The foods you eat supply your body with energy. Your body needs energy to move and even to sleep. One part of your body uses a surprising amount of energy. This body part is small_ only 2-3% parcent of your total weight_ but it uses 20-30% parcent of the energy from your food. It's your brain.
You already know that drugs affect the brain. Did you know that food affects it, too? Dffrent tybes of food affect the brain in diffrent ways. Sometimes we can feel the changes that food makes in our brains. For example, most people can feel immediate change after drinking coffee. It is the caffeine in coffee that affects the brain. Coffeine usually makes people feel more awake. After a cup of coffee, a person can think and make decisions more quickly.
Other foods affect the brain in ways that we cannot see or feel. We don't realize how they influence us . However,everthing we eat matters. Our food affects how smart we are and how well we remember things. It also affects how long we can cocentrate. For example, scientists know that;
- Eating breakfast makes students do better on tests
- Spinach, berries, and other colorful fruits and vegetables help keep older brains from slowing down.
- Eating large amounts of animal fat (in meat and cheese, for example) makes learning more difficult.
- Fish really is "brain food." For years, many people believed that eating fish was good for the brain. Now scientists are finding that this is true.
For millions of years, the brains of early human beings stayed the same size. They weighed inly about one pound(400-500grams). Then during the last million years or so, there was a big increase in brain size. The human brain grew to about three pounds. This increase in brain size meant an increase in brain power. With bigger, stronger brains, human beings became smart enough to build boats and invent written laguages. They develiped forms of music and created works of art. Some scientists say that these changes happned after people started to eat seafood. Seafood contains a certain kind of fat, omega3 fat. According to these scientists, omega3 fat caused the increase in brain size. Today, brain scientists agree: This fat is still inportant for healthy brains. They also say that most of us are not getting enough of it.
Did you know that the brains of adults continue to grew and changes? The food you eat affect how your braingrows. They affecy ho well you learn and remember thing. Maybe you never thought about that before. Luckily, it is never too late to start feeding your brain well!