3 Ways to Improve Your Brain Power with Ayurveda

If your mind could be more like a supercomputer rather than a dull knife trying to cut through steel, wouldn’t you do whatever you could to experience that intellectual prowess? Especially if there were ways to achieve a super-mind without resorting to chemically-based drugs or other dangerous tools to boost cognitive function? Ayurvedic medicine, the ancient healing arts of the Vedas, offers some sound advice for keeping the mind in tip-top shape no matter our ages.

1. Eat Whole, Natural Foods

Ayurvedic wisdom suggests that our minds work best on whole, natural foods, not the processed junk which most of the big food manufacturing companies would like to sell us. You could call it foodstuff, because it isn’t food.

Processed food is devoid of many important nutrients that our minds need to function, and considering that over 1000 products contain high fructose corn syrup and other known neuro-degenerating substances, it would make sense that simply returning to a natural, organic diet could improve brain functioning.

Dr. Mark Hyman explains how high fructose corn syrup, for example, can cause numerous health issues. This is partially due to the fact that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and cane sugar are NOT biochemically identical or processed the same way by the body.  Ayurvedic texts state that all three levels of brain functioning can be improved by going all natural: comprehension (dhi), retention (dhriti) and recall (smriti).

2. Obtain Antioxidants from Natural Foods, not Supplements

Fill yourself with naturally occurring antioxidants as much as possible instead of supplements. While supplements can fill the gap in poor nutrition, they can’t replace eating a variety of antioxidant-rich foods. Our bodies suffer all sorts of damage due to free radicals, and they occur due to environmental toxins, stress, prescription drugs, and even chemotherapy and radiation.

Read: Increase Brain Power with These 6 Foods

It is well known by the scientific and medical establishment now that free radicals cause disease, aging, and impairment to the brain. If, however, you eat a diet rich in antioxidants that come from whole, uncooked, or lightly steamed vegetables, fruits, sprouts, and algae such as from chlorella and spirulina, the naturally occurring phytonutrients in these items will rid your body of an excessive free-radical load, improve your brain power, and protect you against any number of diseases.

3. Consume more Healthful Fats

One of the cornerstones of an Ayurvedic diet is ghee, or clarified butter, simply because it offers the body many of the important fatty acids it needs. Ghee has been used for thousands of years to boost brain functioning and improve overall health. Ghee has a very high smoke point, which means it won’t break down into free radicals when it is cooked. Ghee doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and some mixtures of ghee have been known to last over a hundred years without spoiling.

Medicated ghee, as it is sometimes called, completely reduces inflammation in the body – and this is one of the main causes of neurodegenerative diseases. You can either find ghee at your local health food store or you can make your own with high quality, unsalted, grass-fed, organic butter.