5 Brain-Friendly Beverages

When it comes to your health, you are what you eat — and drink. The foods and beverages you choose can affect how you think, feel and function. “The pattern of your whole diet over your life span affects your brain health,” explains AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) in its report “Brain Food.” Here’s a look at five healthy drinks that help keep your mind sharp.

 1. Water

This one’s obvious, yes, but no list of healthy beverages would be complete without water. As we age, we're more susceptible to dehydration, which can impair cognitive function, research has found. People’s water needs vary based on factors like how active they are, but as a general guideline, the  Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests that women drink about nine cups of fluid per day and men get about 13 cups. 

If you’re bored by plain water, try our tips for jazzing up water without sugar.

 2. Coffee

If you're one of the many Americans who start the day with a cup of joe, you'll be happy to know that coffee can boost  short-term memory. Higher coffee consumption was also linked to slower cognitive decline and a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease in a study that analyzed more than 10 years of data from 227 adults, ages 60 and older, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience in 2021.

 3. Tea

You may have heard about the health benefits of green tea: Research, says it can help fight heart disease and slow brain aging, for example. But if green tea isn’t your favorite, that’s okay: People age 60 and older who frequently drank any type of tea had better cognitive function than those who rarely or never drank tea, according to a study of 11,910 adults published in Frontiers in Public Health in 2023.

 4. Smoothies

According to the GCBH, “a plant-based diet that is rich in a variety of fruits and vegetables, particularly green-leafy vegetables and berries, is associated with better brain health.” Nutrient-rich smoothies, like our Green Smoothie or our three Power Smoothies, are an easy and tasty way to sneak more fruits and veggies into your day.

 5. Kefir 

Similar to drinkable yogurt, kefir is a fermented milk drink packed with beneficial bacteria known as probiotics. Fermented foods (sauerkraut and kimchi are other examples) can help support the health of your gut microbiome, the community of microbes in your colon. And a strong gut microbiome, in turn, can help  support your memory, mood and more, research suggests. In one small study, 13 people with Alzheimer’s disease who were 71 and older performed much better on cognitive tests after 90 days of daily kefir consumption. The research was published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity in 2020. This week, try a Berry-Mint Kefir Smoothie.