It is interesting… In
medicine we tend to cut the head off and treat mostly the body. That is of course unless you are a
Psychiatrist in which case you cut the head off and treat the head. Very rarely do practitioners consider the
entire body and how the brain plays into the basic physiology of the person in
general. I find this troubling because the brain is
everything. Without healthy brain
function we do not sense our surroundings well, we do not digest our food well,
and we do not move our bodies well. In
fact there is not one system in our body which is not directly controlled by
the nervous system. It is common
therefore in neurological decline scenarios for there to be problems in
seemingly unrelated systems. Take for
example an elderly person who needs to eat simple foods whereas before they
could eat anything they pleased. This
same person struggles with constipation and bloating. And in fact if that person were to pay
attention they might find that these symptoms get worse when they are tired or
over worked. A long drive for example might induce uncomfortable digestive
symptoms. So is this a problem with the
digestive system itself? Perhaps. But I would wager a bet that there is a neurological
component to the condition as well. I
would then ask the question, “If we only provide digestive support (symptom
support) and forget the brain part of the equation, are we offering good
medical help?” I say no. To overlook the brain and neurological health
for any chronic condition is tantamount to bailing water out of a leaking boat
without fixing the leak! Not good
medicine indeed.
So it is my intention here today to offer just a few basic
concepts to help keep your brain as healthy as it can be. Now avoiding activities which directly damage
the brain is obvious, and there is much more to the story and good fodder for
future articles, but here are three things which everyone should do as a matter
of basic brain hygiene:
·
Optimize
your blood sugar. Blood sugar
imbalances are epidemic in this modern first world age of convenience and
garbage “foods.” If the brain does not
get a steady supply of glucose (blood sugar) the neurons or brain cells simply
cannot function optimally. If a person
is low blood sugar or hypoglycemic then there simply isn’t enough sugar. This person will often crave carbs, feel
shaky/irritable between meals, and may even wake up in the middle of the night
as a regular pattern. These are the
people who have also worn out their snooze button. Waking up for them is very difficult. But if
the person has too much glucose in the system they become Insulin Resistant or
develop frank Diabetes. In this case
even though there is plenty of glucose the body loses the ability to get it
into the cells so they end up starving just like the hypoglycemic person. Insulin Resistance people generally get
sleepy after meals, are often struggling with weight issues, have depression or
something like it, and may have trouble falling to sleep. And they often wake up not rested even if
they slept for 10 hours! So it is
extremely important that you maintain a healthy blood sugar for brain health
specifically, but for general health as well.
Most major diseases or nasty conditions that kill us are directly promoted
by poor blood sugar. Poor blood sugar = inflammation. Inflammation = disease. So eat
your veggies people and keep your simple non-fibrous carbs to an absolute
minimum. That at least is the very short
answer.
·
Provide
optimal oxygen/circulation. This
seems obvious of course but it is a very common problem for two reasons. The first concept is that of anemia. I of course use the Functional Blood
Chemistry approach to things like this.
That means that I do not wait until people get so out of balance that
their doctor calls it a problem. That is
WAY too long. The Functional approach
uses smaller reference ranges so we see patterns developing early. This is preventative medicine at its
best. Why wait until we are drop dead
anemic to act? The truth is that even
mild anemia patterns start to add stress to your body. If I were to put you in a room and cut the
oxygen levels to some % of what you are used to breathing you would feel the
difference. This is what people live
like all the time. Finding and fixing
these patterns early is a big deal in protecting your brain. Without oxygen those nerve cells simply don’t
work well. And when a nerve cell fails
to work well it usually dies early as do all of the nerves downstream from
it! So that is part one. Part two involves circulation. You could have wonderful Red Blood Cell
health and could be saturated with oxygen but if your blood vessels are blocked
or shut down then you lose the ability to deliver that yummy oxygen to the
nerve cells, not to mention removing all the damaging waste products from the
brain to be eliminated. Know anyone with
cold hands and feet? Or how about toe
nail fungus. These are all signs that circulation is not up to par. If you are not circulating blood to your
extremities then you are probably not circulating blood adequately to your
brain either. You can also do a quick
test on yourself to look for circulation.
Simply press on your fingernail so that the tissue underneath turns
white. Release and a nice pink color should return in a second or two. This is called capillary refill time. If it does not return quickly circulation is
poor. And if it is always white and your
fingers are cold then you definitely have circulation problems! At the very least, get yourself out there and
exercise! Move that blood. And get in touch with me. I have other stronger ways to get those
vessels open.
·
Stimulate
your brain! Stimulation is essential
for a healthy brain. Simulation in its simplest
form can just involve engaging yourself in something more than watching Maury
Povich television shows or some other mindless drivel. (Is that show even still on?) But more specifically, the brain needs to be
challenged. It is one thing to be a wiz
at cross word puzzles. But that isn’t
enough. The brain likes new challenges. If you are a wiz at cross words then move to Sudoku
puzzles or something else. Or really
challenge yourself and learn a language.
Or learn an instrument. Even
listening to music is a wonderful practice for brain health. But there is nothing better for brain than
exercise. The amount of stimulation that
a person receives while on a jog or a hike is enormous. Or learn dancing. This activity is very complex and works the
mental and the physical stimulation concepts.
So take this part to heart. Doing
these things is so good for you in so many ways. Once we get out of our holes, socialize,
become active, life all of the sudden gets better. And your brain will get better as a result.
So in closing, remember that there is more to your health,
or your specific symptoms than you think.
Believe it or not, there is a master controller that dictates every part
of your body. Brain health, even in
young people, could easily have something to do with symptoms you might otherwise
think are not related. But don’t let
that silly brain fool you. The trouble
with brains is that they often forget themselves, when in reality it is them
that we should look to first. Fix the
brain and you may be surprised that the bloating in your belly improves as
well!
