12/16/2009 9:27:45 AM
Misplaced your keys? Are you feeling disorganized, stressed out or tired? If you answered yes, then keep reading.
Your brain weighs approximately three pounds and has between 50 and 100 billion neurons. It is this mass of neurons that allows you to navigate through life, your community and the grocery store. So how much thought have you given to feeding your brain? Are you giving it what it needs to function optimally? Do you know where your keys are?
We all need three basic things to ensure optimal health: sleep, exercise and food. Mom always said, “Get a good night’s sleep and things won’t seem so bad in the morning” and she was right! Research shows that our brains and bodies work best when we have adequate sleep. In fact, sleep deprivation slows our reflexes, dims our thought processes and wreaks havoc on our emotions.
Exercise is the second factor that benefits overall health. Regular exercise has been shown to decrease stress, anxiety and depression as well as increase self-esteem, not to mention the added bonus of better sleep patterns and a multitude of physical health benefits.
The third factor is food. “…The right food, or the natural neuro-chemicals that they contain, can enhance mental capabilities – help you concentrate, tune sensorimotor skills, keep you motivated, magnify memory, speed reaction times, defuse stress, perhaps even prevent brain aging.” (Psychology Today, 2003)
This article will focus on feeding your brain. Whether you are a student, staff member or instructor, your brain has specific nutritional requirements.
Most of us realize that a few drinks at the local pub will affect our moods. Indeed, a few too many drinks and our coordination is affected, our reflexes dull and our speech becomes slurred. However, not so many of us make the connection between what we eat and how we think. Many of us have a tendency to perceive our brains and bodies as separate entities. Naturally, what you feed your body has a direct effect on how well your brain functions. In fact, your brain is an extremely metabolic organ and a very picky eater. (Psychology Today, October 2003)
We evolved and are adapted to live off of the Earth. We are supposed to find our nutrients from natural sources. “How well you nourish your brain determines how well your brain will nurture you – for the performance of a lifetime.” (The Franklin Institute)
So what do you really need on your plate?
“Essentially, fats build your brain, and proteins unite it. Carbohydrates fuel your brain, and micronutrients defend it.” (The Franklin Institute)
So, reattach your brain to your body and read on.
The facts on fats
The following information comes from The Franklin Institute, Psychology Today, Brain Channels, the Mayo Clinic and the Thinking Business.
Fatty acids are used by the brain to build specialized cells called neurons. These specialized cells allow you to think and feel and about two-thirds of your brain is composed of fats. A balanced ratio of omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids is necessary for a healthy brain. A healthy brain requires a 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. Our western diets, on average, have at least 20 times more omega-6 fats than omega-3 fats; this is an unhealthy ratio of 20:1. So to correct this imbalance we need to consume more omega-3-rich foods, eat less sugar and completely avoid the trans fats found in partially-hydrogenated oil, margarine, and shortening.
Choose raw or dry roasted nuts (nothing added, please) as well as cold-pressed oils from nuts and seeds. Eat products such as seaweeds and fish such as salmon, sardines, trout, tuna (only small amounts), herring, and mackerel. Look for wild fish rather than farmed. Avocados, fresh coconut, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seed meal, almonds, pecans, macadamias, peanuts and extra virgin olive oil are also good sources. Avoid trans fats completely.
Meats contain variable amounts of fat. To maximize the essential fatty acid content (and consume a healthier food) try to get the meat and dairy products of animals that were raised as naturally as possible. Free-range animals are allowed to forage on green grasses, so their diet – hence their meat, milk, and eggs are rich in essential fatty acids and are superior to that of caged animals.
Proteins
Amino acids come from proteins and they are used to make neurotransmitters - they allow our brain cells to network and communicate. Our brains are frequently malnourished and this is reflected in our emotions as well as our behavior. Fortunately, your brain responds very quickly to a healthy meal. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and our bodies break down dietary protein into the amino acids it uses to assemble the 50,000 different proteins it needs to function – including neurotransmitters and chromosomes, hormones and enzymes.
Dietary proteins fall into two groups. A complete protein contains all eight essential amino acids. Fish and meat, fowl and eggs, cheese and yogurt are complete proteins. On the other hand, incomplete proteins such as grains and legumes, seeds and nuts, and a variety of other foods provide only some of the essential amino acids. You can combine incomplete proteins to obtain all of the necessary amino acids. For example, rice and beans combine to make a complete protein.
Animal foods, eggs, dried beans (legumes), green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds are excellent sources of the essential amino acids needed for neurotransmitter production. Be careful with individual amino acid supplements as these potent metabolic factors have many functions in the body that we are only beginning to understand. They are not to be taken lightly.
Carbohydrates
Glucose is the form of sugar that your bloodstream delivers as fuel for your brain and is the only fuel normally used by brain cells. Neurons need a constant supply of glucose as they cannot store it. This blood sugar is obtained from carbohydrates, the starches and sugars you eat in the form of grains and legumes, fruits and vegetables. The only animal foods containing a significant amount of carbohydrates are dairy products.
