Sunday, June 14, 2009

Effective Functioning of Brain and Nutrition

Fighting ADD/ADHD disorder is not a tough job if you have a will to do. Precautionary steps in keeping yourself aloof from foods attracting your attention are best solution. This would keep your body and brain well balanced.

This week’s article exclusively focuses on extractive description of those issues which we had tackled over the period while we learnt about brain and its functioning besides other interesting points. This article will have detailed and elaborative description of this crucial aspect. I will remain confined to the descriptive part of...

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this issue rather than going into the technical one. I have used this technique to present information in the form of “Top 8 Nutrition Tips for Optimum Brain Function” without making any complexity.

1. Maintain Balance: The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. To think therefore that it can operate successfully on just one kind of ‘miracle substance’ is a fallacy! Your brain needs a huge variety of nutrients and vitamins and minerals to function properly. Do your best not to deprive it of that by concentrating too heavily on just one type of food or supplement.

2. Take protein sufficiently to keep yourself healthy: Your negligence or following the latest food trends land you at the loggerheads and you land in a situation where your health turns pale. It must be noted that neither your body nor your brain can perform basic works perfectly without appropriate energy level. This energy you attain only when your food has sufficient amount of protein intake. It becomes mandatory to look for alternative options to have protein intake particularly when you are strict vegetarian. Choose some special diet which have best components of protein.

3. Look for regular energy supply mechanism: Brain is the control room of our body as its most energy consuming section. It uses approximately 20% of consumed energy of a particular body. Our focus should confine in supply of new energy in brain. Choose better options and develop mechanisms through which regular and constant supply of energy is made possible. Such practice gives enduring results. Including Low-GI diets in your food is important for releasing energy for longer periods. They are good brain powering solution.

4. Eat the right kinds of fats: Fats perform key functions in terms of protection and membrane formation in the brain. These roles are best fulfilled by fats that are optimally suited for this role and that are therefore needed by the brain in sufficient quantities. The most important ‘brain fatty acids’ are: Omega 3, Omega 6 and ‘pure’ DHA. Including sources of these fats in your diet is one of the most important things that you can do to improve brain power.

5. Give priority to vitamins and minerals: As a key player of human activities, brain keeps itself engaged in many ways. It should be kept charged through all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Doing this help it performs duties effectively. Vitamin E, B Vitamins, Vitamin C and Magnesium are important vitamin categories. I5. Always go for vitamins and minerals: Brain is influential part of human body. It works to control entire body system. It must be fed with all types of vitamins and minerals to keep it energetic. Most important categories of vitamins include Vitamin E, B Vitamins, Vitamin C and Magnesium.

6. Avoid toxins and other harmful substances: It goes without saying that foods that are laced with pesticides should be avoided at all costs. There are however other kinds of chemicals that are less obviously harmful but that can nonetheless wreak havoc if their intake is not controlled. They include the chemicals used in creating certain artificial colors and flavors as well as the trans-fatty acids that are byproducts of heating fats to very high temperatures (e.g. when deep frying food).

7. Supplement where necessary: It is quite difficult to achieve the right ‘mix’ in terms of getting all the right nutrients, vitamins and mineral required for optimum brain function from your diet. It may therefore sometimes be necessary to increase the levels of some of them through supplements. This is often necessary in the case of certain vitamins and also with trans-fatty acids.

8. Do regular exercise: Although exercise is not a ‘nutrition tip’ but it is highly beneficial in keeping you healthy and fit. Whenever you do some sort of exercise your blood circulation starts increasing and this ultimately benefits your body as well as brain which gets an opportunity to consume power while controlling the entire body. Another benefit of exercise is it reduces fat levels from your body. The researchers have proved that storing of fat, particularly in the mid portion of the body affects bodies and ultimately brains.

The above mentioned discussion opens many layers of realities which are but part of our lifecycle. They are indeed part of our common sense. Interestingly people know them but don’t follow them. Resultantly they remain ‘fuzzy’ and aimless. If you battle with ADD/ADHD symptoms, be cautious to keep your brain strengthened through best nutritious elements.
by: Yih Ted Jee