Brain Food: what to eat and how it works

📖 3 minute Read

How does nutrition affects your mental ability and function?

In order to train right, focus on things aside from practice and maintain mental health, there are a couple things regarding nutrition you should keep in mind.
Having a working brain, that is fit and healthy will make everything more easy!

Now one thing to mention before hand, that actually has nothing to do with nutrition but needs to mentioned at all times: getting quality sleep and in right amounts is the foundation of all brain activity!
Without it there is no focus, no learning, no nothing.

With that out the way, lets get started on the actual topic, shall we?

Our brains depend on neurons, which are the little things (nerve cells) responsible for transmitting information, they are responsible for any activity!
And the food we eat, provides the structural basis of the neurons.
Now, those neurons need glucose, a lot actually!
It gives them the power or fuel they need and taking enough is crucial. Glucose is found in carbohydrates, which should make up around 50-60% of your diet, some examples are noodles, potatoes, etc…

To move on, let’s turn to the food elements responsibly for directly controlling brain function. One of which, is fat.
This may surprise you, but it is not the fat you might think of. The fat the brain needs is so called structural fat, not storage fat. It is responsible for making up neurons. And maintaining that fat is the basis for their health!
To support that, you can turn to essential fatty acids, which are the Omega fats. Especially Omega-3 fat is what many lack, so here’s where you can find those:

• Supplements. There are a lot of fish oils, capsules, etc. that are great for maintaining omega-3 levels.

• Of course traditional nutrition. Here, you’ll find a lot in Fish and venison (deer, etc.)

Having those in line will better and maintain your now better cognitive function.

Also, let’s quickly touch on water and electrolytes. Enough water is also especially important as the brain is made up of mostly water and therefore needs it! Water and electrolytes contain sodium, potassium and magnesium which make your neurons run in the first place, that make the transfer of information possible. Electrolytes are an easy way to further help with this.

As always, finding what works best is on everybody themselves, especially when food should also be tasty right? So maybe supplements are a better option for some people. Watch out for the underscored points that build the foundation for your brain function and health! Experiment then implement!

Here’s where i got my information from, a bit condensed of course.

Sources:
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7W4OQfJWdw

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