eggs

If you're like me, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about what you're going to eat. Here's some food for thought: The right foods can improve your concentration, fend off dementia, boost your energy and even help you remember things.

While most nutrition studies focus on hearts, bones and waistlines, there's a growing field of research around food and how it affects our brains. So, whether you're choosing breakfast foods to keep you alert during an early morning business meeting or want an afternoon snack idea to boost concentration powers, here's a round up of food news to feed your mind.

Get your folate
Found in orange juice, green vegetables, cantaloupe and whole grain foods including those enriched with folic acid such as breads, cereals, pasta and rice. Shown to improve alertness in adults, the B vitamin folate may be key in forming the brain's memory cells. (It's also critical in early pregnancy to prevent spinal cord birth defects.) Research shows that high blood folate levels help keep homocysteine levels in check. That's a good thing because high homocysteine levels are associated with increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. So, grabbing an orange juice and whole grain bagel may be a time saving "no-brainer" breakfast on the go but it's really good for your brain.

Feed your brain cells choline
Found in egg yolks, peanuts, soybeans and flaxseeds the nutrient choline helps support the brain's messenger service, called neurotransmitters. It's also linked to new memory cell production. But, according to Boston based nutrition consultant and registered dietitian Elizabeth Ward, who presented findings at the American Dietetic Association's 2008 Food and Nutrition Conference in Chicago, "It's a nutrient that's frequently under-consumed by those who need it most." Fewer than 10 percent of older children, men and women get the recommended amount of choline, Ward says. One egg, which contains 125 milligrams of choline, can help close the gap.

Add more antioxidants
If you're having trouble remembering or thinking clearly, toss a handful of blueberries in your yogurt for breakfast or order a spinach salad for lunch. Both contain high levels of antioxidants which may help protect cognitive function by fighting oxidative stress in our brains, according to nutrition research from Tufts University.

Take a sip of tea
Facing a big meeting or need to focus? Try a cup of tea. Tea contains an amino acid called theanine that helps calm us down so we can concentrate better and focus on the task at hand. Theanine is found in green, black and oolong teas.

Stay hydrated
If your brain feels a bit fuzzy or you feel irritable, you might just be thirsty. Dehydration can make you feel listless, lethargic and contribute to concentration problems. Maybe you don't need more caffeine to plow through the rest of the afternoon. Make sure to drink water throughout the day. The water in fresh fruit and vegetable snacks help hydrate, too.

Brain foods for kids
Children also need brain food. Breakfasts based on high-sugar food, in particular, can be a problem. High-sugar foods set kids up for a midmorning energy crash--just when they're likely to be in the middle of the more demanding classes, like math or reading.

Ideal breakfasts offer protein and complex carbs, which are digested more slowly. Such breakfasts not only keep kids' energy levels stable all morning, but also improve motor coordination, says Steven Zeisel, MD, a researcher at Duke University. Feed them a bowl of oatmeal. Researchers believe the high fiber, whole grain digests slowly, providing kids with a steady stream of energy.

And make sure they get the right amount of iron and zinc. Iron deficiency is the most common type of nutritional shortfall in American children, and the number one nutrition disorder in the world. And poor performance at school could be a symptom.

Even a minor deficiency can cause a decline in cognitive functioning, says Mary J. Kretsch, PhD, a researcher at the USDA-ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, CA. Primarily, it seems to affect kids' ability to pay attention.

Lean beef is one of the best absorbed sources of iron there is. The amount of meat consumed matters less than you think. Kretsch says that adding even as little as 1 ounce of beef per day has been shown to make a big difference in the body's ability to absorb iron from other sources.

An added brain bonus: Beef packs plenty of zinc, and even minor zinc deficiencies have been shown to impair memory.

With all the stories about eggs in the news, you probably know the basics for avoiding salmonella poisoning: Don't eat runny eggs, wash utensils and counter tops after use, and avoid the billion or so eggs the Food and Drug Administration has recalled.

But that's not the complete story for playing it safe around eggs. Here are seven things you might not know about cooking eggs safely:

• Cook casseroles and other dishes containing eggs to 160 degrees. Use a food thermometer to be sure.

• Eat hard-cooked eggs within one week of cooking

• If you refrigerate quiches or soufflés, reheat them to 165 degrees before serving.

• Divide hot egg dishes into shallow containers before refrigerating.

• Bake meringue-topped pies at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

• Use a cooked egg-milk mixture or pasteurized egg produces for homemade ice cream (or choose a recipe that doesn't use eggs).

• For recipes that call for raw eggs, heat the eggs in one of the recipe's other liquid ingredients to 160 degrees before adding them.

For more on egg safety, visit the FDA's consumer egg safety site.