Foods That Can Negatively Affect Your Brain — and Healthier Swaps

Experts say reaching for healthy foods and cutting down on others can slow brain aging by 7.5 years. Ready to eat smarter? Here’s how to fill your plate.

January 06, 2022

By: Lauren Oster

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How to Feed Your Brain

The brain gobbles up more energy than any other organ — a whopping 20 percent of the body’s total burn. How and what we choose to fuel it with can significantly impact its health and performance. Neurologists and dietitians alike encourage us to make those choices carefully.

Learn More: Better Living Through Wellness

Healthy Food for a Healthy Life

“Delicious food is meant to be enjoyed and has a deep place in all of our stories, including family, history, culture and fun. I love all types of food and look forward to trying new things and improving my cooking skills,” says Dr. Vijay Ramanan, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “But living a fulfilling and purposeful life is only helped by staying mentally and physically healthy, so I try to be mindful that even good things are best enjoyed in moderation.”

Set Realistic Goals for Better Brain Health

The good news: “’Balance’ may be the key word,” Dr. Ramanan says. “A healthy diet that promotes brain health does not have to feel like a burden, nor is there a single ‘super ingredient’ that improves cognition or a single food item that causes dementia. A more realistic goal might be to start with 3-4 positive steps to incorporate most of the time over a period of months, and build on that. Just as starting an exercise program can be hard at first, if approached with positivity and commitment, before you know it the workouts become events to look forward to, and the benefits on health and broader quality of life can flow from there.”

Avoid Larger Fish With Higher Mercury Levels

Mercury is toxic to our nerve cells, and we’re most commonly exposed to it when we eat fish and shellfish that have high levels of mercury in their bodies. According to a 2012 scientific study, mercury causes changes to our central nervous system that can result in everything from irritability and behavioral changes to cognitive loss and even death. Large, predatory deep-ocean fish (such as king mackerel, swordfish, shark and bigeye tuna) have the highest levels of mercury, and the EPA and FDA recommend avoiding them. Happily, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Small, oily ones — think anchovies, herring, and sardines — have far lower mercury levels. Even better, they’re high in the omega-3 fatty acids that form the building blocks of our brains and may protect them as we age.

Watch Your Alcohol Intake

According to a 2018 article in the medical journal The Lancet, alcohol is the leading risk factor for disease and premature death for men and women aged 15-49 worldwide. According to a new University of Oxford study — that has yet to be peer reviewed — alcohol of any type in any quantity will reduce the volume of the brain’s gray matter (which enables us to control memory, movement and emotions). That’s sobering news, as it were — but again, we’re talking about reduction strategies here, not prohibiting indulgences.

Sip Hop Water Instead

As an occasional alternative to beer, for example, consider this year’s trendiest brew: hop water, an effervescent, flavorful drink that’s made without yeast, sugar or grains (so it’s got zero alcohol, calories, or carbs). Lagunitas Brewing Company’s Hoppy Refresher, an IPA-inspired quaff concocted with Citra, Equinox and Centennial hops, is available nationwide — and it’s beer-geek approved.

Skip the Sugar

Our brains need sugar for thinking, remembering and learning — but animal research, including a recent study published in Nutrients, suggests that ultra-refined varieties can cause brain inflammation and could compromise those same functions. “Sugary beverages are the leading form of added sugar in our diets, so in order to get a handle on your added sugar intake, it makes sense to cut back on them,” says Samantha Cassetty, M.S., R.D., and co-author of Sugar Shock (about the hidden sugar in food). “If you can't live without your sugary drink of choice, plan on healthier ways to include it. For instance, have a smaller portion every so often. Or have it in a different setting, like when you go out to eat or to see a movie or to a sports event.”

From: Brian Patrick Flynn

Substitute Seltzer + Juice for Sugary Soda

For an effective swap, look to a far less refined form of fructose: fruit. “My favorite swap for a sweetened drink is seltzer with 100 percent orange juice,” Cassetty says. “You can have up to a cup of 100 percent OJ per day, per our dietary guidelines, but after that, stick with other forms of fruit, such as fresh or frozen fruit with no added sugar. Full disclosure: I partner with the Florida Department of Citrus, but these are my own views, and this is what I do at home!”

