Brain composition and function and why we need good brain nutrition
More than ever before in history, the human brain needs to function well and has many more functions to do than before. On the other hand, what we eat, drink, breathe, or consume in various ways in the twenty first century is very different from what our ancestors consumed. With an average person living in an industrialized country consuming an estimated 4 kilograms of food additives per year (http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/d/diet/), how does feeding affect brain function? There are clearly recognized brain degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and brain cancer. There are also functional disorders such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, confusion, loss of memory, mania, the violent brain, the sluggard brain, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, sexuality disorders, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorders, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, etc. Ultimately, brain disorders define personalities or result in personality changes and social disorders. How much of brain degeneration or dysfunction is due to the kind of food consumed? How can we eat to keep the brain functioning well? Surely, the internal physical and chemical conditions within the brain matter. The structure and functions of the brain are well summed up by Daniel Chiras in Human Biology, Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
The brain controls the internal biological rhythms of each person. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus is thought to be the master clock, the automatic timer of many body functions. The pineal gland in the brain secretes a hormone that controls the SCN. Modern life and the environmental factors that it brings to us can affect our natural brain regulatory functions. Our bodies, including the brain, are ever tending towards a balance, a process called homeostasis. The more well-fed and fit we are, the better our balancing.
Life is full of cycles. Some are general, e.g. the sleep-wake cycle; some are sex-related, e.g. the menstrual cycle in women. Life itself is a cycle from the dependent infancy, the transformed adolescence, the mature adulthood, to the waning geriatric. The brain naturally plays a great part in all these changes.
The brain maintains ordinary vital functions such as breathing and the functioning of the heart. The breathing center in the medulla of the brain is the principal controller of breathing.There are many centers in the brain that control various aspects of life. The nerve fibers in the brain operate through conduction of electrical and chemical signals.
The largest mass of the brain, the cerebrum, forms 80% of the brain. The cerebral hemispheres are involved with signal integration, sensory reception, and motor action. The cerebrum controls voluntary movements in the body, receives sensory information from the body, forms associations of signals, produces complex intellectual activities such as planning and ideation, and stores memories of past sensations. Specific cortical areas function in hearing, vision, taste, and smell. The cerebrum principally deals with functions that are under our consciousness.
The other parts of the brain: the cerebellum, hypothalamus, and brain stem regulate functions that are not primarily under consciousness, such as the heartbeat, breathing, and various hormonal, neuronal, and organic homeostatic functions. The cerebellum controls the synergy of the body’s muscles and helps to maintain posture. When damaged, the victim can suffer from such conditions as spasticity, or jerkiness. The hypothalamus controls many autonomic functions such as appetite, body temperature, water balance, blood pressure, and sexual activity. It controls the pituitary gland which produces many hormones that regulate various body functions. Working with the hypothalamus, is the limbic system which is the site of instinctive behavior and emotion. Instincts preserve life: a woman’s protective urge over her children, a man’s territorial assertion, and the fight-or-flight response to danger are all fundamental. Emotions such as fear, anger, hatred, love, pleasure, anxiety, happiness, etc., are regular responses in life. The brain stem with its reticular activating system (RAS) controls many body functions in conjunction with the hypothalamus and also regulates swallowing, coughing, vomiting and digestive functions. The brain stem connects the brain to the spinal cord. The RAS projects into the cortex and controls information to the cortex.
The brain is cushioned by meninges containing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the protective skull. Infections and toxins can affect the meninges and CSF, causing meningitis.
The brain continually functions in learning and short-term and long-term memory, in the consolidation of short term memory into long term memory, and in the recall or remembering of information. The brain is also important for processing pain and avoidance of danger. The brain’s electrical activity is measured by the electroencephalogram which depicts various waves and these are seen to vary during sleep and wakefulness.
Naturally, the brain is complex and important and every human being is dependent on its well-being and good functioning for living his or her best life. Unnatural realities of modern life also require our brains to be fit. There is a lot of evil in the world and we are constantly bombarded by it and our brains need to remain normal through good nutrition and mental fitness in thinking and prayer. You never know when you would meet the effects of climate change and artificial atmospheric radiation or the “fallen man”: a cheating cashier, a devil-like stalker, a manic predator, a poisoning rival, a wicked saboteur, a stupid vandal, a malicious oppressor, a hate-filled fanatic, an evil eye, a bad mouth, destructive envy, careless greed, a corrupt official, a disloyal member, a scheming banker, an atrocious fraudster, a freakish religionist, a dangerous zombie, an unchecked ideologist, a pathologic liar, a perfect player, a reckless capitalist, a heartless opportunist, etc. No, I am not compiling an encyclopedia of evil. In fact, each of us may wear one or more of these caps every now and then or even continually. The beast in the world is real and we may all play predator and we may all play prey. Many people end up with some form of mental illness actively or passively. Presently, nearly 1 in 5 Americanssuffers from mental illness each year (http://www.newsweek.com/nearly-1-5-americans-suffer-mental-illness-each-year-230608). What about the developing world lacking good statistics. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2001 that about 450 million people worldwide suffer from some form of mental disorder or brain condition, and that one in four people meet criteria at some point in their life (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_mental_disorders). The best prophylaxis the world needs is for each of us totryto be our best selves and to be mentally fit for restraint or response rather than to allow evil to reign inside or outside of us. We will examine nutrition for the brain as a factor of mental fitness.
