[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Can Good Nutrition Damage Your Brain?

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Can Good Nutrition Damage Your Brain?
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1236442912.shtml


   In that quiet hour or two before the start of [1]The David Strom Show,
   I again was searching for something listenable. Today I stumbled on
   [2]Dishing Up Nutrition on 107.1 FM. This is an infomercial for a
   local clinic advancing nutritional therapy for a number of common
   complaints: can't sleep, low energy, can't focus, can't remember, and
   so on.
   Today, they were talking brain health. Omega-3 fats good!
   High-fructose corn syrup bad! Just eat the smoked salmon and cream
   cheese, skip the bagel. White bread is bad (?), just turns into sugar,
   which is bad (?). Better still, have fresh organic eggs from grass fed
   hens. Don't sweat the cholesterol, your brain needs that, too.
   Having studied some of this informally as part of losing weight, I
   know that while Omega-3 fats are good for you, the brain in
   particular, the brain runs on carbohydrates - glucose. Complex carbs
   like plain old potatoes that you can buy at Cub are high on the list
   in this regard. Me, I had steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast, primarily
   because I like it. Especially with a little maple syrup, glucose and
   all!
   The oatmeal having re-charged my brain, I came up with a hypothesis.
   As a group, are those who worry about organic foods, red meat,
   anti-oxidants, omega-3 fats, alcohol, high-fructose corn syrup,
   trans-fats, and salt generally more liberal? Are those who like rare
   steaks and cold beer generally more conservative? Is that what made
   John Edwards go bad, when he gave up Wendy's to eat diver sea
   scallops?
   Like any correlation, and I think this is generally a good one, we
   must now ask, is it 1) happenstance, 2) A implies B, 3) B implies A,
   or 4) A and B are responding to external factor C? I'm inclined to
   rule out 1 and 3. Does fish oil damage your brain, prolonged exposure
   being enough to make you vote for Al Franken? Or has the brain damage
   already happened (graduate school, e.g.), explaining both an unfounded
   faith in liberalism and unreasoned fear of processed food?
   A higher level thought might be that the brain knows its damaged and
   is striking out to get better nutrition to heal itself? I think I need
   a little more oatmeal.

References

   1. file://localhost/var/www/powerblogs/speedgibson/posts/1236442912.html
   2. http://www.fm107.fm/dishingup/index.shtml