Skip Bottled Dressings

A two-tablespoon serving of ostensibly healthy “light” or “fat-free” salad dressing can have 12 grams of sugar, which is double the daily limit of what experts recommend for adult women. Nix that hidden sugar by grabbing a Mason jar or immersion blender and mixing up your own marinades and sauces. When you’re in charge of sweetening, you’ll be more conscious of what’s going where (and your food will taste better, too). “When it comes to keeping track of your added sugar intake, all forms — whether added by the manufacturer or the honey, maple syrup, agave or sugar you add at home — count,” Cassetty says. “On the other hand, fruit and sugar in dairy foods (known as lactose) don't count. Maple syrup and honey are somewhat unique in that they have antioxidants and other bioactive substances that are healthful. However, they'd still be counted toward the limits of six teaspoons per day for women and nine teaspoons per day for men.”

Bake or Air-Fry Treats Instead of Frying

A 2016 study with more than 18,000 subjects found that those whose dietary patterns included significant amounts of fried foods scored lower in cognitive function assessments. “Eating fried food on a frequent basis can contribute to elevated cholesterol and blood pressure as well as disrupted sugar metabolism and even weight gain,” Dr. Ramanan explains. “All of these factors increase the risk for strokes (which can have major consequences on brain function) and can, in the background, result in damage to deep parts of the brain, which can impact cognition.” Look to a high-tech air fryer or your trusty oven to deliver the satisfaction of a good crunch minus a deep fryer’s downsides.

Watch Your White Flour Intake

Refined white flour is high in starch and lacks fiber, causing our blood sugar to spike when we consume it. Eventually, that increases our risk of everything from type 2 diabetes to cardiovascular disease and can wreak havoc on the blood vessels in our brains. There are immediate effects, too: Research has shown that just one meal with a high glycemic load can impair our memory.

Replace Processed White Flour With Whole- and Non-Wheat Alternatives

“Whole wheat pastry flour can be a good substitute for all-purpose flour in baking. It's a softer flour, but it still contains the nutrients in whole grains,” Cassetty notes. “I've also used white whole wheat flour, which doesn't have the same nutty flavor as ordinary flour. I love almond flour and coconut flour for gluten-free baking, but you have to find a recipe that calls for these flours because they don't substitute in a cup-for-cup fashion with other flours.”

Cut Back on Meat Consumption

Red meat is often high in saturated fat, which researchers linked to negative changes in cognition and memory in a study including more than 6,000 older women. “Trying to make meat-eating a more sparing occurrence is included in many brain-healthy approaches including the MIND diet,” Dr. Ramanan says of this combination of the Mediterranean and the DASH diet. “Swapping in some plant-based meat can certainly be a part of this effort. But this is not the only avenue to getting protein and other nutrients outside of meat."

Reach for Legumes Instead of Red Meat

Legumes and nuts can be a positive part of a brain healthy diet. It’s also important to be mindful of meat substitutes that have a lot of salt, sugar or heavily processed ingredients.”

Choose Olive Oil Over Butter

The MIND diet emphasizes the importance of cooking primarily with olive oil and reducing butter intake to less than a tablespoon per day, as the latter is also high in saturated fat. As Mayo Clinic reports, you don’t have to succeed in swapping all the time to enjoy brain benefits. Study subjects who followed clinicians’ recommendations pretty well (as opposed to very closely) still cut their Alzheimer’s risk by over a third.

Watch Your Salt Intake

We’ve long known that high sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease; researchers are now linking it directly to negative impact on cognitive function. Pouring on the salt is just plain bad news, and it’s well worth your while to audition occasional alternatives.

Season With Nutritional Yeast Instead

If you’re new to seasoning with nutritional yeast, it can be a bit intimidating: those vivid flakes bear zero resemblance to the contents of our trusty salt shakers. That said, its cheesy, nutty flavor adds immeasurable oomph to everything from veggies to pasta, and it’s a fab substitute for Parmesan cheese. As its name implies, it’s a complete protein chock full of vitamins and minerals.

Foods That Can Negatively Affect Your Brain — and Healthier Swaps

Related To:

Shop This Look

How to Feed Your Brain

Healthy Food for a Healthy Life

Set Realistic Goals for Better Brain Health

Avoid Larger Fish With Higher Mercury Levels

Watch Your Alcohol Intake

Sip Hop Water Instead

Skip the Sugar

Substitute Seltzer + Juice for Sugary Soda

Skip Bottled Dressings

Bake or Air-Fry Treats Instead of Frying

Watch Your White Flour Intake

Replace Processed White Flour With Whole- and Non-Wheat Alternatives

Cut Back on Meat Consumption

Reach for Legumes Instead of Red Meat

Choose Olive Oil Over Butter

Watch Your Salt Intake

Season With Nutritional Yeast Instead

Healthy Food Swaps to Make in 2022 17 Photos

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