digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Eat a set of brain-supportive foods regularly, with Jim Kwik's favorite 10 being avocados, blueberries, broccoli, coconut oil, eggs, green leafy vegetables, salmon, turmeric, walnuts, and dark chocolate, plus water as a bonus 11th item. He also teaches a "body list" memory technique to remember the list without writing it down.
Key Points
- Kwik's top 10 brain foods, presented in no particular order per his own statement: avocados, blueberries, broccoli, coconut oil, eggs, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collard greens, salmon (wild deepwater fish, rich in omega-3 DHA; sardines also mentioned), turmeric, walnuts, and dark chocolate.
- Bonus 11th item: water, since the body is about 75% water and, per studies he cites, well-hydrated people score better on brain power tests.
- Kwik says these foods work through antioxidants, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals that protect the brain and support energy and focus.
- A memory technique, the "body list," pairs each food with a body location so the list can be recalled without writing it down.
- Kwik presents the foods as nutritious and easy to consume, and frames the body list as a memory aid for shopping.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: Make a brain smoothie by blending water, green leafy vegetables, blueberries, avocado, and coconut oil. Make turmeric tea by combining turmeric, pepper (to aid absorption), a little honey, coconut oil, and hot water, which he says he starts most days with.
- Concrete instructions: To memorize the list, touch and name body locations in order: 1 top of head (avocado), 2 nose (blueberries), 3 mouth (broccoli), 4 ears (coconut oil), 5 larynx/throat (eggs), 6 shoulders (green leafy vegetables), 7 collarbone (salmon), 8 fingers (turmeric), 9 belly button (walnuts), 10 seat/bottom (dark chocolate). Visualize each food on its location, then recall by walking down the body, and try it backwards from 10 to 1.
- Kwik cites studies in rats where blueberries improved learning capacity, motor skills, and aging outcomes, and says dark chocolate (darker and purer being better) may aid focus and mood via endorphins.
- Walnuts are cited for antioxidants, vitamin E, zinc, and magnesium; broccoli for vitamin K and fiber; salmon for DHA.
- Kwik's stated practical rule is that a habit must be easy or people won't do it.
Bottom Line
A simple, memorable set of whole foods and hydration, combined with a body-location memory trick, makes it practical to eat for brain health and remember the list.
