Its Manic Monday what a great day to talk about "Feeding the Brain"!!The Brain is probably the most important organ in the human body. The Mayfield Clinic says it best when it says that "Nothing in the world can compare with the human brain. This mysterious three-pound organ controls all necessary functions of the body, receives and interprets information from the outside world, and embodies the essence of the mind and soul. Intelligence, creativity, emotion, and memories are a few of the many things governed by the brain." so FEED your brain!!
Eat the Rainbow
Believe it or not, your brain rusts as you get older. The end result is Alzheimer’s, or as one of our patient’s called it, “old timer’s disease”.
Fix your Homocystiene
Many Americans are vitamin deficient. We are the most overfed and undernourished country in the world. The meat, sugar, alcohol, coffee and cigarettes we consume in excess all deplete us of critical B vitamins that are needed to keep us healthy. Without adequate amounts of folate, B6 and B12 we are at increased risk for Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and depression, not to mention heart attacks, strokes, breast, colon, cervical, lung and prostate cancer.
Cool the Heat
If your brain is aging quickly or your memory impaired your brain is on fire! Many things fan the flames of inflammation – hidden infections, allergens, environmental toxins like mercury and lead, emotional stress, lack of exercise, excess sugar and animal fat and most commonly a fat belly! Those little fat cells in your ever-expanding middle are little factories for inflammation. A blood test, C-reactive protein, is the best way to tell if you are on fire. If your level is greater than 1.0, then you should begin to cool the heat.
Stop the Sugar
The sugar epidemic (an average of 150 lbs per person per year) is directly responsible for obesity in 2/3 of Americans. Diabetics have four times the risk of getting dementia. Too much sugar leads to high levels of insulin [link to healing / insulin resistance] in your blood. That makes you gain weight around the middle, raises your blood pressure and leads to rusting [prevention / rust] and inflammation [prevention / heat].
Chill Out
Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a renowned Stanford neurobiologist, explained the dangers of stress in his book Why Zebra’s Don’t Get Ulcers. The zebras are busy eating grass until a lion starts chasing them. Then they go crazy, running all over the place, until the lion kills a zebra. Then all the other zebras relax and go back to grazing while the lion eats his dinner right next to them.
Get an Oil Change
Most of your brain is fat – but not the kind that comes from hamburgers or Twinkies. Even though most of us have been taught that fat is BAD, without the right kind of fat our brains can’t function; our memory and thinking become impaired, we get depressed and are even at higher risk for dementia and Parkinson’s.
Rest Up
Most of us who have pulled an "all nighter", or lost a night’s sleep know how poorly our brain works when deprived of sleep. The trend of super-caffeinated, sleep-deprived Americans is a deadly problem. When we lose sleep, or don’t sleep at regular times, our brain hormones become imbalanced, leading to higher cortisol (one of our stress hormones), and lower growth hormone (a healing and repair hormone).
Learn more about how to improve sleep.
Get Moving
Exercise should no longer be considered a luxury or indulgence. It is THE most important anti-aging medicine known. Not only will it help to prevent Alzheimer’s, but also almost every other age-related disease. It is a natural antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and stress buster.
Clean House
Hidden environmental toxins can put us at risk for premature brain aging and dementia. We know that lead exposure in children lowers IQ and reduces performance. Two recent studies highlighted additional dangers of mercury and lead.
Use Your Head
The well-known aging nun study showed that nuns using more complex sentence structure and thought patterns were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s as they aged. Many other studies have shown that using your head – whether it is reading, doing crossword puzzles, games or being actively engaged in intellectual pursuits reduces your risk of dementia. So don’t forget to use your head and exercise your brain!
This article is abbreviated please read the whole article at http://www.ultraprevention.com/
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