How fitness protects aging brains | ManufacturingToday

By Joseph Mercola.

You can protect your brain by giving it healthful fats from whole foods, such as organic eggs from pastured hens, whole raw milk from pastured cows, raw nuts, avocados, and olive oil. Eggs and dairy are a rich source of lecithin, choline and vitamin B12 ? nutrients especially important for good brain function. There is also evidence that coconut oil may offer very significant protection against brain diseases such as Alzheimer?s, and may even stop brain atrophy in its tracks.

They key to brain health, is to make sure you are consuming plenty of healthy fat as I mentioned above. That will be about 98 per cent of your fat or so. But it is crucial to make sure you are getting the essential fats from marine life that in the form of omega-3 fats.

I believe it?s important to get the bulk of your omega-3 fats from animal-based sources because the DHA and EPA are far more important for your health than the plant-based ALA. While ALA can convert into DHA/EPA, this conversion is severely impaired when you have elevated insulin levels, which affects more than 80 per cent of Americans. In two different studies, taking 800-900 mg of DHA per day for 16-24 weeks resulted in significant improvements in memory, verbal fluency scores, and rate of learning.

Chances are you?re not getting enough animal-based omega-3 fats from your diet alone, so you may want to consider a supplement. My favourite is krill oil. Krill oil is an extraordinarily potent ? and environmentally sustainable?form of omega-3 fat that contains both DHA and EPA. Krill oil is special in that it crosses the blood-brain barrier, so it?s highly bioavailable to your brain. Most people only need two to three 500 mg capsules of krill oil per day in order to get all of the DHA and EPA they need.

Fresh fruits and vegetables will help keep your brain sharp

The best sources of antioxidants are from whole foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. If you chose to use a supplemental antioxidant, I believe astaxanthin is likely your best choice here

Your diet should be rich in vegetables, preferably organic and locally grown. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, a vegetable-rich diet was found to help prevent age-related mental decline. Veggies, particularly spinach, were found beneficial in retarding central nervous system and cognitive behavioural deficits. And a six-year study involving almost 2,000 Chicago-area seniors showed that older people who ate more than two servings of vegetables each day were mentally sharper than those who ate less.

Ideally, your diet should be low in sugar, especially fructose. Experts are starting to look at memory problems like Alzheimer?s as a form of brain starvation, and glucose metabolism appears to play an important role in the disease. It?s already known that diabetics have four times the risk of Alzheimer?s, and those with prediabetes have triple the risk.

Veggies are generally better than fruits because they are lower in sugar, but the exception is berries. Berries contain pterostilbene, which has been found to reverse some of the negative brain effects of aging. Wild blueberries are high in anthocyanin and other antioxidants, and are known to guard against Alzheimer?s and other neurological diseases. Blueberries improved learning capacity and motor skills among aged rats in animal studies.

Studies show that the sleep hormone melatonin can also help slow down your brain?s aging. Artificially aged mice treated with melatonin had reduced oxidative stress and markers of cerebral aging and neurodegeneration, indicating the melatonin offered both neuroprotective and anti-aging effects6. Melatonin actually has antioxidant properties that may help explain its important anti-aging role, as it helps to suppress harmful free radicals in your body and even slows the production of estrogen, which can activate cancer.

Emotional stress accelerates brain aging

Besides exercise, in order for your brain to work its best, you simply must get a handle on your daily stress. When you feel stressed, your adrenal and pituitary glands go into their ?flight, fight, or freeze? mode and dump adrenaline, cortisol and dopamine into your bloodstream. Cortisol in particular can be problematic when released too frequently in your brain, so if you are spending a lot of your time stressed, you will likely experience some undesirable effects.

Persistently elevated cortisol levels are associated with accelerated aging, mood problems such as depression and anxiety, and many chronic diseases. To avoid these, you must learn how to relax and help your body re-establish equilibrium. Restoring balance after an episode of stress gets easier with practice, even for those who find it difficult to relax. You may want to experiment with yoga, meditation, breath work, or your favourite stress reduction technique.

One of the best tools for decreasing stress is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). EFT has been scientifically shown to significantly improve both cortisol-related stress levels and self-reported psychological symptoms after a single treatment session7. And EFT is easy to learn.

Two neurotoxic metals to watch out for: Mercury and aluminum

When it comes to maintaining brainpower, what you keep out of your body is as important as what you put into it. Minimizing your exposure to mercury is extremely important for your brain. Dental amalgam fillings are one of the worst sources of mercury. If you have amalgams, you may want to consider having them removed, but you should ONLY have this done by a qualified biological dentist. And you should be as healthy as possible prior to undergoing this procedure. You may find my mercury detox protocol helpful.

Also avoid aluminum, such as in antiperspirants, cookware, etc. Avoid flu vaccinations as they contain both mercury and aluminum. And stay away from all artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, which are highly toxic to your brain.

Finally, challenge your mind daily. Even though the most recent exercise study found mental exercise less important than physical exercise, other studies show that mental stimulation, such as traveling, learning to play an instrument or doing crossword puzzles, is associated with a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer?s?not to mention increasing your quality of life! Just for fun, check out a couple of websites that specialise in ?brain games?:

? www.lumosity.com

? www.gamesforthebrain.com

Additional strategies to significantly lower your alzheimer?s risk

What is interesting and important to understand about chronic disease is that it very rarely exists in a bubble. What I mean is, if you are developing changes in your brain that are indicative of Alzheimer?s, you?re probably also experiencing signs of insulin resistance, such as diabetes or obesity.

And, meanwhile, you may also be showing signs of heart disease, such as high blood pressure, as, very often, chronic diseases are intricately intertwined; they?re the product of imbalances in your body that are manifesting, likely after years spent festering just below the surface. This can actually be a good thing, however, as implementing a few simple techniques address the underlying causes of multiple chronic diseases, and Alzheimer?s is no exception.

