The starting point for tuning up your brain is to follow an optimum nutrition diet and take daily supplements. Even if you have no mental and physical health problems as such, this regime can increase your mental energy and wellbeing, improve your mood and sharpen your mind. Here are the ten golden rules to follow to make sure your diet is maximising your health:

1:   Eat wholefoods – wholegrains, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables – and avoid refined, white and overcooked foods.

2:   Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Choose dark green, leafy and root vegetables such as watercress, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, green beans or peppers, raw or lightly cooked. Choose fresh fruit such as apples, pears, berries, melon or citrus fruit. Have bananas in moderation. Dilute fruit juices and only eat dried fruits infrequently in small quantities, preferably soaked.

3:   Eat four or more servings per day of wholegrains such as rice, millet, rye, oats, wholeweat, corn or quinoa as cereal, breads and pasta.

4:   Avoid any form of sugar, and foods with added sugar.

5:   Combine protein foods with carbohydrate foods by eating cereals and fruit with nuts or seeds, and ensuring you eat starch foods ( potato, bread, pasta or rice ) with fish, lentils, beans or tofu.

6:   Eat cold-water carnivorous fish. A serving of herring, mackerel, salmon or fresh tuna two or three times a week provides a good source of omega-3 fats – or good vegetable protein sources, including beans, lentils, quinoa, tofu (soya) and ‘seed’ vegetables. If eating animal protein, choose lean meat or preferably fish, organic whenever possible.

7:   Eat eggs – preferably free-range, organic and high in omega-3s.

8:   Eat seeds and nuts. The best seeds are flax, hemp, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame. You get more goodness out of them by grinding them first and sprinkling on cereal, soups and salads.

9:   Use cold-pressed seed oils. Choose an oil blend containing flaxseed oil or hemp oil for salad dressings and cold uses, such as drizzling on vegetables instead of butter.

10:   Minimise your intake of fried foods, processed food and saturated fat from meat and dairy products.