The document discusses how food impacts brain function, noting that the brain requires glucose, water, oxygen, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals to support the production of neurotransmitters that regulate mood, memory, and other cognitive processes. Certain foods like complex carbohydrates, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins B, D, E, magnesium, and iron are particularly important for brain health. The document also provides examples of foods that may help support brain function during exams or periods of high mental activity.

1. Food
&
The
Brain Dr. Jyoti
Assistant Professor
DBT, TU

2. Brain
• Weight:1.4kg, skin weighs twice
as much as your brain.
• Made up of 75 percent water.
• Has 100 billion neurons, 1,000 to 10,000
synapses for each neuron.
• No pain receptors brain, so feel no pain.
• 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your
brain.
• Fattest organ in body and may consist of
at least 60 percent fat.

3. Brain Development and
functions
• At birth, brain size same as an adult brain
• A newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first
year.
• Humans make new neurons throughout life in response to mental
activity.
• Consumes 20 percent of the total oxygen in body, tolerate 4 to 6
minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to
10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.
• Blood loss for 8 to 10 seconds cause unconsciousness.
• During awake brain generates10 and 23 watts of power.
• Recall a memory or have a new thought creats a new connection in
your brain.
• Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection,
and therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.
• Night sleep may be the best time to consolidate all your memories
from the day. Lack of sleep may actually hurt your ability to create
new memories.

4. Brain, food and
emotions
• Serotonin: regulates sleep and appetite, mediate
moods, and inhibit pain.
• 95% of serotonin is produced in gastrointestinal
tract, lined with hundred million nerve cells, or
neurons which guide emotions.
• Serotonin is highly influenced by the billions of
“good” bacteria or intestinal microbiome (a
strong barrier against toxins and “bad” bacteria;
limiting inflammation; absorption of nutrients
and activate neural pathways directly between
the gut and the brain.

5. Brain Foods
?

6. Brain Needs
• Glucose
• Water
• Oxygen

7. Macronutrients:
Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates or Ketone bodies
• Complex carbohydrates
• 45 to 65 percent energy from
carbohydrates/day.
• Drawback: Higher glucose levels
associated with lower memory and
reduced hippocampal (part of brain
responsible for memory) microstructure

8. Macronutrients:
Proteins
 10-15 percent of daily calories from proteins
 Essential Protein neurotransmitters or Messenger chemicals
(focus, concentrate, and remember, regulating
mood, cravings, addictions, sleep, and more.)
 Dopamine: It provides communication between nerve cells as well as between
nerve and muscle cells. If disturbed eg. Parkinson disease, a feel-good
hormone, helpful in permanent memory, can be produced from tyrosine
containing foods.
 Serotonin: feel happy, can be produced from tryptophan containing foods,
 gamma-Aminobutyric acid: main factor in regulating how many new memories
we can generate, main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
 Norepinephrine: NA is the responsible for alertness, arousal, promotes
vigilance, enhances formation and retrieval of memory, focuses attention;
 Endorphins : natural painkillers, feel good” brain chemicals that reduce pain
and diminish the negative effects of stress, physical exercise or yoga, laughing,
listening music, dancing, helping etc.

9. Macronutrients:
Fats/Oils
 Building blocks of the brain
 20-35 percent total calories from fats
 Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are
important for healthy brain function
 Omega-3: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), its
supplementation Memory loss, depression,
mood swings, dementia, Alzheimer’s
disease, and attention deficit disorder.
 Omega-3: EPA (Ecosa-pentanoic acid)

10. Micronutrients:
Vitamins
 Your brain needs all essential micronutrients to be its best.
 But two vitamins, one mineral, and one essential fatty acid
that are often missing from even healthy diets.
 B vitamins “happy vitamins” or “anti-stress vitamins” (mood
deviation and tolerance to stress increased): B-12 (resourced
in animal products) lacks cause wide spectrum of mental
disorders including brain fog, memory loss, dementia,
depression, and even schizophrenia.
 Vitamin D — the Sunshine Vitamin: acts as detoxifying
agent for brain, protecting infants' brains from autism
(Pregnant women and children).
 Vitamin E: Tocopherol or antioxidant.

11. • Magnesium: master mineral used in
300 different metabolic functions,
improved focus and concentration, better
mood, reduced cravings, increased
energy, more resilience to stress, and
better sleep.
• Fe: Hemoglobin increases the oxygen-
carrying capacity of blood by about 40-fold
Micronutrients:
Minerals

12. Ignored Brain
Nutrients
• Oxygen and Water
• Yoga meditation or exercise helps in
secretion of serotonin via good
circulation of oxygen.
• Drink warm water over cold or chilled
water to remove toxins from blood.
• During stress or learning more water
is required for more gaining of
knowledge.

13. Exam Foods
• Whole cereals and pulses providing proteins and
dietary fibers.
• Fermented foods; dried fruits; cruciferous
vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage;
green tea; dark chocolate or cocoa; berries like blue
berries, cranberries etc; anthocyanins and beta-
carotene pigment rich foods; cod liver oil or cod fish,
• Appetizers/ thirst quenchers like soups, juices
• Electrolyte water to maintain the mineral balance.
• Less fatty foods, spices, refined foods, cold drinks
etc.
• Yoga or meditation for 15 minutes and then sleep
for 15 minutes rejuvenate the brains energy.
• More stress more learning but with foods.