Question: Because you are studying how different foods can impact your brain function, if there is a lack of a certain food group can this cause a negative impact with the function of brain? If so why is this?

Ellen Smith answered on 5 Mar 2021:

Really good question! It’s not something that I’ve specifically looked at, but I’ll try my best to answer.
There’s a lot of research that focusses on well balanced diets, that include all macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) plus micronutrients (like vitamins and minerals) and how that can be really beneficial to brain health and function.

At the moment, the only research that I can think of which looks at a diet that excludes a food group is the Ketogenic diet – which is very low or no carbohydrates. There’s not a huge amount of data at the moment and the results seem quite mixed, with some studies showing benefits to brain function (especially in people with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease), but others showed no beneficial effects.

It might also be worth mentioning that although I wouldn’t class them as ‘food groups’ deficiencies in vitamins or minerals (specifically iron, B vitamins and vitamin D) can have a negative impact on cognitive function.

I hope that helps a little, but let me know if you have more questions 🙂