x
The most widely recommended diet for general health by the NHS is the Mediterranean diet. The University of Gothenburg has proven it to be the best diet for brain function and mental health, linking it to a reduced risk of anxiety and depression, as well as its well-documented links with reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.
More recent research suggests that the MIND diet is the best one to follow for long-term brain health. Based on the Mediterranean diet and the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, it encourages foods specifically chosen for their impact on brain health, and helps to prevent cognitive decline.
Getting the right nutrients for your brain is a hugely important part of having a thriving brain. And yet, despite this diet being billed as the best for our brain health, only 1 in 400 people surveyed actually consumed a brain-healthy diet.
That’s less than 1% of people actually consuming what their brains and bodies need to thrive.
There are, of course, ways to supplement the nutrients in these foods, but in terms of getting them from your diet alone, here's what it looks like:
Green, leafy vegetables 5x a week
5+ different coloured fruits and vegetables every day.
Berries 5x a week.
5+ servings of nuts a week
Olive oil 5x a week
Whole grains 5x a week
Oily fish 2x a week or take an algae-based omega 3 supplement
Legumes and pulses 5x a week
White meat/mix of plant-based proteins 2x a week
Vitamin D supplement
Minimal processed foods
No more than 1 glass of wine a day
1-2x coffee or tea a day max
2L water a day
In short? Not very well. Eating a ‘balanced diet’ (like the MIND diet), is a term widely used but poorly understood. Most people with busy modern lifestyles find it hard to reliably consume the right nutrients for the brain in the required quantities, or in the case of those on a plant-based diet—find it hard to find suitable alternatives.
Our research found:
Nearly 10% of people admitted to not eating any of the recommended quantities
Only 18% confidently said they eat 2 portions of vegetables and 3 portions of fruit per day
Just 16% get the recommended intake of nuts and seeds
Over 80% are not eating enough fish or supplementing with omega 3
Not getting the right nutrition for the brain can adversely affect mental health and well-being, and have huge repercussions for our physical health too.
One of the foods often neglected is purple fruits and vegetables. These contain anthocyanins—which have been shown to improve mental performance in all ages, from children to the elderly, and yet only 34% of people surveyed reliably eat these each day.
In addition, only 20% of those surveyed eat foods containing the recommended levels of B12 and iron daily. Lacking iron and B vitamins is known to cause sleep disturbance, poor memory and fatigue—and people are feeling the effects, with more than a quarter (26%) admitting to taking supplements to increase their energy levels.
Need Help: We Have A Patch For That
