🍔 Your lunch is making you dumb

🧠 Ultra-processed foods = Brain Damage

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) don’t just mess with your body, they mess with your mind.

New research shows people who eat the most UPFs have a faster decline in brain function, especially memory and decision-making.

UPFs hit your brain in 3 ways:

1. They cause chronic inflammation, which slows thinking and reaction time

2. They damage the hippocampus, the part responsible for memory

3. They wreck your gut microbiome, which controls dopamine, serotonin, and even focus

That protein bar that says “healthy” might be killing your ability to think clearly.

And the worst part? You won’t even notice it happening until it’s too late.

🚫 Fake Health Food

It’s not just fast food that wrecks your brain.
But also, the food that pretends to be healthy.

Here’s what most people eat, thinking it’s “clean”, but it’s ultra-processed trash:

🤮 “High-protein” cereal bars
🤮 Fruit-flavored yogurt
🤮 Salad dressings with seed oils
🤮 Veggie wraps loaded with additives
🤮 Anything with “diet,” “low-fat,” or “zero” on the label

These foods are engineered to hit your dopamine fast and hard, but they have zero nutritional value for your brain.

So, yeah… I don’t buy this stuff anymore.

Rule of thumb:
If it has more than 5 ingredients or you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably frying your brain.

🧼 Detox & Rebuild

The good news? Your brain can bounce back.
The bad news? You’ll have to stop feeding it garbage.

Studies show cutting ultra-processed foods can improve cognitive performance in just weeks.

Here’s what the science says actually works:

✅ Eat more omega-3s
Found in fatty fish (like salmon), flaxseeds, walnuts, or supplements.
They rebuild brain cell membranes, reduce inflammation, and improve cognition.

One study found that just 1g of Omega-3 per day improved reaction time and memory in young adults within 6 weeks.

✅ Choline is non-negotiable
Your brain uses it to create acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter tied to learning and memory.
Most people are deficient.
Best sources: eggs (especially the yolk), liver, beef, or supplement.

Choline deficiency has been linked to poor memory, mood issues, and slower processing speed.

✅ Fermented foods = brain food
Kimchi, kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, they restore gut microbiome diversity, which affects how much dopamine, GABA, and serotonin your brain gets.

People who eat fermented foods daily improve memory scores and lower anxiety compared to controls.

✅ Cut just 20% of UPFs = real results
Reducing UPF intake by just 20% was linked to measurable improvements in executive function within 6 months, especially in people over 45.

✅ Fix your breakfast
The brain is most sensitive to inflammation and glucose spikes in the morning.
Start with protein + fat, like eggs and avocado, not toast, cereal, or oat milk lattes.

Studies show that high-carb breakfasts impair memory formation by mid-afternoon.

Tools & Resources

📱 Cronometer - The only nutrition tracker I trust. Helps you spot hidden deficiencies (like omega-3s or choline).

📖 The Ultra-Processed People - A doctor eats nothing but processed food for 30 days and almost loses his mind. Eye-opening read.

🍳 Choline Food Chart - Most people don’t even know what choline is. This cheat sheet shows you how to get enough from food (like eggs, beef, liver, and fish).

🙏 Thanks for reading.

If you want to go deeper, hang out, or just share brain-boosting stuff you’ve found,
join the subreddit: r/EnhancingBrain

It’s a growing community for people obsessed with memory, focus, brain tech, and becoming mentally dangerous.

See you next Sunday.
Stay sharp,
Ernest