One of the myths spread about the low carb diet is that your brain needs carbohydrates to function well. Actually your brain needs just a small amount of GLUCOSE - which is provided by protein quite easily.
Your brain is an organ of course, and is mostly comprised of fatty tissues (it is 70% fat). Your brain does require around 50g of glucose a day to do its normal routines. This isn't equivalent to 5 slices of pizza!! Amino acids convert READILY to glucose at a rate of just under 60%. And you get amino acids from proteins. So if you are following a proper low carb diet, you are EASILY getting enough protein into your system to give your brain all the glucose it needs.
On the other hand, while your brain needs that small amount of glucose, MANY studies have proven the brain actively needs FATTY ACIDS to work properly. In fact, studies have shown that Fatty Acids help Fight Off Alzheimer's. So if anything, it is people on a low fat diet who are starving their bodies of this essential nutrient. Most low carb plans recommend people eat ample intakes of fish and nuts each week PLUS take a fatty acid vitamin to supplement this.
Additionally, the brain's functioning properly is tied to even levels of blood sugar. People who are on high carb diets know that when they get hungry, they get shaky and irritable and stop thinking clearly. They then gorge on sugar (carbs) and feel better for a little while, until those carbs are gone in an hour or so and they start sliding towards their next extreme hunger stage. So people on a high carb diet are constantly having that hunger - thinking issues cycle, as they rollercoaster from high blood sugar to low blood sugar.
In comparison, on a low carb diet you are eating low glycemic index food at a constant rate, so your blood sugar levels are also constant. So your brain is always humming along at an even, good rate. It is not being jolted into frenzy and then deprived into befuddlement.
A good comparison is with a sports athlete. The high-carb cycle of jolt - deprivation would be like a football player who went from jittering around the field with little control to slumping on the bench without any motivation. The low carb blood-sugar smoothness would be like a quarterback who was "in the zone" and feeling at one with the game, easily picking out the open receivers and drifting the ball right into their hands. Your brain wants an easy, constant flow of energy. It doesn't want to be lept around from high sugar to low sugar states.
With studies showing that overweight women have a higher risk of Alzheimer's than those with a healthy weight, staying on a low carb lifestyle can truly help your brain both short term and in the long run!
Fatty Acids help Fight Off Alzheimer's
Study links Overweight Women and Alzheimer's
Soy, Alzheimers and Brain Aging
Vitamins for Healthy Brain Functioning
 500 Low Carb Recipes Buy from Amazon.com |
