How the food you eat affects your brain - Mia Nacamulli
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TEDEd Animation
Let’s Begin…
When it comes to what you bite, chew and swallow, your choices have a direct and long-lasting effect on the most powerful organ in your body: your brain. So which foods cause you to feel so tired after lunch? Or so restless at night? Mia Nacamulli takes you into the brain to find out.
Additional Resources for you to Explore
Your brain is like a machine that needs specific materials to function well. This website breaks down the different nutritional parts that are necessary, and how they interact with the brain. Take a look and learn about some brain food.
Glucose is the brain’s fuel. Interested in the interaction between our mental performance and the amount of glucose we have? How about the effects of extreme dips in glucose, like during starvation? What effect does this have on our mental functioning? Find out more here: Glucose and mental performance.
Those amino acids are essential for brain function too. Click here for the dummy’s list of essential amino acids and which foods are best for getting them. Have you thought about changing your diet a bit? How can proteins help?
Don’t forget about those micronutrients! What exactly does the brain do with micronutrients? Does it matter if we get enough of them?
What happens if our brains, specifically young, growing brains, don’t get the nutrition they need? Food insecurity at a young age can have direct effects on early brain functioning.
Interested in learning more about the brain? TED Ed has several lessons! Start with these:
How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena
How stress affects your brain - Madhumita Murgia
What percentage of your brain do you use? - Richard E. Cytowic
Glucose is the brain’s fuel. Interested in the interaction between our mental performance and the amount of glucose we have? How about the effects of extreme dips in glucose, like during starvation? What effect does this have on our mental functioning? Find out more here: Glucose and mental performance.
Those amino acids are essential for brain function too. Click here for the dummy’s list of essential amino acids and which foods are best for getting them. Have you thought about changing your diet a bit? How can proteins help?
Don’t forget about those micronutrients! What exactly does the brain do with micronutrients? Does it matter if we get enough of them?
What happens if our brains, specifically young, growing brains, don’t get the nutrition they need? Food insecurity at a young age can have direct effects on early brain functioning.
Interested in learning more about the brain? TED Ed has several lessons! Start with these:
How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena
How stress affects your brain - Madhumita Murgia
What percentage of your brain do you use? - Richard E. Cytowic
About TED-Ed Animations
TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »
Meet The Creators
- Educator Mia Nacamulli
- Director Chris Boyle
- Animator Chris Boyle
- Narrator Addison Anderson
