Guest blog on The Inattention blog. The jury is back and with a review of scientific information, they have rendered an absolute verdict. Breakfast Matters! We of all heard the expression “You are what you eat”. While this phrase has risen almost to the point of being cliché, at least as far as our brain is concerned, it is absolutely true. The brain places extraordinary demands on the body. While it represents only 2% of the body weight, it demands 25% of total body glucose utilization. The brain also receives 15% of the cardiac output and 20% of total body oxygen consumption. To work at its best, this metabolic powerhouse needs fuel, and plenty of it. We have all heard the advertisements for a particular energy drink as a way of dealing with the afternoon slump in energy. This simply does not happen if you provide what your brain needs in terms of energy. So what happens when we don’t provide our brain the energy that it needs? The following is a list of many of the cognitive effects from low blood sugar. The irony is we do not even need to be fully “hypoglycemic” to experience these. • Reduced declarative memory or the ability to have both immediate and delayed recall • Decreased spatial memory • Impaired decision-making and reaction time • Reduced fine motor skills and ability to divide attention • Reduced verbal fluency • Less efficient visual processing • Diminished auditory processing • Reduced ability to sustain attention • Increased reaction time and/or decreased accuracy • Reduced ability to drive measured by steering, braking, and speed control. • Do you want to start your day with your brain working at less than its full capacity? So what do my clients say when they start eating strategically? Students tell me their test performance improves when they have a protein/ complex carbohydrate snack 30 minutes before taking a test. My attorneys tell me they are definitely cranking up their performance in the courtroom, particularly during the afternoon. This is right when others are having a slump. My clients who are therapists tell me they are no longer having “drift” during their afternoon sessions. Wouldn’t you rather have a therapist who is paying absolute attention? For people who have the need to utilize medications, food plays another very important role. It provides the raw materials to form neurotransmitters. People with poor nutrition are much harder to treat what it comes to depressive disorders. Think about how you feel when you load yourself with particularly simple carbohydrates? These are fast release into our system. A sudden burst of energy followed is then by an inevitable "crash". This crash ultimately leaves you feeling even more sluggish than you were before you ate. There are some who have theorized that believe that this endless cycle of carb binging and carb crashing is strongly associated with chronic depression. People will actually crave carbohydrates when they are depressed. George H. Glade, ARNP is the Author of The Stimulus Driven Brain. The Essential Guide for the ADD/ADHD College Student and the new e-book Eating for Cognitive Performance. He was named as one of the Top Doctors and Nurses by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine in 2012. He blogs and podcast at The Stimulus Driven Brain.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:37:02 +0000
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