Festive Brain Foods

"Come on have some fun, the holidays are a time to let go..." Ever hear those enticing words at your office? Between company and friends' parties, plus holiday family meals, we can easily veer off track and eat too many fattening foods. At least I know I can! You?

Consider including these festive, yet healthy foods to enhance your brain at parties and holiday events...

Hot Cocoa - sharpens the mind and gives a short-term boost to sharpen cognitive skills. Cocoa flavanols found in dark chocolate could be useful in enhancing brain function for people fighting fatigue, sleep deprivation, and even the effects of aging. And cocoa contains more antioxidants per cup than red wine or tea.

Coffee may provide potential benefits, including benefiting memory for older women. It contains higher amounts of soluble dietary fiber than other commonly consumed beverages; lowers risks for Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes and liver cancer. Coffee's high in anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. I never would have guessed!

Walnuts - improve cognition... may help maintain brain function. Ongoing research suggests that walnuts involve more than the mere "quenching" of free radicals and may in fact involve direct effects on blocking the deleterious "stress signals" generated by the oxidative stressors. "The beneficial effects of walnuts also may be the direct result of enhancements of signals which mediate such important functions as neuronal communication and the growth of new neurons," says Joseph.

Macadamia Nuts and Almonds helps reduce total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels compared with the standard American diet.

Pistachios - just one to two handfuls of pistachios may lower cholesterol levels, which over time can impair blood flow to your brain.

Cranberries, Cranberry Juice, Cranberry Sauce - in its pure form — contained the highest quantity of disease-fighting phenols, a type of antioxidant that is thought to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as, stroke and heart disease. These bright red berries are truly neuroprotective, good at protecting against chronic age-related afflictions like loss of coordination and memory. Exposure to a concentration of cranberry extract equivalent to about half a cup of whole cranberries resulted in a 50% reduction in brain cell death.

Red Grapes - much heralded antioxidant... spikes plasma AOC, helps ward off harmful free radicals that pummel our bodies every day.

Blueberries - antioxidant molecules wage war against free radicals, which can harm brain cells and brain function.

Kiwis - one of the most nutritionally dense fruits... full of antioxidants, vitamin E and lutein. Kiwis can lower "bad" cholesterol by 17.4 percent.

Not only are these appealing, but they're delicious! Maybe I can stay on track... What do you think?