Are You Feeding Your Brain Properly?

Have you ever thought how much you rely on your brain for your day-to-day function?  Your brain functions as the main control panel for your body and controls all the functions of your vital organs. You need your brain so you can think, reason, remember things, learn and for communication. If your brain isn’t functioning properly, you know you are in real trouble!

Do you also realise that your brain needs proper fuel and energy for it to function properly?  The value of a proper diet in promoting a healthy body and mind has been well documented. There is no doubt that in modern society there are many pressures which distract us from following proper nutrition principles.

Your brain gets its main energy supply from glucose and this is it’s preferred source of fuel. Let us look at some ways you can help improve brain function through nutritional measures.

It is well recognised that we have a problem of excessive weight in the Australian population. Studies reveal that 67% of males and 53% of females in Australia are either overweight or obese. This figure has been progressively increasing in recent years.

Of more concern is that young Australians aged 17 or less are also significantly overweight with 25% of this group experiencing weight problems including nearly 8 % being obese. By 2030 it is predicted that 50- 60% of Australia’s youth will be overweight or obese.

Why is this happening? The answer is simple – we eat too much junk food in Australia. The standard Aussie diet now contains way too much take-away and fast-food meals. Australians are eating fewer home cooked meals than ever and the gold standard “meat and three veges” meal is a rarity rather than the norm. Too many calories come from high fat, processed “convenience” foods which are often lacking in sufficient nutrients, protein and vitamins. These also contain high levels of salt and frequently contain preservatives with names way too hard to pronounce. The excess calories consumed in these foods must be stored as fat and the result is easy to see – fat bodies everywhere you look.

There are significant health consequences associated with these facts. We know that being overweight is associated with problems of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, increased blood pressure and certain cancers. These problems creep up on you silently in the third and fourth decades of life but the processes causing them begin in your teenage years. It is difficult to be productive in your professional and social life if your health is below its best.

There really is no excuse in Australia for not following a well-balanced healthy diet. We are lucky that we have a fantastic range of natural healthy food products covering all the important food groups. Unfortunately, too much of the Australian diet is based on pre-prepared foods which have been over-processed and over-refined.  Fad diets such as low carbohydrate, high protein or high fat diets have become quite trendy but have been shown to have no long-term effect on weight control and may in fact have the opposite effect. Even science nutrition experts disagree on the value of some of these fad diets so it is no wonder it can be very confusing for the public and community at large.

So what are the important FOOD GROUPS?

A well-balanced diet for day-to-day living comprises carbohydrate (50-60%), protein (25-30%) and healthy fats (10-15%) together with essential vitamins and minerals.

In the simplest terms, carbohydrates and fats provide the energy for our metabolism while the protein foods provide the building blocks for tissue maintenance and recovery. We need a certain level of healthy fats in our diet to maintain energy levels, assist metabolism and help in the production of various hormones. Some recent studies do suggest lowering the carbohydrate percentage in your diet can lead to weight loss, but extreme restriction may lead to fatigue and kidney stress.

For basic day to day function males require an average of 1500 Kcals per day. For females it is slightly less at 1200 Kcals per day. If you have a very active lifestyle (including exercise) you will require more calories proportional to your level of exertion. The following is a general food guide for what you should eat.

EAT MOST – vegetables, fruit, water

EAT PLENTY – fish, chicken, turkey, salads

EAT REGULARLY – lean red meat, multigrain breads, pasta, rice, low fat dairy products (yoghurt, cheese, low fat milk).

EAT LESS – sweet biscuits, cakes, processed and refined carbohydrate foods, high fat snacks ( chips, crackers) anything fried, most take away foods, caffeine drinks.

If you are hungry between meals the best snacks are fresh fruit, nuts, low fat sports energy bars (including breakfast bars), or design your own skim milk smoothie with fresh fruit, low fat yoghurt, honey and wheat germ.

What about specific BRAIN FOOD?

Apart from the obvious need for glucose to provide energy there is some evidence that Omega-3 fatty acids (oils) assist with brain nutrition. In addition, B vitamins contribute to improve mental performance and mood. Some studies suggest choline (a B vitamin) can assist with improved memory, reaction times and reduced fatigue. If you manage to feed your brain well you will improve function such as concentration, motivation, memory, reaction time, reduce stress and maybe even slow down the process of brain aging!

What about the need for vitamins or other nutritional supplements?

There is no doubt that the best source of nutrients in your diet is natural food. Your body recognises (and therefore absorbs) nutrients better if they are from an unprocessed natural food source such as vegetables, fruit and grain products. Any foods which have been over-processed, over-refined or overcooked to within an inch of their useful life are of far less nutritional value.

The bottom line is simple – if you eat a broad enough selection and variety of the key essential food groups mentioned above, you do not need any expensive bottled supplements. If however your lifestyle includes too much processed or mass produced food, including take away, then you should consider a broad-based multi-vitamin supplement containing iron, vitamin B and anti-oxidant (A,C,E) components. This is particularly true if you live in student housing or share a house where the cooking skills leave a bit to be desired!

If you have the chance to cook for yourself develop some basic recipes for wok stir fry dishes and pasta with low fat chicken, beef, vegetarian or seafood ingredients. Grill a steak once a week with a healthy green salad on the side. Avoid complicated rich sauces or anything deep fried. Occasional take away is fine - again, avoid the fried stuff.

Finally, the need for adequate water intake cannot be overemphasised. Many commercially produced soft drinks and soda drinks are very high in sugar and provide “empty calories”.Certain commercial sports supplement drinks can be of value if your exercise sessions are prolonged beyond 30 minutes, particularly in warmer weather. Nevertheless, good old fashioned tap water remains your best source of hydration to complement the nutritional value of your balance diet. Don’t forget – feed your body and brain well and you will be on the right path to achieving progress in your work and social life.