Day 291 of 365 - Eat Your Greens!
Food is information for the body. It communicates with our genes, cells, and systems to influence how everything works in tandem. What we eat is a very big factor in how our metabolism works. Metabolism is a complex series of interactions which includes hormones and nutrients from food, among other things.
Insulin is a hormone. It is a growth hormone, a storage hormone which enhances our ability to store energy in fat. When we eat, our blood glucose goes up. It is the job of insulin to escort it into our systems. The ideal is for most of it to be transported to muscles where it will be used for fuel. The other two main places are to the liver, where it is stored as glycogen, or into our fatty tissues. Also interesting is, that the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus, needs a lot of insulin for its working energy.
Ironically, the more forms of sugar we eat, and the higher the blood levels of glucose and insulin, the less insulin there is available to the brain. This is due to insulin resistance, which has been mentioned before. The memory center of the brain becomes starved for energy, and over time it shrinks. The inflammation caused by elevated insulin and glucose, which creates damage to cells, may have been going on for years before the blood sugar becomes chronically elevated. Pre-diabetes leads to pre-dementia. Since more fat around the middle of the body is an indicator of insulin resistance, there is an expression now of 'the bigger the belly, the smaller the brain'.
It is now thought that a large proportion of cognitive decline is related to how our bodies handle blood glucose. Thus, managing blood sugar is critical to prevent this, or to deal with it once it has begun.
Processed foods, refined carbohydrates and simple sugars are the worst for our metabolism, and are addictive. That's why it's hard to stop eating them. For good brain function though, the type of carbohydrates we eat matters. The best ones are complex carbohydrates which are high in fiber and which also have a low glycemic load, referring to how much sugar they will produce when metabolized.
What should we eat for a healthy brain? We want to eat in a way which will optimize blood sugar. Fresh, whole foods will provide the most nutrition. Vegetables which are low glycemic, primarily the ones which grow above ground, ought to be a cornerstone of a healthy diet and the largest of our food portion. Good quality protein from plant or animal sources is needed, as well as a proportion of healthy saturated fats. Lower sugar fruits are good as are nuts, nut butters and seeds.
Greens stand out as one of the most important food sources though because of their high anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This is why so many recommendations are made to eat some kind of green salad every day or to get greens in other forms like smoothies or green juice.
So, to prevent that shrinking brain over time, reduce your intake of simple and processed carbohydrates and eat more low sugar vegetables to improve insulin sensitivity. This will reduce inflammation and allow that insulin to take the fuel from food to where it is needed to help our body work optimally, and especially into our brain.
Insulin is a hormone. It is a growth hormone, a storage hormone which enhances our ability to store energy in fat. When we eat, our blood glucose goes up. It is the job of insulin to escort it into our systems. The ideal is for most of it to be transported to muscles where it will be used for fuel. The other two main places are to the liver, where it is stored as glycogen, or into our fatty tissues. Also interesting is, that the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus, needs a lot of insulin for its working energy.
Ironically, the more forms of sugar we eat, and the higher the blood levels of glucose and insulin, the less insulin there is available to the brain. This is due to insulin resistance, which has been mentioned before. The memory center of the brain becomes starved for energy, and over time it shrinks. The inflammation caused by elevated insulin and glucose, which creates damage to cells, may have been going on for years before the blood sugar becomes chronically elevated. Pre-diabetes leads to pre-dementia. Since more fat around the middle of the body is an indicator of insulin resistance, there is an expression now of 'the bigger the belly, the smaller the brain'.
It is now thought that a large proportion of cognitive decline is related to how our bodies handle blood glucose. Thus, managing blood sugar is critical to prevent this, or to deal with it once it has begun.
Processed foods, refined carbohydrates and simple sugars are the worst for our metabolism, and are addictive. That's why it's hard to stop eating them. For good brain function though, the type of carbohydrates we eat matters. The best ones are complex carbohydrates which are high in fiber and which also have a low glycemic load, referring to how much sugar they will produce when metabolized.
What should we eat for a healthy brain? We want to eat in a way which will optimize blood sugar. Fresh, whole foods will provide the most nutrition. Vegetables which are low glycemic, primarily the ones which grow above ground, ought to be a cornerstone of a healthy diet and the largest of our food portion. Good quality protein from plant or animal sources is needed, as well as a proportion of healthy saturated fats. Lower sugar fruits are good as are nuts, nut butters and seeds.
Greens stand out as one of the most important food sources though because of their high anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This is why so many recommendations are made to eat some kind of green salad every day or to get greens in other forms like smoothies or green juice.
So, to prevent that shrinking brain over time, reduce your intake of simple and processed carbohydrates and eat more low sugar vegetables to improve insulin sensitivity. This will reduce inflammation and allow that insulin to take the fuel from food to where it is needed to help our body work optimally, and especially into our brain.
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