Where to Start: Good Quality Sleep
Sleep is a keystone of brain health. If you are sleep-deprived, it’s difficult to think straight, focus effectively on a given task, and perform well. Without good quality sleep, it is also more challenging to be in a good mood and to have a bright outlook on life. During sleep, the brain repairs itself, getting rid of toxins and reinforcing neural pathways based on the activities of the previous day. Once you start enforcing good sleep habits most of the time, the other healthy habits you have will smoothly add up. Enhancing brain health that way will power your days for the better, along with helping you deal with stress more easily.
Healthy Fats for Brain Power
If you consume healthy fats (like grass-fed meat, wild fish, pastured eggs, avocados, grass-fed butter, and C8 MCT oil – my favorite!) and not too many carbs, your body will learn to burn fat instead of glucose for energy. Your body will start using mostly fat for fuel. This is known as being in ketosis. This metabolic state promotes weight loss and lowers inflammation in the brain. Since I have started eating that way, my energy levels remain consistent throughout the day – no more blood sugar crashes.
Healthy Fats for Brain Function
Healthy fats are also extremely important to keep the brain (which is itself 60% fat) functioning properly. Essential fatty acids nurture the brain and help it grow, even in the womb. Saturated fat nourishes myelin (the fatty layer of insulation that covers nerve cells). This myelin sheath aids nerve cells to communicate with one another via electrical signals. If myelin is damaged, this electrical communication is impaired. So keep your wiring up to speed by making sure you consume the right fats!
Intermittent Fasting
If you cycle in and out of periods of eating and not eating, you are doing intermittent fasting. The easiest way to do that is probably to eat all your daily calories within a 6-8 hour window and fast the rest of the day. I enjoy the Bulletproof intermittent fasting a great deal, which is about just having Bulletproof coffee in the morning instead of a traditional breakfast. The grass-fed ghee and C8 MCT oil I blend in my coffee keep me full all morning (with two cups), and then I usually eat between 12 noon and 8 pm.
Intermittent fasting helps with lessening the chance of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It helps to stave off the risk of having impaired neurons. Intermittent fasting enhances learning and memory while helping with easing depression too.
If you haven’t tried Bulletproof Coffee yet, now may be the time to give it a go!
Until next time!
Reference
“Brain Health: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Your Brain Young and Strong.” Dave Asprey, 12 Nov. 2019, daveasprey.com/brain-health/#ref-list. Accessed 29 Jan. 2022.
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