|
|
|
|
Chapter 3 - Meet your Amazing Brain |
|
Home | TLR Contents | Search | Discussion | Events | Own the Book | UNLIMITED Learning Preview | Contact us |
 |
|
For energy, the brain needs plenty of glucose. That's why fresh fruit and vegetables are so essential. They're rich in glucose. Your brain also has a unique way of transmitting messages - around its billions of cells and to the rest of your body. Each message flows around your body electrically and chemically, and it keeps switching from one form to the other. Each message travels like electricity along a brain cell's axon, then turns into a chemical flow when it jumps across the connecting-point to another cell. Scientists call these gaps synapses. These synaptic connections are another key to brain function. To send those messages, your brain first has to generate electricity. If you could test it now, you'd probably find it generating about 25 watts. That's the amount needed to run the smallest light-bulb in your home. And the source of that brain-electricity: good food combined with oxygen. Obviously you get oxygen through breathing. That's why deep breathing is highly recommended before and during study: to oxygenate your blood. And that's why exercise is not only good for your body, it's good for your brain. It enriches your blood with oxygen. Cut off the supply of oxygen and you destroy brain cells. Stop it completely and you die. Your brain needs the right type of energy to produce those chemical flows - what the scientists call neurotransmitters (neuro meaning mind and transmit meaning send). And these in turn depend on a balanced diet, one that includes plenty of protein. Scientists have identified around 70 different types of neurotransmitters, including adrenalin and endorphins, the brain's natural painkillers or opiates. And, as Brian and Roberta Morgan point out in their excellent book Brain Food: "Any deficiencies in nutrients can reduce the levels of certain neurotransmitters and so adversely affect the types of behavior they are responsible for. Conversely, a physical or mental problem can be corrected by boosting the level of the relevant transmitter, and this can be done by making a simple alteration in the composition of your diet." As an example, they point to the big increase in Alzheimer's disease among elderly people, and add: "Another characteristic of senility is the reduced ability of the brain - by as much as 70 or 80 percent - to produce acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter responsible for memory." Dr. Brian
Contents Page Preface Introduction
|
|||||
