Good brain health depends on many factors, the most important being exercise and oxygenation. However, the foods we eat also play a decisive role, providing us with substances that directly reflect the functioning of the brain, and some of them are true enemies of brain health.
A healthy diet is based on natural products, mainly looking to maintain balance. Nothing you overeat is positive. It is also not good to keep highly processed industrialized foods in our diet, especially those that contain a lot of sugar, salt or fat.
- Often.
- Mood.
- Ability to learn or memory are affected by the consumption of certain foods.
- Which are products that include components that can affect the nervous system and especially the brain.
- So it is very important to be careful.
Some components are present in most processed foods, but go unnoticed, only noticeable when looking at the ingredients, whose names sometimes do not clarify anything about the components, below we indicate which five of these foods and components should avoid having good brain health.
“Our lives are not in the hands of the gods, they are in the hands of the cooks. -Lin Yutang-
Gluten is a set of proteins found in several cereals, although different from each other, are given this generic name because they have many similarities, found in wheat and its derivatives, barley, rye and other similar foods.
These proteins attach to the large intestine and cause metabolic, digestive and immune disorders. Some people are more sensitive to gluten. Others not so much, although in all cases, gluten causes harm. Gluten is one of the enemies of brain health because it affects the nervous system.
Sweeteners are substances that replace sugar in foods. There are natural ones, but most of them are artificial. They are known to harm brain health. In fact, a lot of people call them brain poisons? Because they make neurons restless.
Aspartame and sacarine, two artificial sweeteners, are associated with certain nervous system disorders, such as depression, anxiety, recurrent migraines and speech difficulties, substances found in a wide variety of industrial foods, in general, in all those labeled?Light ‘low in sugar’.
Almost all canned foods contain this component. It is an extremely concentrated salt, it is used to store food and also to add flavor and aroma to food, it has been shown that its consumption stimulates dopamine production in the brain.
Dopamine produces a momentary sense of well-being. However, monosodium glutamate is also high in what is known as “excitotoxins”. There is strong evidence that these foods affect brain health. Monosodium glutamate is even associated with serious diseases such as Parkinson’s. Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and chronic fatigue.
Sugar is considered one of the “three white poisons”, along with salt and wheat flour. Currently, it is one of the most commonly used components in various types of food. Prolonged consumption of refined sugar poses several challenges and also jeopardizes the good health of the brain.
Refined sugar limits the functioning of a protein called BDNF (an acronym for brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which performs important functions within the nervous system, such as protecting memory and facilitating connection between neurons. People with schizophrenia or depression have been shown to get worse when they consume sugar regularly.
Fluoride is an element that is added to drinking water, mainly to maintain its purity and safety, although it is imperceptible, found in the water jet coming out of the tap, a component that has been seriously questioned. It is suspected that it may be related to poor intellectual performance and impaired cognitive functions.
Organizations such as UNICEF have also spoken out against fluoride in water, which is known to reach higher concentrations in bottled water.
Ideally, eat fresh food. The greatest enemies of brain health are found in canned and processed foods, these foods besides not having a high nutritional value cause diseases, it is certainly better to avoid them.