Is Your Brain Starving?
Every food and drink choice you make will either support healthy brain function or deprive it.
A study has shown that 33.3% of your brain will age due to the natural aging process regardless of your lifestyle choices, but 66.6% of your brain’s function and ability throughout aging is down to you and the way in which you treat it.
60% of your brain is made up of fat, which surrounds every single brain cell – healthy fats are a vital component of a healthy diet. However, fat has long since been scolded as a negative and unhealthy element of a diet that is to be avoided. This could leave our brains starved of an element it requires in order to function to its full capability.
If you have embarked on a low fat diet, there is every chance you will have experienced a number of the following symptoms:
- Difficulty making decisions
- Foggy thought processes
- Constant tiredness, regardless of quality or quantity of sleep
- Difficulty remembering details such as names and places
- Reliance on caffeine throughout the day to retain your energy
- Food cravings for high fat/sugar items
- The need to snack between meals to retain energy and concentration
- Dry skin
- Weight gain around your abdomen
- Restless and interrupted sleep
- Heightened anxiety, stress levels and irritability
- A constant feeling of hunger
- The need for alcohol consumption 3 or more times per week
When experiencing these symptoms, it is likely that the membranes within the brain have become rigid. However, when you consume essential fatty acids (EFA’s), those membranes will become more flexible.
When the membranes are flexible, it will allow your process of thinking to be quicker, more agile and clearer.
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Foods high in EFA’s: |
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Walnuts |
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Kidney beans |
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Linseed |
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Edamame beans |
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Squash |
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Olive oil |
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Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseed, chia) |
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Leafy vegetables |
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Oily fish (salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, trout) |
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