This includes:

? Optimize vitamin D. In 2007 researchers at the University of Wisconsin uncovered strong links between low levels of vitamin D in Alzheimer?s patients and poor outcomes on cognitive tests. Scientists launched the study after family members of Alzheimer?s patients who were treated with large doses of prescription vitamin D reported that they were acting and performing better than before.

Researchers believe that optimal vitamin D levels may enhance the amount of important biomolecules in your brain and protect brain cells. Vitamin D receptors have been identified throughout the human body, and that includes in your brain. Metabolic pathways for vitamin D exist in the hippocampus and cerebellum of the brain, areas that are involved in planning, processing of information, and the formation of new memories.

Sufficient vitamin D is also imperative for the proper functioning of your immune system to combat excessive inflammation, and, as mentioned earlier, other research has discovered that people with Alzheimer?s tend to have higher levels of inflammation in their brains.

? Fructose. Ideally it is important to keep your level below 25 grams per day. This toxic influence is serving as an important regulator of brain toxicity. Since the average person is exceeding this recommendation by 300 per cent this is a pervasive and serious issue. I view this as the MOST important step you can take. Additionally, when your liver is busy processing fructose (which your liver turns into fat), it severely hampers its ability to make cholesterol. This is yet another important facet that explains how and why excessive fructose consumption is so detrimental to your health.

? Keep your fasting insulin levels below 3. This is indirectly related to fructose, as it will clearly lead to insulin resistance. However other sugars, grains and lack of exercise are also factors here.

? Vitamin B12: According to a small Finnish study recently published in the journal Neurology, people who consume foods rich in B12 may reduce their risk of Alzheimer?s in their later years. For each unit increase in the marker of vitamin B12 (holotranscobalamin) the risk of developing Alzheimer?s was reduced by 2 per cent. Very high doses of B vitamins have also been found to treat Alzheimer?s disease and reduce memory loss.

? Eat a nutritious diet, rich in folate, such as the one described in my nutrition plan. Strict vegetarian diets have been shown to increase Alzheimer?s risk, whereas diets high in omega-3?s lower your risk. However, vegetables, without question, are your best form of folate, and we should all eat plenty of fresh raw veggies every day.

? High-quality animal based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. (I recommend avoiding most fish because although fish is naturally high in omega-3, most fish are now severely contaminated with mercury.) High intake of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA helps by preventing cell damage caused by Alzheimer?s disease, thereby slowing down its progression, and lowering your risk of developing the disorder. Researchers have also said DHA ?dramatically reduces the impact of the Alzheimer?s gene.?

? Avoid and remove mercury from your body. Dental amalgam fillings are one of the major sources of mercury, however you should be healthy prior to having them removed. Once you have adjusted to following the diet described in my optimized nutrition plan, you can follow the mercury detox protocol and then find a biological dentist to have your amalgams removed.

? Avoid aluminum, such as antiperspirants, non-stick cookware, vaccine adjuvants, etc.

? Exercise regularly. It?s been suggested that exercise can trigger a change in the way the amyloid precursor protein is metabolized, thus, slowing down the onset and progression of Alzheimer?s. Exercise also increases levels of the protein PGC-1alpha. New research has shown that people with Alzheimer?s have less PGC-1alpha in their brains, and cells that contain more of the protein produce less of the toxic amyloid protein associated with Alzheimer?s. I would strongly recommend reviewing the Peak Fitness Technique for my specific recommendations.

? Avoid flu vaccinations as most contain both mercury and aluminum, as well as egg proteins (e.g. myelin basic protein), which the body may produce antibodies against and that cross-react with the myelin coating your nerves, in effect causing your immune system to attack your nervous system!

? Eat blueberries. Wild blueberries, which have high anthocyanin and antioxidant content, are known to guard against Alzheimer?s and other neurological diseases.

? Challenge your mind daily. Mental stimulation, especially learning something new, such as learning to play an instrument or a new language, is associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer?s. Researchers suspect that mental challenge helps to build up your brain, making it less susceptible to the lesions associated with Alzheimer?s disease.

? Avoid anticholinergic and statin drugs. Drugs that block acetylcholine, a nervous system neurotransmitter, have been shown to increase your risk of dementia. These drugs include certain night-time pain relievers, antihistamines, sleep aids, certain antidepressants, medications to control incontinence, and certain narcotic pain relievers.

One study8 found that those who took drugs classified as ?definite anticholinergics? had a four times higher incidence of cognitive impairment. Regularly taking two of these drugs further increased the risk of cognitive impairment. Statin drugs are particularly problematic because they suppress the synthesis of cholesterol, which is one of the primary building blocks of your brain. As Dr. Stephanie Seneff reports:

?Statin drugs interfere with cholesterol synthesis in the liver, but the lipophilic statin drugs (like lovastatin and simvastatin) also interfere with the synthesis of cholesterol in the brain. This would then directly impact the neurons? ability to maintain adequate cholesterol in their membranes. Indeed, a population-based study showed that people who had ever taken statins had an increased risk of Alzheimer?s disease, a hazard ratio of 1.21. More alarmingly, people who used to take statins had a hazard ratio of 2.54 (over two and a half times the risk to Alzheimer?s) compared to people who never took statins.

Dr. Mercola has made significant milestones in his mission to bring people practical solutions to their health problems. A New York Times Best Selling Author, he was also voted the 2009 Ultimate Wellness Game Changer by the Huffington Post, and has been featured in TIME magazine, LA Times, CNN, Fox News, ABC News, Today Show, CBS?s Washington Unplugged with Sharyl Attkisson, and other major media resources.

Source: http://manufacturingtoday.com.ng/2013/07/18/how-fitness-protects-aging-brains-2/

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