Lately, a lot has been talked about the effect of food and diet on our physical health. A lot of scientists have done some excellent research on this topic and people are starting to appreciate their research. Initially, people weren’t aware of the side effects of taking food intake at a random time and in random proportions. As health-related diseases increased everyone started to follow the food routine given by dietitians.
With all the emphasis on physical health, we need to know some things about mental health.
Is our Brain really affected by our eating habits?
This is a very recent field of research, a developing science that spotlights a new facet of nutrition. The research conducted by scientists says that our brain is affected by what’s on our plates! So to answer the above question, yes our daily eating habits do affect our brain.
It all starts even before our birth. The brain is built up during pregnancy. How it functions, later on, depends on how it has been nourished by the expectant mother’s diet over nine months. A number of consequences of poor nutrition during this period have been known for a long time now.
Effect of mother’s diet on the child’s brain development:
When scientists studied the impact of junk foods on mental health, they found that the children whose mothers ate junk and unhealthy food during the pregnancy period were found to be more aggressive. Those children had more of these behaviors such as anger, tantrums. This goes on to show that the diet of the mother impacts the development of the baby.
What are the repercussions of brain nutrition on brain function?
For over a decade we have been surrounded by sweet and fatty foods and it has become quite impossible to avoid them even though we know that the body has not been dealing well with these eating habits. We all know that junk foods make us fat but scientists are saying that these foods might shrink our brain too! Diets that are high in fat sugar, in the long term, lead to changes in the part of the brain involved in memory. Habitual intake of foods high in fat and sugar results in the reprogramming of the brain! Whereas a diet rich in minerals, vitamins, and fatty acid supplements ensures the stability of the mind and body.
Thus, when people are asked if they think that the food they eat has an impact on their health most of them answer yes! But, when asked if diet can also influence thoughts and decisions very few people are willing to believe this the case.