Nutritional Investments – How to Spend Wisely and Eat for Brain Health
- Jan 2
- 5 min read
Written by Kate Taylor, Registered Nutritionist
Kate is a Registered Nutritionist and the Founder of Eat Drink Think Nutrition Limited. Kate supports systemic health & wellness through pesonalised nutrition, diet and lifestyle strategies & recommendations, and particularly specialises in Brain health, cognitive function and Dementia risk-avoidance.
It is the start of a new year and potentially the springboard for new resolutions and health’spirations. If your aspirations centre around health, and most particularly brain health, here are four ideas on how you can economically invest your finances while simultaneously nutritionally nourishing your brain health.
Invest in a decent bottle of extra virgin olive oil. EVOO confers many benefits on brain health and cognitive function, and since you only use a small, tablespoon-sized drizzle at a time, it lasts. Also, make sure the container is dark in colour to minimise the chance that the EVOO will be corrupted, since it is very sensitive to distortion from exposure to light and oxygen. Ensure the container is not made of plastic to minimise the opportunity for microplastics to leach into the liquid, as fats are very efficient at pulling the contents of their surroundings into their composition.
Chew your food. This offers indispensable support for brain health through bolstering neuroplasticity, cognitive processing speed, memory, and learning, principally through exercising and optimising hippocampal function. Chewing also increases nutrient absorption from food, makes the act of eating feel more satiating, it is surprising how much fuller you feel when chewing food thoroughly, supports gut health, as if the teeth accomplish the majority of the breaking down, the stomach needs to work less hard to achieve the same outcome, and supports the oral microbiome through the production and cleansing action of saliva. Furthermore, conscious chewing may encourage us to honour the Japanese principle of Hara Hachi Bu, eating until feeling 80 percent full. If we are feeling fuller on appropriate quantities of food, this indirectly regulates appetite and portion control, thereby supporting the food purchasing economy and reducing potential food waste.
Go shopping in person. This achieves several brain and health benefits. It adds to your daily movement, which may support the generation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a well-evidenced, naturally derived trophic protein that supports cognitive function in healthy and mildly cognitively impaired brains and is therefore colloquially considered fertilizer for the brain. It offers the opportunity to conduct on-shelf price comparisons and take advantage of in-store deals, and it facilitates your ability to make on-site judgements about food appearance rather than relying on a third party to over hastily fulfil an order or make arbitrary food swaps, which may trigger unnecessary food and financial waste. I have also anecdotally noticed that when spending money in person, the temptation to overspend is far less than when spending money electronically. You may therefore find yourself buying food with a need-aware mentality rather than a want-driven outlook, leading to more health and purse-conscious food buying choices.
Batch cook. If you are investing time in preparing meals, cooking in itself is a workout for the brain. Why not make a larger portion and store some away, not in plastic containers, for later in the week? This makes sense from both a health-conscious and finance-conscious perspective, as you may subsequently reduce the risk of over-buying overpriced processed meals. This efficiently manages finances and potentially reduces wasted food because, in addition to the environmental impact, wasting food is literally throwing money away.
I hope you enjoyed these few light-hearted nutritional therapy tips and can see yourself actioning them in the new year 2026 and beyond. If a functional medicine perspective to nurturing, nourishing, and supporting your brain health and cognitive function is of interest, the time to act is now. Why postpone what could be actioned today? Investing in your brain health and brainspan could be the wisest decision you ever make.
Please note that these are general nutritional therapy and functional medicine recommendations. They are not personalised and are not tailored to account for, or include recommendations for, any existing health imbalances or medical conditions. In these cases, please consult a medical professional and or a nutritionist or dietician if you have a particular health or dietary requirement.
Read more from Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor, Registered Nutritionist
Kate is an advocate of proactive and preventative healthcare through optimising and personalising the basics, nutrition, diet, and lifestyle. Kate's experiences watching those around her develop and decline from Dementia instilled in her a mindset of 'prevention is better than cure' and that, particularly when it comes to Brain health and Dementia risk-avoidance, the perception 'false hopelessness' should not triumph over health optimism. Whilst sensitive to the fact that Brain health and Dementia risk-avoidance is multifaceted and cannot be solely addressed by nutrition, Kate's professional nutritional aspiration is to empower & inspire people that diet and lifestyle are integral foundations to health, healthspan, and importantly, Brainspan.
References:
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