Overview: Researchers have evaluated how dietary choices affect mood and behavior, explaining how specific diets can help manage specific neurological conditions.
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During the long voyages of the 15th and 16th centuries, Age of Discoverysailors reported their experiences Visions of sublime food and lush fieldsAfter spending months at sea, the discovery that these were nothing more than hallucinations was painful. Some sailors wept with longing. Others threw themselves overboard.
The remedy for these disastrous mirages turned out not to be a complex chemical concoction as once suspected, but rather a simple lemon juice antidote. suffered from scurvyis a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C, an essential micronutrient obtained from eating fruits and vegetables.
Vitamin C is important Neurotransmitter production and release, chemical messengers of the brain. With a deficiency, brain cells cannot communicate effectively with each other, which can lead to hallucinations.
As this early explorer’s famous example shows, there is a close relationship between food and the brain that researchers like myself are trying to understand. as a scientist someone who studies the neuroscience of nutrition At the University of Michigan, I am primarily interested in how food components and their breakdown products change. genetic instructions that control our physiology.
Beyond that, my research is also focused on understanding how food can Affect our thoughts, moods and actionsAlthough diet cannot yet prevent or treat brain conditions, researchers like myself have learned a great deal about the role nutrition plays in the daily brain processes that shape us. is.
Not surprisingly, a delicate balance of nutrients is key to brain health. Deficiency or excess of vitamins, sugars, fats and amino acids can have negative or positive effects on the brain and behavior.
lack of vitamins and minerals
Similar to vitamin C, deficiencies in other vitamins and minerals can also cause nutritional disorders that adversely affect the human brain. For example, low dietary levels of vitamin B3/niacin, commonly found in meat and fish. Etc. cause pellagraa disease that causes people to develop dementia.
Niacin is essential for turning food into energy and building blocks, protecting our genetic blueprint from environmental damage, and controlling the amount of certain gene products. brain cells that are die prematurelyleading to dementia.
Reducing or blocking niacin production in the brain promotes neuronal damage and cell death in animal models. Conversely, increasing niacin levels has been shown to reduce the effects of neurodegenerative diseases. . Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s diseaseObservational studies in humans suggest that adequate levels of niacin may protect against these diseasesbut the results are still inconclusive.
Interestingly, niacin deficiency caused by the consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol can have effects similar to those seen with pellagra.
Another example of how nutrient deficiencies can affect brain function is found in iodine, which, like niacin, must be obtained from the diet. , is an essential component of thyroid hormone, a signaling molecule important to many aspects of human biology, including sleep. Low iodine levels prevent the production of sufficient amounts of thyroid hormones, impairing these important physiological processes.
Iodine is particularly important for human brain development. Before table salt was supplemented with this mineral in the 1920s, iodine deficiency was a serious problem. Leading Causes of Cognitive Impairment WorldwideThe introduction of iodized salt Gradual increase in IQ scores over the past 100 years.
Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy
Not all dietary deficiencies are detrimental to the brain. In fact, studies show that people with drug-resistant epilepsy (a condition in which brain cells fire uncontrollably) can reduce the number of seizures By adopting an ultra-low-carb regimen known as ketogenic diet80% to 90% of your calories come from fat.
Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred source of energy. When they are unavailable, either for reasons of fasting or a ketogenic diet, cells obtain fuel by breaking down fat into compounds called ketones.Using ketones for energy has profound implications Altered metabolism and physiologyThis includes the levels of hormones circulating in your body, the amount of neurotransmitters produced by your brain, and the types of bacteria that live in your gut.
Researchers believe that: Changes in these dietary dependenciesespecially higher production of brain chemicals that can calm neurons and reduce levels of inflammatory molecules, may play a role in the ketogenic diet’s ability to reduce the number of seizures. , Benefits of the Ketogenic State – through diet or fasting – on cognitive function and mood.
sugar, saturated fat, and ultra-processed foods
Excessive levels of some nutrients can also have detrimental effects on the brain. sugar and saturated fat – A combination commonly found in ultra-processed foods – Promotes eating by desensitization Brain to hormone signals known to regulate satiety.
Interestingly, diets high in these foods are also desensitize the taste system, so that animals and humans do not perceive food as sweet. These sensory changes can affect not only your food choices, but also the rewards you get from food.
For example, studies show that people’s reactions to ice cream Important for taste and reward Eating every day for two weeks makes it dull. Some researchers believe that this reduction in food reward signals Increased cravings for foods high in fat and sugarjust as smokers crave cigarettes.
High-fat and processed-food diets are also associated with poorer cognitive function and memory in humans When animal model It also increases the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. However, researchers do not yet know whether these effects are due to these foods or weight gain and insulin resistance. caused by long-term consumption of these foods.
time scale
This brings us to an important aspect of how diet affects the brain: time. Some foods have an acute effect on brain function and behavior over hours or days, while others take weeks, months, or even years to take effect.
For example, eating a slice of cake rapidly shifts a fat-burning, ketogenic metabolism to a carbohydrate-burning metabolism in individuals with drug-resistant epilepsy, increasing the risk of seizures.
In contrast, it takes weeks of sugar consumption to alter taste and reward pathways in the brain, and months of vitamin C deficiency to develop scurvy.
Finally, when it comes to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, risk is influenced by years of dietary exposure in combination with other genetic and other factors. Lifestyle habits such as smoking.
After all, the relationship between food and the brain is a bit like a delicate Goldilocks. Each nutrient should be consumed in sufficient quantity, neither too little nor too much.
About this diet and psychology research news
author: Monica Das
sauce: conversation
contact: Monica Das – Conversation
image: image is public domain
