The Influence of Nutrition on the Brain
The brain works via a complex network of neurons (nerve cells) that can communicate with each other via a kind of messenger substance, the neurotransmitters. For an optimally functioning brain, the cells must work properly and the messages must be properly conveyed. To achieve this, the brain must receive sufficient oxygen and nutrients from the blood. In short: the functioning of your brain - such as intelligence and memory - can be influenced through the food we eat!
The functioning of the brain
The brain consists of millions of neurons (nerve cells). These cells consist of;
A cell body: the information that the cells pass on to each other is processed here.
Dendrites: protrusions on the cell body; they receive the information via a kind of antennae, the receptors.
An axon: a long nerve fiber that carries the messenger substances to the synapses at the end of the axon.
Synapses: nodes at the end of the axon; via the synapses the messenger substances are passed on to the dendrites of another nerve cell.
The nerve cells communicate with each other via messenger substances: the neurotransmitters. They are passed through the synapses to the dendrites of another neuron and thus enable the brain to function. The composition of the diet influences the production of these chemicals in the brain: the type of neurotransmitters that neurons produce and transmit and their ultimate fate in the brain depend to a large extent on what you eat.
Changes in the brain due to aging
As the brain ages, its function weakens. This is not so much because cells disappear, but mainly because the messages do not get through as well due to, among other things, abnormalities in receptors and dendrites and too little production of neurotransmitters.
Mental decline as we age is therefore mainly the result of poor communication and not because the brain is shrinking. The cells also have to work harder to burn glucose (fuel for the brain cells). The efficiency of the energy factories of the brain cells (the mitochondria *) decreases. All this ensures that the information is processed less quickly, stored information is retrieved less well and the memory becomes less sharp.
Damage to the cells is a great danger to the functioning of your brain. The biggest enemies are the free radicals: unstable by-products of combustion in the cells. They affect mitochondria * that start to work less efficiently and produce less energy. They also attack the dendrites and cause synapses to disappear. In short: that reduces the number of working neurons!
Free radicals are the main cause of common aging disorders such as memory impairment, but also neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Another enemy is the reduced blood supply, which decreases after the age of 50 (jeopardizing the supply of oxygen and nutrients). Due to reduced blood flow, memory and intelligence deteriorate. This mainly happens in people whose blood supply is disturbed, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, thickened carotid artery, etc.
Not only free radicals and the blood supply determine the fate of the brain: hormones, exercise and the extent to which the brain is used also play an important role in its functioning. The hormone estrogen, for example, rejuvenates the memory center (hippocampus *) by stimulating the growth of dendrites and synapses and making free radicals harmless. Long-term stress (elevated levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline *) actually shrinks the dendrites and shrinks the hippocampus.