As sports parents, it’s easy to get caught up with feeding young athletes the kind of foods that help them perform better physically and forget about foods that actually can help with their thinking.

Parents should be looking for every advantage to help their kids do well, and believe it or not, there are certain foods that can improve mental function.

The best brain foods also safeguard heart and blood vessels. Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, folate, beta-carotene, magnesium, B-vitamins, choline, and antioxidants are known to support brain health.

According to the American Brain Society, the power of your brain is immeasurable. As the control center of your body, it allows your heart to beat, the lungs to breathe, and lets you move, feel and think. Because the brain is such an energy-intensive organ, it uses around 20 percent of the body’s calories. That said, it requires an abundance of nutrients and good fuel to stay healthy.

From improving mental tasks like memory and concentration to nurturing overall brain health, a good diet can help keep the brain sharp, which actually does help out young athletes.
 

These 13 foods are good for the brain:
•    Salmon
•    Leafy Greens
•    Walnuts
•    Blueberries
•    Whole Grains
•    Eggs
•    Beets
•    Dark Chocolate
•    Tea and Coffee
•    Turmeric
•    Sage
•    Avocados
•    Beans

Check out Medishare.com for a kid-friendly sample meal plan using these foods.

Quite honestly, I wish that I would have been more aware of the importance of “brain food” when my kids were younger. Although they managed to have decent grades and do well in sports, I’m sure that my diligence in feeding them better brain food would have helped.
As parents, there’s a lot you can’t control about your kids’ lives, but one of the things you can do is to be sure that you’re feeding them the foods that support brain health.

Janis Meredith is a family life coach who wants to help parents raise champions. You can find out more at rcfamilies.com.