Impact of Nutrition in Brain Function and Development

Abstract

Dear editor, The importance of diet in health and disease has been recognized since the dawn of time. Hippocrates wrote the proverb "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" approximately 400 B.C. Moses Maimonides, a renowned philosopher and physician, declared in the 12th century that "any illness that can be healed by diet should be addressed by no other means." In the twenty-first century, we are inundated with media claims about "superfoods," miraculous nutritional supplements, and special diets that promise to treat or prevent illness, enhance health, and restore function. Research into neurological illnesses, brain health, and psychological functioning has gotten a lot of press attention (behavior, cognition, and emotion). Aside from exaggeration, we have come a long way in understanding the significance of certain nutrients and dietary patterns in brain development, physiology, and function in the last two decades [1–3]. Interaction between inherited genotype and outside environmental influences including food, determines how well human brains function. Food and nutrition, which are crucial for maintaining brain function, can help prevent and treat mental problems. Several experimental models and epidemiological investigations, have demonstrated that both the general nutritional profile of human diet and particular dietary elements have effects on brain function. A summary of the relationship between diet and five key aspects of brain function that are related to mental health and performance include: (1) brain development; (2) signaling networks and neurotransmitters in the brain; (3) cognition and memory; (4) balance between protein production and degradation; and (5) deteriorating effects brought on by chronic inflammatory processes [4]. For optimal overall brain development during prenatal stage and early years of life, enough levels of vital nutrients must be provided at specific susceptible times. All nutrients are required for brain development, but some nutrients—like protein, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), iron, copper, zinc, iodine, and vitamins A—have disproportionately large effects during the first few years of life and they exhibit critical or sensitive periods for neurodevelopment. These times also correspond to the times when a particular brain region is growing and needs the greatest nutrients [5].