Early childhood is a critical period of brain development. If paying great attention to the intake of nutrition at this stage, it will contribute greatly to the differentiation and maturity of brain structure, which will lay a foundation for children's mental development in the future. So, how to make reasonable adjustments in daily diets?

First of all, parents should supply enough sugar to their children. The tissue of brain can not store glucose itself. It can only use the glucose provided by blood to produce energy. The amount of glucose consumed by the brain is very large, which almost accounts 2/3 of the glucose in human blood. As a result, children who always use brain should eat more carbohydrate foods properly.

Secondly, children should take in more protein. Protein is an important component in nerve cells. High-quality protein will promote the growth and development of brain cells. Among all the amino acids consisting protein, leucine deficiency can result in brain hypoplasia; tryptophan and tyrosine can be converted into neurotransmitter, which has an important effect on the thinking activity of human being; while glutamate acid can eliminate the harm on the brain caused by ammonia, so as to play a significant role in protecting brain tissue.

Third, it is suggested to eat foods rich in lecithin and vitamin B. The lipid content in brain tissue is more than any organ, including lecithin, cholesterol, glycolipids, neural phospholipids, and so on, of which lecithin is the most abundant and with the greatest demand. Therefore, children should eat more soy products, eggs, milk, beef and other foods which contain a large number of lecithin.

Knowing what kinds of food are beneficial for the mental development of children, we should also pay attention to these foods which are harmful to the development of the brain. These foods are mainly as follows.

First, salty foods
Salty foods will not only cause high blood pressure, atherosclerosis and other diseases, but also will damage the arteries, affect the blood supply of brain tissue, causing memory loss, mental retardation and so on.

Second, foods containing a lot of MSG
Medical research shows that, if pregnant women take in too much MSG during latter half of gestation, it can cause zinc deficiency of the fetus. If the children take in excessive MSG, it may cause the death of brain cells.

In addition, foods containing peroxidated lipids, lead, and aluminium are also bad to the mental development of children. As a result, they should eat as less of these foods as possible.