Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

Keeping your memory sharp is an essential part of getting through your daily life. Sustained and improved memory can be achieved through maintaining a healthy lifestyle, of which an essential part is maintaining a balanced diet.

"A heart healthy diet is crucial to the general health of an individual, as well as to the health of memory," said Frances Mahfood, nutritionist at The Heart Foundation of Jamaica.

"Compelling research has linked specific foods and nutrients that enhance and preserve memory," she said.

These 'brain foods' contain minerals and vitamins which form a part of a balanced diet.

Flavanoids

According to Mahfood, flavanoids are chemical compounds that give fruit and green vegetables their colour.

"Two important flavanoids that support memory are anphocyanins and quercetin," she said. These are found in fruits and vegetables which are rich in colour like grapes, red onions and berries.

Omega-3 Fatty acid

Found in fish like salmon and mackerel, Omega-3 is being touted as having a number of benefits; promoting healthy memory is one of them. "The fattier the fish the more Omega-3," she said.

"Not only does salmon contain Omega-3 fatty acid but it also contains iron and foods that are high in iron also help memory," she said. Other iron heavyweights include beans and calaloo.

Cruciferous vegetables

Vegetables that have large under leaves fall into this category, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and pak choi.

Vitamin E

Nuts like peanuts and almonds, and healthy oils like vegetable oil pack a powerful Vitamin E punch.

B Complex Vitamins

Many dry cereals and whole grain foods, brown rice and low-fat milk contain B Complex Vitamins.

Manganese

"In research they found out that this mineral helps with memory and we find this mineral in pineapples, raisin bran cereal and oatmeal," Mahfood said.

She emphasised that it is essential to include these foods in addition to a balanced lifestyle.

This involves exercising, getting adequate rest and avoiding smoking.

"If you keep a healthy heart, your memory will always be good. To keep your heart healthy you need to keep all your risk factors in check," she said.

These include maintaining normal blood pressure levels, cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels and haemoglobin which can all be checked at The Heart Foundation of Jamaica.