As an entrepreneur working toward financial freedom, you work tirelessly to achieve your goals. Days begin to blend together, and weeks slowly get checked off your calendar. You burn the midnight oil often and have developed a pattern of thinking that isn’t always the clearest once the sun goes down. The effects of fatigue have clearly been affecting your productivity. The good news is you can combat the impact fatigue has on your ability to think clearly. You can boost and maintain your cognitive health by simply eating more of the right foods.
Some foods have been shown to naturally help improve cognition. These foods are essential to entrepreneurs whose ability to think clearly is affected by their sleep schedules. If you’re consistently stressed, these foods are for you too. Entrepreneurs are notorious for consuming large amounts of candy late at night. The sugar rush provides much-needed energy, sharpens focus, and improves memory, attention span, and brain function. Although sugar offers such cognitive health benefits, it’s wise to skip the candy and focus on foods naturally rich in sugar such as fruits.
Moving beyond the quick boost of energy and ability to process information, some foods should be consumed on a steady basis. Polyunsaturated fats, fats that help reduce bad cholesterol, have been shown to help reduce depression and help maintain memory. More importantly, they have been shown to aid brain function and cell growth. Polyunsaturated fats include both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Food choices with higher amounts of polyunsaturated fats include walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, salmon, mackerel, herring, albacore tuna, trout, and corn, soybean, and safflower oils. There are more common foods that can help improve memory too.
Egg yolks have been shown to help reduce inflammation and promote brain function. Blueberries, rich in antioxidants, helps stimulate the flow of blood and oxygen in the brain. Research shows that the supply of highly concentrated oxygen positively affects cognitive processing. Oxygen isn’t the only important factor in optimal brain function. Your brain relies heavily on vitamin C, which is often consumed for its immune-boosting properties. In fact, research shows that cognitively intact people have higher concentrations of vitamin C in their brains. Foods rich in vitamin C include oranges and orange juice, peppers, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes.
Whether you’re looking to take your entrepreneurial journey to the next level or simply improve your ability to function stronger longer, you should increase your intake of cognitive-boosting foods. Different foods impact your brain’s ability to function properly in different ways. Whether you’re into vegetables, fish, berries, tea and coffee, walnuts, or chocolate, find the combination that works for your and stick with it.
