Thank you for sharing that documentary I will definitely watch it. I'm a registered nurse and I appreciate content like this.

Before we talk diet, getting the proper sleep is most essential. If you don't sleep well it doesn't matter what you eat, your brain will not perform at its peak. When sleeping the toxins in your brain that accumulate throughout the day are cleaned out.

Also, people always focus on the amount of hours to sleep each night but what we should be focusing on is how many sleep cycles we are going through. Each sleep cycle is approximately 90 mins each and we need 4-5 of them.

Now as for diet, I drink a lot of water. Stay hydrated. The brain is about 70% water. Give it what it's made of. The brain also thrives on glucose because our brains cells are so energy demanding. Complex carbs are best because they are more steady
Simple sugars like candy and energy drinks cause crashes.

I also like to drink green matcha tea. The caffeine in this tea is more steady and doesn't cause a peak and crash. It has tons of antioxidants which also improve memory. It's best component is L-theanine which affects brain wave activity ultimately improving cognition and attention. Something we definitely need when trading.

Yes, I take omega-3s but not just any. I take the purified ones that have at least 250-500 mgs of EPA and DHA. EPA and DHA reduce cellular inflammation thus reducing cellular inflammation in the brain.

But just to simplify things get enough sleep, avoid fatty and processed foods, and drink plenty of water. This should give you a good basis. It helps me when trading and in my career.

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Thanks for your post. As a curiosity how do you keep into account the sleeping cycle? I am unable to go to sleep before 2 am, but then I need to wakeup at 10am.
I think this is my circadian rhythm. Is there a way to change the sleep cycles?

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i know this has nothing to do with nutrition and this is going to sound kinda stupid but if you get stressed while trading.. an easy way to quickly relax a bit is to sniff some lavender oil

This thread takes inspiration from the following DeutscheWelle documentary, about the effect of food on the brain.


As traders, our job is to make rational decisions with incomplete and conflicting information.
Rational decisions are taken by our brain that, at the end of the day, is a physical organ.
The question is "can we really exclude proper nutrition as a crucial factor for decision making?"

We feed our body 3 times a day, very often with sugar, caffeine, chocolate and other foods that we know have an impact on our mood. In some way we must assume that food play a role in our trading related decisions,
For instance what are the effect of trading under a protein based diet, rather than a sugar based diet?

Please share your thoughts on this subject.
-Do you take into account the effect of nutrition? -
-Do you follow a particular diet?
-Do you take supplements, like Omega-3 ?

I don't do anything of the above, but I am seriously wondering if I should.
Please let me know what you think.