Three Practices to Avoid Chronic Disease, Dementia, and Memory Loss in our “Golden Years.”
Something that has become very common place in our society is the expectation that with age comes memory loss and chronic diseases. It’s a very unexamined supposition.
We live in a universe of cause and effect. Neither of these stereotypical characterizations of old age just mysteriously happen as we age. We’ve known the cause for decades, but thanks to lobbyists in Washington, acting on behalf of the medical industry, biochemical companies, and food companies, the causes are not disclosed to a rather naïve public, who believes the diseases we develop are unfortunately, the product of genetics, and just the cards we’re dealt. Sadly, this disempowering belief undermines the almost incomprehensible intelligence of the human body’s ability to heal from just about anything, though we’ve been taught to believe that we need medical intervention for every symptom we experience. In other words, we don’t trust our bodies.
Countless studies have revealed eight sub-cellular chronic diseases, of which memory loss is one of them, that are created almost exclusively through our diet and the consumption of hyper-processed “food-like” products (that are not food, but quite literally, poison to the human body). These products are loaded with known carcinogens and toxic chemicals (too many to list) that accumulate in the body over time, leading to disease. The average grocery store houses thousands of processed food-like products with over 2,000 chemicals, none of which have been tested for safety by the FDA. [1]
Nine of the Top Ten chronic diseases that kill Americans every year are all directly related to the consumption of processed foods and excess sugar. To give this context, in 1955 the average American consumed 4.5 pounds of sugar per year. Today the average American consumes roughly 150 pounds of sugar - 66 pounds of which being added sugars - the real culprit of chronic disease. [2]
All 10 of these chronic diseases respond positively to changes in diet, nutrition, and the avoidance of processed foods and added sugars. By contrast, not one of them respond to any pharmaceutical intervention or management, which is why, though individuals with these disease states may appear to have their symptoms under control, the underlying cause of their condition is never addressed. Sadly, their health only continues to decline though on the surface they appear largely asymptomatic.
Our diet dramatically influences how we will spend our “Golden Years” and with dementia and Alzheimers making the Top 10 lists, developing ways to protect our nerve cells is probably a good idea.
Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a key molecule that gives the brain its neuroplasticity (the regenerative ability of brain cells to adapt, repair, heal, and make new synaptic connections in working around brain injuries) especially in the hippocampus portion of the brain. This is significant.
The hippocampus is involved in 4 main functions:
Memory
The hippocampus holds short-term memories and transfers them to long-term storage. It also plays a role in the formation, organization, and storage of new memories. The hippocampus connects certain sensations and emotions to memories. For example, it might associate the feeling of happiness and your grandmother to the memory of baking a cake.
Spatial memory
The hippocampus plays a role in spatial memory, allowing people to keep track of where objects are and their body's position relative to objects around them.
Emotional processing
The hippocampus plays a role in emotional processing, including anxiety and avoidance behaviors.
Spatial navigation
The hippocampus plays a vital role in regulating spatial navigation. It's active while driving, allowing people to remember not only where they are going but how to get there.
The expression of BDNF is highly regulated in the hippocampus and can lead to great variability in BDNF levels in healthy subjects. With its role in memory, negative changes in BDNF expression are associated with pathological (accelerated) aging and also psychiatric disease, but specifically in the structures important for memory such as the hippocampus and Para-hippocampal areas.
There are three things science has discovered that will stimulate new cell growth in the part of the brain referred to as the hippocampus. All three involve essentially stressing the body in a controlled fashion.
Engaging in a combination of fasting for 18 hours, cold exposure through a cold shower or cold plunge (ice bath), and high-intensity running for 30 seconds can collectively have several potential benefits by essentially activating the body’s fight or flight response and the sympathetic nervous system’s stress response survival mechanisms, particularly in stimulating Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth and maintenance of neurons in the brain.
the benefits of each component:
Fasting for 18 Hours:
A good rule of thumb: On a day-to-day basis, eat Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Queen, and Dinner like a Pauper (if at all). For countless reasons involving sleep and the restorative processes in the body that occur during sleep, dinner should be your smallest meal of the day and you should generally eat your last meal of the day no less than 2 hours before going to sleep, preferably 3 hours.
For those slightly more adventurous and really wanting to optimize their health, doing a water fast for 3 – 7 days, (and yes, you only consume water and electrolytes) which I’ve done numerous times, has countless benefits that extend beyond our discussion here.
