Iron is the center of our red blood cells, which allow oxygen to be carried throughout your body and into your brain, which needs more than 20% of the oxygen available in the blood.

A lack of oxygen has a major impact on your brain’s health and in the formation of diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

How It Works:

The actual ability to absorb iron into your body is dependent on the amount of acid you have in your stomach.

If you have acid reflux or heartburn and are using drugs or antacids to get relief, you are affecting your ability to absorb iron.

To absorb iron, the pH in your stomach has to be normal, 1 – 2 pH.

Under these conditions, iron in your stomach chemically reacts with other chemicals and is prepared for absorption in the small intestine.

When you take drugs to reduce the acid in your stomach, the iron does not chemically react and change for proper absorption in the intestine. The result is iron deficiency.

Get More Iron In Your Diet:

The best way to get Iron into your system is through the foods you consume each day.

Some of the best foods you can eat that contain high amounts of Iron include:

• Kidney
• Liver
• Wheat Bran
• Ovaltine
• Cocoa Powder
• Spinach
• Parsley
• Radish
• Peas
• Leek
• Carob
• Sesame Seeds
• Pistachios
• Dried Coconut
• Cashew Nuts
• Muesli
• Cornflakes
• Oatmeal
• Brown Rice
• Cereal
• Baked Potato

You can also use 25 to 50 mg of an iron supplement daily.

However, before taking supplements, it’s best to check with your doctor first, to see if you really need them.

While on the surface it looks like everyone should be getting more Iron in their diets, be careful. Taking excessive Iron can result in poisoning.

Benefits Of B Vitamins:

The B Vitamins folic acid and B12 have also shown to be a contributor to your brains activity.

B12 specifically, has been consistently found deficient in people with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Folic acid and B12 work to produce neurotransmitters and replace nerve cells.

The lack of neurotransmitters is responsible for the loss of a good memory.

To make sure B vitamins work for you in keeping your mental capacities intact, start making sure you are getting them in your diet or taking them as a supplement.

B Vitamin Rich Foods:

• Fish and Seafood
• Whole Grain Bread, Cereals, and Oats
• Chicken, Beef, and Eggs
• Most Leafy Green Vegetables – especially Avocado
• Dairy products – specifically Cheese, Milk, and Yoghurt
• Beans and Peas
• Citrus fruits, such as Oranges, Lemons and Grapefruit
• Various UNSALTED Nuts

Conclusion:

It is always best to get your minerals and vitamins in food. In food, minerals and vitamins are combined with other chemicals that allow your body to absorb them better than supplements.

So in short, getting the right foods in our diets and maintaining a healthy balance really can help to improve your brain activity.

Simply by making small adjustments to what we eat is proven to have a long-lasting impact.

What are some of the foods we’ve listed here that you’re going to consume more of every day?

Do you have any “questionable” foods you might be consuming daily, that you’d like to ask us about?

Feel free to leave a comment below, or send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

Our expert Nutritionist will give you the right advice.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to optimum nutrition for brain health, check out some of our other feature articles by clicking on the links below:

• Apricots. A Daily Nutrition Booster
• How Vitamin C And E Can Help Prevent Dementia
• We Are What We Eat

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

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Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

When he returned to Europe from his military expeditions, he brought some with him.

The ancient Romans gave the apricot its name – from the Latin word for “precocious” – because the apricot is the first fruit of the season to ripen.

The name stuck, and the apricot spread all over, from Europe to America, and all the way to Australia.

The apricot is a fantastic fruit – loaded with beta carotene, iron, fiber, vitamin C, and several B vitamins.

If you dry an apricot, its nutrients get more concentrated, making dried apricots a great snack.

Whether fresh or dried, eating apricots will help you fight the effects of aging, protect your eyesight, ward off cancer, and prevent heart disease.

The 4 prevention profiles of apricots:

Combat cancer

If you get indigestion from eating tomato products – the prime source of lycopene – here’s great news for you.

Apricots, especially dried ones, are another source of lycopene, the amazing carotenoid that can help prevent prostate, breast, and several other cancers.

Though apricots aren’t nearly as good a source of lycopene – about 30 dried ones have the same amount as one tomato – munching on them throughout the day can boost your lycopene quicker than you think.

Apricots are also a good source of the most famous carotenoid of them all – beta carotene.

This powerful antioxidant reduces your risk of some types of stomach and intestinal cancers.

To get these benefits, experts suggest getting at least 5 milligrams of beta carotene each day.

That’s equal to about six fresh apricots.

Halt heart disease

Eating dried apricots as a snack can punch up your levels of iron, potassium, beta carotene, magnesium, and copper.

These important nutrients help control your blood pressure and prevent heart disease.

Plus, as few as five dried apricots can give you up to 3 grams of fiber, which sweeps cholesterol out of your system before it has a chance to clog your arteries.

Chase away cataracts

What you eat can affect your vision.

Dr. Robert G. Cumming, the lead researcher for the Blue Mountains Eye Study, says, “Our study confirms the importance of vitamin A for cataract prevention.”

Cumming adds, “Our overall conclusion is that a well-balanced diet is needed for eye health.”

Since apricots are a good source of beta carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A, and several other nutrients, they could be just what you’re looking for.

Increase life expectancy…?

Believe it or not, some people claim apricots are the secret to living to age 120.

They get this idea from the Hunzas, a tribe living in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia.

Common health problems, like cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, do not exist in Hunza.

And, researchers are wondering if apricots, the main part of their diet, are partly responsible.

The Hunzas eat fresh apricots in season and dry the rest to eat during their long, cold winter.

Although eating apricots can’t guarantee you’ll live a long life, recent research suggests the little fruit may help you live a better life.

The B vitamins in dried apricots may protect you from Alzheimer’s and age-related mental problems, like memory loss.

Where to buy from:

Because this wonderful fruit has been grown in so many major locations all over the world, sourcing good apricots for consumption is incredibly easy.

Most if not all grocery stores should have seasonal produce, and dried apricots can be found all year round, as they have a substantial shelf life when appropriately stored.

In our experience, the best dried apricots are coming from the Mediterranean, though there are still very high-quality local producers in Australia and the USA.

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

• How Iron and B Vitamins Improve Brain Activity
• Can Vitamin C and E Help Prevent Dementia?
• We Are What We Eat

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you new feature articles and videos just like this one, as we release them.

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Finally, if you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below, and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.