BOOST YOUR MEMORY

FILL UP ON THESE:
APPLES. Eating two or three apples a day increases levels of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter crucial to maintaining memory that tends to decrease with age, according to research from the University of Massachusetts. Additionally, antioxidants in the fruit protect brain cells from free radical damage.
CHICKEN BREAST. In a study of more than 6,000 people conducted by the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging and CDC, those who ate foods high in niacin, like chicken breast, yellowfin tuna, and Chinook salmon, had a 70% lower risk of mental decline and Alzheimer's. Aim for at least 14 mg of niacin daily, the amount in 3.5 ounces of roasted skinless chicken breast.
COFFEE. People who drank three to five cups of filtered java a day reduced their risk of dementia and Alzheimer's by 65%, according to results from a Finnish/Swedish study of more than 1,400 people over 2 decades by the University of Kuopio and published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
AVOID THIS:
LIVER. This meat - along with turnip greens and shiitake mushrooms - has large amounts of copper. A diet high in this mineral (2,750 mcg daily) is associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline by the equivalent of 19 years, research shows, if eaten along with a diet high in saturated and trans fats.