When I was young, my mom always said: "Eat your fish, it is brain food!" She was not a nutritionist, but merely citing an item of food folklore that has been around for ages.
Researchers have discovered that food affects the brain and mind in surprising and powerful ways.
What you put in your mouth can have a significant effect on your clarity of thought, memory, alertness, and general mood.
Here is a general guideline of what foods to eat for breakfast, lunch and supper.
Breakfast.
Millions of us feed first thing in the morning, when the blood sugar is usually low, on sweetened cereals, bread and rolls; all carbohydrates.
These foods increase the soothing neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain and as a result, we might not reach our normal morning energy peak.
Bacon and eggs again contain high fat and cholesterol, are slow to digest and reducing mental sharpness by diverting blood from the brain.
Scientists believe that a good breakfast features foods low in fat, like eating ham instead of bacon or sausage, low-fat cottage cheese instead of butter and fresh fruit or juice instead of sugary foods.
And what to drink with breakfast? While one or two cups of coffee or tea will leave you more alert and focused, caffeine over-stimulation can begin making you less clear-headed and sharp.
Alternatively, a fruit juice will do just fine! Lunch.
Most of us have experienced the "dangers" of the beer-filled pub lunch and its ability to dull the brain through-out the afternoon.
However, very few of us are aware of the effect of a three-carbohydrate lunch consisting of foods such as potatoes, pasta, bread and sweet desserts.
Studies found that such meals make woman sleepy and men calmer and lethargic.
We should eat protein-rich meals of poultry and fish instead because those foods charge the bloodstream with amino acids, including tyrosine.
In the brain, tyrosine is available for conversion in to the alertness chemicals like dopamine, etc.
If stress exhausts the brain's supply of these neurotransmitters, the result may be confusion, indecisiveness, anxiety and depression.
Another key nutrient is choline that comes from fish, meats, egg yolks, rice, peanuts and pecan nuts.
Choline is a chemical precursor of the brain neurotransmitter acetylcholine that plays a major role in memory.
Supper.
Unless you need stimulation and energy to work or study through the night, avoid proteins like fish or steak at supper.
Instead, choose carbohydrates, which alter brain chemistry indirectly by triggering the release of the hormone insulin, causing muscle cells to take up most amino acids.
One amino acid not taken up in the bloodstream is tryptophan, a scarce chemical that competes with other amino acids for transport through the brain barrier.
With its competition reduced, more tryptophan enters the brain, where it is converted into the soothing neurotransmitter serotonin.
And the best snacks to munch before bedtime are carbohydrates such as rusks, oatmeal biscuits or a crumpet with jam.