...Effects of Diet on Brain Function Have you had a conversation with someone lately where you found you just couldn't pay attention to what you were hearing? Do you know what kind of diet you had during the week? Do you know if what you are eating is the best thing for your mental health? Your diet is affecting your every move right now. It is even affecting your ability to comprehend what you are reading right now. Whether you notice it or not, the way you are acting and feeling on a daily basis the result of what you choose to eat. Mental health is directly related to personal diet choices. For people to function in the simplest every day tasks, from putting on shoes or even following verbal commands, necessary energy must be supplied to the brain in order for it to function properly. The human body requires basic nutrition as energy to transmit brain signals from the brain's neurons (independent nerve cells) to regulate all basic behaviors and bodily functions. The vitamins and minerals your body consumes helps to dictate how these neurons fire neurotransmitters effectively and efficiently (Hollis 26). This, being the most elementary step in understanding brain function, opens studies into what different possibilities can be attributed to how and in what ways different nutrients can effect brain function (Hollis 26). A common way of observing these effects is by examining what types of diets will alter a person's basic overall mood. The link between a clean diet consisting...
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...The difference between Restricted Carbohydrate Diet and Non-restricted Carbohydrate Diet Today, the term "low-carbohydrate diet" is most strongly associated with the Atkins Diet and other diets that share similar principles. The American academy of family physicians defines low-carbohydrate diets as diets that restrict carbohydrate intake to 20 to 60 grams per day, typically less than 20 percent of caloric intake. Some low-carbohydrate diets may exceed one or more of these definitions, notably the maintenance phase of the Atkins Diet. There is no consensus definition of what precisely constitutes a low-carbohydrate diet. Medical researchers and diet advocates may define different levels of carbohydrate intake when specifying low-carbohydrate diets. For the purposes of this discussion, this article focuses on diets that reduce (nutritive) carbohydrate intake sufficiently to significantly reduce insulin production and to encourage ketosis (production of ketones to be used as energy in place of glucose). The body of research underpinning low-carbohydrate diets has grown significantly in the decades of the 1990s and 2000s.Most of this research centers on the relationship between carbohydrate intake and blood sugar levels, as well as some related hormone levels. Some evidence suggests blood sugar levels in the human body should be maintained in a fairly narrow range to maintain good health. The two primary hormones that regulate blood sugar levels...
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...Motivation and the Brain Paper Due: April 29, 2013 Psy/355 Motivation and the Brain Paper Certain nutrients have been found in scientific literature to support the structural and functional health of the brain, and the nessessary componets in protecting against brain related diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's (Hall, 2011). Several parts of the brain initiates, and maintains motivation that engages in healthy eating. Some researchers say that evolutionary factors come into play. Factors like reinforcements of endorphins and serotonin activity producing the fullness and well-being feelings after eating (Stone, 2011). If one tries denying these reinforcing experiences, this causes difficulty maintaining a stablized diet. According to Psychological musings, factors such as biological, and enviornmental influences help in the implecation of new, and specific behavior like maintaining a healthy diet (Stone, 2011). To maintain continual motivation in healthy eating there are many brain structures that do contribute. Brain structures that maintain the motivation for healthy eating are the limbic system, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and the amygdala. These structures together form new memories, regulate emotions that maintain positive attitudes about considered diet changes (Stone, 2011). The limbic system is linked with reward, and motivation. This system has a very important role in healthy eating. This allows the...
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...II. Can Diet and Nutrition Reduce Risks of Alzheimer's disease? A. Research suggests that adopting a "brain-healthy" diet can reduce our risk of Alzheimer's. B. Just like the rest of your body, your brain needs a nutritious diet to operate at its best. To help reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s focus on eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables lean protein and healthy fats. C. Your diet is critical to your brain's health. And with the proper diet, you can actually influence the health of your genes. That's right - prevention is within your reach and it starts with the foods you put in your body! III. Eating habits that reduce inflammation and supply a steady supply of fuel are best for reducing risks of Alzheimer’s A. Mediterranean diet is associated with lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease according to article that appeared in December 2066 issue of Archives of Neurology. B. Dark-skinned fruits and vegetables, such as eggplant, red bell peppers, beets, broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, red grapes, cherries, oranges, and all kinds of berries (blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries, and raspberries are great choices). Dark-skinned fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidants, which protect the brain from free radical formation. 1. Berry fruits change the way neurons in the brain communicate. 2. These changes in signaling can prevent inflammation in the brain that contribute...
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...obesity requires a multilevel approach involving the family, school, peer group, government and the society as a whole. Introduction Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally and its prevalence has doubled in the last two decades (1). Over the last 5 years, most developing countries have reported prevalence rates of obesity (inclusive of overweight) > 15% in children and adolescents aged 5–19 year (2–4). Childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming pace in India, giving rise to adult diseases in youth, like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), heart disease and osteoporosis. Junk food kills bacteria that protect against obesity, heart disease and cancer, study finds Strong link between good bacteria, diet and overall health discovered after researchers lived on McDonald's meals for 10 days straight . Eating junk food kills stomach bacteria which protect against obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart...
