The brain and spinal cord are wrapped in a thin envelope called the meninges and bathed in cerebrospinal fluid. The brain is a powerhouse of the body and accounts for about two per cent of body weight. It supervises the functioning of the entire body, but its highest function is to give us consciousness and personality.
The brain is the central computer that controls all the functions of your body, and the nervous system is the network that sends messages from the brain to various parts of the body. The nervous system sends the spinal cord that runs back from the brain, which contains nerve branches and organs as well as body parts. When a message from the body to the brain arrives, the brain tells the body how to react.
The nervous system also regulates the actions of most other body systems such as blood flow and blood pressure. The central nervous system is capable of performing such essential functions with the help of nerve cells that carry messages from the brain to the spinal cord and the rest of the body, and vice versa. If the activity of these nerve cells is disturbed, the nervous system fails to fulfill its essential functions.
The nervous system works like a road network that carries messages, but sometimes the brain makes mistakes. Sometimes the messages reach the right target in the brain, but the extremities send the wrong messages.
For example, the size of our pupils can be adjusted to allow the right amount of light in our eyes so that we can see optimally. Our sweat glands turn on when we get hot and our salivary glands produce saliva when we eat or think about food.
The foods we eat can have a huge impact on the structure and health of our brains. A brain-enhancing diet can support both short-term and long-term brain function.
For example, fatty acids help build and repair brain cells, while antioxidants reduce cell stress and inflammation associated with brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Healthy diets, e.g. High in omega-3 fatty acids and curcumin-containing foods like salmon and vegetable turmeric stimulate molecular systems that promote neuronal function and plasticity in the brain and spinal cord. This article examines the scientific evidence for 12 good brain foods.
A balanced diet as part of a healthy lifestyle can improve heart and brain function and reduce the risk of many serious diseases like stroke, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Exercise and similar consumption of healthy foods can increase and heal the effects on the brain, for example by helping to reverse the mental decline associated with aging and providing benefits to the underlying rehabilitation strategies for brain and spinal cord injuries that can be implemented with a healthy diet. Unhealthy diets with high levels of saturated fat and sugar, such as those found in junk food, can have the opposite effect.
The brain represents about 2% of an adult’s body weight and consumes about 20% of the energy produced by the body. Like the body, the brain draws energy from a substance called glucose, which is found in carbohydrates. When this energy supply is insufficient, people experience a variety of symptoms, including memory problems, fatigue and problems concentrating.