Foods That Increase BDNF Naturally

Short answer: Compounds in berries, cocoa, green tea, fatty fish and turmeric raise BDNF in animals. In people, small trials found higher blood BDNF after flavonoid-rich fruit and vegetables and a high-flavanol cocoa drink. The evidence is preliminary. Eat berries and other colorful produce daily, cut refined sugar, and exercise: it raises BDNF more reliably than any food.

BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) is a protein that helps neurons grow, connect and survive. A few foods may raise it, but most of the evidence is from animal studies. In humans, small trials found higher blood BDNF after flavonoid-rich produce and cocoa, and aerobic exercise has far more evidence.

Foods that may increase BDNF

Diets high in refined sugar and saturated fat lower BDNF in animals.

How to eat for BDNF

1. Berries daily. A half-cup to one-cup serving of blueberries or other deeply colored berries. Frozen berries keep their nutrients.
2. Fatty fish two to three times a week. Algae DHA supplements are an option if you don’t eat fish (see the safety note below).
3. Turmeric in cooking, with black pepper and fat. Plain turmeric powder alone is poorly absorbed.
4. Green tea and coffee, if you like them. Both provide polyphenols, though their effect on BDNF in humans is unproven. Together they can add up to a lot of caffeine: keep the total under about 400 mg a day (200 mg in pregnancy).
5. A small square of dark chocolate. About 20-30 grams of 70%+ chocolate gives some flavanols, though less than the trial drink.
6. Less refined sugar and ultra-processed food.
7. At least 150 minutes a week of aerobic exercise, plus seven to nine hours of sleep.

Why BDNF matters

BDNF strengthens connections between neurons when you learn, which is the cellular basis of memory. It also helps new neurons in the hippocampus survive, at least in animals; whether the adult human brain keeps making new neurons is still debated. In animal models of neurodegenerative disease, giving BDNF directly rescues neurons. Whether raising BDNF through diet gives similar protection in humans is not known.

Low BDNF has been found in Alzheimer’s disease, depression and age-related decline. In the Framingham Heart Study, 2,131 dementia-free adults aged 60 and over were followed for ten years (Weinstein 2014). Each standard-deviation increase in blood BDNF was linked to a 33% lower risk of dementia. That is an association; it does not show that raising BDNF prevents dementia.

The evidence food by food

Berries and flavonoid-rich produce

Anthocyanins, the pigments in blueberries, reach memory areas of the brain in animal studies. Rendeiro (2013) gave 18-month-old rats pure anthocyanins or flavanols for six weeks, at levels similar to a blueberry diet. Spatial working memory improved, alongside higher BDNF in the hippocampus. In Williams (2008), 12 weeks of a blueberry diet improved memory in aged rats, and memory tracked hippocampal BDNF levels.

The only human blueberry study here is an uncontrolled pilot of nine older adults (Krikorian 2010). After 12 weeks of wild blueberry juice, word learning improved, but there was no control group and BDNF was not measured.

The best human evidence comes from a randomized trial (Neshatdoust 2016). Adding high-flavonoid fruit and vegetables for 18 weeks increased blood BDNF and improved cognitive performance, whereas low-flavonoid produce did not.

Cocoa and dark chocolate

In the same paper’s second trial, adults aged 62-75 drank a high-flavanol cocoa drink (494 mg flavanols a day) for 12 weeks. Blood BDNF rose compared with a low-flavanol drink, and the rise tracked improvements in global cognition. A review by Sokolov (2013) found protective effects in animals and a few supportive human studies, but noted that effects on human cognition remain largely unproven.

Dark chocolate has far more flavanols than milk chocolate. Alkalized (“Dutch”) cocoa has fewer.

Fatty fish and omega-3

DHA is the main omega-3 fat in the brain. Wu (2004) fed rats an omega-3-enriched diet for four weeks before a mild brain injury. Their BDNF and learning were normalized afterwards, while the injury lowered both in rats on a regular diet. Whether omega-3 intake raises BDNF in humans has not been clearly shown.

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. Our fish oil supplement guide explains how to choose one.

Turmeric and curcumin

In rats under chronic stress (Xu 2007), curcumin prevented the stress-induced fall in hippocampal BDNF and increased new neuron growth. In humans, an 18-month placebo-controlled trial of 40 adults without dementia (Small 2018) found that a high-absorption curcumin (Theracurmin, 90 mg twice daily) improved memory and attention. BDNF was not measured.

Plain turmeric 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. Avoid them if you have liver disease, and ask a doctor first if you take blood thinners or other medication.

Green tea

In senescence-prone mice (Li 2009), six months of green tea catechins in drinking water prevented memory loss and age-related falls in hippocampal BDNF. A systematic review of 21 human studies (Mancini 2017) found evidence of benefits for memory and attention, but did not report BDNF. How much green tea, if any, raises BDNF in people is not known. Matcha, made from the whole leaf, has more EGCG per serving than steeped tea.

