Brain Food

E

Eman Resu

Registered Senior Member
I'm not sure on where to post this topic but this looks to be as good a forum as any ...

I want to know what some consider to be good brain foods. I would like to inject some brains into my kids and I hope to snag an xperienced Sci-forumer out there that can provide some direction.

Maybe another question is "what diet do you prescribe in lieu of Ritalyn"?

Thanks in Advance
 
Making them eat healthy is your best bet...i doubt any foods actually make your cognitive functions rise higher then they were intended to be. Give them good oils such as Omega 3 and Omega 6 which you can get from flax seed oils and plenty of greens for healthy grey matter development of the brain and upkeep of it.

Just general eating good and exercise to keep the brain smart.
 
I agree with sargentlard, especially on the excercise part.

A little of topic, but encouraging them to play an instrument or learn a second language may be a good as well.
 
Originally posted by spoilsport


A little of topic, but encouraging them to play an instrument or learn a second language may be a good as well.
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Yes, it has been found to improve reflexes and improve mathmatical ability and overall school performance, also the kid might grow up to be a music star. An excellent idea
 
well i was just looking around and found i had a book on my shelf called 'Brain Food' it says in caption 'the essential guide to boosting brain power' roflmao. Note of Warning: (if you have a top shelf avoid at all costs i am now covered in dirt and dead things), anyways some extracts which you may find usefull:


Most important point:

Basic point water makes up most of the brain and dehydration seriously lowers brain performance i.e. chamicals cannot flow properly, drink properly before tests etc.

Building materials: (abbundance of certain chemicals will increase memory efficiency and general brain developement)

1) Building of neuro-transmitters requires amino acids found in eggs, dairy products, oats and turkey meat.

2) For brain proteins the following are most valuable: meats, fishes and dairy products. Fruits, cereals and vegetables are less valuable to the brain.

Fuels: (without the correct forms of fuel the brain will become slow and vague)

1) Always eat breakfast, but avoid fast releasing carbohydrates e.g. proccesed cereals, white flour and white rice. Choose porridge, eggs or whole meal toast.

2) Avoid sugar, caffeine, alcohol etc.

Speeding up reactions: (enzymes are involved in every reaction especially in the brain)

1) The creation of enzymes requires vitamins especially B vitamins which can be found in mainly: beans, seeds, nuts, grains, legumes and eggs.

Note 1: (minerals are boosting in brain speed e.g. iron, magnesium, boron < especially etc etc)

Note 2: (anything in natural red, yellow or green is likely to be high in nutrients, e.g. peppers, beetroot, brocoli etc)

What to Avoid:

1) Proccesed foods, obviously these cannot be avoided completely but where there is a substitute try that instead, procceses like milling often removes over 80 percent of vitamin content from a food.

2) Storage, it is thought that long periods of storage reduce potantial nutritional value.

3) Avoid eating pasta, bread and cereals at every meal as they contain substances which prevent the absorbtion of some chemicals (note ever eten these foods and teh found it hard to get drunk, coz it holds on to the alcohol just as it does with minerals).

4) Obviously alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine, junk food, ummmm etc etc.

5) Notes on junk food: too much sugar causees the brain to remove it but goes to far and you and up with too little, phosphorous often found in junk food stops absobtion of calcium whic is used in neural transmitters, artificial sweeteners are linked with behaviour problems, fat stops flow int he brain, they are generally low in anything valuable.
 
2) Avoid sugar
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I have ADD and Cronic Depressive Disorder, and have moved to a low(er)-protein, low sugar diet (I still eat donughts or a slice of pie twice a week or so, but that's about it). It has helped me significantly in both the ADD and the Depressive area. I once (while on this low protein diet for moral reasons - before the idea of brain power had even been considered) had a deer burger, and found that my depression made a significant re-surgance for an 8 hour period after eating the burger (I was suicidal for no appearent reason). I didn't connect the mood swing to the food consumption until afterwards, at which time, I engaged a few friends to help me test the theory. Not a scientific study by any means, but it seems that a high surge in protein in an individual's diet can significanly increase depressive mood swings.

Also, there is currently a number of scientific studies underway showing that a high sugar diet as a child can increase ADD symptoms and chances of retaining ADD symptoms significantly (preliminary findings).

