Your Brain on Food If you sucked all of the moisture out of your brain and broke it down to its constituent nutritional content, what would it look like? Most of the weight of your dehydrated brain would come from fats, also known as lipids. In the remaining brain matter, you would find proteins and amino acids, traces of micronutrients, and glucose. The brain is, of course, more than just the sum of its nutritional parts, but each component does have a distinct impact on functioning, development, mood, and energy. So that post-lunch apathy, or late-night alertness you might be feeling, well, that could simply be the effects of food on your brain. Of the fats in your brain, the superstars are omegas 3 and 6. These essential fatty acids, which have been linked to preventing degenerative brain conditions, must come from our diets. So eating omega-rich foods, like nuts, seeds, and fatty fish, is crucial to the creation and maintenance of cell membranes. And while omegas are good fats for your brain, long-term consumption of other fats, like trans and saturated fats, may compromise brain health. Meanwhile, proteins and amino acids, the building block nutrients of growth and development, manipulate how we feel and behave. Amino acids contain the precursors to neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that carry signals between neurons, affecting things like mood, sleep, attentiveness, and weight. They're one of the reasons we might feel calm after eating a large plate of pasta, or more alert after a protein-rich meal. The complex combinations of compounds in food can stimulate brain cells to release mood-altering norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. But getting to your brain cells is tricky, and amino acids have to compete for limited access. A diet with a range of foods helps maintain a balanced combination of brain messengers, and keeps your mood from getting skewed in one direction or the other. Like the other organs in our bodies, our brains also benefit from a steady supply of micronutrients. Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables strengthen the brain to fight off free radicals that destroy brain cells, enabling your brain to work well for a longer period of time. And without powerful micronutrients, like the vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid, our brains would be susceptible to brain disease and mental decline. Trace amounts of the minerals iron, copper, zinc, and sodium are also fundamental to brain health and early cognitive development. In order for the brain to efficiently transform and synthesize these valuable nutrients, it needs fuel, and lots of it. While the human brain only makes up about 2% of our body weight, it uses up to 20% of our energy resources. Most of this energy comes from carbohydrates that our body digests into glucose, or blood sugar. The frontal lobes are so sensitive to drops in glucose, in fact, that a change in mental function is one of the primary signals of nutrient deficiency. Assuming that we are getting glucose regularly, how does the specific type of carbohydrates we eat affect our brains? Carbs come in three forms: starch, sugar, and fiber. While on most nutrition labels, they are all lumped into one total carb count, the ratio of the sugar and fiber subgroups to the whole amount affect how the body and brain respond. A high glycemic food, like white bread, causes a rapid release of glucose into the blood, and then comes the dip. Blood sugar shoots down, and with it, our attention span and mood. On the other hand, oats, grains, and legumes have slower glucose release, enabling a steadier level of attentiveness. For sustained brain power, opting for a varied diet of nutrient-rich foods is critical. When it comes to what you bite, chew, and swallow, your choices have a direct and long-lasting effect on the most powerful organ in your body.
Vaš mozak pod uticajem hrane. Kada biste iz vašeg mozga isisali svu vlagu i rasturili ga na njegove osnovne hranljive sastojke, kako bi to izgledalo? Većina mase vašeg dehidriranog mozga sastojala bi se iz masti, koje još nazivamo lipidima. U preostaloj masi mozga, našli biste proteine i aminokiseline, tragove mikronutrijenata i glukozu. Naravno, mozak je više od proste sume svojih nutritivnih delova, ali svaka komponenta ima jedinstven uticaj na funkcionisanje, razvoj, raspoloženje i energiju. Ta apatija nakon ručka ili uzbuđenost kasno noću koje doživljavate, to bi prosto mogli da budu efekti hrane na vaš mozak. Od masti u vašem mozgu, superzvezde su omega-3 i omega-6. Ove esencijalne masne kiseline, koje povezuju sa sprečavanjem degenerativnih bolesti mozga, moraju da potiču iz ishrane. Tako je jedenje hrane bogate omega kiselinama, poput orašastih plodova, semenki i masne ribe ključno za stvaranje i održavanje ćelijskih membrana. I dok su omega masti dobre za vaš mozak, dugotrajno konzumiranje drugih masti, poput trans i zasićenih masti može ugroziti zdravlje mozga. U isto vreme, proteini i aminokiseline, hranljivi gradivni materijali našeg rasta i razvoja, manipulišu time kako se osećamo i ponašamo. Aminokiseline sadrže prethodnike neurotransmitera, hemijskih kurira koji prenose signale među neuronima, što utiče na stvari poput raspoloženja, sna, pozornosti i težine. Oni su delimično razlog zašto se osećamo mirno nakon što pojedemo tanjir testenine ili uzbuđeno nakon obroka koji je bogat proteinom. Kompleksne kombinacije jedinjenja u hrani mogu podstaći moždane ćelije da ispuštaju hormone koji menjaju raspoloženje - norepinefrin, dopamin i serotonin. Dolazak do vaših moždanih ćelija je komplikovan i aminokiseline moraju da se bore za ograničen pristup. Ishrana raznovrsnim namirnicama pomaže da se održi uravnotežena kombinacija kurira u mozgu i sprečava da vaše raspoloženje ide iz jedne u drugu krajnost. Poput drugih organa u našim telima, i naši mozgovi imaju koristi od stalnog priliva mikronutrijenata. Antioksidanti u voću i povrću ojačavaju mozak u njegovoj borbi protiv slobodnih radikala koji uništavaju ćelije i omogućavaju mozgu da dobro funkcioniše duži vremenski period. Bez moćnih mikronutrijenata, poput vitamina B6, B12 i folne kiseline, naši mozgovi bili bi podložni moždanim bolestima i propadanju. Tragovi minerala gvožđa, bakra, cinka i natrijuma takođe su ključni za zdravlje mozga i rani kognitivni razvoj. Kako bi mozak efikasno transformisao i sintetisao ove dragocene nutrijente, potrebno mu je dosta goriva. Iako ljudski mozak čini oko 2% naše telesne težine, on koristi i do 20% naših resursa. Većina ove energije dolazi od ugljenih hidrata koje naše telo razbija u glukozu, ili šećer u telu. Zapravo, frontalni režnjevi su toliko osetljivi na pad glukoze da je promena mentalnih funkcija jedan od osnovih signala nedostatka hranljivh materija. Pod pretpostavkom da redovno dobijamo glukozu, kako određeni tip ugljenih hidrata koje jedemo utiče na naše mozgove? Ugljeni hidrati imaju tri oblika: skrob, šećer i vlakna. Iako ih na većini deklaracija na namirnicama zbrajaju u jedan broj ugljenih hidrata, odnos podgrupa šećera i vlakana u celoj količini utiče na to kako reaguju telo i mozak. Hrana sa visokim gilkemijskim indeksom, poput belog hleba, izaziva munjevito lučenje glukoze u krvi, a onda sledi pad. Šećer u krvi pada, a sa njim i naša pozornost i raspoloženje. S druge strane, ovsene pahuljice, žitarice i mahunarke sporije ispuštaju glukozu, čime se dobija stabilniji nivo održavanja pažnje. Za održivu snagu mozga, ključno je odlučiti se za ishranu koja je raznovrsna i bogata nutrijentima. Što se tiče onoga što grizete, žvaćete i gutate, vaši izbori imaju direktan i dugotrajan uticaj na najmoćniji organ u vašem telu.