Get ahead of superfoods for the brain (or anything else) they do not exist. No matter how much some try to sell us the motorcycle, there is no food that has superpowers and that by itself increases our intellectual capacity or prevents cognitive deterioration.
What is certain is that eating certain nutrients can help improve what happens up there. For example, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has a health declaration approved (health claim) by which it can be stated that Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) helps maintain normal brain function.
Sounds good, right? But be careful! This statement cannot be made cheerfully on the packaging of any product with DHA but rather the food that boasts about it has to meet certain requirements. For example, this claim can only be used on foods that contain a minimum of 40 mg of DHA per 100 g and per 100 kcal. Furthermore, the packaging must specify that the beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 250 mg of docosahexaenoic acid.
Luckily, and although all of this may suddenly sound very complicated, the good news is that science has shown that best foods for the brain are generally the same as they are good for our hearts and our cardiovascular health. That is, a diet based on vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, healthy protein… if it is also drizzled with virgin olive oil and we add seeds and nuts, it is the best recipe to protect our health.
That said, and although it is essential that the diet includes healthy ingredients in general, from the Harvard School of Public Health they get wet and propose to us five food families that we must remember to include in the menu if we want to take care of our neurons.