Brain Food Snacks and Diet

A friend of mine mentioned he had pulled an all-nighter last week and was just totally exhausted when he finished. "What do you do for brain food?" he asked me. I work late at night quite often and need to stay awake and alert. So he knows I have a few food ideas to help me stay awake.

But once you get past caffeine you're kind of into non-standard territory. Alertness is not the only thing you have to think about. For example, when you're stressed out and need to think through a problem your brain uses a lot of energy. Some foods are better for you than others.

Milk is a great relaxer. Milk contains tryptophan, which is an amino acid that the body uses to transition into a sleepful state. But you cannot just drink milk alone. According to a 2003 study by MIT, you have to eat some carbohydrates with that milk so that your body produces insulin. The insulin makes it easier for the tryptophan to reach your brain.

If I want to go to sleep I might eat a bowl of cereal, or maybe drink some milk with toast. Maybe that is where the word milksop (a weak, spiritless man) comes from. I can't say. But drinking whole milk may help you lose weight, oddly enough. Losing weight makes you feel better, but I don't think it works that quickly.

Why do you want brain food, I asked my friend. "You're going to think I'm crazy," he said. Of course, I already do. "I want to stay up all night playing poker on an online gambling site." Okay, I can see that people like gambling sites because they are convenient but how does staying up all night give you an advantage?

If I wanted to stay up all night and needed to use my brain I would probably eat some toast with peanut butter. Peanut butter is rich in protein and fat, and I just like the taste of it. WebMD recommends a muffin with peanut butter for boosting brain power.

That same article also suggests you can take sugar to give your brain a temporary boost in power, although they recommend a whole grain bread is better. Hm...sounds like my toast idea is pretty good. But if you still want some sugar, add a little honey to the top of the peanut butter on your whole wheat toast.

Of course, what drink goes great with peanut butter, if not milk? So you're fighting yourself with these two foods. But I have found that some hot tea helps the peanut butter and honey on toast go down quite nicely.

As for my friend, when I pointed out that he would probably be playing poker with people on the other side of the world if he stayed up all night he drew a heavy sigh. "I knew it was too good to be true," he said. Yeah, great plans for making money quick usually are.

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