The Ted Talk by Mia Nacamulli is about how the food that we eat affects our brain. The main thesis of the talk is that understanding the influences of dietary factors on brain function and cognition helps determine the proper nutrition needed to contribute towards protection against disease and provide energy and building material to the body. The message of the talk is to increase awareness of food consumption and be careful about nutrition. Our brains work best when we eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Food that is rich in fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals nourish the brain while also protecting it from oxidative stress, which is the waste produced when the body utilizes oxygen and can harm brain cells. The author showed herself as a credible source by providing such facts, demonstrating ethos at the beginning of the speech.
The author started to present her work by introducing her research. Food is just one factor that influences our overall health. Our genes play a role in how our bodies absorb and process nutrition, how we react to stress, how we sleep, and even how many healthy bacteria we have in our bellies. There is a link between mood and eating, according to research. Today, the rapidly expanding area of nutritional psychiatry is discovering several links between what we eat and the types of bacteria that dwell in our stomachs, all of which influence how we feel and even act. Recent research reveals that those who take probiotics, which include “good” bacteria, had lower anxiety, a better sense of stress, and a better mental outlook than those who do not take probiotics. Other studies have compared traditional diets, such as the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, to a normal Western diet and found that those who eat a traditional Japanese or Mediterranean diet have a 25-35 percent decreased risk of depression.
Nacamulli speaks on behalf of nutritionists who made a significant contribution to the research of the link between food and the brain. She used ethos to build assumptions regarding different types of food and their impact.
Amino acids, fats, proteins, traces of micronutrients, and glucose – ”the brain is, of course, more than the sum of its nutritional parts, but each component does have a distinct impact on functioning, development, mood, and energy.” Every time people feel insomnia or blush after consuming food, this is connected to their nutritious value. Coming to the rhetoric part of the talk, there was no mention of gender or race as the speech was dedicated to the general population and no distinguishing between those factors. The speech was rich in evidence and appealed to the audience by providing real cases. Facts, stats, and quotes were used from credible sources like the Institute of Food Consumption. There was also a great use of analogies and metaphors to provoke the audience, for example, describing an ordinary day where people do not care about what they eat.
The speech was designed to present complex ideas to a wider population and help people understand nutrition and food consumption concepts. The language that was used is understandable for the audience. For example, she mentioned fatty fish and nuts as the sources of Omega-3. By doing this, the author transformed some complex structures into simple ones and allowed people to process the information. This was also accompanied by visuals, for instance, pictures of different types of food and diagrams that illustrated their nutritious value. Such the use of visuals allowed the audience to understand the speech. The genre of the text was journalistic as it provoked the audience by constantly communicating with it. Nacamulli was referring to products that people use daily and address information that was useful to them. The audience was seemed to be engaged in her speech and the information provided.
The medium is the oral delivery of information along with the use of visuals. Due to that, it was easy for Nacamulli to use intonations and pauses to highlight some important aspects of her research. For example, when she presented some health and overeating problems, she made several pauses to emphasize different food products that cause health problems. Moreover, by the constant use of examples from real life, she was able to obtain the attention of the audience and increase engagement with her information. She used simple grammar that is frequent for speech delivery, and that is why the speech was easy to follow and understand. She also persuaded the audience to be aware of what they consume and how to refer to simple facts from their lives. For example, how they feel during the day is dictated by what they eat and when. Indeed, the speech was also motivational, showing how people can control their well-being and be productive by fixing their diet and sleep schedule. At the end of the speech, she provided some tips on how to control brain and food consumption. The use of a food journal will aid this procedure. People typically notice a shift in mood when more nutritious options are introduced, and they cannot believe how much better they feel both physically and emotionally.