Increasing your brainpower isn’t just about being the smartest person in the room. You see, your brain contains your personality, memories, and ability to experience life. No brain, no life! So take care of it.
The quality of your brain is only going to be as good as the way that you treat it.
While genetics definitely play a big role in your brain power, so do a multitude of different lifestyle factors. You have the power to change your habits and begin increasing your brainpower.
Tip #1 – Consume Probiotics and Prebiotics
The gut has a powerful connection to the brain. The gut communicates on a system of nerves called the gut-brain axis. Unhealthy food damages that communication, wreaking havoc on the brain.
Research shows that people who struggle with anxiety and depression benefit massively from taking in more probiotics and prebiotics.
The fact is, even if you aren’t depressed and anxious, your still brainpower suffers.
The same foods that make us angry and depressed are the same foods that create brain fog and zap brainpower.
In contrast, the same foods that boost brainpower also boost energy levels.
Probiotics and prebiotics are a win-win-win for your mood, energy levels, and brain health. And by the way, all three are connected!
A bad mood often accompanies lower energy levels and brain fog is often felt. I’ve noticed this myself more times than I can count.
Easy Ways to Consume Prebiotics and Probiotics
While I’d love to say that getting your prebiotics and probiotics is as simple as eating more yogurt, there’s more to the story.
Watch out for sugar-loaded, artificially sweetened, and processed yogurt from the store. Look for terms like grass-fed, no sugar added, and live and active cultures.
Get goat yogurt if you can. It’s the healthiest form of dairy for most people and less inflammatory than cow’s milk.
Eat a diet high in vegetables, some fruit, and some whole grains. That’ll take care of your prebiotics.
For probiotics, I recommend kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut and other fermented foods.
One of my favorite ways to get my probiotics is by putting a cup of plain goat kefir into my berry smoothie. So delicious!
While supplementation is fine, you have to be careful with sketchy brands and study the reputation of whoever you buy from. Remember though, you can normally meet your probiotic and prebiotic needs through diet alone.
Tip #2 – Get Your Vitamins 
You don’t need to take a million supplements to meet your vitamin needs. You may be bombarded with vitamin advertisements all the time, but you can meet most (if not all) of your vitamin needs through food alone.
Supplements are fine and I take some myself, but supplements should never replace a healthy diet.
Don’t be the person who smokes, eats sugary foods for dinner, and then chows down on vitamin gummies.
There are certain vitamins that are very powerful for increasing your brainpower. Here are a few of them:
- Vitamin B1 (thiamin) – Helps the brain and nerves communicate.
- Vitamin B12 – Boosts mood, steadies the nerves and improves blood health.
- Vitamin D – Regulates blood pressure and helps the nerves stay healthy.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids – Boosts brain health and fights inflammation.
- Zinc – High in antioxidant properties that protect the cells.
Tip #3 – Eat Brain Boosting Spices
Alas, a very tasty way to boost your noggin! Herbs and spices are good on just about anything that you can eat. Fortunately, a lot of tasty spices are incredible for increasing your brain health.
Not only do certain spices boost your brain, but it also can boost your quality of life and longevity.
According to Dr. Brandon Crawford, a neurologist who specializes in brain health, here are some spices that your brain loves:
- Black pepper – Boosts memory and cognitive function.
- Cinnamon – Improves brain function by balancing blood sugar.
- Ginger – Reduces inflammation and oxidative stress.
- Nutmeg – Helps prevent the deterioration of neural pathways.
- Turmeric – Reduces inflammation and oxidative damage.
I’m a huge lover of Indian food and I’ve always noticed that I feel mentally amazing after eating my tikki chicken masala. Maybe I just love the taste, but perhaps there’s more to the story.
Whatever your favorite meals are, find ways to incorporate brain-boosting spices into recipes (if there aren’t any already). I also love to throw cinnamon or turmeric into my smoothies.
Tip #4 – Level Up Your Game!
Does this tip surprise you? It did me too. I’ve always been in the camp of thinking that games, especially video games, are like junk food for the brain. Turns out the opposite is true.
A healthy amount of gaming is great for increasing your brainpower.
In research that studied children who play video games, researchers found that the children who played video games seemed to have better cognitive performance.
While the exact reason is a little up in the air, perhaps it is because of the senses involved or the problem-solving skills that are needed to progress to the next level.
I’m not much of a gamer anymore, but I’ve noticed my brain is buzzing every I played an intense video game in the past. It was stimulating and definitely gave my brain a workout.
I’ve always noticed with my friends and family members who are avid gamers – they seem to think quickly and have good reasoning skills.
If you want to boost your brain power, you might not have to give up your Call of Duty after all.
If video games aren’t your thing, try out a brain game. One of my favorite biohackers, Dave Asprey, has a great blog post about how he increased his IQ by 2.75 points per hour of brain training!
You can check out his blog post here to learn more. He uses a game developed by a professor of cognitive science who invented a brain game called Dual’n’back.
I do Dual’n’back sometimes and boy, it’s a brain workout for sure!
Tip #5 – Brain boosting Music
As I’m writing this blog post now, I’m listening to the soundtrack of Avatar: The Way of Water. Let me tell you, I’m in the zone right now.
Turns out that music is not only enjoyable and energizing but it works wonders for increasing brainpower. In fact, it’s a complete workout for the brain!
When researchers at John Hopkins Medicine studied the effects of music on the brain, they used an fMRI (brain scanning machine) to study the brains of jazz musicians. They found that the brain gets a workout by commuting different sounds.
Music is also great for boosting mental health. You can play music while dancing, driving, or while cleaning.
