Beyond pleasure we often think about our food as a fuel for our bodies for energy, gut health, muscle building, weight loss, but often our brains are overlooked. Brainfood is a new emerging category of functional food that serves the purpose of enhancing cognitive health and performance. 

PS - like the look of the recipe above? Check out our: 
Brain Boosting Porridge Bowl collab with Fix and Fogg

5x Benefits of Brainfood:

1. Focus 

A cup of coffee may improve focus but the downside of caffeine is the increased heart rate and the side effects such as the 'jitters'. Ārepa is a caffeine free formula rich in New Zealand plant based antioxidants that works differently, in one study on physically fatigued subjects, consuming Ārepa were shown to improve accuracy, reaction speed and overall cognitive performance without the caffeine crash. Want to give up coffee? Read What happens to your body when you give up caffeine.

2. Calm

We all want to be calm but sometimes our solutions often reduce our ability to perform at our best. Ārepa contains 200mg of L-theanine a rare amino acid found in green tea proven to reduce anxiety and stress without making you drowsy. Read the 5x Benefits of L-theanine - the Amazing Amino Acid

3. Performance 

In a recent meta analysis (the study of all the published science) found that New Zealand Blackcurrant could outperform caffeine, for what caffeine is used for in boosting physical performance. This is game changing for the elite sport world but also for the weekend warrior who is most likely visiting the gym aggressively as we approach summer. The benefits of New Zealand blackcurrant vs caffeine is that not only it could boost physical performance but you dont get the caffeine crash.

4. Repair

Concussion doesn't only affect rugby players, it also affects a huge number of the everyday people, from a trip down the stairs, a tumble on the slopes through to drunken antics - concussion can be a nasty event that causes long term difficulties for people. One of the key ingredients in Ārepa is Enzogenol, a New Zealand pine bark extract proven in one study  to assist in reducing mental fatigue from people suffering traumatic brain injury. 

New Zealand blackcurrant is also very powerful at supporting muscle recovery after strenuous exercise (that feeling of pain you get two days after visiting the gym for the first time). In 2009 scientists discovered and published that the extract from New Zealand blackcurrants that could help protect the body from the stresses of exercise. Researchers found signs that the extract, taken in capsule form before and after exercise, has a triple effect: minimising muscle damage by modulating oxidative stress, reducing inflammation and potentially enhancing the body’s natural defences against disease. While the scientists identify that the research is early stage the findings demonstrate that blackcurrant fruit extracts, combined with exercise, can have a beneficial effect on human health.

5. Protection 

A study of older adults who consumed only a small amounts of flavonoid-rich foods, such as berries, apples and tea, were 2 to 4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias over 20 years compared with people whose intake was higher, according to a new study led by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University.

The epidemiological study of 2,800 people aged 50 and older examined the long-term relationship between eating foods containing flavonoids and risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). While many studies have looked at associations between nutrition and dementias over short periods of time, the study published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at exposure over 20 years.

The research team determined that a low intake of three flavonoid types was linked to a higher risk of dementia when compared to the highest intake. Specifically:

• Low intake of flavonols (apples, pears and tea) was associated with twice the risk of developing ADRD.

• Low intake of anthocyanins (blackcurrants, blueberries, strawberries and red wine) was associated with a four-fold risk of developing ADRD.