Brain Nutrients

An Excerpt from Brain Food for Kids

By Nicola Graimes

For good health and optimum brain power, a child's diet should contain the "proper" amounts of certain nutrients. Balance and variety are the keys, and a deficiency in just one vital nutrient can impair cognitive performance.

The brain needs a constant and steady supply of glucose, which supplies it with the energy it needs. Carbohydrate foods, and preferably complex carbohydrates, are the best sources, and should make up about a third of a child's diet.

Carbohydrates come in two forms: simple (also known as sugars) and complex (starches). Sugars are either intrinsic, such as those already present in fruit, or extrinsic, such as refined sugar added to sweets, cakes and cookies.

The carbohydrates in your child's diet should be made up principally of intrinsic sugars and unrefined complex carbohydrates found in whole-grain bread, potatoes, legumes, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice and vegetables. Unrefined carbohydrates are preferable to refined because they are higher in nutrients and fiber and, crucially for the brain, they help to keep blood sugar levels steady, providing long-term, sustained energy.

Refined, sugary foods lead to a surge in blood sugar levels, which can be followed by a slump. Your child's concentration and attention span will wane and he or she will become fatigued. Extreme highs and lows in blood sugar levels can result in dizziness, irritability and mood swings.

We actually need relatively small amounts of protein (children aged 4 to 10 need between 1/2 to 1 ounce per day), but variety is important to get the full spectrum of the different nutrients found in protein foods. Protein is found in both animal (meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products) and plant sources (beans, lentils, nuts and seeds).

Want to see more?

• Nutrition in a Box: What to Pack in Your Child's Lunchbox for Good Health and Learning
• Brain Food: What You Eat Affects How You Think
• Recipes!
• Talk about it!