Too much sugar or refined carbohydrates at one time, however, can actually deprive your brain of glucose – depleting its energy supply and compromising your brain's power to concentrate, remember, and learn. Mental activity requires a lot of energy and your brain cells need two times more energy than the other cells in your body.
Neurons, the cells that communicate with each other, have a high demand for energy because they're always in a state of metabolic activity. Even during sleep, neurons are still at work repairing and rebuilding their worn out structural components.
To maintain adequate levels of glucose to fuel your brain, you need to eat often. For some people, this means eating snacks as well as meals. For others, it just means eating at least every five hours. Poor concentration and low energy levels can be a sign that it's been too long since your last meal.
Complex carbohydrates are like time-release capsules of sugar. Simple carbohydrates are more like an injection of sugar.
Complex carbohydrates tend to be in natural foods and have long chains of sugar molecules that the liver gradually breaks down into the shorter glucose molecules the brain uses for fuel. In natural foods, the cell walls are made of cellulose fiber that resists digestion, slowing the breakdown and the subsequent release of sugars into the bloodstream - kind of like the way a time-release capsule works.
Simple carbohydrates are found in most processed or refined foods and some natural foods. These carbohydrates have short-chained sugar molecules and, because they break apart quickly, enter the bloodstream quickly. Sugary foods including corn syrup, fruit juices and honey contain glucose that is absorbed directly through the stomach wall and rapidly released into the bloodstream, almost as quickly as if delivered by syringe.
Nutritious foods can also be high on the glycemic index . These include starchy vegetables such as corn, potatoes, winter squash, and cooked or juiced carrots and beets. Whole grains and whole grain breads, cereals, and crackers are also healthy high-glycemic foods.
One formula for avoiding blood sugar spikes from these carbohydrates is to combine them with protein foods. For example, have an egg with your piece of toast; a tempeh burger with your ear of corn; a serving of salmon along with your potato. Mix high-glycemic fruits or fruit juices in a blender with nuts and whey protein powder. Non-starchy vegetables are also stabilizing to blood sugar levels so eat them steamed or raw, in salads or stir-fried.
Micronutrients
Micronutrients protect your cells from damage and dysfunction. Your brain needs 10 times more oxygen than the rest of your body. However, oxygen in the form of free radicals can erode the structure of your brain cells. The micronutrients in the foods you eat can help maintain the oxygen balance in your brain and fight those pesky free radicals. Micronutrients are vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
Our modern environment assaults us with free radicals constantly - vehicle exhaust, chemical pesticides, herbicides, petrochemical paints, solvents, carpets, the list goes on. If you eat fats that are processed at high temperatures (or deep-fried) then you are adding even more free radicals to your load. Pssst! Tobacco smoke is a major contributor.
What you need is a host of micronutrients in the form of antioxidants and you get them from fruits and vegetables, among other sources like green tea, whole grains, eggs and wine. Eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day, 10 would be even better in the fight against cancer. A serving is generally a small fruit or half a cup of cubed fruit, a cup of raw green leafy vegetables or half a cup of cooked greens, or a half cup of other cooked or raw vegetables. These fruits and vegetables should be of wide variety and color – preferably in season, organic, and locally grown.
Try these: soybeans, berries (blueberries are fabulous), cherries, whole grains, grapes, citrus (oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit), lentils, beans, tea, carrots, apples, peaches, mangos, leafy greens (like spinach, romaine, kale and collard greens) and garlic.
Not all foods are created equal, just as not all bodies are created equal. Food should energize you, so if you feel tired within the two hours following a meal, it was either insubstantial or it contained a food that doesn’t work well for you. Remember, peanuts kill some people, dairy products hurt a large percentage of the population and wheat allergies run rampant. Eat foods that are in their natural form – that box mac and cheese is full of refined flour, processed dairy and tartrazine. Did you know that tartrazine is derived from coal tar?
A few extra tips:
• Drink water, not soda
• Avoid aspartame and all its friends
• Say no to artificial flavor
• Preservatives are bad, however, they will help prevent your body from decomposing at a natural rate
• Artificial colour is derived from things that aren’t food
• Read the labels and don’t be fooled by products masquerading as food
• If it isn’t food… don’t eat it!
The three worst things you can do for your brain are smoking, consuming too much alcohol and head trauma. So stop beating your head against your books… it really isn’t helping!
As always, it''s a matter of balance. Eat foods that provide the full spectrum of nutrients your brain needs. Pay attention to what you eat and how you feel afterward. Learn what works best for you, according to your daily activities and need for rest.
Now, feed your brain and go find your keys!
Submitted by Suzanne Keeping, guidance counselor at the Clarenville campus.
-30-
Media contact:
Roger Hulan
Communications Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7938
roger.hulan@cna.nl.ca