When you have a traumatic brain injury, knowing which foods you should eat and avoid becomes very important.
Your body reacts to everything you put into your body so you want everything you eat to have a positive impact on your brain. Each type of food comes with its particular nutrients and macro-nutrients, some that are beneficial for the brain and others that are bad overall.
In this article, you will discover the 10 best foods to eat for TBI recovery, particularly brain-rich foods and others that encourage the healthy regeneration of your brain and boost your general well-being.
What Your Brain Needs
Before you learn the best foods, it’s important to understand the qualities that your brain needs to regenerate. When you suffer a TBI, your brain desperately needs energy and certain vitamins and minerals to help repair it effectively.
Therefore, your brain’s diet should consist of protein-rich foods and foods that are high in favorable vitamins and minerals like magnesium and zinc.
You also want to help protect your brain from further inflammation, free radicals, and you want to boost the communication between brain cells, which is achieved through powerful antioxidants.
And, of course, you want to avoid highly processed foods that generally don’t offer any of these necessary vitamins and minerals.
You’ll also want to avoid sugary drinks, fatty meat cuts such as lamb chops, alcohol, caffeine, and dairy products like cheese and cream. You’ll want to eat some of these very sparingly to get the best improvements.
With that in mind, you can essentially gauge the right foods for you, but here is a list to help get you started.
Before you learn the best foods, it’s important to understand the qualities that your brain needs to regenerate. When you suffer a TBI, your brain desperately needs energy and certain vitamins and minerals to help repair it effectively.
Therefore, your brain’s diet should consist of protein-rich foods and foods that are high in favorable vitamins and minerals like magnesium and zinc.
You also want to help protect your brain from further inflammation, free radicals, and you want to boost the communication between brain cells, which is achieved through powerful antioxidants.
And, of course, you want to avoid highly processed foods that generally don’t offer any of these necessary vitamins and minerals.
You’ll also want to avoid sugary drinks, fatty meat cuts such as lamb chops, alcohol, caffeine, and dairy products like cheese and cream. You’ll want to eat some of these very sparingly to get the best improvements.
With that in mind, you can essentially gauge the right foods for you, but here is a list to help get you started.
#1 Fatty Fish
Fish such as salmon, trout, and sardines are great for brain recovery because they are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Did you know that 60% of the brain is made up of fat?
Half of this comprises omega-3, so if fatty fish is the best source of both protein and fat for your brain. But that’s not all – omega-3 also preserves the brain’s plasticity, and since you, the TBI sufferer, needs to virtually rewire the brain, this is crucial. Another benefit of fish is that it is a great source of creatine, which also helps rebuild brain cells.
If you are someone who absolutely loathes any fish, then you can find omega-3 in other sources such as dark leafy greens, soybeans, and fish oil supplements.
Nolan McDonnell 