The Best Music for Increasing Your Brainpower
Not all music is good for the brain. If you’re trying to focus on a task that has lyrics, you may have trouble focusing. Certain types of music are better for the brain than others.
According to a Harvard Neuroscientist, the best type of music for increasing your brainpower is familiar music.
Why is familiar so powerful? Because the brain enjoys music that its heard from the past. It loves a playlist of familiar music and anticipating what’s coming up next.
It’s best to listen to familiar music with tracks that don’t have lyrics. Here are some suggestions:
- Classical music
- Lofi beats.
- Binaural beats.
- Movie soundtracks (my favorite).
I’ve never been a fan of classical music or orchestras. I find it more amusing to watch paint dry. I love listening to the soundtracks of my favorite movies like Gladiator or Avatar: The Way of Water.
Find some great music for increasing your brainpower and tune into the tunes!
Tip #6 – Gobble Up Your Blueberries
The chemical compounds of blueberries work wonders for the brain. I’m sure you’ve heard it many times.
They’re sweet and juicy, and there are countless ways that you can eat them. Everything from a blueberry cobbler to a berry smoothie.
Research suggests that berries contain a powerful compound called flavonoids. Flavinoids may improve memory, learning abilities, and general cognitive abilities.
Blueberries may even help to prevent terrible cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and slow the natural cognitive decline of aging.
Blueberries are also loaded with antioxidants – the chemicals that fight evil free radicals and protect cells from damage.
In Western society, there are free radicals around every block. Air pollution and unhealthy food are two very big sources of free radicals. Blueberries help to fight that damage.
Here are a few ways to get in a serving or two of blueberries each day:
- A berry smoothie (my favorite)
- Eat them straight up.
- Throw them in your yogurt or cereal.
- Make a healthy dessert with blueberries.
- Juice them.
Blueberries are one versatile fruit so the possibilities are endless!
Tip #7 – Use Memorization Techniques
Memorization techniques rev up the brain and can enable you to memorize things that you never thought possible. Just like with brain games, they give your noggin an intense workout.
Mnemonic memorization techniques involve using your imagination to remember items, lists, and pretty much anything else. They’re also great for studying and can help students ace their exams.
There are a lot of different mnemonic techniques out there such as the mind palace, substitute word method, or vividly visualizing information itself.
My Recommendation: Harry Lorayne’s Books
My favorite of all memory techniques is the Harry Lorayne Memory Systems. I’ve memorized decks of cards, long 2-digit numbers, and countless other things using his techniques.
They work so well it’s like having a superpower!
I’m not an affiliate for Harry Lorayne’s books, but I do highly recommend you check them out on his Amazon page here.
In a nutshell, Harry Lorayne’s method involves using visualization and associating something that you want to memorize with something that you already know.
In contrast, if you want to remember something, make it silly and exaggerated.
Do you remember what you had for breakfast last week on Tuesday? Probably not. But, I bet you remember something very crazy that happened to you the past year.
Our brains are overloaded with so much information, so we have to delete a lot of irrelevant data.
The brain easily remembers things that are out of the ordinary, like being in a storm or seeing a crazy costume.
Harry Lorayne’s memory strategies can start increasing your brainpower like crazy, so give it a shot.
Tip #8 – Reduce Stress
Stress not only makes your quality of life worse, but it is terrible for your health and can zap your brainpower.
Stress management can make or break your brain health and your health in general.
While it’s perfectly normal to deal with stress sometimes, it is chronic stress that really breaks down the brain and body.
Scientists have observed how the brain negatively changes during stress and it’s quite disturbing. Stress interferes with memory, attention span, and general cognition.
How to Prevent Dangerous Stress
I use the term “dangerous stress” because some stresses are normal and healthy. For example, exercise is stressful for the body but creates a lot of health benefits.
Here are some strategies for preventing dangerous stress:
- Focus on controlling only what you can control (e.g. habits).
- Ground yourself in the present moment through mindfulness and meditation.
- Get a good rejuvenating night’s sleep.
- Organize your home and declutter.
- Don’t expect there to be zero stress (it’s unrealistic).
- Reach out for help in the form of therapy or social support.
One of the best strategies that I do to prevent stress is to set aside a chunk of time each day for exercising, stretching, and qi gong.
I also find that having an empowering morning ritual is great because I can start my day with a variety of anti-stress techniques.
Tip #9 – Laugh More
You may have heard that laughter is medicine for the soul. Turns out that science is on the side of laughter.
Every time you laugh, you flood your body with a lot of oxygen-rich air and boost circulation.
Laughter even creates natural “healthy drugs” inside of the brain, such as endogenous opioids. Researchers have even shown that laughter increases a person’s threshold for pain.
Stop taking life so seriously and start watching comedies, funny YouTube videos, hanging out with a funny friend, or whatever you need to do to press your funny button.
Tip #10 – Try Something New
One thing that I learned from Tony Robbins is that variety is the spice of life. No matter how great of a life you have, living the same repeated day gets boring.
Certainty and security and valuable human needs, but so is uncertainty.
Human beings crave newness and excitement. That’s why traveling and exploring new places is so much fun.
One of the best ways to increase your brainpower is to have more uncertainty in your life – try something new. It could be playing a new instrument or learning a new language.
Learning a new skill or doing a new activity challenges your brain to work in ways that it hasn’t before. It forces it to create some new connections and neural activity.
When you do something new, your brain becomes more flexible and less rigid. It becomes more youthful and exciting.
Recap
The human brain is made up of 86 billion brain cells! Just imagine if you nurtured every single one of those brain cells with brain-healthy habits. You’ll be unstoppable in your life!
Get started today and start doing something in your life that increases your brainpower, such as eating more blueberries.
Got more brain tips? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before using any of the tips mentioned in this blog post.