Of Mood & Mind

We often make the mistake of seeing the mind and body as separate issues. Physical and psychological health problems have been traditionally treated in isolation. Although the brain is only 2% of your overall weight, it demands at least 20% of your energy supply. Unlike other body cells neurons cannot store glucose, the main source of energy. The brain is dependent on blood to deliver a constant supply of fuel. Many body bits can go for days without refuelling as they have a big lump of fatty storage tissue somewhere close by. With the brain, 10 minutes without energy and it can suffer permanent damage.

As you already know the digestive system supplies energy and nutrients to the rest of the body. The brain is particularly choosy about its type of fuel, it really only likes glucose from starches and sugars. This does not, however, mean that large intakes of chocolate chip cookies will boost your brain capacity. In fact it is quite the reverse. Too much sugar or refined carbohydrates (think pizza from the “other” guys) can deprive your brain of glucose as high intakes trigger insulin which removes glucose out of the blood, stores it as fat and puts your brain into an energy crisis.

Maintaining gut health is vital in the management of your mood. A healthy digestive system can process and absorb more nutrients and energy. Under stress, brain energy takes priority over the needs of the gut, putting it into temporary shut down. Good gut bacteria can provide the gut with energy by processing remaining food components missed by the digestive process (think dietary fiber). This leaves the rest of the body with more available energy while still making sure the gut stays in operation. Certain good gut bacteria such as Bifodobacteria also assist in modulating lipid metabolism, stabilizing cholesterol and insulin levels. The Bifidobacteria thrives off specific prebiotics, nutritional components found mainly in vegetables, fruit, and every slice of NakedPizza.

Live well friends.