What Does the Brain Need
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- Date Submitted: 10/09/2013 11:34 AM
- Pages: 5
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What does the brain need?
Place two fists together, with your inner wrists touching. Your brain is about this size and shape. In contrast to the rubbery pink models we have seen, the brain is amazingly soft, composed primarily of fat and water. It is grayish and pudding-like - composed of 100 billion brain cells - called neurons, that drive our thinking, learning, feeling and states of being. Neurons need good fats, protein, complex carbohydrates, micronutrients - vitamins, minerals and water. These nutrients are used to drive the learning functions of neurons.
What 'Brain Food' Actually Does for Your Brain?
You should eat salmon before a test, berries to prevent Alzheimer's, or a vitamin supplement to increase your memory. You've heard the term "brain foods" since you were a kid, but how much do you really know about them? More importantly, is there really a way to boost your brain power just be eating a certain type of diet?
Just as your stomach, muscles, and heart feed on the nutrients that food supplies, so does the brain. The brain controls almost everything we do and when it takes in chemicals it can have an effect on how it works, both positively and negatively. While you can't push your brain past a certain limit, chances are that your diet isn't providing it with what it needs.
The Science behind Why Certain Foods Interact with Your Brain
Plants have developed mechanisms to deal with stresses in the environment. Because of sunlight, smog, and temperature they have developed antioxidant or anti inflammatory capabilities. When we ingest them they are protective in our bodies as well.
We share an evolutionary history with plants and animals. If the chemicals they consume get into our brain in a high enough concentration it will affect how we think and feel because we share the same chemicals. For example, we hear a lot about the neurotransmitter serotonin in Prozac. Well, lizards have it. Bees have it. In fact if you get a bee sting you've been...
Place two fists together, with your inner wrists touching. Your brain is about this size and shape. In contrast to the rubbery pink models we have seen, the brain is amazingly soft, composed primarily of fat and water. It is grayish and pudding-like - composed of 100 billion brain cells - called neurons, that drive our thinking, learning, feeling and states of being. Neurons need good fats, protein, complex carbohydrates, micronutrients - vitamins, minerals and water. These nutrients are used to drive the learning functions of neurons.
What 'Brain Food' Actually Does for Your Brain?
You should eat salmon before a test, berries to prevent Alzheimer's, or a vitamin supplement to increase your memory. You've heard the term "brain foods" since you were a kid, but how much do you really know about them? More importantly, is there really a way to boost your brain power just be eating a certain type of diet?
Just as your stomach, muscles, and heart feed on the nutrients that food supplies, so does the brain. The brain controls almost everything we do and when it takes in chemicals it can have an effect on how it works, both positively and negatively. While you can't push your brain past a certain limit, chances are that your diet isn't providing it with what it needs.
The Science behind Why Certain Foods Interact with Your Brain
Plants have developed mechanisms to deal with stresses in the environment. Because of sunlight, smog, and temperature they have developed antioxidant or anti inflammatory capabilities. When we ingest them they are protective in our bodies as well.
We share an evolutionary history with plants and animals. If the chemicals they consume get into our brain in a high enough concentration it will affect how we think and feel because we share the same chemicals. For example, we hear a lot about the neurotransmitter serotonin in Prozac. Well, lizards have it. Bees have it. In fact if you get a bee sting you've been...