Back to School : Encouraging Optimal
Brain Function in Kids and Adults
As the lazy days of summer
are winding down to an end, it is time to get young schooling brains back in
focus and ready for the rigorous school days ahead. Summer is an
important time to allow free flowing, unstructured creativity, but there comes
a time when structure and support should take over in preparing for a busy
brain season ahead. There are many
nutrients and certain good habits that are needed by growing bodies
for optimal brain function. Whether you
are an eager child, or a studious adult, or just want to keep your brain
healthy, these are the fundamental needs for a healthy brain.
The Importance of Healthy Sleep Patterns
Adequate sleep is as crucial to a human body as air, water, and food. It
helps young brains consolidate learning into memory. Sleep needs vary
from person to person, but because their brains are so rapidly
developing, children generally need more than the average adult, about 10
hours of sleep per night. The best results are achieved when there is an
established bedtime and waking time. Scientists studying the brain have
found that a healthy deep sleep increases the amount of nerve connections in
the brain after an experience more than if the time of the experience is
doubled.
With this in mind, studying for an important test for a short
time before getting a satisfying full night's sleep is more effective than
studying all night. It is a known fact that humans do not perform well on
memory tasks after sleep deprivation. Sleep not only plays a big role in
brain function, it also has a big impact on behavior. A study of 500
preschool children found that those who got less than 10 hours of sleep in 24
hours had a 25% increase in behavioral problems, and more associations with
health problems like allergies and ear infections. Do your kids a favor and gently enforce a set
bed time, or at least a quiet time when television and electronic gadgets are
no longer allowed.
Eat Your Breakfast!
The brain uses glucose from the bloodstream as fuel. Just like a car
engine needs a steady stream of gasoline to run properly, it is
extremely important for a growing brain to have a sustained release of glucose,
rather than peaks and valleys. Since our bodies have fasted for several hours
before and need to refuel, breakfast is the most important meal of the
day. Many studies have demonstrated the effect of skipping breakfast on a
young brain. Kids who eat breakfast always perform better on short term
memory and verbal fluency scores. The type of breakfast eaten is also
important. Ideally, a breakfast should contain a balance of protein,
carbs, fat, and fiber. Protein is needed for the body to manufacture
important neurotransmitters like serotonin, which has a calming and focusing
effect. Complex carbohydrates are needed to provide a lasting supply of
glucose, and fat and fiber help slow the release of glucose into the
bloodstream. Whole cooked grains and legumes like oatmeal (not instant),
rice, beans, and pasta are excellent sources of complex carbs. The sugary
cereals that kids love are an example of high glycemic carbs that enter and
exit the bloodstream quickly, causing hyperactivity and inability to focus
initially, and then impacting mood and energy levels throughout the
day.
Recommendations for a
healthy breakfast: peanut butter and jelly on high fiber bread, scrambled eggs
with cheese and toast, steel cut oatmeal with milk and walnuts, yogurt with
berries and nuts, smoothie with fruit and protein powder. If you are in a hurry
and don't have time to cook in the morning, try eating leftovers from dinner
for breakfast. We often put so much time and thought into making a
nutritionally balanced dinner, when all we are doing is going to sleep
afterwards. Breakfast is the time of day when we are going to use the nutrients
we have so carefully selected for important functions.
Feed
Your Brain
In addition to the need for
balancing blood sugar levels, there are certain foods which help supply
necessary nutrients for brain health.
One of the most important nutrients is Omega-3 fatty acids, notably DHA
and EPA. These fats make up the cell
membrane of every cell, and are responsible for ensuring proper communication
between cells. Omega 3s are extremely
important for brain health because they make up 60 % of the structure of the brain, and without them the
brain could not function optimally.
Think of the brain as a city highway system. Without the bridges, there is no traffic
going across. Without the structure,
there is no function. If the body is
deficient in Omega-3s, then other types of inflammation causing fat (trans fats
from processed foods) from the diet will fill the gaps in the cell
membrane. Remember, you are what you
eat!
Modern research is discovering that
the makeup of the fatty layer surrounding each cell has a huge impact on
quality of life. The body uses fats from
the cell membrane to make chemical messengers- if inflammatory fats are part of
the cell membrane, then the chemicals made will be inflammatory in nature,
which may translate to behavior disruption and distractibility. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty, cold
water fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, trout, and in small
amounts in flax seed, chia seeds, walnuts, avocado. The average american child does not eat any
of foods, so supplementation with fish oil is critical for a healthy
brain.
Other foods that are beneficial for brain function are green vegetables
for magnesium which helps with nerve transmission, eggs for lecithin and
choline, an important neurotransmitter, and berries for antioxidants and
increasing circulation to the brain.
