The ability to focus plays a crucial role in our lives, both day-to-day and long-term. It is critical for taking in new information, learning new things, executing daily tasks and achieving goals. How well we can concentrate can influence our levels of success, and focus levels can, unfortunately, dwindle as we get older.

Several factors can affect concentration, such as brain training, stress management, environmental elements and sleep. What we put on our fork can also have a significant influence on our ability to focus.

If you want to explore different types of food to help focus, here are many nutritional strategies and specific foods that improve memory and concentration.

Nutrition Strategies

Follow a Balanced Diet

Food is fuel for the brain and body, and a diet lacking essential vitamins, minerals, macros and nutrients can hinder your ability to focus. Following a general healthy nutritional plan improves all cognitive processes in the body, including concentration.

When seeking out food to help focus better, try to take in a balance of complex carbohydrates such as brown rice or sweet potatoes, protein sources such as lean, unprocessed meats, eggs or soya, and healthy fats such as avocadoes, nuts and seeds. Aim for an abundance of fruits and vegetables, including a rainbow of different colored ingredients as well as a wealth of leafy greens such as kale and spinach.

It is not only different foods that improve memory and concentration, but water as well; it is crucial to drink plenty of water throughout the day. You can also reduce certain types of food to help focus. Limit your intake of processed foods, refined sugar, empty calories (foods with low nutritional value) and trans fats.

Don’t Skip Breakfast

Studies have found that eating breakfast may help improve attention and short-term memory, with those skipping breakfast not performing as well on academic tests as those who didn’t. In particular, high-fiber whole grains, dairy and fruits tend to garner more positive results as types of food help focus, while high-calorie meals appear to hinder concentration.

Try Smaller Meals More Often

Blood sugar plays an important role in the body as a whole, specifically in concentration. When blood sugar levels are too low, there isn’t adequate energy for brain function, often resulting in poor attention and cognitive function.

Eating smaller meals more frequently helps maintain balanced blood sugar levels that don’t spike or drop too often. Lower GI foods (those that have little effect on the body’s blood sugar, such as leafy greens, high fiber foods and healthy proteins) also help to stabilize blood sugar between meals and avoid sugar crashes.

Specialty Foods

Caffeine

Well-touted for its abilities to provide a mental boost, caffeine is one of the most frequently utilized tools when seeking out food to help focus. It is found in coffee, energy drinks, certain teas, chocolate and some medication, and has been shown to increase alertness, elevate mood and sharpen concentration.

Fatty Fish

Many sources of fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids – key nutrients and major building blocks for the brain. Diets inclusive of fish such as salmon, trout, sardines and low-mercury tuna are linked to improved memory, cognitive function and learning ability, particularly as we age, making them an ideal source of food to help focus.

Blueberries

Blueberries and other deeply colored berries contain plant compounds that offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. These nutrients serve as helpful food to help focus by protecting the brain against ageing and neurodegenerative diseases. Some of the antioxidants in blueberries specifically have been found to accumulate in the brain, helping to improve the communication between brain cells. 

Dark Chocolate

Part of the focusing power behind dark chocolate and cocoa is the caffeine content, boosting their status as foods that improve memory and concentration. But these foods also offer rich supplies of flavonoids and antioxidants. These offer more than the temporary effects of caffeine by enhancing overall health and therefore brain function long-term.

Turmeric

Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. It has been shown to directly enter the brain (skipping the bloodstream) and potentially help new brain cells grow, boost memory and delay age-related mental decline that affects concentration.

Broccoli

This powerhouse food to help focus contains a variety of compounds with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. One of these is vitamin K, which has been linked with better cognitive performance and improved memory.

Walnuts

Coincidentally resembling a brain shape, walnuts are most well-known for their brain-boosting benefits. In addition to the antioxidants, healthy fat, fiber, protein and vitamin E that many nuts contain, walnuts also supply omega-3 fatty acids, recognized for their ability to support the brain’s function, including concentration.

Green Tea

Green tea is another healthy source of caffeine, although it has other beneficial ingredients that make it an ideal food to help focus. L-theanine in particular helps mitigate the anxiety-inducing effects of caffeine, supporting a mind state that is both attentive and relaxed – ideal for concentration. Studies conclude that green tea may improve alertness, memory, performance and focus.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds contain many micronutrients that support brain function, including copper, iron, magnesium and higher levels of zinc than most other seeds. Magnesium helps reduce mental stress while zinc is vital for enhancing the memory and thinking skills that help us focus.

A Note on Sugar

While the many health pitfalls of excess sugar are accurately documented, it is worth noting that sugar can be considered a useful food to help focus as it is still the brain’s preferred source of fuel. This source, however, is glucose, not refined sugar. The body processes glucose from the sugars and carbohydrates in the diet, and receives a spike in energy levels that bolsters mental alertness. This temporary boost in focus may prove helpful when limited bursts of concentration are required, but the effects are short-lived, and followed by a drop in sugar levels that can result in tiredness and distractibility.

If you need a quick, short boost in your attention, skip refined sugar and try whole fruits, which include the fiber, vitamins and minerals to make them a more wholesome food to help focus.

While many approaches can help enhance mental performance, you can effectively support your brain health and boost your focus, alertness, memory and mood by adopting certain nutritional strategies. You can also include more of these specific foods that improve memory and concentration in your diet as part of a targeted strategy to increase focus.