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15315

though there are also studies saying it makes litte difference.
http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,4126,00.html?r=related

I think that most of today's studies of ADHD treatments are all very skewed, however, given two things:
1)mis-diagnosis of ADHD in Children is rampent. How can the studies of a treatment be effective if there are no exact rules on how to diagnose a victim of it?
2)excitment factor. Even given long-term studies, I can say from personal expirience, that as soon as a kidd with ADD knows he is being studied for the sake of science, his hyperactivity/excitment level will go up about 15%. So if the diet makes a 15% difference in their behavior, then, overall, you will see no net effect.


As for your children specifically, care for them, but don't worry so much. I have found that most people with ADHD are extremely intelligent; part of the reason that they have a hard time focusing is that they have thoughts goings through their heads at 50x the speed of a normal person. How can you focus on addition for 45 minutes straight when your brain wants to consider the implications of how wind currents effect the flight paths of migrating birds? I used to get bad grades in kindergarden, because I was anti-social, and would "stand by the water fountain for hours at a time". If anyone had ever bothered to ask, I would have explained to them that I was tracking the pathways of the water rivulets as they traveled out of the spigot and down the drain. And they thought I was slow :p

The best description I have ever heard is this:
"A normal person has one TV which shows them the world. they can change the channel, and look at different things, but they only have one show on at a time. A person with ADHD has 50 TV's. Most of the time, they are each tuned to a different channel, and it is very hard to keep focused on one thing when this is going on. But every once in a while, every TV gets tuned to the same chennel, and you end up with an ADD kid "super-focused", to the point where the outside world doesn't exsist"

I know this description applies to most fo the ADD/ADHD people I know.

Good luck!

[edit:::
1) Proccesed foods, obviously these cannot be avoided completely but where there is a substitute try that instead, procceses like milling often removes over 80 percent of vitamin content from a food.
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not only that, but it has been shown that eating proccessed starched leads to uneven spikes of sugar in the bloodstream, which has been linked to the possible development of typeII diabetes later in life.

who would of thunk it, the more we study diet and health, the more we realize that a diet similar to the one we evolved eating is the healthiest for us. surprise surprise. I also find that given humans have evolved an upright posture, walking is a good mode of transportation for me :p (sorry for the sarcasm, but it seems so plainly obvious, once you consider it for a while!)

[edit2::
by chance there is a thread on this exact thing:
http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26699
 
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yeah, my little brother has add although minor

and he scored one of the top highest of all of california (although the system in parts of america is crappy--wonders why the lottery funding to go to schools seem nonexistent now)
anyways, to the topic, I also believe taking a 100% vitamin and mineral supplement is important. Many people do not eat like they should on a regular basis.
When I go to a party for example, i know I want to have a couple of drinks and being so aware of brain cells never coming back (there are 2 cells that never regenerate and one of them are brain cells) vitamins really help to protect that.

Another thing i've heard, river wind, is that tropical fruits are better than oranges, apples, etc, in terms of stemming the balance of adhd, add, cdd,etc. There are ingredients in these fruits that give a healthier impact to a person.

oh, and i disagree with god of course, you can drink a little alcohol and a little caffeine. It's not going to hurt you. there's such a thing as balance. Most people can't do it so the obvious choice is not to try it to prevent the abuse of intake.

Eman, I've heard that milk is really good for brain foods, also greens as sargent suggested, and paprika. My mother made me eat pieces of paprika; green, yellow, red, saying it will help brain activity. lol. As I grew up, I've enjoyed bagels. Yep, bagels are the best brain food ever!!
 
Food in general: lots of protein lots of sugar, salad is not a good idea for your brain just for you gut and fatty deposits. Before a test I always ingest a lot of caffeine and sugar, like Nitro for the brain but just like Nitro your brain will be wasted afterwards and sleep will become your one and only thought. Though sleep is not resting for the brain (sitting in front of a TV is the closes you will get to a resting brain) it is far better then the adrenaline and glucose induce state. This brings me to another point the brain like a muscle needs to be worked to prevent atrophy: you can take all the cretin you want you just get fat unless you pump iron, you have to work the brain constantly to be smart not try to make a diet that can do that for you.
 
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