There is a well-known expression, “You are what you eat,” but what does this saying really mean? While in its simplest form, food provides basic energy to the body, it is also does much, much more. The types of foods we eat determine the nutrients we absorb and these nutrients can profoundly affect how well our body and mind function. The human brain, in particular, requires a constant supply of fuel since it works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even while we are asleep. Neurons are the smallest unit (cell) of the brain and nervous system. The brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons, and every one of them depends on proper amounts of the right type of fuel to ensure optimal function.
Every day, the body’s neurons relay millions of electrical and chemical messages to the brain and back again. Neurons have two types of extensions that spread out from their cell body. At one end of their structure, neurons have dendrites that receive signals and conduct them toward the cell body. At the other end, they have axons that conduct signals away from the cell body to other cells. Human axons can vary in length from a fraction of a millimeter to three feet in length. (Giraffe axons can reach lengths of 15 feet!) At the end of the axon are axon terminals that are close to other nerve cells. Neurons do not touch each other. Instead, they are separated by tiny spaces (“synapses”), and electrical messages from the brain and body are relayed across these synapses via more than 70 neurotransmitters (such as serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine) that regulate every function in the body, including emotions and moods.