Forget your waistline for a second; some of your food choices could actually affect your memory and cognitive abilities. Here are five foods to go easy on if you want to keep your wits.

Tofu: The soy controversy continues with a study that found an association between high tofu intake and an increased risk of cognitive impairment and memory loss, as researchers speculate that tofu’s phytoestrogens might affect brain function.

Sodium: While the debate about its effects on blood pressure and cardiovascular disease rages on, a study found that high levels of sodium intake paired with low levels of physical activity had a negative impact on cognitive abilities. People with lower sodium intake paired with lower physical activity levels showed slower cognitive decline than participants with high sodium levels and low physical activity. Happily, this is a reversible curse: regular exercise can counteract sodium’s negative effects on the brain, as well as the cardiovascular system.

Trans fats: The stuff could hurt your memory, as consuming more trans fat has been associated with difficulty remembering words!

Tuna: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s packed with protein for a post-workout meal. But your favourite fish could be impairing your mind. According to a study from the journal Integrative Medicine, people who eat more than three servings of species of fish that are high on the food chain — like tuna, grouper, snapper, bass, swordfish, and shark — each week (or more than four servings per month) are at risk for cognitive dysfunction. The culprit? High levels of mercury!

Saturated fat: Researchers at the University of Montreal found that rat diets high in saturated fat (when 50 percent of all calories come from an unhealthy fat, like palm oil or butter) impaired the functioning of their brain’s mesolimbic dopamine system — the part that controls motivation and wellbeing, and is often implicated in mood disorders, drug addiction, and overeating.

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1. Processed Foods

“Processed foods and any foods that are hyper-allergenic can take a toll on brain health,” said Brandon Mentore, a sports nutritionist, and functional medicine practitioner to Medical Daily. Most foods today are actually being processed already. Talking about practicality, it is convenient to have processed foods in the table. There is nothing wrong in eating these kind of foods. However, chemically processed foods are not that safe anymore especially if you are taking too much of it. It can cause several diseases that can get really serious by time. It can also, well, hurt your brain.

2. Trans Fat

Partially hydrogenated oils or commonly known as trans-fat might cause a serious brain drain and also risk to have a damage on your heart health. Founder of YES! Nutrition, LLC and dietician nutritionist Tori Holthaus says “Diets high in trans-fats increase beta-amyloid—a peptide ‘plaque’—deposits in brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease”.

3. MSG

If you love Asian cuisine, you must be careful on choosing foods that are high in MSG because most of the Asian foods contain a lot of MSG. What is this MSG? Monosodium glutamate or commonly known as MSG is approximately 78 percent free glutamic acid, 21 percent sodium, and up to 1 percent contaminants. It is an excitotoxin that actually affects your brain chemistry through overexciting your cells to the point of brain damage.

According to a corrective chiropractic in Delaware, Dr. Chad Laurence, “MSG is hidden in various sources, including: natural flavors, spices, hydrolyzed protein, autolyzed yeast extract, sodium caseinate, bouillons, soy protein isolate,”

4. Added Sugar

Julie Corliss said “Sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks are by far the biggest sources of added sugar in the average American’s diet. They account for more than one-third of the added sugar we consume as a nation. Other important sources include cookies, cakes, pastries, and similar treats; fruit drinks; ice cream, frozen yogurt and the like; candy; and ready-to-eat cereals”.

5. Fructose (HFCS)

According to researchers, too much fructose intake can hamper how brain cells use and store the energy required to process thoughts and learnings. They said that high fructose corn syrup will impair your ability to remember and change your brain’s ability to learn.

6. Saturated Fat

According to Terry Davidson and Camille Sample on their article entitled “Fat And Sugar-Heavy Diet Harms Your Brain – And Makes You Keep On Eating”, they wrote “Obviously, overeating unhealthy foods can lead to overweight. But looking beyond direct effects on expanding waistlines, our lab studies how mental functioning is related to diet. We’ve found a troubling link between a fat-rich diet common in the West and brain-related ailments that can actually impair our ability to avoid overeating.”

7. Artificial Ingredients

Artificial Ingredients are found in processed foods. They are composed of preservatives, colorants, artificial flavor, and texturants. Preservatives are chemicals that prevent the food from rooting. Colorants are chemicals that are used to give the food a specific color. Artificial flavor are chemicals that give the food a particular flavor. Texturants are chemicals that give a particular textures.

8. Caffeine

If you are a coffee lover, you should at least know where they are made from. Coffee is basically made from coffee beans. These beans have this naturally occurring substance known as caffeine. What does caffeine actually do to your brain? Caffeine actually helps your alertness. It can make you more energetic and activates your brain to being more hyper than usual.

9. Salt

Salt has been a part of our everyday meals. It’s no surprise that an average diet always has salt in the list. However, it can also cause negative effect in our health, most specifically out mental health. According to Mentore “A high salt intake particularly table salt can cause cellular activation to be hypertonic, which can be a good thing but in excess over time your body’s ability to relax and have proper fluid balance and nerve transmission will be down regulated as a protective measure in the body,”

10.Fast food

Who would not prefer tasty and on-the-go meals? Fast food chains are known to be very convenient especially in the cities where we reside and work, because they are existing just along the corner. That is commonly the reason why most people choose to eat fast food. However, eating too much fast food has many disadvantages to your health. Fast foods, such as French fries and burgers, are high in trans-fat, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, etc.