Patriot Health Digest
If you would like to start your day off with something that can help your brain health, there’s a single breakfast that neurologists and other brain health experts recommend. Want to know what it is?
Overnight oats combined with blueberries and walnuts.
To make standard overnight oats, all you need to do is follow these steps:
- Soak ½ cup rolled oats inside 1 cup of almond milk.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Top with fresh walnuts and blueberries in the morning.
“The foods we consume directly affect how our brain works,” says Randall Wright, MD, who is a neurologist. “For diet, we are witnessing that it is all about your brain energy. Your brain consumes a large part of your energy compared to the rest of your body.”
That is why it is important to give your brain the foods that aid it in fighting stress, which is exactly what this excellent breakfast will help you to do. Here are four good things that overnight oats with walnuts and blueberries can do.
1. Blueberries Protect Your Brain
The delicious blueberry will protect your brain from damage and help its long-term function. Brain experts seem to recommend one of three diets for better brain health — one of which directly recommends blueberries.
Older people who consumed the most strawberries and blueberries had the least cognitive decline in a 2012 study. The people who ate the most strawberries and blueberries slowed cognitive aging by as much as 2.5 years.
2. Walnuts Have Brain-Healthy Fats
Nuts such as walnuts are filled in vitamin E, which is proven to have brain-protective uses, according to the Mayo Clinic. The MIND Diet, a popular diet focused on brain health, recommends consuming a handful of nuts five times each week in place of junk food snacks such as chips — just go for the raw, unsalted type without sodium or other sweeteners.
Walnuts also have more alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) than any other nut. They also contain higher amounts of polyphenolic compounds (an antioxidant) than any other. Both of these can help lower inflammation and oxidative stress — which are two sources of cognitive decline.
3. Oats Give You Long-Lasting Brain Energy
“Our brains were not created to have an abundance of high caloric foods, and this day and age, there is too much food that is high in glucose, which is harmful to your brain,” Dr. Wright says.
“Keeping steady glucose levels is very important for the brain, and that is where the oats help out.”
4. Protects Your Heart, Which Helps Your Brain
Your heart health is linked to your brain health, and overnight oats along with walnuts and blueberries helps both.
Your heart pushes blood through your body, including through your brain, and harm to those vessels can lead to major health problems, like heart disease, dementia and stroke, according to the CDC. By making sure your blood vessels are healthy, you will have a much stronger brain.
Oats have soluble fiber, which can aid in decreasing your LDL cholesterol and then lower your total blood cholesterol, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
