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An article on the amount of money various presidential campaigners have spent buying doughnuts was published in the New York Times recently. One candidate spent almost $2000 at Dunkin’ Doughnuts in New Hampshire and Florida and about $500 at Krispy Kreme in South Carolina. Spending on doughnuts and other baked goods by another candidate was over $25,000 during the past 10 months. The article drew no conclusions between doughnut consumption and the number of delegates acquired but one conclusion we all can draw is that as far as campaign workers are concerned, carbohydrates and fat are in.
Since I have not been asked for anything other than campaign contributions, no one has asked me whether eating doughnuts is a good thing for campaign workers do to. However, my unsolicited opinion is no. I suppose there are some circumstances in which eating doughnuts might be all right. If, for example, the campaign bus is stuck in a blizzard on a highway north of nowhere and the only food available until they are shoveled out is doughnuts, then of course they should eat them. But other than a source of calories in a food shortage situation, it is hard to see any redeeming nutritional qualities to this food. Moreover, eating this high fat, carbohydrate pastry may actually muddle the brain and increase the fatigue that most campaign workers are probably already feeling.
Carbohydrates eaten by themselves, as in a bowl of oatmeal, do have a positive effect on the brain. They soothe, calm, comfort and increase focus. They do this by stimulating a process in the body, which leads to the brain chemical, serotonin, being made. Serotonin has a calming, emotionally stabilizing effect and when people are stressed, overworked, agitated and upset, eating foods that increase serotonin are like downing tranquilizers. Twenty or so minutes after the food is consumed, the eater is feeling better. Any carbohydrate will do this with the exception of the carbohydrate in fruit. But as long as one is eating carbohydrate for their mood effects, why not eat a food that also contains some nutrients and fiber like oatmeal, whole-grain breakfast cereal, or whole-wheat toast?
Doughnuts are not pure carbohydrate. They contain fat in varying amounts depending on their filling and how they are cooked. Fat is not good for optimal brain power. Eating fat tends to make people feel mentally lethargic, muddled, and inarticulate and often longing for a nap. This is not a good feeling first thing in the morning, especially after inadequate sleep. If I were a political candidate, I would want my campaigners to be eating foods that are nourishing, keep the brain alert and prevent them from sleeping through my speeches. As good as they may taste, carb-fat pastries are not going to deliver mental alertness.
But protein foods such as yogurt, eggs or egg white, cottage cheese, or milk will One of the amino acids in the protein, tryrosine, gets into the brain and makes more of the mental alertness chemical, dopamine and norepinephrine. When we need to rely on our brains for problem solving, strategizing, planning, dealing with crises, we need to be mentally alert.
If you eat breakfast while commuting, find a yogurt shake that you can drink in the car or on the train. Or do what an associate of mine used to do. She brought a container of yogurt and a sandwich bag of breakfast cereal and munched her breakfast while doing her morning e-mail.
Eating right in the morning should not be limited to doughnut seeking campaign workers. Anyone who has to do more than test mattresses for work should eat a breakfast that will promote brain power. So whether you are hitting the campaign trail or following a trail of commuters out of the subway, eat right in the morning. Your brain will thank you.
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Dawn Jackson Blatner RD, LDN, is a 
Liz Edmunds’ passion for the importance of family dinnertime led a kitchen-store manager to dub her “the food nanny.” The moniker stuck! Today Liz serves as part teacher, part counselor, part coach for families in need of organizational help and cooking instruction so they can implement a weekly dinner plan in their own homes.
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