Need Your Brain? Feed Your Brain
The brain takes up about 2 percent of our body weight, yet uses about 20 percent of the energy we spend every day, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. It makes sense, then, that when we really need our brain, we feed it well.
Foods that digest slowly but easily are better for our brains than those loaded with corn syrup and saturated fat. Unlike the sugar in fruits, the sugar in corn syrup shoots straight into the blood stream for a quick rush, and then the inevitable, corresponding crash. The stomach has to work harder to digest saturated fats, robbing the brain of the blood it needs for high-level thinking.
Registered dietitian Erin Paris from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine offers these basic nutrition guidelines, which may prove to be worth a crucial point or two on a test:
Foods to Avoid
Caffeinated drinks, such as soda or coffee
Foods high in saturated fat, such as biscuits and gravy or bacon and sausage
Sugar-filled candy
Foods Good for the Brain
Fruits
Foods high in fiber, complex cholesterols and potassium, such as peanuts, yogurt, granola bars or healthy cereals
Nutrient-filled drinks, such as milk and real fruit juice