Carbs: Fuel for the Brain
September 21st, 2006 | by Loretta |Our brain likes glucose. But if we ate sugar all the time, we’d be fat. And then I’d have to get a new domain name and call it obesebunny.us or something. And that would cost me money. Oh and it’d jeopardize my health severely.
So what should we eat instead of pure, raw sugar?
Carbohydrates are polysaccharides– yes, that means many, many, many sugar molecules together. (Ah, I loves me some science.) And since these are connected by bonds that must be broken before carbs can be used for energy, it means that it takes longer to supply our blood with glucose.
This is also why they reccomend eating whole grains– it takes longer to digest, so your blood sugar level doesn’t roller coaster as much and put you through eating frenzies.
Anyway, this weekend was spent doing homework and more homework. Not only that, but homework on things I didn’t even learn yet. Because that’s what a ~35k/year education gets you these days.
It seems the more I study, the more I need food. Which is fine, since my brain needed the energy, right? So, study snacks! (Yes, I decided to take the extra time to take photos…instead of studying while eating.)
- English muffin
- Slice of cheese
Ok, so I didn’t get all hardcore and whip out the cast iron skillet for grilled cheese here. Why? Because those convenient slices of cheese are technically “cheese product” (labeled as such due to lower content of actual cheese protein goodness.)
This means that it melts pretty easily (less protein means less bonds to absorb energy before melting can occur…); it melts so easily that a well-toasted English muffin is all it takes for a quick snack.
Protein, calcium and carbs: not a bad combination. Eating while doing homework might not be as good a combination…:)