Keeping it simple, there are 2 main benefits of an 18 hour fast:
Autophagy: Extended fasting triggers a process called autophagy, a natural cellular cleaning process, in the body. Autophagy typically begins after about 16-24 hours of fasting when the body shifts from using glucose as its primary energy source to breaking down and utilizing fats. This metabolic switch not only helps in weight management but also activates autophagy, which helps in the removal of damaged cells and proteins, and the recycling of cellular components, repairing DNA. The benefits of autophagy include improved cellular health, reduced inflammation, enhanced immune function, and a potential decrease in the risk of diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and infections.
Metabolic Flexibility: Fasting encourages the body to switch from using glucose as its primary energy source to burning fat (a process known as ketosis), promoting metabolic flexibility, improving insulin sensitivity. Almost all chronic diseases begin with insulin sensitivity created by consuming a hyper-processed food product diet.
Cold Exposure (Cold Shower or Ice Bath Plunge):
Thermogenesis: Exposure to cold temperatures activates thermogenesis, the process by which the body generates heat. This can really boost calorie expenditure and may contribute to weight management. I did a 4 day water fast a few weeks ago and lost 9 lbs. Though I was already very lean at 190, I lost a small amount of stubborn fat right around my navel, that no amount of exercise could seem to resolve. Ketosis is amazing!!!
Vasoconstriction and Vasodilation: Cold exposure causes blood vessels to vasospasm or constrict, clamping down at the extremities (hands, feet, fingers, and toes) forcing the blood back to our core and to the brain. This is a defense mechanism protecting the heart and the brain from life threatening stress events that we can hack. In a faux sense we’re tricking the body into thinking it’s at risk of dying. It’s not.
This is something you can feel immediately. Endorphins, the body’s ‘happy hormones,’ and dopamine specifically, surges and floods the bloodstream, improving your mood and emotional well-being. As my friend who does cold plunges regularly refers to it, “it’s like natural cocaine!!!” Those practicing cold plunges regularly often reference the incredible high and burst of energy they feel. I do cold showers almost every to every other morning and I can confirm, it does energize you!
We’re essentially exercising the vascular system by shocking it with the cold. When we step out of the cold shower or bath our blood vessels vasodilate (open back up and expand), greatly improving circulation.
This can enhance BDNF release and nutrient delivery to various tissues, including the brain, thereby maintaining the integrity of our neurons as we age.
Another benefit is the liver’s release of a cold shock protein that scours the blood, scavenging up and clearing free radical oxidation (that causes cellular damage, disease, and cancer), increasing protein synthesis, muscle repair, and preventing chronic disease.
And finally, ancillary to the title of the article, is cold plunging activates brown fat. Brown fat is the body’s thermostat. Calories are a measure of heat. When we lose heat, that heat is lost in the form of calories burned off and leaving our body.
This is why nothing comes close to stripping fat off the body than cold water immersion.
To learn more about breathing techniques and the most effective way to approach ice baths (cold plunges), there’s no one in the world that knows more about it than Wim Hof. Be prepared to meet a man, with countless, almost unbelievable world records, who shows you that the human body has no limits other than the self-imposed limits we place on ourselves.
Click here for his website: https://www.wimhofmethod.com/
3. Running at High Intensity for 30 Seconds:
BDNF Release: Intense exercise, especially high-intensity interval training (HIIT), has been associated with an increase in BDNF levels. As mentioned above, BDNF plays a crucial role in neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to adapt and form new connections.
Endorphin Release: High-intensity exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, neurotransmitters that act as natural painkillers and mood elevators.
Because this article is regarding ways to hack brain health by jump starting the production of BDNF, be aware what’s being shared is ways to mitigate and potentially repair damaged nerve cells. But by far and away, the BEST thing each of us can do is to become very vigilant about what we put in or on our bodies, understanding the impact of all the manmade chemicals on our health.
Collectively, the combination of these practices create a synergistic effect on brain health and function by stimulating the production and release of BDNF, which as mentioned above, is involved in the growth, maintenance, and survival of neurons, as well as in cognitive functions such as learning and memory. However, it's essential to note that individual responses to these practices may vary, and it's advisable to consult with a healthcare professional before making significant changes to your lifestyle, especially if you have any underlying health conditions. Additionally, it's crucial to approach these practices with moderation and ensure they align with your overall health goals and well-being.
Having several friends that do this, they share their stories with me routinely. I’d love to hear from you. If you’d like to share your thoughts, experiences, or you’re just curious about this, comment below or email me. I look forward to hearing from you.
David
Sources:
[1] EcoWatch: https://www.ecowatch.com/chemicals-packaged-foods- 2641391530.html#:~:text=A%20major%20but%20largely%20glossed,foods%20 purchasable%20in%20U.S.%20supermarkets.
[2] Sugar Science The Unsweetened Truth: https://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/dispelling-myths-too-much.html
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