Are you looking for a way to make yourself even more brainy than you already are? Are you hoping you can find it in your next soda? Perhaps you can!
When you choose a smart soda with brain-boosting minerals like ours, you may just find what you are looking for. But, even if your IQ doesn’t go up a few points from drinking smart soda, your brain will be happy with its extra support and may have more focus and memory for learning.
Read on to learn what a smart soda is, what minerals are, and how you can make sure you are getting enough. Finally, learn how minerals, like the ones in our sodas, can help support your brain health. Before you get started, pop open a can of VINA, your tastebuds will thank you, and the added minerals might even help you remember all you have learned.
What Is Smart Soda?
A soda is classified as smart when it offers more than just a refreshing taste. Smart sodas have more to offer to overall health, specifically to the brain. VINA Prebiotic Sodas not only offer prebiotics to support your overall gut health, but they also have added brain-boosting minerals. These minerals can help support brain functions like learning, memory, and focus.
While you may not get smarter by simply drinking our delicious smart soda, it may help you focus when you are learning something new!
What Are Minerals?
Minerals are nutrients used for different functions in the body. Our bodies can do a lot of things, but unfortunately, making minerals is not one of them, so they come from what we consume. The most abundant mineral in our body is calcium.
Two different categories of minerals exist: major minerals and trace minerals. Major minerals are minerals we need a larger quantity of like sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur. Trace minerals are minerals that we don't need quite as much of, like zinc, copper, iron, iodine, selenium, manganese, and potassium.
The amount of minerals we need does not have to do with the importance of the mineral. Trace minerals are equally as important as major minerals.
Where Can You Find Minerals?
Minerals are found in rocks, soil, and water. These minerals get absorbed into the plants as they grow or in animals as they eat the plants. Eating (and drinking) a balanced diet should give you the minerals you need. Minerals are found in whole foods like nuts, seeds, broccoli, avocados, shellfish, eggs, beans, dairy, and cocoa.
Another way you can get your minerals is by drinking smart soda like VINA Prebiotic Soda with brain-boosting minerals. Adding brain-boosting minerals into a bubbly beverage gives you the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting your brain while enjoying a delicious drink.
How Do Minerals Support the Brain?
Minerals are extremely important for the entire body to function. They are used for keeping the functions of the heart, bones, and muscles healthy, among other systems in the body. They also play a role in the making of hormones and enzymes.
The brain relies on minerals to stay healthy and function properly as well. Brain development, learning, memory, focus, and mental health are all supported by both major and trace minerals.
Brain Development
Starting from when we’re babies, minerals like iron are important for brain development.
Copper is also important for brain development and function. Copper is an important trace mineral for synthesizing neurotransmitters, like dopamine, which are used to communicate between neurons. Copper also acts as the gas and brake pedal for neurons.
Iron is responsible for transferring oxygen via red blood cells from your lungs to other areas of the body. While it is not specific to the brain alone, without that oxygen, your brain would be unable to work at its highest functioning power.
Learning and Memory
We are learning every day. For example, you are learning right now about the benefits of minerals when it comes to the brain. Minerals help with the process of learning and remembering.
Zinc is usually thought of for immune health, but it is also extremely helpful in the brain. Zinc helps in the creation of neurons in the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory.
Calcium is responsible for long-term memory. So maybe snack on some cheese while you are studying. Dairy is high in both zinc and calcium.
Focus
Are you having trouble focusing on your tasks? Do you walk into a room only to forget why you are there? We have all been there! Perhaps you need a little more zinc in your life. By supporting the hippocampus, zinc may also help with clear thinking and focus.
If you are studying for a big exam or working on a tight deadline for work, sipping on a VINA Prebiotic Soda with brain-boosting minerals may be just what you need to stay focused.
Mental Health
These days, we know mental health is just as important as physical health. Being mindful of what we put in our bodies to support emotional wellness is important.
More studies are coming out about the benefits of zinc and iron when it comes to mental health. Zinc is responsible for many chemical reactions in the brain, and iron helps transport oxygen to the brain. Both of these functions need to be working well to support mental health. Calcium has also been shown to help regulate mood.
Support Overall Brain Health
Antioxidants are important for the overall health of the body. Antioxidants work by neutralizing free radicals. Free radicals can be caused by normal functions of the body or by toxins in the foods we eat or from the environment. Making sure to keep free radicals balanced in the brain is important for overall brain health.
Copper, zinc, and selenium all help act as antioxidants in the brain and can help reduce free radicals in the brain. Free radicals can cause oxidative stress, which can lead to negative brain health over time. When we feed our brain things like copper, zinc, selenium, and other antioxidants, the free radicals can be neutralized, protecting the brain.
Conclusion
Minerals are an important part of brain health. They support brain development, learning, memory, focus, mental health, and overall brain health. Since the human body cannot make minerals, we need to consume them in other ways. Usually, we get minerals from including whole foods in our diets. We can also get minerals in products like smart sodas that have added brain-boosting minerals.
At the end of the day, the question is, do smart sodas make you smarter? We think you are pretty smart already. After all, you did pick VINA as your midday refresher.
Sources:
Minerals: Their Functions and Sources | Michigan Medicine
