Improve Memory with Antioxidant Fruit

Reaching for the fruit bowl might keep your brain sharp as a tack when you get older.

That's because big fruit-eaters -- besides getting boatloads of good-for-you nutrients -- score high when it comes to memory and reasoning skills.

Mind Your Flavonoids
The reason for fruit's brain-boosting effect? It's all about the flavonoids, those amazing antioxidants that fight disease and might be one of your best defenses against cognitive decline. In a study, people who had the highest flavonoid intake performed best throughout a 10-year period on tests of verbal fluency, logical reasoning, and visual memory. (Flex your mental muscle with this sudoku puzzle.)

How to Get Your Fill
Sneaking more fruit into your diet is one way to load up on flavonoids, but vegetables like onions and broccoli provide some, too. You'll need a wide variety of fruit and veggies in your diet to get the RealAge-recommended 31 milligrams of flavonoids per day. You can also sip some with several cups of tea (here's why green is a good choice) or juices like cranberry every day. (Did you know ruby-red cranberry juice could help your heart stay strong?)

Use this online tool to find other good flavonoid sources, as well as recipes chock-full of the super health boosters.

Flavonoid intake and cognitive decline over a 10-year period. Letenneur, L., Proust-Lima, C., Le Gouge, A., Dartigues, J. F., Barberger-Gateau, P., American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 Jun 15;165(12):1364-1371.