we became less reliant on plant forms of these fats once we started eating fish, land animals and eggs.

“Protein is just one small part of the story; it’s the nutrients that animal products contain, such as B12, zinc, iron, DHA and choline, to name a few.”

While Lugavere insists that his philosophies should by no means be considered a fad diet, he claims that after just two weeks of following his advice people will notice a difference in the way they feel, particularly those who make the shift from the standard American diet, which he says includes more than 300 grams of carbohydrates per day.