Your Brain Food If you absorbed all the moisture in your brain and broke it down into a nutritious food, what would you look like? Most of the weight of your dry brain will come from fats, also known as lipids. In the rest of the brain, you can find proteins and amino acids, traces of micronutrients, and glucose. The brain, in fact, is more than just the sum of its components, but each component has a different effect on function, growth, mood, and energy. So a nap after lunch, or a nightmare, you may be feeling, that could be the effect of food on your brain. In the oil in your brain, superstars are omegas 3 and 6. These essential fatty acids, which are linked to preventing degenerative brain conditions, must come from our diet. So eating omega-rich foods, such as nuts, seeds, and fatty fish, is essential for building and maintaining cell membranes.
And while omegas is a good oil for your brain, long-term use of other fats, such as trans and saturated fats, can put brain health at risk. Meanwhile, proteins and amino acids, the building block of growthand growth factors, control how we feel and behave. Amino acids contain pre-existing neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that carry signals between neurons, which affect such things as mood, sleep, alertness, and weight. These are some of the reasons we may feel calm after eating a large plate of pasta, or extra caution after eating a protein-rich diet. A complex combination of chemicals in food can stimulate brain cells to re-release norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. But getting to your brain cells is tricky, and amino acids have to compete with limited access
A varied diet helps maintain a balanced mix of brain messengers, and keeps your emotions from getting skewedin in one direction or the other. Like other organs in our body, our brain also benefits from the robustness of micronutrients. Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables strengthen the brain to fight off unwanted radicals that destroy brain cells, enabling your brain to function properly for longer periods of time. And without strong micronutrients, such as vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid, our brain could be at risk for brain disease and dementia. Tracking the mineral content of iron, copper, zinc, and sodium is also important for brain health and early mental development. For the brain to function properly and integrate these precious organs, it needs fuel, and much more.
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While the human brain absorbs only about 2% of our body weight, it uses up to 20% of our energy sources. Most of this energy comes from the carbohydrates our body digests into sugar, or blood sugar. Previous lobes are sensitive to a decrease in glucose, in fact, that changes in brain function are one of the first signs of a lack of nutrients. If we think we get glucose regularly, how does the type of carbohydrate we eat affect our brain? Carbs come in three forms: starch, sugar and fiber.
While in many nutritional labels, they are all included in the same amount of carb, the amount of sugar and fiber subgroupsto total affects the way the body and brain respond. High glycemic foods, such as white bread, cause rapid glucose release in the blood, followed by a dip. Blood sugar comes down, and with it, our time for attention and our emotions. On the other hand, oats, grains, and legumes are low in sugar, allowing for a high degree of concentration. With a healthy brain power, choosing a variety of nutritious foods is important. When it comes to biting, chewing, and swallowing, your choices have a direct and long-lasting effect on the strongest organ in your body.