You can improve your child's chances of scoring well on an intelligence test by supporting their brain with a proper, nutritious diet. In fact there are certain foods that are known for helping enhance mental abilities and development. Cutting down on foods that are unhealthy for the brain can also help enhance mental performance.
If you take the advice in this chapter then you may find that big changes in your family's diet are called for. However it is worth it when you consider that your child's future is at stake. Also keep in time that your entire family might become a bit sharper if you stick to this diet and that if you have any elderly people in your family that they might actually become a bit sharper by sticking to this diet.
Add DHA to your diet!
The main nutrient that promotes intelligence, memory and clarity of thought is called DHA. It is now well established that this nutrient is not only good for mental development but also for your eyesight. It also reduces your chances of having a stroke or developing heart disease which is excellent in terms of the longevity of the health of your child.
Your body does not produce this substance naturally so you have to get it from foods. This means that your body has to convert vegetable based fatty acids like Flax oil into DHA. The body does not do this easily which is why many people are actually short of this nutrient.
DHA is found in the Omega3 fatty acids that we find in fish and fish oils and it is therefore crucial that your child get enough of these acids so that their mental abilities are optimized. The notion that eating lots of fish is an old wives tale is not a myth at all!
Chances are that your children are not getting enough of this nutrient. The average intake of DHA by three year old children in North America was discovered to only be 19 mg a day. This falls way short of the 300 mg a day that was identified as being needed by a targeted scientific group to improve mental acuity. This is also the level needed to support developing fetes.
The American Food and Drug Administration say that the requirement for DHA is not as high. The suggested dose is about 2 grams of fish oil ever day. Many nutritionists and doctors suggest that this amount should be much higher. Many believe that the optimal dose is 5g a day. You can see how only getting about 19 mg day is nowhere near enough to support mental development and how not consuming enough could definitely hurt a child's learning abilities.
Knowing this the obvious conclusion is that the first thing you can do to enhance your child's academic abilities is to simply review their diet and make sure that they are getting enough DHA to eat.
