What Your Brain is Really Hungry For
By Dr. Justin Marchegiani
Alzheimer, dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases are on the rise. Many people are under the impression that these diseases happen when you’re older, in your 60s, 70s, 80s… but this belief is wrong. Brain damage and deterioration actually starts when you’re young, in your 20s and 30s. It is only once enough damage has occured and symptoms start to show that a diagnosis is made.
How might a young person be causing such damage to their brain that they could end up with Alzheimer’s or other similar diseases? There are a few common patterns:
1) Insulin resistance: in some circles insulin resistance is even being referred to as Type III diabetes!
2) Autoimmunity: which can drive neurodegeneration in the brain.
3) Environmental toxicity: including heavy metals like aluminum, mercury and lead.
Today we’re going to be focusing on the effects of insulin resistance and its role in neurodegenerative diseases. Insulin is a hormone your pancreas creates that allows your body to use glucose (sugar and carbs) for energy. Insulin resistance is what happens when you consume too much sugar and carbohydrates, and your body stops reacting to insulin.
How does this relate to the brain? Well, it is a scientific fact that while the brain only represents about 5% of our body weight, it consumes nearly 25% of our nutrition and oxygen. When you consume too much sugar and carbohydrates, you become insulin resistant. Insulin resistance keeps the glucose trapped in the bloodstream and unable to be used for energy. Your brain becomes less and less capable of utilizing the glucose found in sugar and carbs for energy, and your begins to starve. If the brain is starving for glucose, the fuel needed to power our higher brain function is no longer accessible.
Optimize brain health by clicking here.
Hearing that these diseases can start if your brain is starving for glucose might lead you to believe that you should just consume more glucose, right? It’s important to remember that excess glucose is what started this whole problem in the first place. Excess glucose in the blood is what caused insulin resistance, and also causes something called AGES(advances glycation end products). AGES are free radical magnets that damages our DNA, accelerate aging, and even cause wrinkles.
What the most up to date research is showing is that our brain can adapt to burning fat or ketones for energy. Essentially 80% of our brain can run off of ketones, so other areas that were perhaps starving now have access to a new fuel that can bring to life parts of the brain that may have been asleep. One of the most popular fats that are being used are MCTs (medium chain triglycerides), which are abundantly found in coconut oil. These fats are unique because they are easily digested and converted into ketones which become brain food rather quickly.
Next time your sitting down to a meal, it’s a wise choice to avoid the excess sugar and refined junk and eat organic whole foods, especially vegetables, healthy fats, and proteins. The solid portion of your brain is 70% fat, so make sure you get an extra serving of healthy grass-fed meat, wild salmon, and coconut oil. This will help your brain function at the highest level possible and help prevent the occurrence neurodegenerative disease in your future.
Click here for more ways to improve brain health and functioning.
Top Anti-Aging Foods
By Dr. Justin Marchegiani
Everyone ages, the question, therefore, is not will you age, but how will you age? Will you suffer from chronic pain and inflammation, develop diseases such as dementia, diabetes, and cancer, lose your mental capacities or your ability to walk and run? Or will you remain in good health with good posture, retain a great state of mind and mental clarity, keep balanced hormones and healthy relationships?
The truth is, the choice is yours, and it is exactly that: a choice. If you are determined to live a long life with your body and energy at their fullest potential, you can do so! However, there are no magic creams or pills that will prevent you from showing signs of aging. The secret to aging gracefully and successfully lies in a series of healthy diet and lifestyle choices which we will outline below.
What is Aging?
Disease, dementia, cancer, loose saggy skin, slowed brain function, slow and weakened body: these are NOT predetermined signs of aging! These are the consequences of the Standard American diet (SAD) and lifestyle that have been normalized by our society. Recent discoveries have shown that inflammation, the shortening of your telomeres, and mitochondrial deterioration are what control the aging process.
What Causes Aging?
Inflammation causes the diseases and health decline that are hallmark symptoms of aging, which can eventually lead to autoimmune disease and cancer. This can be combated by finding the root cause of inflammation (commonly diet-related) and taking steps to prevent it.
Telomeres sit at the end of our DNA, and their length is related to our biological age (different from our chronological age, which counts birthdays, your biological age is how old your body is in relationship to your health). Telomeres are shortened by unhealthy habits such as smoking, and eating inflammatory foods.
Our mitochondria produce 95% of our energy, in the form of ATP, but the byproduct of the energy production is harmful free radicals which cause damage to the mitochondria. Science has shown certain foods, as well as the enzyme CoQ10, to be powerful in defending against free radical damage.
