Ep. 118 - Nutrition Nerding: How Food Science Boosts Your Brain & Body

Food and nutrition play such a big role in our day to day lives, and we often hear from so many different sources and experts about what we should be putting into our body. In this episode, we will explore some of the ways that food can have an impact on our health and why it makes sense to listen to our body's own individual nutritional needs.

Transcript

You are probably familiar with the phrase: You are what you eat and that is certainly true. As we look at the fewer things better lens, there are a couple of other key layers to this statement. 

The field of nutrition science gives us a lot of clues on how we can adjust the dial on our own physical and mental energy. In the last couple years, I’ve been hearing a lot more information but also from newer experts offering advice on how to bio-hack ourselves.

The Bottom Line on Top of this episode is that the best data for how to use nutrition for your own brain and body needs to be self-sourced. There is no singular, governing force that can educate us on what’s best for our own brain and body. 

Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which we humans use food to support and sustain life. What we consume and metabolize creates energy. That’s the science definition of it. 

Modern nutrition science began to emerge more in the 1910s with the discovery and understanding of how nutrients were becoming prevalent and complimentary to the food and medicine being used at that time. For example, vitamin C was first identified as protection against scurvy in 1932. 

From there, vitamins in nutrition started being studied in the following decades on a much larger scale. It took an even bigger spotlight when the first recommended dietary allowances (or RDAs) were developed in 1943. This was done to address fears of disease being caused at that time by food deficiencies happening as a result of the Great Depression and the Second World War. 

Fast forward to the 1970s and the U.S. government was now getting involved in developing guidance via a Senate subcommittee. A list of dietary goals was published in 1977 and the general reaction was to ask for more information on the science to support the recommendations. More experts and groups got involved and updated guidelines were issued in 1980. 

Around this same time, the food pyramid first emerged in Sweden and then was adopted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992. This visual pyramid guide suggested servings from four basic food groups. It continues to get updated every five years and influences nutritional programs ranging from school lunch menus to food labels to medical research grants. 

In short, these RDAs play a big part in determining the foods that America (and beyond) produces, buys, and consumes.

But here’s the thing: While nutrition and current scientific research are foundational to the dietary guidelines, the USDA is also influenced by lobbyists and special interest groups such as stakeholders from major food producers and manufacturers. From grains to meat to dairy, a lot of input goes into the advice given on what should go into *you*. 

Thank you for taking this hopscotch history lesson with me for a bit. The purpose of that was to emphasize that there is no one-size-fits-all guide for what will work for you. Academic experts, scientists, and food companies can only offer general input. 

You need to be in control of your own education because what you eat and drink has direct, daily results into how you will think, sleep, perform, and feel on this day and in the days ahead. 

So the bottom line on bottom of this episode is to work with a medical professional to determine if you have any food allergies, nutrient deficiencies (which vary by age and geography), and the quality and quantity of what should be going into your brain and body. Modern testing and technology has made this information much more accessible and affordable. 

It’s easy to crowd source information in this space and that can be a starting point; however, our own nutritional needs vary much more often than every five years. It’s easy to force fit food to our schedule instead of creating time to customize our nutrition. But the next time you are feeling tired, unfocused, and unmotivated, think food first before pills and apps and experts. 

One last nudge is that this includes hydration as well. The human brain is 80% water so even minor dehydration can increase stress and disrupt memory and attention, especially if we haven’t been sleeping well, if we’ve been traveling, and all sorts of other factors. 

Some studies have even shown that if you are only 1 percent dehydrated, you will likely have a 5 percent decrease in your cognitive function. So try reaching for water as well as for nutrients.  

Invest in getting tailored nutritional information and look for boosts that are within reach in your everyday. A little education can have immediate and long-term mental and physical rewards. 

Yes, you are what you eat and that starts with knowing what you should eat. This daily awareness and education will be one of the best ways we can take care to take good care of ourselves.