A balanced diet can improve your thinking

WASHINGTON: A balanced diet and regular exercise not only protects one from heart disease and cancer, it also helps insure the brain against mental disorders. “Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain,” said Fernando Gsmez-Pinilla, University of California LA and professor of neurosurgery and physiological science.

“Diet, exercise and sleep have the potential to alter our brain health and mental function, said Gomez-Pinilla. He has spent years studying the effect on food, exercise and sleep on the brain. “This raises the exciting possibility that changes in diet are a viable strategy for enhancing cognitive abilities, protecting the brain from damage and counteracting the effects of ageing.”

Gsmez-Pinilla who analysed more than 160 studies about food’s affect on the brain, said that Omega-3 fatty acids — found in salmon, walnuts and kiwi fruit — provide many benefits, helping fight mental disorders like depression and mood disorders, schizophrenia, and dementia.

“Dietary deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids in humans has been associated with increased risk of several mental disorders, including attention-deficit disorder, dyslexia, dementia, depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia,” he said, reports Eurekalert.

Children who had increased amounts of omega-3 fatty acids performed better in school, in reading and in spelling and had fewer behavioural problems, he said. In an Australian study, 396 children aged between six and 12 years, who were given a drink with omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients showed higher scores on tests measuring verbal intelligence and learning and memory after six months and one year than a control group of students.

This study was also conducted with 394 children in Indonesia. The results showed higher test scores for boys and girls in Australia, but only for girls in Indonesia. These findings have been published in the July issue of the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.