Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
08/19/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
transparent image
Nothing better than making an effort efficiently and achieve two goals in one fell swoop. A few days ago it was reported that the Mediterranean diet is good for both the heart and the brain.
According to a study carried out in Spain, with a thousand participants over six years, the followers of the Mediterranean diet, rich in olives and nuts, had a high cognitive performance. It also reduces the risk or vascular circulatory system, inflammation and oxidative damage associated in the brain.
The Mediterranean diet does not include processed food or harmful fats, and is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory. It consists of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, and for those who enjoy a good drink, red wine.
Taking advantage of the discovery, check below recent research demonstrating how brain health is linked to dietary habits.
1. To the brain, less breakfast plus lunch equals
"Take breakfast like a king, lunch with a prince and dinner like a pauper" is the phrase that every parent has uttered to encourage their children not to skip the first meal of the day - and it has been proven that it has a certain logic.
Tony Goldstone, the Clinical Sciences Centre in London, scanned the brains of people who do not eat breakfast and found that their pleasure areas were activated when viewing high-calorie foods, and showed little activity when the person via food and light with few calories. To the brain, skipping breakfast not only takes you to eat more at lunch, choosing heavy dishes and unhealthy.
"The participants ate more when they had fasted and ate more calories," says Goldstone, who calculated that volunteers ate about 20% more when they lunched with an empty stomach.
2. Diets high in sugar affect memory and learning
The sweetness has its price. According to a study by the University of California, the brains of those who eat lots of sugar for six weeks may suffer a pronounced loss of cognitive functions.
In reaching this conclusion, the researchers fed with fructose corn syrup a group of rats. Over time, the animals demonstrated an increasing difficulty to orient themselves in a space already known.
"The study confirms that a high sugar diet affects both the body and the brain," explains Gomez-Pinilla, one of the researchers. Furthermore, insulin, a hormone that regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats, may have a role in this result: "It is important for the movement of glucose in the blood, but can exert some kind of influence in the brain that affects memory and knowledge" .
Scientists gave another group of rats a supplement with Omega 3, a fatty acid that prevents the reduction of synapses. The result was the opposite: the rodents had cognitive performance much better than the first group. The researchers deduced that omega 3 is a suitable option for those who have a diet high in sugar. So if you like sweets, choose foods such as salmon, tuna, sardines, tofu, nuts and soy, rich in omega 3.
3. Green tea is good for the memory
Millions of Chinese can not be wrong. The chemical properties of the most popular drink of the Asian giant, traditional for centuries, contributes to the production of brain cells and benefits memory and spatial intelligence. That's the conclusion of a study led by Bai Yun, Professor of Military Medical University Chongqing, which examined the many benefits of green tea.
The Chinese researcher and his team studied the properties of EGCG, a substance in green tea with antioxidant properties.
"We have demonstrated that EGCG can improve cognitive function because it stimulates the production of neuronal cells, a process known as neurogenesis," said Bai.
4. Hunger affects the ability to make decisions
The behavior is affected by the abundance or scarcity of food. In the animal kingdom, for example, a predator is willing to take more risks and hunt dangerous prey if hungry. The same applies to people: those who live on an empty stomach tends to take more financial risks that whoever is able to feed themselves.
Drosophila, commonly known as the fruit fly, faces certain risks when hungry.
This insect perceives the presence of carbon dioxide as a danger signal and an invitation to fly to another place. However, spoiled fruit, one of the most prized delicacies drosophila, emit CO2. But when you need to feed, these flies favor the survival instinct and mature version of this hazardous substance, despite the consequences.
5. Fructose: a remedy worse than the disease
The hunger to be sated with a specific amount of food that satisfies your appetite without exaggeration. The indiscriminate consumption of fructose, a natural sugar found in vegetables, fruits and honey, reduces the feeling of satiety and thus stimulates greater food intake. In this case, glucose would be more suitable to satisfy the appetite.
To reach this conclusion, scientists at the Faculty of Medicine at Yale University conducted a study of 20 healthy adults whose brain activity was monitored while ingested fructose and glucose. The objective was to evaluate the neuropsychological factors related to weight gain due to the consumption of these sugars.
By analyzing the change in blood flow to the hypothalamus, the researcher Kathleen Page concluded that "glucose reduces the activity of the areas that regulate appetite, motivation and reward processing. Also favors the connection between the hypothalamus and the feeling of satiety. "
Given the negative results, it is worth remembering that the fructose syrup is a major ingredient of processed sweet foods, such as soft drinks.
Source: UOL - Modern Consumer
Our news are taken in full from our partner sites. For this reason, we can not change the contents of the same even in cases of typos.
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.