--- title: These Are the Best Foods for a Baby's Brain description: The American Academy of Pediatrics released recommendations for promoting healthy brain development in babies. canonical: https://time.com/5112519/baby-food-brain-health/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-23T20:06:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:09.196Z article:section: Health og:title: These Are the Best Foods for a Baby's Brain og:description: Certain nutrients are critical for healthy brain development og:url: https://time.com/5112519/baby-food-brain-health/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a6f9abd6e130275/6988f901db2987028125e7a9/gettyimages-587826918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5400 og:image:height: 3038 og:image:alt: Baby Boy's Face og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the Best Foods for a Baby's Brain twitter:description: Certain nutrients are critical for healthy brain development twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a6f9abd6e130275/6988f901db2987028125e7a9/gettyimages-587826918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Are the Best Foods for a Baby's Brain > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: 5 Inexpensive Gadgets That Will Help Baby Sleep Better MONEY [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Inexpensive Gadgets That Will Help Baby Sleep Better MONEY](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/9Ck9xL1L.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2017-07-25. No need to break the bank! All five of these soothing gadgets are $25 or less._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jan 23, 2018 8:06 PM UTC  Baby Boy's Face Baby Boy's Face Bernd Vogel—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jan 23, 2018 8:06 PM UTC So much is going on in the first few months of a baby’s life, it’s no surprise that what a baby eats can have an effect on how important structures and connections in the brain develop. To help parents understand what babies need, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a set of recommendations for foods that ensure healthy brain development in babies’ first 1,000 days. In the guidelines, just published in the [journal _Pediatrics_](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2018/01/18/peds.2017-3716), the AAP’s Committee on Nutrition say that certain nutrients, including protein, zinc, iron, folate, certain vitamins and polyunsaturated fatty acids are critical for healthy brain development. Diets lacking these nutrients can lead to lifelong issues in brain function, they note. Dr. Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital and member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition, says that breast milk is recommended for newborns until they are about six months old. After that, she says, breast milk can’t provide the amount of iron and zinc that growing babies need, so breast milk should be supplemented with these nutrients if moms want to continue breastfeeding, or babies should be introduced to foods rich in them. Many baby foods are supplemented with zinc and iron, she says, but pureed meats are also a good natural source. Infant cereals are also enriched with these nutrients and could be good first foods for babies. **MORE:** [How You Can Tell if Your Breastfed Baby Is Eating Enough](http://motto.time.com/4694351/baby-breastfeeding-nutrients-experts/) After breast milk, the best diet for babies is one that includes a variety of foods, including meats rich in proteins and fruits and vegetables that contain different vitamins and minerals. “Infants are very vulnerable in the first few months of life to \[nutrient\] deficiencies,” says Schwarzenberg. “Their brains are developing at a rapid pace between one and two years, so we want pediatricians to be recommending a healthy spectrum of foods and not simply telling parents to give their babies certain foods. We want to make a positive statement about providing lean meats and fruits and vegetables, and also push back on the idea of [superfoods](http://time.com/4590879/ancient-food-superfood/).” No single food can provide babies with the variety of nutrients they need, she says. Studies show that early nutrition is important for building a healthy brain. “If you miss the opportunity to meet developmental milestones during the first 1,000 days of life, then there’s not an opportunity to go back and revisit them,” says Schwarzenberg. Iron, for example, is critical for setting up memory circuits and processing speed in the brain that can’t necessarily be recreated later. While it’s easier to feed babies their favorite foods, she says it’s important to make sure they’re eating a range of healthy foods. “We all have a tendency to pick one or two things the child likes and not stray too much from them,” says Schwarzenberg. “But if you are really looking to developing good brain health, then you really have to look at a variety of foods.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5112519/baby-food-brain-health/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5112519/baby-food-brain-health/"},"headline":"These Are the Best Foods for a Baby's Brain","datePublished":"2018-01-23T20:06:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:09.196Z","description":"Certain nutrients are critical for healthy brain development","url":"https://time.com/5112519/baby-food-brain-health/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","brain health","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a6f9abd6e130275/6988f901db2987028125e7a9/gettyimages-587826918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6a6f9abd6e130275/6988f901db2987028125e7a9/gettyimages-587826918.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Baby Boy's Face","caption":"Baby Boy's Face","creditText":"Bernd Vogel—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5112519/baby-food-brain-health/","name":"These Are the Best Foods for a Baby's Brain"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Inexpensive Gadgets That Will Help Baby Sleep Better MONEY","description":"No need to break the bank! 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