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...A normal person body uses carbohydrates for fuel, but the Ketogenic Diet uses fats as the primary fuel. In the diet you can only contain 75 to 100 calories for every 2.2 pounds of the body weight. You can take in 1 to 2 grams of protein for 2.2 pounds of the body weight. The type of foods that a patient will mainly eat are butter, heavy whipping cream, mayonnaise and cooking oils. The only way to start this diet is in the hospital. If they decide to put a patient on this diet, they have to fast for 12 hours. Then they slowly increase their calorie intake. When this is happening they have to monitor the patient to make sure this process does not cause any seizures. This diet can reduce 50% of the seizures in children and some children 10-15 % become seizure free. (Sirven and...
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...diagnosed. Studies have gone into the smallest detail to find common traits that those diagnosed have. While this is an endless and tedious process, they continued. Scientist have discovered that there are ways to lower the risks of being diagnosed with the disease in the future. Although there is no cure once diagnosed, there have been studies found on how to lessen your chances of getting it. Multiple articles, including National Institute of Agings “alheimer’s prevention”, state that vitamins are always a natural and healthy route as well as anti inflammatory drugs. While a healthy diet and exercise can be effective for staying healthy and fighting against most viruses, which also plays a big part in dementia and alzheimer’s prevention as well. There are know foods that protect your memory and keep you mind sharp. A mediterranean diet is said to be one, if not the healthiest diet to go by in terms of memory consumption. Other things like red wine and tea has said to play a factor in this topic as well....
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... and so much more. So it makes sense to acquire good learning skills sooner than later. Skills such as speed reading and good comprehension are useful for all the great information you want to take in. Poor memory or memory loss is generally observed with aging. People suffering from poor memory retention could be improved to a great extent following a suitable diet. It is also related to slow learning and low levels of concentration that may arise due to different physiological disorders. There may be transient memory loss with the aged persons. Poor memory condition is generally attributed to the under performance of the brain cells due to aging. One should also not ignore the harmful effects of the excess intake of carbohydrate and sugar in regular diet. Memory loss needs to be diagnosed correctly before resorting to any treatment. Diet plays an important role in memory enhancement and much of the poor memory conditions can be rectified through dietary modifications. Many resort to herbal treatments taking herbal teas or concoctions regularly. Herbs no doubt play a significant role in memory retention. Diet to improve memory must be followed regularly taking the right food in right...
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...ADHD and the Effect of Drugs and Diet There are so many people with Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder ranging from age 3 to adult. Many believe in medicating for this disorder, and then many believe in special diet and exercise to helps treat this disorder. Depending on how severe, I believe is how the disorder should be treated. Inchildren I think they should be automatically treated with diet and exercise. ADHD is more known as the abehavioral condition. Experts believe it's a chemical imbalance in the brain that transmits nerve impulses, this may be a factor in the development of ADHD symptoms. Some ADHD symptoms in a child are, they easily get distracted, have a hard time following directions or unable to finish a task, have a hard time paying attention like they are not listening, forgetful on what daily tasks are supposed to be done, and usually have a hard time sitting still. Symptoms in an adult are chronic lateness, anxiety, low self-esteem, employment problems, anger issues, addiction, poor organization skills, procrastination, mood swings, depression, and relationship problems. It is possible that ADHD is hereditary and passed on from other family members who have had this disorder. It seems that some parents and teachers see some symptoms of ADHD through behavioral problems and are quick to judge that a child must have this disorder. Some may even be quick to give medication. I believe there are some severe cases that indeed may need to be...
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...Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 37 (2014) 134–141 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Brain, Behavior, and Immunity journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ybrbi Short exposure to a diet rich in both fat and sugar or sugar alone impairs place, but not object recognition memory in rats Jessica E. Beilharz a, Jayanthi Maniam b, Margaret J. Morris b,⇑ a b School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 10 October 2013 Received in revised form 11 November 2013 Accepted 25 November 2013 Available online 3 December 2013 Keywords: Diet Fat Sugar Obesity Memory Learning Hippocampus Inflammation Oxidative stress a b s t r a c t High energy diets have been shown to impair cognition however, the rapidity of these effects, and the dietary component/s responsible are currently unclear. We conducted two experiments in rats to examine the effects of short-term exposure to a diet rich in sugar and fat or rich in sugar on object (perirhinaldependent) and place (hippocampal-dependent) recognition memory, and the role of inflammatory mediators in these responses. In Experiment 1, rats fed a cafeteria style diet containing chow supplemented with lard, cakes, biscuits, and a 10% sucrose solution performed worse on the place, but not the object recognition task, than chow fed control rats when tested after 5, 11, and 20 days...
