formerly: dementia
Your brain is about 60 per cent fat, and DHA — an omega-3 fatty acid — is the building block of its nerve membranes. People who ate along the MIND pattern for years (berries, leafy greens, nuts, fish, olive oil) showed a markedly slower decline in thinking ability in a long-term study.
The brain & cognition rank scores what a food brings for that: omega-3 with DHA, anthocyanins from berries, vitamin E, folate, B6 and B12 for nerve function, plus anti-inflammatory compounds and a good microbiome.
This is about supply over years, not about treating a disease. Diet is one factor among several, alongside sleep, movement and mental activity.
Points come from DHA and EPA in oily fish, anthocyanins from berries, lutein from leafy greens, vitamin E from nuts, folate and the B vitamins. Points are lost to sugar, saturated fat, alcohol and heavy processing.
The MIND pattern in one sentence: leafy greens most days, berries or nuts most days, oily fish once or twice a week, olive oil as the default fat.
Frequently asked questions
Which foods are good for the brain?
Oily fish for DHA — sardine, mackerel, herring, salmon, trout. Then blueberries for anthocyanins, walnuts for vitamin E, leafy greens for folate and lutein, and olive oil as the default fat. Together that is the MIND pattern.
Without fish: flaxseed, walnuts and hemp seeds supply ALA; algae oil supplies DHA directly.
The Food Secrets app holds all 1000+ foods sorted by this goal, with omega-3 and the omega-6 ratio per food. all 1000+ foods sorted by this goal
Which foods are bad for the brain?
Mainly anything that swings blood sugar hard and drives chronic inflammation: sugar and white flour, heavily processed products, plenty of saturated fat, and alcohol. Those are exactly what costs points in our ranking.
The underrated one is the fatty-acid ratio. Sunflower and safflower oil carry a great deal of omega-6, and an excess of it works against what omega-3 does.
The app shows you all 1000+ foods sorted by this goal, plus the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. all 1000+ foods sorted by this goal
What are the best foods for brain health?
At the front of our ranking sit the oily fish — sardine, mackerel, herring, salmon, trout and anchovy — for their DHA. Then blueberry as the strongest plant source of anthocyanins, plus walnuts, leafy greens and olive oil.
If you do not eat fish: flaxseed, walnuts and hemp seeds supply ALA, of which the body converts only a small share into DHA. Algae oil is the direct plant source of DHA.
Can diet help prevent dementia?
Diet is one of several modifiable factors, and in observational and long-term studies the MIND pattern shows the clearest association with a slower decline in thinking ability.
What does not follow from that is a guarantee. No food prevents dementia and this page promises none. It shows which foods supply the brain best — diet acts here alongside sleep, movement, blood pressure and mental activity.
How much omega-3 do I need?
One to two servings of oily fish a week is the usual orientation. More important than the amount is the ratio: a western diet carries a great deal of omega-6 from sunflower and safflower oil, and omega-3 works against that imbalance.
So we score the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of every food, not only its absolute content.
What improves concentration in the short term?
In the short term what helps most is anything that keeps blood sugar steady: a meal with protein, fat and fibre rather than fast carbohydrate alone. The dip after a sugary snack is what actually costs you concentration.
The rank on this page scores the long line instead — supply over years, not this afternoon.
Studies
- [1] Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, et al. MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimers Dement 2015;11(9):1015–1022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2014.11.009
- [2] Devore EE, Kang JH, Breteler MM, Grodstein F. Dietary intakes of berries and flavonoids in relation to cognitive decline. Ann Neurol 2012;72(1):135–143. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.23594
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