BRAIN FOOD

http://www.family.org/parenting/A000002234.cfm

How Eating Affects Learning
by Kelly Hammer and Vicki Caruana

What’s a good lunch for your child? A meal from the school cafeteria? A traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich? It’s a more important matter than you might suspect.

Children’s health and learning go hand in hand, and what we feed our children can contribute to their success. The brain is directly affected by what we eat.

We can set habits that contribute to both body and mind health. Understanding first how the brain uses what we feed it is crucial. Learning how food can help or hinder the learning process will help you understand the issue.

It’s important to know enough about nutrition to make wise choices. Children at different ages have different nutritional needs that affect school performance.

Brain Basics
The brain is the most complex of all the body’s organs. It’s the main control center of the body. Mood, memory, heart rate and breathing are all regulated by the brain. It is the organ of thought, speech and all emotions.

Throughout our lives the brain is constantly busy receiving sensations, processing information, generating thoughts and storing memories. The nutrients in the food we eat are needed to keep the brain in good working order.

The brain and nervous system form the body’s messenger service. The messengers are called neurotransmitters. The body has approximately 60 known neurotransmitters. Some of the more common ones are serotonin, endorphins and norepinephrine.

With the brain as a control center, the messages are passed from neuron to neuron via neurotransmitters to register a thought, movement or emotion. Therefore, how efficiently a child’s brain is working and developing depends upon this messenger system. The nutrients we consume daily play a vital role in building brain function.

Copyright © 2005 Focus on the Family All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
Kelly Hammer is a pre-school teacher and the founder of Hammer Nutrition — Working to Build Healthier Families.
Vicki Caruana, former public school teacher and adjunct professor, is now a writer and inspirational speaker who has made it her mission to encourage teachers.