Tag: brain health

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How to Enhance Your Mood and Tackle Stress

In my previous post, I emphasized how important good quality sleep was to brain health. I highlighted that without good quality sleep it was much more difficult to be in a good mood and to handle stress. When it comes to mood and stress, once you start enforcing good sleep habits, other variables can be very beneficial too, such as improved gut health, exercise, meditation, and positive thinking.

Gut Health

The brain and the gut are continually communicating with one another. Research reveals a clear link between what is happening in the gut and an array of behavioral and mood conditions, along with depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative diseases. Gut flora imbalances and/or digestive disorders transmit signals to the brain through the central nervous system, giving rise to mood changes.

So in your quest to feeling your best, an important step is to remove foods that do not sustain gut health, such as sugar, refined flour, and industrial seed oils. Focus instead on low-toxin, anti-inflammatory foods. Feeding the good bacteria in your gut by selecting the right foods that work well for you is key.

Exercise

Exercise (not chronic cardio) naturally helps trigger the release of different beneficial neurotransmitters including GABA. GABA is a neurotransmitter that soothes nerve activity and lessens anxiety. As psychiatrist Dr. John Ratey explains, “Exercise increases all the neurotransmitters that we target in psychiatry for depression, anxiety and attention, as well as helping deal with cravings and addictions. It also makes us much more social, makes us much more eager to connect to other people.” What else is there to say?

Meditation 

Meditation is the ideal practice to feel more serene in your mind, body, and emotions. When you meditate, even for just five minutes a day, it lowers anxiety at the neural level by firing up certain areas of the brain that soothe your nervous system. If you take the time to meditate on a daily basis, you improve your capacity to focus without being distracted for prolonged periods of time. Pick the type of meditation that you can stick to over time. As a starting point, check out some of the many meditation apps available to you as mentioned in my post: 20 Minutes of Me Time Every Day: What to Pick.

On a Final Note

Applying yourself to entertain more positive thoughts via venues like cognitive behavioral therapy and practicing gratitude (see what resonates most with you) can also help you deal with stress and anxiety. Each time you think differently about something, you can progressively rewire your brain by reinforcing new neural pathways. 

Gut health, exercise, meditation, and chasing away negative thinking: four new undertakings that promote brain health. And don’t forget the ones listed in the previous post: good quality sleep, healthy fats, and intermittent fasting. One step at a time.

Until next time!

References

“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.

Henderson, Kim. “METHODS for RELAXATION: 5 of the BEST WAYS to KEEP CALM!” BrainMD, 1 Feb. 2022, brainmd.com/blog/methods-for-relaxation/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2022.

Hickey, Greg. “The Effects of Exercise on the Brain with Dr. John Ratey.” KineSophy, 1 Oct. 2020, kinesophy.com/the-effects-of-exercise-on-the-brain-with-dr-john-ratey/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2022.

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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.

You can also find me on Instagram.

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The Health Benefits

Proteins, these long chains of amino acids, are indispensable for all metabolic processes. Consuming enough protein every day provides a host of health benefits. Among other things, it boosts healthy brain function and learning, aids with maintaining strong bones, protects heart health, slows aging, and helps with longevity.

Boosts Healthy Brain Function and Learning

Proteins are necessary in order to make enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters – all crucial for cognitive function. The brain needs a number of amino acids to perform at its best – concentration, focus, and energy-wise.

Aids with Maintaining Strong Bones

When we eat enough protein from good-quality, whole, nutrient-rich foods, this supports the prevention of bone weakness, fractures, and also osteoporosis by enhancing calcium absorption and aiding with bone metabolism.

Protects Heart Health

As mentioned in the previous post, when we consume foods with enough protein, it increases satiety to a greater extent, along with having a minimal effect on blood glucose levels – it can actually slow down the absorption of sugar during a meal. This aids with preventing heart disease-related causes such as diabetes and obesity.

Slows Aging and Helps with Longevity

High-protein foods aid the body synthesize glutathione, the “master antioxidant.” Glutathione, found in our cells, aids with detox and with lessening carcinogens that age us.

In older adults, amino acid deficiencies can eventually give rise to eye problems like cataracts, heart problems, muscle loss, weakness, and mood changes. 

In Summary

Making sure to consume enough protein-rich foods is of primordial importance if we want to maintain a healthy body weight, increase muscle mass, support strong bones, and preserve high cognitive and immune functions. 

Stabilizing our blood sugar levels and bettering our mood go hand and in hand with keeping our energy levels up. Protein intake also impacts our heart health and how well we may age.

All you have left to do is to see how much protein is ideal for you to consume depending on your body weight, gender, age, and level of activity or exercise. And don’t forget to ask your personal physician for advice!

Until next time!

Reference

Dr. Josh Axe. “23 High-Protein Foods (for Weight Loss and Muscle Gain).” Dr. Axe, 6 Apr. 2021, draxe.com/nutrition/protein-foods/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2021.

You can also find me on Instagram.

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