What nutrition is best to help you heal faster and more completely from your brain injury? Many factors come into play. Is your body digesting food well? What needs to cross your blood-brain barrier? Why is this important? Is there a diet recommended for all individuals with a brain injury?
When you sustain a brain injury, digestion can be affected. The vagus nerve is what turns digestion on and off. This nerve travels from your brain through your internal organs. It is common when there is a head injury for this nerve to also be injured. If you sustained a neck injury (commonly known as whiplash) you probably are not digesting your food as well as you used to. The first thing to address is to get the vagus nerve healed and working again. This can be done well with acupuncture.
The blood-brain barrier is a filter to protect your brain from harmful substances. It is supposed to allow nutrients in to feed and nourish your brain. Some things like magnesium need to be in a specific form (magnesium L-threonate) to allow crossover of the blood-brain barrier. For example, if you use a type of magnesium that does not cross your blood-brain barrier your brain will not receive the nutrition.
As far as diets go, there is no one diet recommended for everyone. Some people with brain injury seem to do better with a ketogenic diet. This needs to be done under supervision of a health professional because it involves switching the fuel your brain runs on from glucose (sugar) to lipids (fat).
It is important for your brain to get the nutrients it needs to stop the inflammation and begin to repair so that it can work better with less fatigue and more clarity.
If you would like more information and specific guidance set up a consultation with Lynda Bess, L.Ac., ACN today.