Eat these smart foods to get smarter

The foods you eat directly affect the performance of your brain. It has been proven that by eating the right food, you can boost your IQ, improve your mood.

The foods you eat directly affect the performance of your brain. It has been proven that by eating the right food, you can boost your IQ, improve your mood, be more emotionally stable, sharpen your memory and keep your mind young.

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BrainReady.com, a blog devoted to the brain and anti-aging, recommends these brain foods: wild salmon, cocoa beans, matcha (green tea), acai berries and blueberries, coffee beans, turmeric, sage and walnuts.

Alternet.org, a news and content site, suggests adding these foods in addition to aforementioned: avocado, beans, olive oil, garlic, nuts (hazelnuts, filberts, cashews), seeds (sunflower, sesame, flax), oatmeal, pomegranate, brown rice, eggs, green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, chard, romaine, arugula), tomatoes and cacao nibs.

LiveScience, a science news site, offers brain food eating tips and lifestyle habits to implement for better brain health:

Eat: The brain needs fuel. Leigh Gibson, PhD, researcher in biopsychology focusing on appetite and food choice at Roehampton University, said, "when your glucose level drops, the symptom is confused thinking." Eat brain foods to avoid that effect -- a balanced diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, with low-glycemic indexed foods.

It is also important to be sensitive to your own brain's needs. Researchers explain that "extroverts are more likely to succumb to the ‘post-lunch dip' -- that desire to nap, or chug coffee, mid-afternoon. And size matters: Children and the very thin may feel faint or grumpy due to low blood glucose faster than an average-sized adult."

Fuzzy-headedness or constant confused thinking is the brain's reaction to "chronic under-eating, over-exercising or regularly skipping meals."

Green said, "every single fad diet is total rubbish, but there is merit to eating low glycemically."