3 facts about your hungry brain

Whether you're concentrating on studying or taking a nap, your brain is always active. So it's no wonder she's always hungry. You can read here how it feeds itself using the “brainpull” principle. You'll also learn why your brain loves dextrose - and how powerful it is compared to your laptop. Look forward to three fascinating facts that you won't soon forget.

The brain is the control center of your body . It controls every breath, every thought and every movement. It constantly receives and processes new information. And ensures that your organs are working properly. In short: your brain is simply incredible. In fact, it's so powerful that if it were to step into a ring with the best computers in the world, it would have a good chance of winning.

Fact 1: Your brain is more powerful than any PC

“The human brain is faster than a PC” – neurophysiologists actually don’t like such comparisons. Because: The brain works differently than a computer and cannot easily be compared with a calculator. The computer only knows “zeros” and “ones”, i.e. flowing or non-flowing current.

The situation is different with nerve cells, however – they send signals that have different intensities . In addition, the brain is constantly making new connections between its 100 billion neurons - scientists call this “neuroplasticity”. Even the most sophisticated AI can only dream of such learning and adaptability.

If you still try to compare the computing power of the human brain with that of a machine, you get around 10 trillion arithmetic operations that your brain performs - per second! For comparison: a standard PC “only” manages a few billion calculation operations in the same time. Additionally, your brain can store approximately 2.5 million gigabytes of information in long-term memory. Your new laptop is already well equipped if it has 320 gigabytes of memory.

Things look a little different in the world of supercomputers. The fastest supercomputer in the world, the Japanese computer “Fugaku”, performs an unimaginable 442 quadrillion calculation operations per second. But if you compare the energy consumption and dimensions of your brain with a supercomputer, it quickly becomes clear how efficiently the brain works. Because your brain only needs 30 watts - as much as a weak light bulb .

The Fugaku supercomputer requires an impressive 28,334.5 kilowatts when it is in operation. This corresponds to the output of 9.4 million light bulbs. And this means that “Fugaku” is considered particularly economical. And while Fugaku occupies a huge hall, your brain is a compact flyweight at 1.2 kilograms and is also transportable - practical.

Fact 2: Your brain is always hungry

The rule of thumb usually applies: the larger an organ, the more food it consumes. However, evolution has given your brain a special position. Although it only makes up around two to three percent of your body weight , it consumes around a fifth of the energy you consume - preferably in the form of carbohydrates. More precisely: around 516 kilocalories per day. While muscles and organs shrink in times of hunger, the brain is always well supplied. This is the only way it won't be damaged and can continue to perform tasks that are essential for survival - namely thinking and controlling your body.

Why gray cells need so much food – two good reasons:

• Reason one – basal metabolic rate: Your brain is always active. Even when you sleep, your body makes and transports proteins, repairs damage to DNA, and maintains the ability of nerve cells to communicate. Scientists vividly call this “housekeeping.” Just like cleaning, tidying and repairing in your own four walls, this basic activity alone eats up a quarter of the energy your brain uses overall.
• Reason two - peak load: When you're awake, your brain burns the same amount on average - regardless of whether you're driving a car , doing a round of yoga or lying relaxed on the sofa. However , when you concentrate on thinking, consumption increases in individual brain regions. The nerve cells in the brain regions involved then fire at the same time. Brain researchers also say: They oscillate. These so-called “gamma oscillations” use about twice as much power reserves as neurons need in resting mode. Such increased brain activity occurs, for example, during an exam .

The energy your brain needs comes mainly from the carbohydrates in your food. To do this, the more complex carbohydrates in the digestive tract are broken down into individual building blocks. The building block dextrose is then mainly present. The dextrose now enters the bloodstream via the small intestine. There it appears in the form of blood sugar, which is converted into energy in your cells . This is now available for the brain and muscles.

If you consume pure dextrose as brain food, it has free rein: it passes through the intestinal wall without stopping and can be detected in the blood just a few minutes after ingestion. If you stir a spoonful of Dextropur or Dextropur Plus into your glass of water during a break at your desk and drink the water, your brain can quickly use the dextrose from this drink. However: Your brain cannot store dextrose . So that it can still meet its enormous needs at all times, it has a special trick up its sleeve: the “brain pull”. What's behind it?

Well supplied with brain pull: whether with banana or dextrose.

@LanaSweet/Shutterstock

Fact 3: Dextrose is an elixir of life for the brain

For a long time, neuroscientists thought that the brain - like all other parts of the body - was only passively supplied with dextrose from the blood. But that is wrong. In 1998, the Lübeck internist Dr. Achim Peters the “brain-pull principle” : As soon as the concentration of energy in the nerve cells drops, the brain actively pulls as much dextrose from the blood as it currently needs.

To do this, it quickly eliminates the competition, i.e. the body cells. It does this by ensuring that the adrenal gland releases cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones then stop insulin production in the pancreas. The brain therefore blocks insulin.

The body's cells need insulin to absorb sugar - but not the brain. Due to its active insulin blockade, the brain can absorb all the dextrose in the blood on its own. So it's a bit like a pride of lions: the boss - the brain - is the first to eat his fill. It uses dextrose for this. It is available in the blood more quickly than other carbohydrates found in bananas, for example. Only then does the rest of the body come into its own. This also explains why you sometimes have wobbly legs from hunger after a strenuous marathon of studying, even though you were actually just sitting in your chair.

By now you should replenish your carbohydrate stores with a wholesome meal. If this is not possible, a tablet of glucose can quickly get the dextrose into the blood and replenish the sugar stores. So that you don't get bored when it comes to taste, there are glucose cubes from Dextro Energy * now also with blueberry flavor or in the “Immunfit” version with vitamin B6, B12, C and folic acid . You can even get the smaller school material tablets in four fruity versions - they are also great for the school cone . Our minis with cherry flavor or peach aroma are particularly compact.

Scientists once calculated exactly how many glucose molecules a single neuron in our brain needs: It's 3.3 billion - per minute! Although glucose molecules are unimaginably small, there is a lot that comes together. After all, you have 100 billion hungry neurons. Your brain eats around ten tablespoons of pure glucose per day - a real sweet tooth .

Feed your brain – with facts and sugar

If you've always wondered how the brain pull works and what role glucose plays in it, you now know - and can impress at the next party with these three facts about the brain. Try it!

* contains carbohydrates