Protecting the Brain : Healthy Eating for Children : Brain Food : Brainfuel4kids.com

67com_contentcategory Protecting the Brain : Healthy Eating for Children : Brain Food : Brainfuel4kids.com - brainfuel4kids 0

Avoid Brain Drain

Caused by natural body processes as well as external factors like secondhand smoke, pollution and stress, free radicals are highly reactive forms of oxygen that can impede brain function. The best way to combat free radicals is with antioxidants – molecules that essentially sacrifice themselves to protect the brain.⁴

Brreeeaaattthhheeeeee

Breathing is an involuntary body function. Inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale.

But notice your own breathing – are you drawing air shallowly from the chest or deeply from the belly? Inhaling from the stomach expands the diaphragm and draws more air into the lowest portion of your lungs where much of the oxygen absorption takes place.⁵

Kick the Caffeine

There’s no way to sugarcoat this: too much caffeine is terrible for kids’ health generally.

It also hurts their education. In a study of first-grade children, Dr. Alan R. Hirsch, assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at Rush Medical College in Chicago found that kids had trouble learning and more behavior problems on days they drank caffeinated sodas than on the days they had caffeine-free drinks.⁶