There is a lot of importance of keeping the brain: flexible, highly challenged, well nourished.. essentially well looked after.

As we know with muscles, we don’t use it, we lose it. There is a similar principle to the neurons in the brain, they require stimulation. However don’t do this and the neurons become more dormant and less stimulated. Less stimulation means less nutrition. Eventually if you compare a deceased persons brain whom had vs didn’t have Alzheimer’s – you will see the Alzheimer’s affected brain will be much much smaller in volume.

Alzheimer’s – is the most common form of Dementia. It is also one of the highest causes of female related death in the UK.

For those much younger or less at risk and are keen to keep challenging themselves- top google recruiter Lisa Stern Haynes, said that the one thing that employers look to stand out on a CV is not role specific knowledge — but, problem solving ability. So, keep challenging your brain in field or areas where you have no knowledge as this may be the one thing that makes you stand out from the rest. Problem solving we know is one of the best and most challenging and rewarding ways to stimulate our thinking. 

What could contribute to developing this?

Older age, depression, loneliness, low education levels, smoking (other pollutants – living near buy roads), diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty diet, genetic links, nutrient deficiencies. And much more.

All these factors have been shown to possibly contribute a higher risk to developing the most common type of dementia – Alzheimer’s disease.

 

What could we be trying to slow/ prevent this?

This is where – keeping the brain well stimulated comes in. Stimulation can come from anything, new smells, movements, social / activities… you name it. This continual stimulation also helps the brain learn new things.

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Research shows that adult brains are much more flexibly than was previously recognised. But how to learn like a child again? Well mimic the way children learn. In a nutshell: Slow it down, vary what you practise a lot, physically exercise, take tests, copy, focus on the outcome (don’t conceptualise the way to do it) and be confident.

Loneliness has been shown to promote inflammation during acute stressful events. This is not good. A sustained inflammatory response is at the root of pretty much any chronic issue you wish to mention. 

Okinawa Islanders have the highest rate of centenarians and on average live 97% their lives free from disability. They are firm believers on having Moai, which means life long friends. 1 in 3 people in the UK are seen as being lonely. It’s time to spread awareness as this has much more widespread devastating consequences than just a missed nigh out with friends and family. 

Good sleep – deeper stages of sleep help remove beta amyloid plaques which are the though to be the visible culprits in Alzheimer’s. The “invisible culprits however” kick start the vicious cycle into developing this. Remember diabetes, fatty diets and the rest of the risk factors mentioned above, i like to call these the “invisible” culprits. Although we know these are bad for us – because most of us do not get a chance to directly see the damage this is doing – we forget or ignore these issues.

135,000,000 people are projected to have dementia by 2050. Thus it is important to take action now. Trying preventative healthcare lifestyle and brain stimulating measures could be a method to undertake.

Tips for training and maximising your brains potential:

Having A Nap Can Improve Memory – Good To Remember But Not To Forget. Study subjects who took a short nap retained 85% of cards memorised pre-nap compared with 60% of those who stayed awake. However sometimes we want to help the brain forget – animal experiments show sleep deprivation after a trauma might is more effective in producing less adverse of the affects of the kind of stress behaviours seen in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Research shows that 2 months of yoga improves people’s visual detection decisions both for adults and children. Studies on people trained in Mindfulness for 2 hours a week for 2 months, to improve focus on the present moment without judgment, were able to perform better on a multi-tasking exercise and their performance was less susceptible to interruption and distraction. Almost all exercise will have a protective effect on your nervous systems and physical health as it keeps you conditioned.

Anti-Inflammatory diets — Diet is essentially meaning the group of foods eaten. So to go on a diet does not mean purely to cut out food. Although in this case restricting calories has been shown to decrease inflammation. Intermittent fasting and restriction of calories is really important in inducing Myotauphogy and autophagy — brains ? way of cleaning ? up the damaged bits that may not be working great. If thinking about undertaking this consult a nutritional specialist or chiropractor with nutritional training, to see if it is right for you. 

In a study of healthy people, half ate a high fat, high sugar diet and half ate a low saturated fat and sugar diet. After four weeks, those on the unhealthy diet had higher insulin levels and significantly higher beta amyloid levels (linked with Alzheimer’s) and the healthy group reduced both. Eating less sugar and unhealthy fats and increasing healthy fats and exercise should help. Studies show that it seems  they are bad for your brain because they keep insulin levels high.

The brain needs a steady level of energy in the form of glucose to stay healthy. It doesn’t work as well if blood sugar levels fluctuate too much.

Animal experiments have found disrupting the brain’s response to insulin can result in behavioural and brain changes characteristic of Alzheimer’s. Some people now even call it type 3 diabetes.

