Foods that feed your brain
Cognition, memory & mood. PeakPie scores the brain on 8 nutrients; Omega-3 EPA+DHA, B12, Choline, Polyphenols count most. Below: the everyday ingredients that score highest for your brain in one portion, then what each nutrient is for and what may lawfully be claimed about it.
The best everyday ingredients for your brain, by kind
FISH, MEAT AND EGGS
VEGETABLES
- Wakame40 g · Omega-3 EPA+DHA and Folate (B9)11
BEANS AND PULSES
- Lentils40 g · Folate (B9) and Iron10
- Black beans70 g · Folate (B9) and Polyphenols7
GRAINS AND STARCHES
- Weetabix60 g · Iron and Folate (B9)10
- Rice60 g · Folate (B9) and Iron6
- Basmati rice60 g · Folate (B9) and Iron6
DAIRY
- Whole milk150 g · B12 and B610
The number is the brain score one realistic portion earns on an otherwise empty day, out of 100, against PeakPie's adult daily targets. A portion is the serving the healthy kitchen standard allows where it sets one (a 30 g handful of almonds, 15 g of olive oil), else what one serving of PeakPie's own recipes typically uses, never a cup of it. The list shows the best 4 of each kind so it isn't all fish (a kind appears when its best scores at least 10), and only foods, never stocks, sauces, herbs, spices or sweeteners: a food is listed only if the brain is among the four organs it feeds most and it scores at least 6, and only if it keeps to the healthy kitchen standard: not an ingredient the standard bans (cured and processed meats, crab sticks, white bread, cream), not a food the catalogue flags as ultra-processed, within any cap the standard sets on it, and under 7 g of saturated fat, 2.5 g of salt and 5 g of added sugar a portion, with no alcohol. Ties go to the food with less salt and saturated fat. The foods are the everyday ingredients PeakPie cooks with; ready meals and the branded catalogue are left out.
What your brain is scored on
Omega-3 EPA+DHA
26% of the score · target 250mg a dayLong-chain omega-3 fats from marine foods. DHA is a building block of brain-cell membranes; together with EPA it supports heart rhythm, mood, and calming inflammation.
- AUTHORISED CLAIMDHA contributes to maintenance of normal brain function. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 250 mg of DHA.
B12
17% of the score · target 2.4mcg a dayA B vitamin that insulates nerve fibres, builds red blood cells, and copies DNA. It occurs naturally only in animal foods.
- AUTHORISED CLAIMVitamin B12 contributes to normal psychological function.
- AUTHORISED CLAIMVitamin B12 contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.
Choline
14% of the score · target 488mg a dayAn essential nutrient your brain turns into acetylcholine — the memory neurotransmitter — and your liver uses to package and export fat.
The register authorises claims for choline, but none names the brain. PeakPie's weighting follows the wider evidence; it is not a health claim.
Iron
11% of the score · target 13mg a day
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