Diet and Nutrition
Our bodies are like a chemistry kit, with innate, miraculous powers to heal and restore. What we feed ourselves goes through an impressive process of breaking down nutrients to provide us with energy and brain power. Our digestion is as important as our relationships. Our gut is our greatest ally and needs a consistent balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in order to work most efficiently and stay healthy. When we eat or drink, every cell in our body goes to work to carry each nutrient to where it will provide the most benefit. Watch the short video on the right and be impressed with what your body is doing right now.
Foods that lack any nutritional value needs to process out of the body, slowing down our energy and fogging our brains. Sugar is probably the most controversial ingredient as it's vital to our survival, yet too much of a good thing can do some real damage and effect our mood and behavior. |
Sweets, breads, soda, mac and cheese and highly processed foods that so many kids demand, are high glycemic and turn to sugar in the body. "...eating high-glycemic-indexed foods leads to a spike in blood sugar--and a temporary, unsustainable boost in the brain chemicals serotonin and endorphin. The problem is that these high blood sugar levels rapidly fall, thus promoting the consumption of more foods that raise blood sugar quickly once again. Chasing the blood sugar high by eating refined or high sugar carbohydrates is very addictive. If you are prone to seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or other forms of depression, you will crave carbohydrates more than most people in order to boost your serotonin to adequate levels". Dr. Christiane Northrup Limiting these kinds of foods can help to reduce the persistent boost in brain chemicals, affecting hormones and neurotransmitters, vital to a child's ability to self regulate and process information. When your working to pave new neural pathways, new behaviors and interactions, it's imperative to eliminate any competing forces.
Neuronal-Plasticity and the Case for Mindful Nutrition
Neuronal-plasticity is a good thing, it's the brains ability to form new neural connections throughout life as long as it is being challenged for new information. Prior to the 1980's, scientists believed that the brains nerve cells degenerated as we aged and there was not much we could do about it. Brain-plasticity is the founding premise of RDI. Experience based learning is what paves new neuro pathways, strengthening episodic memory, and autobiographical memory, vital for empathy, self awareness, problem solving and dynamic intelligence. Events that are emotionally charged have the strongest memory as it involves the amigdela, the emotional center of the brain.
A neuronal-plasticity study conducted by Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston as seen in the graph to the left, 'investigated the physiological link between nutrition and the memory-control hippocampal area of the aged brain. That region, in the center of the brain, is essential for what’s called “working” or “short-term” memory. It receives and processes data, and then, if needed, passes it on for storage'. The maze test shows that the blueberry-fed aged lab rats showed improvement in cognition over their chow-fed peers. Blueberries and other fruits contain powerful antioxidants known as phytonutrients that cross the brain-blood barrier.
Brain cells are vulnerable to inflammation and oxidative stress, as rust is to metal. Protection of this process is essential. Eating foods that nutritious and are not highly processed will aid in this protection. Unfortunately, our foods grown today lack many of these essential nutrients and particularly, trace minerals.
Free radicals are formed during everyday wear and tear and heightened when exposed to environmental toxins. Cellular damage occurs unless the free radicals are neutralized. Cellular antioxidants defense systems will counterbalance these rogue molecules and remove the free radical through apotheosis.
Clearly the blueberry fed rats fared much better on memory than did the chow fed rats. Grains, carbs, and processed foods, slow the entire system down including brain function. Blueberries, grape seed extract and other fruits contain phytonutrients that cross the brain blood barrier, carrying essential nutrients to vital brain centers including the hypo-campus which is responsible for memory.
Memory, particularly Episodic Memory, is essential to learning. Episodic Memory, which processes and stores the memories of our experiences is important to socialization and relationship building. Episodic memories are stamped and filed away for easy access in future events. Our emotional reactions to these memories are also encoded and filed away. The emotional memory becomes the guide for future problem solving and making choices. Therefore, supporting the body with quality nutrition that crosses the brain-blood barrier will optimize everyone for physical, emotional and social success.
A neuronal-plasticity study conducted by Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston as seen in the graph to the left, 'investigated the physiological link between nutrition and the memory-control hippocampal area of the aged brain. That region, in the center of the brain, is essential for what’s called “working” or “short-term” memory. It receives and processes data, and then, if needed, passes it on for storage'. The maze test shows that the blueberry-fed aged lab rats showed improvement in cognition over their chow-fed peers. Blueberries and other fruits contain powerful antioxidants known as phytonutrients that cross the brain-blood barrier.
Brain cells are vulnerable to inflammation and oxidative stress, as rust is to metal. Protection of this process is essential. Eating foods that nutritious and are not highly processed will aid in this protection. Unfortunately, our foods grown today lack many of these essential nutrients and particularly, trace minerals.
Free radicals are formed during everyday wear and tear and heightened when exposed to environmental toxins. Cellular damage occurs unless the free radicals are neutralized. Cellular antioxidants defense systems will counterbalance these rogue molecules and remove the free radical through apotheosis.
Clearly the blueberry fed rats fared much better on memory than did the chow fed rats. Grains, carbs, and processed foods, slow the entire system down including brain function. Blueberries, grape seed extract and other fruits contain phytonutrients that cross the brain blood barrier, carrying essential nutrients to vital brain centers including the hypo-campus which is responsible for memory.
Memory, particularly Episodic Memory, is essential to learning. Episodic Memory, which processes and stores the memories of our experiences is important to socialization and relationship building. Episodic memories are stamped and filed away for easy access in future events. Our emotional reactions to these memories are also encoded and filed away. The emotional memory becomes the guide for future problem solving and making choices. Therefore, supporting the body with quality nutrition that crosses the brain-blood barrier will optimize everyone for physical, emotional and social success.
