Brain Development • ZERO TO THREE

Brain Development • ZERO TO THREE

AN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Brainiac™ Kids, the first kids' food brand specifically targeted to help developing brains, has launched its kids' yogurt line at Good Eggs, the Bay Area-based online grocery delivery service. Each delicious serving of Brainiac™ Kids is enhanced with the BrainPack™, a unique blend of key nutrients that are critical to the healthy development of kids' growing brains, including the omega-3s DHA and ALA as well as choline.

On average, American kids are only getting twenty percent of the recommended amount of omega-3 DHA/EPA and about two-thirds of their daily adequate intake of the essential nutrient choline, according to the USDA NHANES Survey, "What We Eat in America".* Brainiac™ Kids yogurts were created to address this critical nutrient gap in kids' diets and help every child get the brain nutrients they need to reach their full potential. One 4oz. serving of Brainiac™ Kids yogurt provides as much omega-3 DHA as one kid's portion of salmon, plus as much omega-3 ALA as 1 cup of Brussels sprouts, and as much choline as 2 cups of broccoli. 

"As a San Francisco-based company, we're thrilled to launch in the Bay Area with Good Eggs," said Jonathan Wolfson, Founder and CEO of Ingenuity™ Brands. "Good Eggs' commitment to providing simple, delicious and convenient foods to families aligns with our mission and commitment to making good, wholesome and nutrient-rich foods for all kids to enable them to be their best selves."

Brainiac™ Kids yogurts also have forty percent less sugar and fifty percent more protein than the leading kids' yogurt. The addition of Brainiac™ Kids to Good Eggs' offerings aligns with the online grocery delivery service's focus on sourcing the best products from producers they know and trust.

"We believe in the positive impact of good food on our families, our community, and our environment while offering what families want and need – right to their door," said Bentley Hall, CEO of Good Eggs. "Our customers are always looking for convenient and nutritious products for their kids, so we're excited to welcome Brainiac™ Kids yogurts to the marketplace."

Brainiac™ Kids supports brain development while also providing simply better nutrition. Omega-3 DHA is an essential building block of brain cells and choline is an essential nutrient that connects and enhances our brain's information "superhighways." There is a growing body of research that supports their essential role in brain development throughout childhood and adolescence as the brain continues to grow and develop memory, emotions, and higher cognitive functions.

Brainiac™ Kids yogurts come in 4oz. cups, 2oz. tubes, 4oz. and 7oz. drinks, and are available in four kid-approved flavors, including Strawberry Banana, Strawberry, Mixed Berry and Cherry Vanilla. Brainiac™ Kids has an SRP of $4.99 for a pack of eight 2oz. tubes, four 4oz. cups and four 4oz. drinks and an SRP of $1.79 for a single 7oz. drink.  To learn more about Brainiac™ Kids, visit www.brainiackids.com and follow us on Instagram @BrainiacKids and Facebook @BrainiacKidsFoods. 

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About Brainiac™ KidsBrainiac™ Kids is the first kids' food brand specifically targeted to support brain development. Its first line of products are children's yogurts developed specifically to support brain development, while also having lower sugar and higher protein than leading brands. Each Brainiac™ Kids Whole Milk Yogurt contains the BrainPack™, a one-of-a-kind blend of the omega-3s DHA and ALA, as well as choline, all of which feed kids' brains and help set the foundation for lifelong brain health. Brainiac™ Kids yogurts were created to address a critical nutrient gap in kids' diets and help every child get the brain nutrients they need to reach their full potential.

Brainiac™ Kids strives to make delicious, healthy products that are accessible to all; sources ingredients that are sustainably produced, minimally processed, and nutritionally sound; and uses packaging that keeps products fresh and safe and has the lightest environmental footprint possible.

About Ingenuity™ BrandsIngenuity™ Brands, the first company dedicated to food-based brain nutrition, is driving innovation in the food industry, with real and delicious products to support brain development, performance and health.

About Good EggsGood Eggs is an online grocery delivery service that's pioneering a new way for people to feed their families, without settling. The Bay Area-based company is the only service to deliver absurdly fresh local produce, meal kits, grocery staples, and wine, beer, and spirits — all at affordable prices. They offer same-day delivery throughout SF, East Bay, Marin, the South Bay and the Peninsula. As the company has grown, they remain steadfast in their mission. The majority of Good Eggs' assortment is local, and every item carried must meet a strict list of sourcing standards. In addition to good food, the company provides good jobs. Every operations team member receives benefits, carries equity, and is paid 20 to 50% above industry average—a living wage.

