We’ve all had days when we didn’t feel like we were on our game.   However, by choosing super foods, we can supercharge our brain and it’s precious gray matter to improve brain function.  Here are some brainy choices for keeping our noggins in tip-top shape.

7 Super Foods To Supercharge Your Brain

Blueberries  These beautiful blue gems have been shown to shield the brain from stress, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.  Research shows that diets rich in blueberries significantly improved brain function — both in learning capacity and motor skills.

Avocados  Although considered a fatty fruit, avocados contribute to healthy blood flow and decreased blood pressure, lessening the chances of developing hypertension, which can lead to a stroke.

Salmon  Deep-water fish, such as salmon, is packed full of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are essential for healthy brain function.

Nuts And Seeds   There’s a reason we’re nuts about nuts!  Cashews, peanuts, walnuts, sunflower and sesame seeds, almonds and my personal favorite—the pecan—are all good sources of vitamin E, an important vitamin needed by your brain to stave off declining cognitive functions.

Whole-Grains   Whole-grain breads, brown rice, and oatmeal all contribute to a healthy brain by reducing the risk for cardiac disease.  By promoting a healthy heart and improving blood flow, the brain can use oxygen more efficiently.  Complex carbohydrates also supply the brain with a steady stream of glucose which the brain needs to function properly.

Tea  Freshly brewed tea contains antioxidants, especially the class known as catechins, which support a healthy immune system and may even help fight cancer.

Dark Chocolate  The health benefits of dark chocolate are just beginning to be understood. But evidence suggests that dark chocolate has powerful antioxidant properties, and contains several natural stimulants, all of which increase blood flow to the brain and may help with cognition, as well as enhance focus and concentration.  Dark chocolate may also encourage the production of endorphins, which can improve mood.

I first heard about this strange and delicious chocolate mousse at a Super Bowl party of all places.

While we were prepping some neat finger foods, the talk wasn’t about the big game, or even the commercials, but of an amazing mock mousse that’s as good for you as it is rich-tasting and yummy.

I was skeptical, to say the least. I had once, long ago, made a “real” chocolate mousse. Way before that movie came out I had decided to become an expert French chef by selecting what I thought were the very best recipes from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The chocolate mousse was the first, and last, official French dish I attempted to make.  Don’t get me wrong, it came out great. Only it took an entire afternoon. Hours of work in the kitchen for five minutes of mousse glory.

And that’s probably why I was so intrigued by this idea. I still remembered how delicious that dish was. Could it be possible to reproduce it in under 10 minutes with no eggs, no melting chocolate over a double boiler, no folding in egg whites or using whipping cream?

After having made this dish many times, I say it is.

While there are various recipes available for this dessert, mine has less of a banana flavor and more of a real mousse taste.

So here’s my version of the amazing, almost French, avocado mousse. And even if someone in your house doesn’t like avocados, I bet if you don’t tell them, they’ll never guess avocados are among the ingredients!

Makes 3 to 4 servings

2 ripe avocados

1 banana, not overripe

5 tablespoons pure, unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons real maple syrup

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

(Optional) coarse sugar, such as turbinado, to sprinkle on top

Place all the ingredients in your food processor and whip, whip, whip! Scrape the sides occasionally with a knife, and keep blending until it’s thoroughly mixed and light and fluffy. Now it doesn’t get to its full mousse magnificence until it’s been chilled for at least an hour in the fridge. But you can taste it as you go and add more maple syrup if you want it sweeter.

The coconut oil makes it even fluffier, and I always find the hint of coconut adds something to most dishes.

To make it an even more elegant dessert, top with sliced almonds or fresh blueberries or strawberries.

My daughter moved to Maui when she was 25 and lived there for a few years.  She lived “up country” and became the most spectacular tour guide for hidden island treasures  –  waterfalls, bamboo jungles,  mango and avocado groves, magical places!  Mango season in Hawaii is about 6 months long and the sweetness and flavor is such a nice addition to the diet of the islands.  Even though mangos can be messy, I love them!   Actually, I loved them even before I knew about mangiferin.  Mangi-what?  Just follow along…

In the fruit kingdom, mangos are unique.  Mangos contain a substance that has been named mangiferin, a unique antioxidant with surprising health properties.   This substance was identified in the 1960s with clinical papers appearing by the 1980s and covering all sorts of health benefits.  A recent study looked at the effect of adding a small amount of freeze-dried mango to the diets of 20 adults who were obese.  The supplemental mango was taken for 12 weeks.  After 12 weeks, blood sugar levels were significantly reduced.  The subjects in the study were not diabetic but were considered to be at risk for developing the condition.  Lower blood sugar levels are a good indication that eating mangos could be helpful in keeping blood sugars in check.

In an older study published in 2011, laboratory animals were fed a high-fat diet (60% of calories from fat) and another group was fed the same diet with 1% of calories coming from freeze-dried mango.   The group that received the mango along with the high fat diet showed a 35% lower (healthier) blood sugar level.

