Catherine de Lange

a healthy brain is about feeling good

When we eat sugar, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, telling liver, muscle and fat cells to turn it into energy. In type 2 diabetes, which is often (but not always) caused by high intake of fatty and sugary foods, and is the most common type of diabetes, this system becomes desensitized and stops working properly, causing blood sugar levels to spike. This type of diabetes is closely linked to obesity and can also result in problems with memory and cognition. What’s more, type 2 diabetes is a leading risk factor for

The most direct is the vagus nerve, an information super-highway that sends signals from our gut to our central nervous system

However, we just need to remember that science is an ongoing process.

Excitingly, recent studies suggest that the environment, rather than genetics, has the most influence on how the brain changes as we age, and eventual cognitive decline,1 leaving no doubt that what we choose to do in our daily lives is crucial to our brain health.

Each one is different and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

The brain is a hungry organ, consuming about 20 per cent of the body’s energy.

4 Where have we gone wrong?

The two-way communication between the gut and the brain is called the gut–brain axis, and information can travel back and forth in a number of ways.

Vitamin B2 is found in foods like almonds, broccoli and eggs, of which I eat plenty, and has many known uses in the body including helping turn food into energy, and proper functioning of the nervous system.