How to Age Successfully
We are able to curtail disease, wrinkles, and a general decline in health through taking proper care of our bodies. A big part of preventing disease and deterioration as you age is dependent on your diet. The following foods are just some of the many healthy options we have that are full of the nutrients and minerals vital for good health and longevity:
Bright colored fruits and veggies provide beta-carotene and vitamin A, which protect against cellular damage and premature aging. They are also great for your skin and eyes, meaning less wrinkles and better vision. These include: bell peppers, carrots, sweet potato, and broccoli.
Leafy greens, such as spinach, collard greens, lettuce, and kale, contain several top antioxidants. Lutein and zeaxanthin have been shown to reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Beta-carotene, vitamin C, and sulforaphane are cancer-fighting antioxidants present in leafy greens. The folate in spinach improves your short-term memory and might even lower the risk of developing heart disease and cancer. Vitamin K1 is found in collard and salad greens, which is linked to vascular health, strong bones, prevention of heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease, and can treat certain cancers.
Eggs also contain lutein and zeaxanthin, making them an unexpected friend of your eyes. They are a natural source of vitamin D, as well as choline, which protects your brain, nervous system, and heart. Be sure to buy organic, pastured eggs for all the benefits they have to offer!
Blueberries are chock-full of antioxidant power. By fighting oxidative stress, blueberries can help neutralize the damage caused by free radicals. They help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and arthritis while boosting your vision and immune system!
Citrus contains vitamin C, which helps your body produce collagen. Collagen is responsible for healthy joints as well as tight, healthy skin. The quercetin in citrus has anti-aging properties and also helps fight inflammation.
Takeaway
You are what you eat, so if your goal is to be healthy and thriving in old age, the food choices you make today need to be healthy ones. Luckily, these foods are not only dense in important nutrients, they are also delicious!
Click here for a consultation with a functional medicine doctor and a personalized health plan!
REFERENCES:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370421/
http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/pdf/S1097-2765(16)00081-2.pdf
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/64125
http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/101399BlueberriesMayImproveMemory.htm
Why Is Your Brain Starving?
By Dr. Justin Marchegiani
Alzheimer, dementia and other neuro-degenerative diseases are on the rise with no real end in site. Many people aren’t aware that you don’t get Alzheimer, Dementia or neruo-degenerative disease in your 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. These are conditions that start in your 20’s and 30’s, and once enough damage and degeneration has occurred, the tell tale symptoms finally begin to manifest.
There are a few underlying patterns that tend to exist with conditions of this nature. The first being insulin resistance, and in some circles it has even been refereed to as Type III diabetes. The second being auto-immunity driving neuro-degeneration in the brain. The third underlying factor is environmental toxicity including heavy metals like aluminum, mercury and lead. Most of today’s blog will be on the insulin resistance component.
It is a scientific fact that the brain only represents about 5% of our body weight yet consumes nearly 25% of our nutrition and oxygen. As we consume excess carbohydrate and refined sugar past what our bodies can handle, our brain becomes less capable of being able to utilize the glucose in the carbohydrate for energy. The insulin resistance that builds up from the excess glucose essentially keeps the glucose trapped in the blood stream where the cells can not receive it, which then causes our brain to starve over time. If the brain is starving for glucose, the fuel needed to power our higher brain function is no longer accessible.
Optimize brain health by clicking here.
I know what you are thinking, we just need more glucose, glucose is good, right? It’s important to remember that it is the excess glucose that has caused this whole problem. Excess glucose in the blood causes (advances glycation end products) AGES, which are free radical magnets that damages our DNA and sets us off in the fast path for accelerated aging (AGES causes wrinkles too).
What the most up to date research is showing is that our brain can adapt to burning fat or ketones for energy. Essentially 80% of our brain can run off of ketones, so other areas that were perhaps starving, now have access to a new fuel that can bring to life parts of the brain that may have been a sleep. One of the most popular fats that are being used are MCT’s (medium chain triglycerides) which are abundantly found in coconut oil. These fats are unique because they are easily digested and converted into ketones which become brain food rather quickly.
Next time your sitting down to a meal, it’s a wise choice to avoid the excess sugar and refined junk and eat organic whole foods especially vegetables, healthy fats and proteins. The solid portion of your brain is 70% fat, so make sure you get an extra serving of healthy grass-fed meat, wild salmon and coconut oil. This will help your brain function at the highest level possible and help prevent the occurrence neuro-degenerative disease in your future.
Click here for more ways to improve brain health and functioning.
