Category: Breakfast Ideas

A friend of mine recently fell and hit his head. He was found unconscious and was rushed to the hospital where he stayed in the ICU for many days, with brain bleeding and fractures in his skull. Luckily he is on the mend, though it is a slow, slow, road to recovery but he is improving every day.

It is important to act quickly to speed healing, improve recovery time and reduce chances of permanent damage.

Consider that ‘Traumatic Brain Injury’ (TBI) is not just a severe brain injury after a car crash or massive fall. TBI is any form of concussion. It affects so many of our youth and has been in the news more and more as professional athletes come forward to talk about the impact of one or many small or large concussions – depression and anger are common post-concussion symptoms.

Nutrition for recovery: Along with introducing high-quality nutritional supplements, increase your healthy fats, eat high-quality protein’s with each meal and reduce inflammation by eliminating gluten and dairy.

• Consume foods rich in zinc, magnesium and antioxidants to replenish your brain after injury
• Eliminate inflammatory foods like dairy and gluten
  • Why? Anti-Inflammatory foods increase energy levels and decrease brain fog
  • Reduction in energy slows down healing
• Correcting elevated blood sugar levels is key for brain healing
  • Why? Early in a TBI, brain glucose levels rise and then drop below normal
  • Giving high sugar foods (foods that rapidly convert to glucose in the body) to TBI patients worsens outcomes
• Eliminate dairy
  • Why? Dairy is very inflammatory, you should avoid or limit, even after healing
• Eliminate Gluten & Grains (including rice, corn, and grains that contain gluten: wheat, barley, and rye)
  • Why? Modern day grains are can promote further inflammation in the body and should be avoided when trying to heal

The foods to include are:

• Water
  • Drink Enough Water – your brain is 73% water!
  • Why? Helps you digest and absorb nutrients, feel focused and alert, assists in cell growth, temperature regulation and circulatory system, which is often negatively affected by post-concussion syndrome. 
• Bone broth
  • Why? Reduces chronic inflammation, improves your immune system
  • Provides a wide variety of rich minerals and amino acids, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and selenium.
  • Other benefits: heals the digestive tract, anti-aging, supports skin health
• Healthy fats
  • Why? Healthy fats regulate inflammation processes in the body – your brain is made up of 60% fat
    • Brain matter is mostly made up of Omega 3 fats that help rebuild your brain cells, act as a carrier of nutrients and help with satiety
  • Include at every meal: avocados, coconut oil, olives, olive oil, nuts
• Eat a high-quality protein: with each meal
  • Local & organic are void of disrupting hormones and provide minerals, healthy fats, and energy. Types: grass-fed, pasture-raised, wild caught…Organ meats
  • If you are feeling nauseous, or vomiting try a shake with whey protein with added branched-chain amino acids
• Colourful vegetables (loads of them – reminder to avoid nightshades)
  • Vegetables phytonutrient and fibre rich
• Fruits: rely on low GI berries and apples
  • many contain antioxidants that protect your cells from damage (including environmental damage and toxins)
• Fermented foods (like sauerkraut)
• Fish and shellfish (as long as there is no allergy, these foods are a rich source of nutrients)

• Nutritional Supplements:
  • Creatine
    • Supports cognition, an amino acid helps to prevent damage after a TBI
    • Increases energy production in brain cells
  • Fish Oil
    • Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids
    • Crucial to reduce brain inflammation, for recovery and protect against future TBI
  • Vitamin D
    • Protective and can prevent post-concussion syndrome
    • Take therapeutic doses
  • Magnesium
    • Crucial for overall brain function
    • Prevents delayed brain injury and post-concussion syndrome
  • Glutathione
    • Body’s most abundant antioxidant
    • Reduces brain tissue damage by 70%, if administered intravenously after injury
    • If, you cannot get intravenously, supplement with Vitamin C and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC)

Overview of the Brain – the central control unit of our bodies and main organ of our central nervous system (CNS). Our brains manage most of our activities, our emotions, our decision making, our cognition- long and short term memory.

• Brain Facts:
  • Weigh on average 3lbs –
  • Representing only 2% of our overall body mass but uses:
    • 25% of all the energy
    • 20% of the total blood
    • 20% of the total oxygen
  • Made of soft tissue:
    • gray and white matter, containing the nerve cells
    • non-neuronal cells (which help to maintain neurons and brain health); and
    • small blood vessels.
• Three main parts of the Brain:
  • Brainstem: connects the brain with the spinal chord
  • Cerebellum: located at the back of the head (ancient part of the brain)
    • balance and equilibrium
    • decision-making
    • regulate learned movements (walking, tying shoes)
    • cannot initiate movement
  • Cerebrum: front part of the brain, includes the cerebral cortex (has four lobes & accounts for 50% of the brain’s total weight)
    • movement
    • thinking
    • emotion
    • problem-solving
    • learning

Sources: Medical News Today: ‘What to know about the brain’. Concussion Rescue: A Comprehensive Program to Heal Traumatic Brain Injury (Amen Clinic Library), Chapek, Dr.kabran, Citadel Press.