Hi.

I would like to read some opinions about the right type of food for the brain. Especially, I would like to hear how the 80/10/10 diet works on the long term. My point is that the brain is not a muscle, and probably has different requirements than the rest of the body. The brain does not feel pain and if it gets hurt, it may not become aware of its own problems. For example, people may become 'jumpy' and believe everything is OK as their own judgment has been tampered with.

Thanks

I may add the following. Since the brain is made out of mostly fat, would it be wrong to make it lean?

From all I know,certain fats are needed by the brain.
Omega 3's I believe.
Back in the 80's I lived on an extremely low fat(about 15 grams per day)diet,and had considerable emotional issues.
Now I eat avacados and flax seed and have no issues.

Vinny



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2012 02:13PM by eaglefly.

Thanks!

I got one more Q. Some people say that the bononos ate fruit and that we came from them. Therefore we must eat fruit. But they did not have the brain we have. Do you think that eating more fat had an evolutionary effect on the brain?

Your are correct in that fats make up a large percentage of the brain, this is why i am of the opinion low fat diets long term aren't good for health especially of the brain. Low fat diets are good initially for many in that they can rest the gallbladder, liver and overall digestion as the average diet can be high in fat for many, overindulgence causes sluggish liver, digestion and gallbladder function.

Another is that fat is the most dense source of calories per weight at 9 calories per gram. So when people cut it out temporarily they often experience quick weight loss benefits, now this is ok short term but long term like i say not getting enough of the right fats can cause many health problems.

Studies have shown that low fat diets can actually promote cardiovascular disease and other neurological/nervous system disorders. Some of these guys seem to promote one or the other, i.e low/no fats and excess carb intake, or low carb and high fat etc, what happened to a moderate varied diet instead of these passing fads. Why not just have a near moderate intake of all of these macronutrients whilst binging excessively on one or the other. Excessive anything usually comes with side effects as does low in most cases.

TO be fair i have seen some thrive on low fat diets especially initially for many conditions but i have also witnessed a fair few individuals health deteriorate with low fat diets especially long term. Brain and nervous system health especially symptoms including depression, anxiety/panic disorder, schizophrenia, mood swings, irritibility, manic episodes, bi-polar type behaviour of being irritationally high and low mood. Thats not to say those symptoms don't have other causes just that they have been observed in low fat studies.

If vegan i would recommend a plant source EPA/DHA supplement usually derived from algae. Many will disagree but for how much it costs per serving a day i.e pennys it is well worth the safety net, even if just cycled now and again. Same goes for vitamin D and B12 if you are a strict vegan, both are required for healthy brain function.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2012 03:06PM by powerlifer.

Powerlifer, thanks for the long answer. It seems that people use the 80/10/10 diet to seek immediate cosmetic changes in their appearance. People focus on getting rid of all the fat and getting younger skin. But nobody ever talks about the changes made in the brain. Surely, if your whole body changes, the brain must also change somehow.

What would be more important, brain health or body health?

Panchito Wrote:
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> What would be more important, brain health or body
> health?

The two are not mutually exclusive.

coco Wrote:
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> The two are not mutually exclusive.

Hope not. Thanks

Panchito,

The brain needs fat, so eliminating fat is not advised. But I would argue that the sources of fat that one includes in the diet matter as much--saturated animal fat is not preferable to avocados or coconut oil, for example.

We do not descend from bonobos; they're a type of chimpanzee and have a lot of behaviors and physiological characteristics in common with us. But we are not chimps, so living according to their example doesn't make sense, IMO.

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Panchito,

> We do not descend from bonobos; they're a type of
> chimpanzee and have a lot of behaviors and
> physiological characteristics in common with us.
> But we are not chimps, so living according to
> their example doesn't make sense, IMO.

yeah. I was synthesizing the evolutionary theory of healthy foods in a couple of words. But why do the authors of the evolutionary theories chose a particular time that suits their thory. Why didn't they chose the fish\amphibian phase for example?

Do you meant the aquatic ape theory of evolution? Acknowledging that would have required admitting that everything they'd theorized thus far was wrong, quite a hit to the ego, not to mention a waste of research funding etc. And knocking the "experts" off the top of the pyramid. Much easier to ridicule scientist who were interesting in exploring that theory, in fact they were practically driven out of the field.
According to this theory humans enjoy a larger brain due to consumption of omega fatty acids found in sea food. Not that I'm about to go and eat a bunch of sea creatures, I am very careful to include lots of essential fats from other sources in our diet though.

Thanks Coco. I wasn't aware of the aquatic theory. I'll take a look. I think that the evolutionary theory tries to find what is healthy by looking at the previous stages of evolution and seeing what they ate. Thus, what they ate must be healthy because our body has adjusted to digesting that type of food over a long period of time. But according with this theory, wouldn't you also be able to find healthy foods in earlier phases of evolution?

Look up the work of Elaine Morgan. Her books The Descent of Woman and The Descent of the Child are excellent. Even if you don't agree with everything she theorizes, the shift in perspective is enlightening, especially that second book.

[www.amazon.com]

Thanks. I am a little scared of mental web books. Basically, they can make an apple look unhealthy if they want. I read less nowadays.

Her books are about evolutionary theory, nothing much webby about it. Great reads, both of them. Really brilliant.