Nutrition After a Brain Injury Brain Works Corner October 2015

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Poor Nutrition Hurts Our Minds What you eat greatly influences your body’s ability to function well. Foods/drinks that enter your body affect you on a cellular level – essentially the foods and drinks that you intake directly affect your blood, muscles, organs, and moods. Your brain is the biggest and most important organ in your body and the foods that you eat may change how it functions!

UCLA Study Recently, a study on rats was performed to prove that a diet high in processed fructose directly affects your brains ability to heal after head trauma. Processed fructose is most commonly found as high fructose corn syrup - which is added to a variety of packaged foods, soft drinks, and many other food types.

The Study Lab rats were fed standard rat chow and trained for 5 days to escape a maze. They were then randomly assigned to 2 different groups: – One group was fed plain water & the other was fed a fructose-infused water for 6 weeks. – The amount of fructose added was given in a dosage that would be similar to a human diet with foods/drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup.

A week later the rats were anesthetized and underwent a brief pulse of fluid to the head in order to reproduce aspects of human TBI . After another 6 weeks the rats were tested on their ability to recall the route to escape the maze. Animals on the high fructose diet took 30% longer to find the exit as compared to the rats who were fed plain water.

What does this mean? “The UCLA team found that fructose altered a wealth of biological processes in the animals’ brains after trauma. The sweetener interfered with the ability of neurons to communicate with each other, rewire connections after injury, record memories and produce enough energy to fuel basic functions.” “Our findings suggest that fructose disrupts plasticity — the creation of fresh pathways between brain cells that occurs when we learn or experience something new,” said Gomez-Pinilla, who is a member of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center. “That’s a huge obstacle for anyone to overcome — but especially for a TBI patient, who is often struggling to relearn daily routines and how to care for himself or herself.”UCLA Brain Injury Research Center

Foods to Avoid Processed foods – packaged meals, fast foods, sweet and salty snacks, white bread, sodas, alcoholic beverages, etc. Learn to read food labels – if the product contains high fructose corn syrup, saturated fats, hydrogenated fats, or high amounts of sodium it is not good for your mind!

Foods to Enjoy Proteins – contains amino acids which help to repair tissues in your body. Fruits & Vegetables – fresh is best i.e. not packaged or canned. – If you want to cook them keep in mind that what you add to them might make them bad for you! – Too much butter, salt, or oil might ruin your healthy choice of veggies! Whole grains over processed breads/cereals/pastas! Water! Dehydration impairs brain function. – Remember you should have at least 8 glasses of water a day!

References your-noggin-nutrition-and-your-brain_pageall.html your-noggin-nutrition-and-your-brain_pageall.html brain-injury/nutrition/ brain-injury/nutrition/ body-feed-your-brain-nutritional-tips-to-speed- recovery.html body-feed-your-brain-nutritional-tips-to-speed- recovery.html for-a-brain-injury/ for-a-brain-injury/ /02/18/processed-fructose-obesity-diabetes.aspx /02/18/processed-fructose-obesity-diabetes.aspx hampers-recovery-from-traumatic-brain-injury hampers-recovery-from-traumatic-brain-injury