Better Brain Health - How poor diet affect your Brain?
Brain is
kind of most powerful thing in our body. It works 24 x 7, even when you sleep.
So, it becomes very important to take good care of your brain. Taking healthy
diets, sound sleep, and meditation are some of the things which one can practice
to promote brain health.
But our
modern lifestyle and eating habits are deteriorating the brain health in many
ways.
First thing
is our modern-day lifestyle involves a lot of intake of high fat and sugar
diets, and the body and brain are paying a heavy price for this. It is such that now
the fast foods, high sugar foods, and sodas have become unavoidable.
How Foods rich in fats and sugar are Impacting brain health?
Every one is
aware that junk foods make us fat. But there more serious impacts of these
foods causing us. Research is indicating that these foods might also be shrinking our brains.
Long term
exposure to high fat and sugar foods has changed the part of the brain dealing with
memory. Habitual intake of these foods has led to the reprogramming of memory.
So, what we
eat directly affects how we feel.
How our
brain health is going to be, also depends on the diet of the mother she was taking
during her gestation period. As brain development starts before birth.
There is a number of consequences known for not taking proper diet during the
gestation period.
A Study led
by Felice Jacka Prof. at University of Melbourne, to examine the behaviors of
babies after following the eating habits of 23000 pregnant women. Intake of
junk and processed food and intake of Healthful foods (rich in fibers and
nutrients) were measured.
The emotional health of the children was looked on for a few years after birth from 18 months to 5 years. Other sorts of things which affect the bringing up of children were
also taken into account such as education, income, mother mental health,
parenting practices, etc.
What the
study clearly indicated is that mothers who ate more of Junk, processed kind of
food such as soft drinks, sweet drinks, salty snacks, cakes biscuits during
pregnancy. Their kids have more of this behavior such as aggression, anger
and tantrums.
In the same
way children's diet also affects his behavior and brain health. Children eating
processed foods that generally lack essential nutrients are more prone to
behaviors such as sadness, anxiety, and worry.
In another study carried out at the University of Bordeaux, scientist studied the consequences
of dietary deficiencies on the mouse brain, a measure of anxiety was done.
Normally rodents are curious by nature. But the mouse fed with Omega-3- Fatty
acid-deficient diet, the brain does not develop and function properly and they
easily get stressed and anxious.
Omega-3
Fatty acids are considered important for the brain because 90% of the gray matter of the brain is fat which it cannot be produced by the body itself. Omega-3 Fatty acids
improves the electrical properties of nerve cells and the signal propagate
faster.
Omega-3
Fatty acids rich foods are oily fish, organ meat, vegetable oils, seeds and
nuts.
Can unbalanced diet triggers aggression and violent behavior?
A study was
done on the young prisoners in the Netherlands in eight different prisons. For 3
months vitamins, minerals, and Fatty acid-rich supplements were provided to the detainees
and the effect of these were looked on their behavior. Their behavior and number of the incident log of the number of times detainees were punished were considered to
draw any conclusion. There is a dramatic fall in punishments as much as one-third
of total times.
How high fat and sugar diets are affecting our memory?
A study did
by Dr. Margaret Morris in University of New South Wales on how the junk foods,
cheap fast foods and all of these meat pies, chips, cakes, and biscuits are
affecting rat memory.
The first consequence of feeding the rats with all the junk and processed foods in
markets is that the animal doubles its food ration and never feels satiated. Secondly, animals eating high fat and sugar diet are less able to recognized remember
things. It caused impairment in spatial memory. But there are some other malfunctions
that sound as warning signals.
The conclusion is clear that knowingly or
unknowingly these processed high fat and sugar foods are affecting our brain
health in the worse way possible. One should avoid these type of foods and
shift their diet to a healthier side, which is beneficial for its physical,
mental and emotional well being
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