There is nothing in the known universe quite like the human brain.

We have telescopes that see almost back to the birth of the cosmos.
We have AI systems that can process and combine information faster than any neuron can fire.

Yet we have never recreated — even remotely — a biological brain.

Even the smartest AI models (with all due respect, ChatGPT included!) are still a digital shadow of biology: extraordinary in speed, repetition and pattern detection, but nowhere near the living, adaptive, emotionally intelligent, repairable, self-rewiring organ inside our skulls.

Artificial brains are trained with billions of dollars of computing power and perfectly curated datasets.

And yet many of us forget that our own brains need just as much deliberate nurturing — through food, sleep, movement, learning, and emotional regulation.

If AI is the ultimate digital mind, the human brain is the ultimate analogue system — built out of chemistry, electricity, fatty acids, proteins, minerals, microbial signals, and decades of accumulated experience.

And here is the astonishing part: We build this machine every day from what we eat.

Our thoughts, impulses, focus, creativity, emotional steadiness and even our sense of self emerge from an organ that is physically constructed from nutrients.

That’s where the story really begins.

What Makes the Human Brain So Complex?

The adult human brain contains:

• ~86 billion neurons

• Trillions of connections

• A constant electrical storm of ~20 watts of energy

• An immune system of its own

• A vascular system that adjusts to thoughts

• Neurotransmitters made from amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, minerals and microbial metabolites

It is:
part computer, part chemistry lab, part ecosystem, part electrical grid, part emotional compass.

While AI models can be retrained with new data overnight, the human brain adapts slowly, biologically, through:

• synaptic pruning

• myelination

• neurotransmitter balance

• neuroinflammation control

• glial cell support

• sirtuin and mitochondrial resilience

• nutrient-dependent repair and rewiring

This biological dance is never static. It is always learning, always recalibrating, always responding.

Which brings us to an uncomfortable truth: We feed our devices better than we feed our brains.

Your phone gets daily updates.
Your brain gets… whatever food is convenient.

That mismatch matters — especially in modern Western diets.

**The Western Diet Problem: What It Does to Our Bodies…

and What It Does to Our Brains**

We already know what ultra-processed diets have done to the body:
rising rates of metabolic disease, inflammation, gut barriers breaking down, energy dysregulation.

But now science is showing this diet also reshapes the brain.

Key evidence:

• Diets low in fibre reduce short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which protect the blood–brain barrier.

• High processed food intake increases systemic inflammation, which affects memory and mood centres.

• Low Omega-3 diets weaken neural membranes, reducing flexibility and signalling.

• Gut dysbiosis alters neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin.

• High-sugar spikes impair hippocampal function (learning and memory).

• Chronic inflammation affects sirtuin proteins tied to aging, mitochondrial repair, and cognitive resilience.

Nothing woo here.
Just the consequences of what we feed the most important organ we own.

It’s revealing that we have extended human lifespan — but not uniformly extended cognitive healthspan.

Which means, we are living longer in bodies that are carrying brains under unnecessary nutritional stress.

👶🧒🧑🧓 The Brain Through the Lifespan: Shifts, Not Failures

Across life stages, the brain naturally changes.....

Fetal Brain (Pregnancy) - During mid-pregnancy, the developing fetal brain rapidly accumulates DHA Omega-3, drawing it directly from the mother’s own stores — a profound example of how deeply nutrition shapes neural development. Maternal DHA depletion may contribute to postpartum cognitive shifts and mood changes. This is the earliest demonstration that brains are literally built from nutrients, long before we take our first breath.

Toddlers - Building connections rapidly, driven by Omega-3, iron, iodine, and early sensory experiences.

Children - Strengthening frontal networks used for focus, emotional regulation and learning.

Teenagers - A storm of synaptic pruning, impulsivity, hormonal rewiring, huge nutrient demand.

Adults - Stabilisation, skill-building, peak cognitive flexibility with enough sleep, nutrients and challenge.

Parents - Sleep deprivation, multitasking, emotional load, huge shifts in stress hormones.

Midlife & Menopause - A natural shift in hormone-driven brain chemistry — not failure, not decline, but recalibration.

Yet this recalibration often arrives layered on top of modern dietary gaps, chronic stress and inflammation.

And that combination is what many people experience as brain fog.

Brain Fog: Not Woo, Not Weakness — A Biological Reality

There is nothing mysterious about brain fog during menopause.

Oestrogen plummets → gut microbiome shifts → inflammation and neurotransmitter balance changes → brain energy metabolism shifts → cognitive “drag”.

We now know:

• Menopause reduces butyrate-producing gut bacteria, linked to attention and mental clarity.

• Declines in oestrogen weaken glucose transport in the brain, creating temporary energy slumps.

• Sleep changes alter the brain’s glymphatic system, the cleansing flow that clears metabolic waste.

• Stress hormones interact with gut permeability, increasing neuroinflammatory signals.

It’s not “in your head”.
It’s biology.
And biology can adapt — when supported.

**What Supports Cognitive Clarity?

The Fundamentals Are Not Mystical. They Are Simple.**

No magic bullets.
No woo.
Just what the evidence consistently supports:

✔ Whole foods

✔ Mostly plants

✔ Fibre (especially prebiotic soluble fibre)

✔ Omega-3s (especially DHA)

✔ Minerals like iodine and magnesium

✔ Phytochemicals and polyphenols

✔ Movement

✔ Learning and novelty

✔ Sleep

✔ Emotional buffering

✔ And yes… seaweed (for fibre, iodine, rare sugars, minerals, and sulfated glycans)

This does not cure menopause.
It does not reverse aging.
But it supports the biological systems that support you.

And that makes life better — at every stage. 

A Final Reflection: Our Brain Is the Lens of Our Experience

Every memory you keep, every decision you make, every moment of joy, wisdom or creativity is filtered through this organ.

We cannot outsource its health to pharmaceuticals, supplements, or AI.
We build it daily with food, thought, experience and care.

If we can dedicate billions to teaching machines how to “think”,
surely we can dedicate a few intentional choices each day to support our own neural masterpiece.

The best advice remains the simplest: Eat food. Mostly plants. And some seaweed.
Because your brain is worth feeding like the miracle it is.

Want to listen to the researchers actively involved in the research on brain health: Check out the PODCAST Menopause: The Future - and the episode with Dr. Caroline Gurvich - Brain Fog

Want to read our latest research on algae, seaweed and brain health?

Therapeutic Potentials of the Seaweed-Derived Compounds for Alzheimer’s Disease K Ward, MH Cole, LR Griffiths, HG Sutherland, P Winberg, BJ Meyer, . Molecules 30 (22), 4456

Sirtuin Proteins and Memory: A Promising Target in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy? F Fernandez, LR Griffiths, HG Sutherland, MH Cole, JH Fitton, P Winberg. Nutrients 16 (23), 4088

The effect of dietary supplementation on aggressive behaviour in Australian adult male prisoners: a feasibility and pilot study for a randomised, double blind placebo … CH Cortie, MK Byrne, C Collier, N Parletta, D Crawford, PC Winberg, David Webster, Karen Chapman, Gayle Thomas, Jean Dally, Marijka Batterham, Anne Marie Martin, Luke Grant, Barbara J Meyer. Nutrients 12 (9), 2617