Society is quick to blame lack of physical fitness on society’s ills. Heck–even Ronald McDonald would have you believe that you can run around and play while still eating McNuggets to stay healthy. But while activity is critical, it is not as demonic as this.
Poor quality diet is and always will remain society’s downfall. And, without a doubt, it starts with our kids. If we do not feed them good quality foods and load them up on phytonutrient poor foods with high calories and chemicals few of us can pronounce, how can we possibly expect their brains to function optimally?
The dynamics of healthy brain function are beyond anyone’s true understanding. Can you really look at a Captain Crunch breakfast with milk from a cow that has lived it’s life hooked up to a milking machine and some remotely related form of orange juice that’s been stored for years and had synthetic flavors added back in and think that THIS is what your child’s brain needs? And does it get any better for lunch?
If you expect your child to live up to his or her full potential, you need to make sure that their diet is as healthy as it can be. Funny–some consider eating healthy is expensive, but will shovel crap food into their child, sabotage brain function, and then theoretically have that child miss out on a $50K scholarship. Which path is most expensive?
This particular study looked at the ability of a teenager’s brain to resist cognitive breakdown under stress. We could all argue that this sounds like a good thing, right? The two groups got a standard diet or a mixed grain diet. It was clear that those on the mixed grain diet had higher levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor–a hormone that stimulates the development of new connections between brain cells and strengthens the ones already present.
So…what did YOU feed your teen for breakfast this morning?