How to be a Brainiac – Part Two
Posted on February 14, 2012
Feed your mind and the rest will follow! (That’s my homage to En Vogue and their song “Free Your Mind” from the 90’s – which is awesome, by the way.) Wow, it’s my first sentence and I digress already. This will be a long day for me, I can tell. I need to follow the advice below!
According to Psychology Today, “The brain is an extremely metabolically active organ, making it a very hungry one, and a picky eater at that. It’s becoming pretty clear in research labs around the country that the right food, or the natural neurochemicals 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.”
A well-balanced diet provides the nutritional basis for what your brain needs. But, as your brain burns the fuel you give it, such as sugar and oxygen, some by-products accumulate, just as soot gradually accumulates in a furnace.
This is called oxidation; the by-products are particles called free radicals. They “stick” to nerve cells and damage how they function and eventually kill them! But, Vitamin C and vitamin E, can mop up those free radicals formed by oxidation – that’s why they are called antioxidants. Vitamin E has shown in studies that it delays the onset and may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease; and may lower the risk of other degenerative disease such as Parkinson’s. Where can you get Vitamin E, you ask?
Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Hazelnuts
Spinach
Broccoli
Tomatoes
Are you hungry now? I am. Oh, and here is the link to En Vogue, just cuz. Rock out!