Good Eggs is privately owned. Investors include Benchmark, Index Ventures, Obvious Ventures, S2G Ventures and others. The company was awarded Best Grocery Delivery by San Francisco Magazine in 2017 and Best Grocery Delivery Service by SF Weekly in 2018.  For more information about Good Eggs visit https://about.goodeggs.com

* World Health Organization and U.S. National Academy of Medicine Average Adequate Intake levels for children (boys and girls), aged 4 to 18

2: VERIFY: Does too much screen time damage a child’s brain development?

SAN ANGELO, Texas — As electronics become more and more prevalent today, children are being introduced to enormous amounts of screen time, but does too much screen time damage a child’s brain development?

Dr. Sara Halfmann, a pediatrician with West Texas Medical Associates, said she admits this is a question that she is asked often during appointments.  

“Even some of the educational TV shows that are teaching the child how to read or spell that is not as beneficial as learning face to face with a parent telling them this is the letter "D" this is the number one," Halfmann said.

But the question remains does the constant screen interaction cause brain damage?

“Kiddos under the age of two can actually have speech development problems if they are in front of a screen to long and that’s because they aren’t interacting with the parent, so we see speech delays,” Halfmann said.

We can verify that too much screen time can damage brain development especially when it comes to speech, even if a child is older than the age of two.

“Technology should never be a baby sister if mom and the baby want to sit down together and look at an educational book online together that’s fine, but it is still that face to face interaction that they need,” Halfmann said.

3:Development of a technology to produce dorsal cortical neurons

Top: Collagen gel which has been in use. Collagen fabric is observed on the surface. - Bottom: Collagen gel produced for this research. It is transparent to the extent that... view more 

Credit: KBRI

Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI, President Pann Ghill Suh) announced on Mar. 4 that its research team led by principal researcher Yoichi Kosodo developed a technology to mass produce cerebral cortex* neurons utilizing Induced pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS*).

*iPS(Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells): They are stem cells made of somatic cells, which do not have ethical problems.

Cerebral cortex: Cerebral cortex is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain, playing a key role in higher cognitive functions such as perception, thought and memory.

The research outcome will be published in the March issue of Scientific Reports, an international journal, and the name of the paper and authors are as follows.

Name of the paper: Brain-stiffness-mimicking tilapia collagen gel promotes the induction of dorsal cortical neurons from human pluripotent stem cells

Authors: Misato Iwashita (the 1st author, KBRI), Hatsumi Ohta, Takahiro Fujisawa, Minyoung Cho, Makoto Ikeya, Satoru Kidoaki and Yoichi Kosodo (corresponding author, KBRI)

Scientists expect that it will be possible to treat brain diseases by restoring damaged area in the brain by mass producing neurons utilizing stem cells even though cerebral neurons die if one suffers from degenerative brain diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's Disease.

In fact, a research team of Kyoto University in Japan conducted clinical test of transplanting neurons made of iPS into the brain of a patient with Parkinson's Disease. If one suffers from Parkinson's Disease, neurons that generate dopamine, which is one of the brain's neurotransmitters, die, resulting in symptoms such as muscle stiffness and tremor in hands and feet. Through the clinical test, the patient was treated with new neurons.

The research team cultivated iPS on a gel made of collagen from a fish called Tilapia* and successfully differentiated it into neurons.

Tilapia: It is tropical fish living in Central Africa. Collagen is extracted from its skin.

In particular, the research team cultivated iPS after making collagen gel have the same stiffness as human brain (1500Pa) and confirmed that cerebral cortex neurons have been produced by 60% more compared with existing method.

The stiffness of human brain tissue changes as people age. Recently, it is reported that the stiffness of brain tissue changes with progress of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The research team reproduced stiffness of brain tissues shown in various kinds of diseases in this research and expects that the cause and mechanism of brain diseases could be identified by cultivating neurons.

Dr. Kosodo said that "this research is meaningful in that the stiffness of brain is found to be an important factor in determining differentiation of neurons." He added that "we expect that we can mass produce certain neurons to be utilized for neuron regeneration treatment in the future".

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