Foods for Memory: What to Eat to Remember More

Short answer: Eggs, fatty fish, berries, leafy greens, nuts and olive oil are the foods most consistently linked to better memory. The evidence is moderate: large observational studies plus a few positive supplement trials (DHA, B vitamins), while the 2023 MIND diet trial found no benefit. Eat fish twice a week and berries most days; cut back on sugar and alcohol.

The foods best linked to memory are the ones that supply choline, DHA, flavonoids and B vitamins: eggs, fatty fish, berries, leafy greens and nuts. Most of the evidence comes from long observational studies, which show links rather than proof, and the one large trial of a memory diet was null.

The best foods for memory

Foods linked to worse memory, all in observational studies: added sugar, ultra-processed foods and heavy drinking.

What to eat each week

1. Eggs or other choline foods daily. Two eggs provide about 300 mg of choline, about half to two-thirds of the adequate intake. Most adults eat less than the adequate intake.
2. Fatty fish at least twice a week. Two servings a week is what most dietary guidelines recommend.
3. Berries most days. A half-cup to one-cup serving. Frozen berries keep their polyphenols and cost less.
4. A MIND-style pattern. Leafy greens (six or more servings a week), nuts (five a week), beans, whole grains, olive oil and poultry. Limit red meat, butter, cheese, pastries and fried food.
5. B vitamins from food. Leafy greens and legumes for folate, animal foods or fortified foods for B12, a varied diet for B6.
6. Turmeric in cooking, if you like it. Black pepper and fat improve curcumin absorption.
7. Less added sugar, ultra-processed food and alcohol.

Supplements need more care. Choline supplements such as alpha-GPC or citicoline can interact with medicines, so ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking one. The same applies to omega-3, curcumin and high-dose B vitamins (details below).

Why these nutrients matter for memory

Memory works in three steps. Encoding registers new information, consolidation stabilizes it (mostly during sleep), and retrieval brings it back. The hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain, is central to forming new memories of facts and events.

The hippocampus is unusually vulnerable. It is among the first areas to shrink in Alzheimer’s disease and among the most sensitive to high blood sugar and the stress hormone cortisol. In animals it keeps producing new neurons in adulthood; whether this continues throughout life in humans is still debated.

Choline

Choline is the raw material for acetylcholine, the brain chemical most directly involved in encoding memories. The cholinesterase inhibitors used for Alzheimer’s disease (donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine) work by slowing acetylcholine breakdown.

The adequate intake is 550 mg a day for men and 425 mg for women. In a cross-sectional analysis of 1,391 adults in the Framingham Offspring Cohort (Poly 2011), higher current choline intake was linked to better verbal and visual memory. Higher intake about seven years earlier was linked to less white-matter damage, a marker of blood-vessel injury in the brain. Read more in our choline guide.

DHA from fatty fish

DHA makes up approximately 40% of the polyunsaturated fat in nerve-cell membranes. In rats fed an omega-3-enriched diet before a brain injury (Wu 2004), levels of BDNF, a protein that helps neurons grow and connect, and learning were normalized after the injury.

The human evidence is a trial. The trial enrolled 485 healthy adults aged 55 and over with age-related memory decline (Yurko-Mauro 2010). Taking 900 mg of DHA a day for 24 weeks improved the main episodic memory test compared with placebo. Working memory and executive function did not improve.

Algae DHA supplements are an option for people who don’t eat fish. Omega-3 supplements can increase bleeding risk with anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs. Doses above about 1 g a day have been linked to a higher risk of atrial fibrillation in trials, so ask a doctor or pharmacist first. See our omega-3 guide for more.

Berries and other flavonoids

Flavonoids are plant compounds found in berries, tea, cocoa and colorful produce. Anthocyanins, the pigments that make berries blue and purple, are the type most consistently linked to memory.

The best human evidence is observational. In the Nurses’ Health Study, 16,010 women aged 70 and older were followed over time (Devore 2012). Those who ate the most blueberries and strawberries had slower cognitive decline, equivalent to delaying cognitive aging by 1.5 to 2.5 years. The link held after adjusting for other factors, but it cannot show that berries caused the difference.

Trials are small. An uncontrolled pilot study of nine older adults (Krikorian 2010) reported better word learning after 12 weeks of wild blueberry juice. In a randomized trial of 26 healthy older adults (Bowtell 2017), 12 weeks of blueberry concentrate increased brain activation during a task and resting blood flow. There was weak evidence (p = 0.05) of better working memory.

Curcumin

In an 18-month placebo-controlled trial of 40 adults aged 51 to 84 without dementia (Small 2018), a high-absorption curcumin supplement (Theracurmin, 90 mg twice daily) improved memory and attention. Brain scans showed less binding of a tracer that marks both amyloid and tau, though the difference in the amygdala did not reach statistical significance. The trial was small and needs replication.

Plain turmeric powder delivers very little curcumin to the blood. Cases of liver injury have been reported with curcumin supplements, more often with high-absorption or piperine-containing products. People with liver disease should avoid them, and anyone taking blood thinners or other medication should ask a doctor or pharmacist first.

B vitamins and homocysteine

High homocysteine, an amino acid that builds up when B vitamin intake is low, is an established risk factor for cognitive decline and shrinkage of the hippocampus.

