This Mental Health Awareness Week, make sure you are feeding your brain with the right nutrients for optimal functioning power.
Protect your brain health by focusing on getting ‘brain foods,’ such as healthy fats into your diet on a regular basis.
‘Healthy fats’ are fats which have been minimally processed from whole foods. Think nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado, and fatty fish such as salmon.
Eating these kinds of foods (about a finger sized portion as part of a balanced meal) will ensure that the brain has the nutrients it needs to function at its best. The brain uses about 20% of the energy expenditure of a human body so it takes some fueling!
Healthy fats are great for the brain as they provide the nutrients for the building blocks of the myelination of neurons, which make up the chemical and electrical pathways of brain signals. Think of the myelin as the insulating tube of the neuron, if the neuron was to be the electrical wire passing through.
This myelin insulator is made up of essential fatty acids, called oleic acid, which is the omega-6 found on olives, seeds, fatty fish etc. The accompanying omega-3 fatty acids from health fats also aid learning memory and moods for greater mental health.
Not only that, but having healthy fats as part of a meal makes sure that you are extracting all the nutritional benefits from the vegetables on your plate. This is because healthy fats allow the body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins; A, D, E and K.
As you can see, healthy fats are essential for supporting mental health through optimising brain health.