Some animal experiments have shown drinking water drinked with fructose syrup caused learning and memory problems after 6 weeks. They also found abnormal insulin responses. However animals that also consumed omega-3 fatty acids seemd to be immune.

Other aspects of diet may be important – it seems there is less cognitive decline associated with people who eat the Mediterranean diet.

Alcohol (unfortunately) disrupts the insulin receptors in the brain. Obesity is also a big risk for both diabets and dementia.

Exercise appears to help reduce insulin resistance and also regular physical activity has been found to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by 40%.

Lab studies have shown in animal experiments that reducing calories can delay the onset of age related diseases. Whilst long term calorie restriction has potential health risks, regular fasting may have been a natural part of life for our ancestors and seems to have proven benefits.

Different patterns of fasting have been looked at. The normal recommended number of calories for a woman is 2000 and for a man 2,500. One gentler type of fasting has two fast days a week, where 600 calories only are eaten. Some types of fasting do alternate days of the week. Other types of fasting may do 1-5 days maximum, repeated less frequently.

Animal experiments have shown that a 48 hour fast reduced the rate of growth of five types of cancer out of 8, in mice. Other experiments on mice have shown that 48 hour fasting combined with radiotherapy, where twice as likely to survive for 28 days with an aggressive brain cancer, as with radiotherapy alone. Preliminary results with people appear to be encouraging.

Human studies of a 24 hour water fast, repeated monthly, helped people lose weight and reduced their risk of diabetes and heart disease. Alternate day fasting has shown similar results. Any weight lost for people who are overweight is likely to help reduce the risk of getting these conditions.

Alternate day fasting has also been shown to reduce the risk of asthma in overweight people. Alternate day fasting can also increase the production of an important protein in the brain which protects brain cells in humans. Experiments on mice showed that this type of fasting could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s type symptoms by the equivalent of up to 20 years in people.

Research suggests high protein levels  in the diet increase the risk of cancer. The current suggestion is to have about 10% of calories from protein (whereas the usual amount in the Western diet is 16%). High levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) is associated with cancer and reduced lifespan. A group of strict vegans, who had about 10% of the calories from proteins had significantly lower IGF-1 levels than people with a typical western diet or people who have calorie restricted diets (for an average of 6 years).

Whilst plenty more research is required about the risks and benefits of fasting, and what types of fasting will help specific types of people with certain conditions, at this stage the indicators are it’s likely to do you some good – especially if you’re packing a few extra pounds.

 

Supplements

MRI scans of 200 volunteers with mild cognitive impairment over 2 years, while they took high doses of B12, B6 and folic acid, were compared to those who took a placebo. B vitamins are known to reduce homocysteine, which is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. For those with high homocysteine, the atrophy level in certain brain regions was 7 times greater in the placebo group. Those on B vitamins also had better cognitive function. Recently published research found Fish Oil supplements appear to protect the brain from the inflammation and help restore normal brain function and healthy nerve growth. We stock ‘Eskimo-3’ Fish Oil, often touted as being one of the best available. MCT and brain octane oils are also being looked at.

 

Learning New Skills, Especially In A Social Environment Is Good For Your Brain

Expand your horizon’s and your mind at beautiful Brinscall Hall, near Chorley. Brinscall Hall has a variety of courses and classes to offer including Yoga and Tai Chi Classes, Growing Vegetables, Seeds and Cuttings, Natural Beekeeping and Willow Weaving (Chickens, Cockerels, Dragonflies and Hares).

 

Michael Greer, MD’s presentation “From Mitochondria to the Spoken Word: Important Brain Herbs for Maximum Memory Impact” provides a clear understanding of the physiology underlying the memory impairments that will too often advance to dementia and Alzheimer’s. He goes on to suggest remedies that are available to help reduce the risk of  this occurrence. This presentation provides practical insight and relevance for today’s active baby boomers who have been determined to be at the greatest risk for dementia and subsequent Alzheimer’s.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discover instructional anatomy for brain mitochondia and synapses in the Extra Cellular Matrix
2. Determine mechanisms of cytokine and Interleukin action at the mitochondrial level that will determine the result of brain function
3. Study 10 Key Herbs and Nutrients that will impact the survival of brain mitochondria:
   1. Bacopa, Rosemary, Eleuthro, Carotenoids, Proanthocyanins, Ashwaganda, Rhodiola, Gotu Cola and Ginko
4. Learn positive recommendations to forestall dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Press here for a link to the website to watch the presentation. They do ask for some e-mail address and some personal details before sending you the link.

 

For more individual specific guidance on how to look after your brain. Visit one of our Chiropractors for more info!