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...into your diet. Kale has been around forever but has recently been brought to the forefront. I will address the many healthy contributions that adding Kale to your diet will bring. II. According to author Alison Lewis of MindBodyGreen, Kale is high in many vitamins and can be an active preventative to high cholesterol. Kale acts as a detoxer and is low in calorie but high in nutrients making it the ultimate dietetic vegetable. An interesting fact about Kale is that it is that it has more iron per calorie than beef does. For vegetarians and vegans this is wonderful news. Not only is eating Kale a great way for non meat eaters to get their iron in but it is over all healthier to switch to raw and natural fruits and vegetables high in iron rather than consuming red meat all the time. Instead of having Iceberg lettuce or romaine, try to incorporate Kale into your diets. III. Kale is healthy for the cardiovascular system. It reduces high cholesterol and is also an anti- oxidant which is an active fighter against arthritis and asthma. Rather than turning to medication first, many people can change their diets and add Kale in order to permanently improve their health instead of masking it with medication.According to Drew Ramsey M.D assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, Columbia University, Kale also is active in maintaining brain health. The brain is 60% fat and Kale provides the body with Omega-3s and fatty acids (the good fat) which is necessary for healthy brain functions...
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...In this paper I will discuss Epilepsy and the research based on the information I have found. Such as what part of the brain is affected by the disease, what the signs and symptoms are depending on what part of the brain has taken damage. Then, I will also discuss the possible treatments, though it is still an incurable disease. Next, I will describe the prognosis and where modern medicine is heading to help in dealing with epilepsy. Finally, I will give examples of epilepsy and how it affects one's life from my own personal experience, and the names will be changed for the safety of the family. Epilepsy a Brief History While epilepsy has been documented since the writing system was invented, it has a history of being superstitious as well....
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...Stroke is caused by a blockage or rupture of one of the blood vessels supplying the brain. When this occurs, the region of the brain depending on that artery for oxygen and nutrients cannot function. As a result, the movement, speech, or other body functions controlled by that part of the brain suddenly stop (Thompson, J., Manore, M., & Vaughan, L., 2014). There are both non modifiable risk factors for stroke and modifiable. Non modifiable risk factors cannot be changed and these include, age, male gender, and family history. Modifiable risk factors means that they are at least partly within your control. These include but are not limited to; obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, inflammation, cholesterol. A good start in the prevention of a future stroke is by increasing the intake of healthy foods and decreasing the intake of unhealthy foods that are high in sodium or cholesterol. It is always a good idea to increase the HDL, as this is the good cholesterol and actually helps pick up the cholesterol from dying cells, other lipoproteins, and arterial plaques. This cholesterol is then returned to the liver, where it can be recycled or eliminated from the body through bile (Thompson, J., Manore, M., & Vaughan, L., 2014). The opposite should be done with the LDLs. Decreasing foods that are high in trans-fat or saturated fat will help lower the LDLs. LDLs are rich in cholesterol, which they deliver to body cells. It is therefore important...
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...efficient they are at breaking down food and using the energy. The slower the metabolism the more energy gets stored and gets turned into fat cells and not used. The hormone leptin, which is produced in fat cells, sends signals to the brain telling it that its levels are dropping which means the cells are reducing. When this occurs the brain processes that information as starvation and sends signals back to slow down the metabolism and store as much energy as possible. There are people who eat less than other but still gain weight. That’s a biological problem. There are areas in the brain research has found that if damaged can lead to obesity. One such area is the ventromedial hypothalamus and the surrounding axons. If this area in the brain is damaged at then this can lead to overeating and more storing of fat cells. Research conducted on rats at the University of Nebraska looked at this area in the brain and how it affects food intake and body weight. With damage to that area the rat nearly tripled in size in the cores of about sixty days. Food intake does not always correspond to body weight. It is possible to excessively eat and not gain weight. It just matters how active one is and how efficient the metabolism is. There are other areas in the brain located in the prefrontal cortex that also can affect body weight. Those areas are responsible for food-seeking behaviors. If one is always...
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...Epilepsy Temporal lobe epilepsy; Seizure disorder Last reviewed: March 28, 2011. Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which a person has repeated seizures (convulsions) over time. Seizures are episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention or behavior. See also: Seizures Causes, incidence, and risk factors Epilepsy occurs when permanent changes in brain tissue cause the brain to be too excitable or jumpy. The brain sends out abnormal signals. This results in repeated, unpredictable seizures. (A single seizure that does not happen again is not epilepsy.) Epilepsy may be due to a medical condition or injury that affects the brain, or the cause may be unknown (idiopathic). Common causes of epilepsy include: * Stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) * Dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease * Traumatic brain injury * Infections, including brain abscess, meningitis, encephalitis, and AIDS * Brain problems that are present at birth (congenital brain defect) * Brain injury that occurs during or near bith * Metabolism disorders that a child may be born with (such as phenylketonuria) * Brain tumor * Abnormal blood vessels in the brain * Other illness that damage or destroy brain tissue Epilepsy seizures usually begin between ages 5 and 20, but they can happen at any age. There may be a family history of seizures or epilepsy. Symptoms Symptoms vary from person to person. Some people may have simple staring spells, while...
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