Top 10 Simple Food Tips to Preserve Your Precious Brain
Although the brain is an enormously complex organ its maintenance and care doesn’t have to be complicated.
With so many ‘health-guru’s’ calling for lots of special supplements to support brain health – with little to no evidence to support such – keeping the basics in mind is more sustainable and less expensive.
Although the details require a deeper understanding, these ten brain-food tips are the foundation of maintaining a healthy brain and can be followed by anyone who cares about how their brain is functioning.
Your brain loves fat
60% of the dry weight of your brain is made up of fat, so the kind of fat you need to consume has to be of a very high quality.
Your brain is especially fond of omega-3 fats, but also needs omega-6s. These essential fats (EFAs) are very delicate and prone to damage, so ensure you consume an undamaged form of EFAs, which contain no trans- poly- or cyclized fats.
Your brain loves water
The largest component in your body is water, so you need to consume enough clean, uncontaminated water to keep your body and brain well hydrated. And 78% of your brain comprises water.
Water has many functions in the body including helping to maintain blood circulation and volume, which are essential functions for all tissues and organs including the brain.
Your brain loves protein
Protein is important, not just for building muscle, but also for keeping your neurons communicating effectively.
If you don’t eat enough good quality protein, your neurons battle to communicate, and you could find it difficult to concentrate, leading to memory and thus learning challenges.
Animal protein should be organic and you need to eat a variety of grains and legumes to provide a full spectrum of amino acids that make up protein, if you are a vegan or vegetarian.
Simple-to-prepare meals can also contain the full spectrum of amino acids.
Your brain is the greediest organ in your body
Your brain is the most energy-hungry organ in your body. It needs a constant, stable supply of good quality carbohydrates, as its preferred source of fuel is glucose.
Vegetables and low-sugar fruit provide good, fresh sources of carbohydrates for sustained energy production, while processed and refined carbohydrates provide short-term energy fixes.
Choose whole grains and legumes for sustained energy release, and your brain will enjoy an optimal energy supply.
A wide variety of fresh produce will also supply vitamins and minerals that your brain needs to function optimally.
Your brain on coffee
Caffeine supplies a quick jolt of energy to your brain, because it stimulates the release of adrenaline.
This makes you feel energetic initially, but soon tapers off, leaving you in need of another "fix".
Try one of the great herbal teas available, or opt for plain old-fashioned water, with a dash of lime. Most people don’t need another stress kick, and this is exactly what coffee provides.
Your brain needs the right type of carbohydrates
Think of what you crave. If it is chocolate and lollies, you are probably experiencing unstable glucose levels because of processed carbohydrate consumption, so need to wean yourself from these insidious addictions.
When people are tired, from lack of sleep, ongoing stress and feeling overwhelmed, they usually reach for a quick sugar-fix to give them a jolt of energy.
Plentiful greens and a great green drink, full of nutrient-rich compounds, can support stable blood glucose levels and lead to reduced cravings.
Eating the right fats helps too, because your cells produce energy more efficiently when they contain the right fats, keeping energy levels high, which leads to less energy slumps, and less ‘coffee- or chocolate-fixes.’
What goes on in your gut will effect what goes on between your ears
Contrary to popular belief, you aren’t what you eat – you are what you absorb.
This means that you need to fix any digestive difficulties you may be experiencing. Your food needs to be digested and absorbed, and waste eliminated effectively, before you can be optimally healthy.
Your brain can only receive the nutrients that are absorbed, so it makes perfect sense to ensure your gut is working optimally.
If your body doesn’t like a food, your brain will object too
If you are intolerant to any food, such as wheat or dairy, your brain will battle to stay alert and focused.
This will of course affect your memory and learning negatively. Researchers hypothesize that food intolerances affect the brain negatively via stimulating an inflammatory response.
If you suspect you may be intolerant to a specific food, leave it out of your diet for a couple of weeks, and see how you feel.
Interestingly, the foods that you crave are often the ones that don’t agree with you, as they produce an addictive-like response in your body and brain.
So, if you think you can’t live without it, the chances are your body – and brain – can do without it.
Food additives don’t add up to better brain function
Check the labels of the food that you are eating. When you eat lots of fresh produce, there are no labels attached, but there are additives in tinned and processed foods that may be causing harm to your body and brain.
Many additives are simply present in the product to make the product shelf-stable, and thus ensure no loss of income for the manufacturer.
Furthermore, some additives are actively dangerous, like monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is an excitotoxin, causing neuronal damage, and eventually neuronal loss, when consumed in excess.
Eat breakfast like a king to keep your brain happy throughout the day
Whether you have breakfast doesn’t just determine your weight, it also determines how your brain will work during the day.
When people skip breakfast they are setting themselves up for weight gain, because they tend to eat more during the day, as their body plays ‘calorie-catch-up.’
Furthermore, focus, memory and mood are all influenced negatively by a lack of breakfast.
As it’s best to eat only after you’ve been awake for about an hour, it may support you best to prepare your breakfast in the morning but only eat it when you arrive at your destination.
It sure beats a cup of coffee and a bought muffin at your desk.
Otherwise, go to bed earlier, and wake up in time to exercise, and then eat breakfast. However, avoid relying on simple smoothies as your ‘go-to’ breakfast.
It may take some time to implement all these tips, but even changing one at a time is a positive change in the right direction.
References
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Hameleers PA, Van Boxtel MP, Hogervorst E, Riedel WJ, Houx PJ, Buntinx F, Jolles J. Habitual caffeine consumption and its relation to memory, attention, planning capapcity and psychomotor performance across multiple age groups. Hum Psychopharmacol 2000 Dec;15(8):573-581.
McCabe, D. Feed Your Brain – 7 Steps to a Lighter, Brighter, You! Sydney, Australia: Exisle Publishing: 2016
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