Coffee

In a small single-dose study (Reyes-Izquierdo 2013), 100 mg of whole coffee fruit concentrate raised blood BDNF by 143% within two hours in 10 fasted adults. The extract is made from the coffee cherry; brewed coffee was not tested, and whether ordinary coffee raises BDNF has not been shown.

Foods that lower BDNF

In rats, two months of a diet high in saturated fat and refined sugar lowered hippocampal BDNF and impaired spatial learning (Molteni 2002). Two months of a high-fat diet did the same, and voluntary wheel running reversed it (Molteni 2004). In animal studies, saturated fat tends to lower BDNF while omega-3 fats raise it, so the type of fat matters more than the amount.

In humans, high-sugar diets and higher blood glucose are linked to poorer cognition in observational studies. Some researchers call the insulin signaling problems seen in Alzheimer’s “type 3 diabetes”, though it is not an accepted diagnosis. Ultra-processed foods have not been studied directly for BDNF; the animal evidence comes from high-fat, high-sugar diets that resemble many of them. See blood sugar and brain function.

Exercise, sleep and fasting

Aerobic exercise is the best-documented way to raise BDNF in humans. Rasmussen (2009) studied eight volunteers who rowed for four hours. The brain released BDNF at rest and two to three times more during exercise, supplying 70-80% of the BDNF in the blood. A meta-analysis of 29 studies with 1,111 participants (Szuhany 2015) found a single session of exercise moderately raised blood BDNF. Regular exercise had a small effect on resting levels, and effects were smaller in studies with more women.

Poor sleep is linked to lower BDNF. In a cross-sectional study (Giese 2013), people with insomnia symptoms had lower blood BDNF than good sleepers, and sleep appeared to link stress with BDNF. It cannot show cause.

Fasting raises hippocampal BDNF in animals. A review by Mattson (2018) describes the “metabolic switch”: as the liver runs low on stored sugar, the body burns ketones and pathways that support plasticity switch on. Human data are limited, and it is not known whether intermittent fasting raises brain BDNF in people.

Fasting and time-restricted eating are not suitable for everyone. They can be dangerous for people taking insulin, sulfonylureas or SGLT2 inhibitors (risk of low blood sugar or ketoacidosis) without medical supervision. They are not recommended for people with a history of eating disorders or for pregnant or breastfeeding people.

Frequently asked questions

Can you measure your own BDNF?

Some specialty laboratories offer a blood test. But blood BDNF is mostly stored in platelets and doesn’t perfectly mirror brain levels, and there are no established reference ranges. For most people, the habits above are more useful than tracking a number.

How quickly does diet change BDNF?

A single bout of exercise raises blood BDNF, and coffee fruit extract did so within two hours in one small study. In animals, two to eight weeks of diet change typically produces measurable changes in hippocampal BDNF.

Are BDNF supplements available?

BDNF itself can’t be taken as a supplement: it is a large protein that would be digested. Products sold as “BDNF supplements” contain compounds such as coffee fruit extract, lion’s mane or polyphenol blends, with weaker evidence than exercise. 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. Read more about lion’s mane.

Sources

• Giese, M., Unternaehrer, E., Brand, S., Calabrese, P., Holsboer-Trachsler, E., & Eckert, A. (2013). The interplay of stress and sleep impacts BDNF level. PLOS ONE, 8(10), e76050. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076050
• Krikorian, R., Shidler, M. D., Nash, T. A., Kalt, W., Vinqvist-Tymchuk, M. R., Shukitt-Hale, B., & Joseph, J. A. (2010). Blueberry supplementation improves memory in older adults. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58(7), 3996-4000. doi:10.1021/jf9029332
• Li, Q., Zhao, H. F., Zhang, Z. F., Liu, Z. G., Pei, X. R., Wang, J. B., & Li, Y. (2009). Long-term green tea catechin administration prevents spatial learning and memory impairment in senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 mice by decreasing Abeta1-42 oligomers and upregulating synaptic plasticity-related proteins in the hippocampus. Neuroscience, 163(3), 741-749. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.07.014
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• Molteni, R., Wu, A., Vaynman, S., Ying, Z., Barnard, R. J., & Gomez-Pinilla, F. (2004). Exercise reverses the harmful effects of consumption of a high-fat diet on synaptic and behavioral plasticity associated to the action of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Neuroscience, 123(2), 429-440. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2003.09.020
• Neshatdoust, S., Saunders, C., Castle, S. M., Vauzour, D., Williams, C., Butler, L., Lovegrove, J. A., & Spencer, J. P. E. (2016). High-flavonoid intake induces cognitive improvements linked to changes in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor: Two randomised, controlled trials. Nutrition and Healthy Aging, 4(1), 81-93. doi:10.3233/NHA-1615
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• Wu, A., Ying, Z., & Gomez-Pinilla, F. (2004). Dietary omega-3 fatty acids normalize BDNF levels, reduce oxidative damage, and counteract learning disability after traumatic brain injury in rats. Journal of Neurotrauma, 21(10), 1457-1467. doi:10.1089/neu.2004.21.1457
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