The VITACOG trial (Smith 2010) randomized 271 adults over 70 with mild cognitive impairment; 168 completed both brain scans. Two years of high-dose B vitamins (folic acid 800 mcg, B12 500 mcg, B6 20 mg) reduced the rate of brain shrinkage by about 30% compared with placebo. A follow-up report (de Jager 2012) found B vitamins stabilized executive function overall. Benefits for memory and global cognition appeared only in people whose homocysteine started above the median.

The 20 mg of B6 is above the European upper limit of 12 mg a day (the US limit is 100 mg). Long-term high doses of B6 can cause nerve damage, so doses like this should only be taken under medical supervision. Vegans are at higher risk of B12 deficiency and should supplement. If you are over 60 or have high homocysteine, ask your doctor whether you need a B12 or B-complex supplement. Many B-complex products contain more B6 than the European upper limit. More in our B vitamins guide.

Does the MIND diet protect memory?

The MIND diet combines the Mediterranean and DASH diets. Researchers at Rush University built it from the foods most consistently linked to slower cognitive decline. It emphasizes leafy greens, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and, optionally, one glass of wine a day. It limits red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.

In 923 older adults followed for 4.5 years (Morris 2015a), high adherence was linked to a 53% lower rate of Alzheimer’s disease. Moderate adherence was linked to a 35% lower rate. High adherence to the Mediterranean diet showed a similar link (54% lower), but only MIND was linked to lower risk at moderate adherence. In a companion analysis of 960 people (Morris 2015b), MIND adherence was linked to slower decline in global cognition and in each of five areas, including episodic memory. The gap between the highest and lowest thirds equaled being 7.5 years younger.

The trial did not confirm this. The trial enrolled 604 older adults with overweight and a family history of dementia (Barnes 2023). Over three years, the MIND diet gave no statistically significant cognitive benefit over a control diet with mild calorie cutting. The control group also improved, and the participants may have been too healthy to show an effect. The observational evidence is consistent, but without a positive trial it cannot show the diet itself protects memory.

Foods linked to worse memory

Added sugar and high blood glucose

In rats, a diet high in saturated fat and refined sugar reduced hippocampal BDNF and impaired learning within two months (Molteni 2002). In a cross-sectional study of 141 older adults without diabetes (Kerti 2013), higher long-term blood glucose, even within the normal range, was linked to poorer memory. The link was partly explained by the size and structure of the hippocampus. Insulin resistance, which impairs insulin signaling in the hippocampus, is one proposed mechanism. Whether sugar damages memory in humans is not proven; cutting added sugar is a reasonable step that hasn’t been tested in trials with memory outcomes. See blood sugar and brain function.

Ultra-processed foods

Gonçalves (2023) followed 10,775 Brazilian adults for a median of eight years. People whose ultra-processed food intake was above the lowest quarter had 28% faster global cognitive decline and 25% faster decline in executive function. This kind of study cannot show that the foods caused the decline. Every meal built on these products also leaves less room for the whole foods above.

Heavy drinking

Heavy, long-term drinking harms memory. It damages the hippocampus, depletes B vitamins (thiamine deficiency causes the severe amnesia of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome) and disrupts deep and REM sleep. In 550 UK adults followed for 30 years (Topiwala 2017), higher drinking was linked to hippocampal shrinkage in a dose-dependent way. People drinking 14-21 units a week had three times the odds of right-sided hippocampal shrinkage compared with abstainers, and light drinking showed no protection. The safest choice is to drink little or not at all, and never to use alcohol as a sleep aid.

Exercise and sleep matter as much as food

Aerobic exercise has stronger trial evidence for the hippocampus than any single food. In a one-year trial in older adults (Erickson 2011), walking 40 minutes three times a week increased hippocampal volume by 2%, offsetting one to two years of age-related shrinkage. Larger gains were linked to higher BDNF and better spatial memory, while the stretching group showed the usual decline. The minimum for memory benefits appears to be 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling or swimming.

In mice (van Praag 2007), epicatechin, a flavanol in cocoa and tea, improved spatial memory, especially combined with wheel running.

Sleep is when consolidation happens. A review by Walker and Stickgold (2006) describes how the hippocampus replays the day’s experiences during deep sleep and passes them to the cortex. REM sleep then integrates them with what you already know. In older adults (Mander 2013), shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex was linked to less deep-sleep activity, which in turn accounted for poorer overnight memory. Aim for seven to nine hours, avoid caffeine after early afternoon and keep a regular schedule. Our sleep and diet guide covers food and sleep in more detail.

Frequently asked questions

Can foods improve memory, or only slow decline?

Mostly the evidence is about slower decline and lower dementia risk in older adults. Some trials, such as the DHA trial, showed improvement on a memory test. For younger and middle-aged adults there is little trial evidence either way. The same eating habits apply in both cases.

How long do dietary changes take to affect memory?

DHA improved a memory test within 24 weeks in one trial, and small blueberry studies reported changes within 12 weeks. The largest differences in the Nurses’ Health Study came from eating patterns kept up over years.

Do memory supplements work?

Some have evidence. Citicoline and alpha-GPC have shown modest benefits in some controlled trials, DHA helped in one large trial and curcumin in one small one. Any supplement can interact with medicines; ask a doctor or pharmacist first, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, take medication or have a health condition. No supplement makes up for a poor diet, poor sleep or inactivity.

Sources

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• Bowtell, J. L., Aboo-Bakkar, Z., Conway, M. E., Adlam, A. R., & Fulford, J. (2017). Enhanced task-related brain activation and resting perfusion in healthy older adults after chronic blueberry supplementation. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 42(7), 773-779. doi:10.1139/apnm-2016-0550
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