In both these studies, the subjects were not diabetic.  Fruits are high in sugar. We know that high blood sugar levels correlate directly with diabetes.  We know that people with diabetes appropriately monitor their fruit intake.  The research isn’t yet definitive about eating mangos if a person has already been diagnosed with diabetes, but for those who are concerned about someday becoming diabetic, especially if they tend to eat a lot of fat, it sounds like eating mangos is a good idea!

But wait, there’s more!  Two more studies just out show promising benefits of mangiferin (the mango superstar) for:

• joint health in rheumatoid arthritis
• help with depressive and anxiety

So, there you go.  If you live in Hawaii you have mango tress everywhere. It is a dietary staple when it is mango season.   Here in Washington, we have mangos available all year round (and organic ones at that).  These are usually imported from Mexico, Ecuador or Peru.  So, they are a nice fruit anytime, and an especially good addition as our local fruits go out of season.  And, for an added treat, try some freeze-dried sugar free mangos.  Tasty and crunchy!  Hail the mighty mango, the fruit that can lower blood sugar!

Additional Resources:

All about Mango Health Benefits

Mango Varieties and Availability

Chives fully qualify as one of the earliest garden harbingers of spring, often beating early-rising tulips to the surface. But chives don’t offer just a gush of grassy green to herb boxes and gardens. They also serve as wonderfully diversified herb, highly appreciated by chefs and naturopaths.

On a gastronomical level, chives work well with others, giving countless recipes a mild oniony flavor without dominating the dish. They are a far less overpowering presence than other members of the onion tribe, like garlic, shallot and leeks.

Some of the tried-and-true match-ups for both fresh and dried chives are homemade breads, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, quesadillas, vinaigrettes, steeped oils (especially olive oil), flavored rice and soups, particularly creamy soups.

Chives also act as a colorful sprinkled topping for salads, fish and even pizza.

There are some tricks to ‘chiving up’ your culinary offerings.

When using fresh chives, always slice them very thin. It’s the cut/bruised part of the plant that releases the subtle flavor; fine cutting will assure a proper flavor presence. Longer pieces of chive not only add very little flavor, but are pithy and can become chewy.

When steeping oils and vinegars with chives, small pieces (or dried ones) can be accompanied by some larger pieces that are lightly spoon-crushed to bruise the skin.

Chives used in cooking should always be held in abeyance until the last minute, especially in soups. Not only does this prevent the flavor from being cooked away but it offers a flash of presentation color and a discernable burst of fresh flavor. Even dried chives should be last-minute add-ins.

According to Medical News Today, chives are a nutrient-dense food, meaning that while they are low in calories they are high in beneficial nutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. One tablespoon of chopped chives contains 1 calorie and 0 grams of fat, 0 grams protein and 0 grams of carbohydrate while providing 3 percent of the daily value of both vitamins A and C. One serving of chives also contains small amounts of vitamin K, folate, choline, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

However, chives and other members of the onion (allium) group are now being studied for what could be some astounding naturopathic qualities, including the prevention of some cancers.

In an article entitled “Anticancer Compounds Found in Food” (published at nutrition411.com), Jason Machowsky notes that allium vegetables have been studied extensively in relation to cancer, especially stomach and colorectal cancers. Their beneficial and preventative effects are likely due in part to their rich organosulfur compounds. Although the exact mechanism by which these compounds inhibit cancer is unknown, possible hypothesis include the inhibition of tumor growth and mutagenesis and prevention of free radical formation.

So you can think of chives as a lot more than just a garnish for your baked potato or soup.

There’s nothing sweeter that fresh honey, right out of the honeycomb.

I still have an occasional peanut butter and honey sandwich; partly because they are tasty, and partly because my Mom used to pack them in my grade school lunch. Now, I use honey to sweeten my yogurt, and my son and I love to use it for our home-brewed honey-ale.

But the honeybees are in trouble in the United States, and more than sandwiches and homebrew ale are at stake.

Honeybees help bring many of the foods we enjoy into our homes. Fruit crops like apple, peach and apricot trees rely heavily upon honeybees to pollinate the buds. So, too, do watermelons, blueberries, and squash. Almond growers rely on more than 1 million bee colonies to pollinate their crops each year.

However, beekeepers in the U.S. have lost nearly one-fourth of their colonies, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

These types of heavy losses have been occurring for many years. Scientists have dubbed the phenomenon Colony Collapse Disorder. Experts are targeting a number of causes for the collapse in the bee populations, among them a tiny mite.

Any beekeeper will tell you that the widespread application of chemical pesticides and other chemicals is a major factor. Bees travel more than 3 miles from their hives to collect pollen, so their potential exposure to these chemicals is significant as they flit from plant to plant.

Certified organic fields and orchards allow bees to sip the nectar without exposure to harmful chemicals. That’s just one more reason that choosing organic whenever possible is the right choice.  You’ll be helping to provide a healthy diet to more than your family.