Sounds a lot like the diet our ancestors ate, right? Scientist are discovering that the unique
combination of omega rich foods and vegetables, nuts, and berries may be the
building blocks for the evolution of the human brain which allowed our species
to thrive and create a new society. Lets
keep the evolutionary process going forward and encourage healthy brains in our
children!
Read labels!
Avoid brain toxins!
In this day and age, we have to be very
careful about how additives in food affect our young people. Kids have
very sensitive, vulnerable nervous systems which can be easily overstimulated
by strong chemicals. If your child has trouble focusing or being calm, it
might be time to start reading labels and policing the pantry.
Things to
avoid: artificial flavors (MSG), colors (especially red and yellow dye) and preservatives
(BHT, BHA, nitrates, sulfites, phosphates, sodium benzoate), artificial and
unnecessary sugars (aspartame, high fructose corn syrup), and caffeine. These
chemicals can be too stimulating to a young child’s brain, resulting in
behavioral and attention problems. Food allergies can also trigger
excitability and other distracting symptoms, so be aware of the common
offenders: gluten, dairy, peanuts, and soy. If observing isn't enough to
find the culprit, it is often helpful to do an elimination diet, where the
child does not consume the food for 3 weeks before it is reintroduced.
Sugar
is a common aggravator of many issues, and we simply have too much available in
our modern diet. Sugar acts like a drug in the body of children and some
adults, causing strong reactions, distractions, and addiction. Upon
consumption, sugar leaches vitamins and minerals like magnesium from the body
to aid in its metabolism, causes a rush of adrenaline and energy as it floods
into the bloodstream, and then causes depression, anxiety, or feelings of
malaise as the body tries to catch up with heavy doses of insulin or runs out
of neutralizing minerals. It also has a dampening impact on the
immune system function, and compromises the friendly bacteria that lives in our
bowel.
Sugar does not just include sweeteners- it
hides in various forms in many different foods which the body converts to
glucose. Fruit juice, honey, refined flours and refined cereals count as sugar
too. To avoid the roller coaster, balance all sugar sources with protein,
fiber, fat, and nutrient dense vegetables. This means only using whole
wheat flour, and looking for at least 3g of protein, fiber, and fat if a food
is sweetened with sugar or refined. Do not use sugar as a reward, especially
not for doing homework! You are inadvertently sabotaging brain function!
Herbs for Mental Function
Herbalists love to give herbs, but only
when the essential needs for sleep, nutrition, and avoidance of toxins are
met. Herbs can assist mental function by
tonifying the nervous system, smoothing out nerve impulses to allow focus to
occur, increasing circulation to the brain, neutralizing toxicity in the body
and brain, and balancing the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) function
to allow normal brain processing to take place.
In some cases of hyperactivity and ADHD, stimulants are given because
they increase blood flow to the prefrontal cortex where logic and reason take
place, and encourage the release of beta brain waves, associated with analytical
thinking and focus. Children with ADHD
have been shown to have a higher proportion of alpha and theta brain waves, and
are unable to shift appropriately into beta brain wave state as needed. In order to achieve optimal levels, kids have
to literally wake themselves up by running around. In these cases, a mild stimulation of adrenal
function and circulation to the brain is more effective than calming the body
down, as would be expected. The herbs
that seem to be most effective with these cases, as well as non-ADHD cases are
a combination of antioxidants, nutritives, and a balance between sedatives and
mild stimulants. Ginkgo biloba is
probably the most well-researched herb in regards to mental function. It is an antioxidant that helps bring blood
flow and oxygen to the brain, improving brain glucose metabolism and
neurotransmitter function. Adaptogens
such as bacopa, gotu kola, ashwagandha, eleuthero (siberian ginseng), and
rhodiola are useful to neutralize the effects of stress, often through antioxidant
and rejuvenative effects. Nutritives
supply important minerals and nutrients that support the integrity of the
nervous system- Green oats, lemon balm, catnip, chamomile, skullcap, hawthorn. Some of these herbs also calm the
"second brain" in your gut by enhancing digestion and soothing the
nerves in the digestive tract. Gut
irritation, inflammation, or compromised intestinal integrity certainly has an
impact on mental function via connection through the spinal cord, so any
digestive problems should be treated with utmost importance. This points to the added benefit of
consulting an experienced herbalist. We
treat the whole body, so that any imbalances in other systems are addressed
along with the primary complaint. The
whole body is interconnected, and the brain tends to reflect whatever
imbalances are present. Optimal learning
capability reflects optimal health.
Susan Hirsch, LDN- Herbalist and Nutritionist
301-712-9015 ext. 1016
Susan.E.Hirsch@gmail.com
growingwisdomherbals.com
