As an engineering student, your brain is your most powerful asset. From tackling complex equations to developing innovative solutions, cognitive function is crucial for your academic success. Did you know that your diet plays a significant role in optimizing your brainpower? Let's delve into the science behind brain-boosting foods and highlight some key resources at the Alma Jordan Library that can further your understanding of this vital topic.
The Science Behind Nutritious Foods for the Brain
The brain is a high-energy organ that utilizes 20% of the body's energy. Your food choices can hinder cognitive abilities such as memory retention, concentration, and mental acuity. Harvard Health suggests that specific foods offer benefits for brain health.
Healthy foods, such as fish, berries, nuts, and leafy green vegetables, are all important for supporting brain function by providing nutrients.
Key Nutrients for Brain Health
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Essential for brain cell maintenance and forming connections, omega-3s found in fatty fish like salmon are vital for learning and memory.
Antioxidants: Blueberries, known for their antioxidant properties, help protect the brain from stress and inflammation that can impact function.
Vitamin E: Nuts such as almonds and walnuts are sources of vitamin E, which helps combat the decline associated with ageing.
Folate: Leafy greens like spinach and kale are packed with folate, a nutrient for brain health that reduces the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
Top Foods to Boost Brain Performance
An article from Thrive Global highlights power foods" that can improve brain function and are easy to include in your meals.
Dark Chocolate; Contains caffeine and flavonoids that enhance memory and cognitive abilities.
Avocados; Rich in fats that promote blood flow, to the brain.
Whole Grains; Provide sustained energy by releasing glucose into the bloodstream. Turmeric is famous, for its ability to reduce inflammation and enhance brain function by increasing brain derived factor (BDNF) a protein for learning and memory.
When it comes to making choices that can improve brainpower having a grasp of food science is essential. McGill University highlights the significance of understanding the chemistry, biology, and nutrition of foods in determining how different components influence our health and cognitive functions.
For students studying engineering, incorporating brain-boosting foods into your diet can be as simple as starting your day with a smoothie filled with berries, spinach and flaxseeds in omega 3s. Snacking on dark chocolate between classes and including fish and whole grains in your meals can help maintain consistent energy levels throughout the day.
To delve deeper into the link between diet and brain health the Alma Jordan Library provides an array of resources. Some recommended books available include:
The first of two related books that kick off the Food Biotechnology series, Functional Foods and Biotechnology: Sources of Functional Foods and Ingredients, focuses on the recent advances in the understanding of the role of cellular, metabolic, and biochemical concepts and processing that are important and relevant to improve functional foods and food ingredients targeting human health benefits. This volume explores sources of ecologically-based diversity of functional foods and food ingredients that are available to enhance diverse nutritional values and functional benefits of foods for better human health outcomes, especially focusing on emerging diet and lifestyle-linked non-communicable chronic disease (NCDs) challenges.
This book offers focused and concise coverage of all issues relating to malnutrition in the field of neurology, and in particular addresses practical aspects of nutritional support from a neurology perspective. In addition to providing basic knowledge on important nutritional concepts (body metabolism, assessment and diagnosis of malnutrition, epidemiology, enteral/parenteral nutrition), detailed information is presented on nutritional support for various neurologic disorders handled in a variety of settings, including the neuro-intensive care unit. Much consideration is also given to the diagnosis and management of dysphagia, which is a common and highly critical cause of malnutrition in these patients. Finally, the newly developing concept of neuro-nutrition (or brain foods) - the use of certain nutrients for treatment of neurologic disorders - is discussed.
This comprehensive book documents African plants used for functional and medicinal foods. It contains more than 60 detailed monographs of African foods, describing foods with various characteristics such as prebiotic, probiotic, satiety, immune modulation, stress-reduction, sports performance, mental acuity, sleep-supporting, metabolic syndrome, antioxidant, and unsaturated fats. Plant description, botanical names and synonyms, plant part used, habitat and distribution, folk use, nutritional content, and chemistry are all fully detailed. The book highlights indigenous African food processing technologies up to the modern era.
This title includes a number of Open Access chapters. This new book presents a variety of important research on functional foods-foods that have another role related to disease prevention or health. The first section of the book includes chapters on the complicated relationships between nutrition, physical and mental health, and disease.
For further exploration on this topic, you can search the library's catalogue and online databases to discover a wealth of additional resources.
Be sure to visit the Alma Jordan Library to view our display on Power Foods for the Brain, check out resources on this topic, and deepen your knowledge of brain health.
Do you have any recipes or snacks that help boost brain function? Feel free to share them in the comments section!
References
Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry. “What Is Food Science?” Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, McGill University. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.mcgill.ca/foodscience/what-food-science.
“Foods Linked to Better Brainpower.” Harvard Health, March 6, 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower.
Kodoth Prabhakaran, Nair. 2020. Food and Human Responses: A Holistic View. Book. Cham: Springer.
Sons, Tammy. 2017. “Power Foods for The Brain.” Thrive Global, blog. Medium, August 31. https://medium.com/thrive-global/power-foods-for-the-brain-56a28e94ff55.
Photo: Ritesh Man Tamrakar, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
As an engineering student, your brain is your most powerful asset. From tackling complex equations to developing innovative solutions, cognitive function is crucial for your academic success. Did you know that your diet plays a significant role in optimizing your brainpower? Let's delve into the science behind brain-boosting foods and highlight some key resources at the Alma Jordan Library that can further your understanding of this vital topic.
The Science Behind Nutritious Foods for the Brain
The brain is a high-energy organ that utilizes 20% of the body's energy. Your food choices can hinder cognitive abilities such as memory retention, concentration, and mental acuity. Harvard Health suggests that specific foods offer benefits for brain health.
Healthy foods, such as fish, berries, nuts, and leafy green vegetables, are all important for supporting brain function by providing nutrients.
Key Nutrients for Brain Health
Top Foods to Boost Brain Performance
An article from Thrive Global highlights power foods" that can improve brain function and are easy to include in your meals.
When it comes to making choices that can improve brainpower having a grasp of food science is essential. McGill University highlights the significance of understanding the chemistry, biology, and nutrition of foods in determining how different components influence our health and cognitive functions.
For students studying engineering, incorporating brain-boosting foods into your diet can be as simple as starting your day with a smoothie filled with berries, spinach and flaxseeds in omega 3s. Snacking on dark chocolate between classes and including fish and whole grains in your meals can help maintain consistent energy levels throughout the day.
To delve deeper into the link between diet and brain health the Alma Jordan Library provides an array of resources. Some recommended books available include:
Be sure to visit the Alma Jordan Library to view our display on Power Foods for the Brain, check out resources on this topic, and deepen your knowledge of brain health.
Do you have any recipes or snacks that help boost brain function? Feel free to share them in the comments section!
References
Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry. “What Is Food Science?” Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry, McGill University. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.mcgill.ca/foodscience/what-food-science.
“Foods Linked to Better Brainpower.” Harvard Health, March 6, 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower.
Kodoth Prabhakaran, Nair. 2020. Food and Human Responses: A Holistic View. Book. Cham: Springer.
Sons, Tammy. 2017. “Power Foods for The Brain.” Thrive Global, blog. Medium, August 31. https://medium.com/thrive-global/power-foods-for-the-brain-56a28e94ff55.