Last summer we took our daughter out to Denver for her to go to college. We drove her car out there so that she would have a car.
Before heading out there I took her car to a mechanic, Theis Repair in Carver (highly recommend them). He thoroughly checked it over and said that it was good to go. Great for some piece of mind.
Imagine if I would have taken it to him and asked him to make sure the car was working well. I leave it with him and 5 minutes later he calls me and tells me it is all done.
He tells me that that he checked the windshield wipers, they work. He checked the radio, it works. He checked the heater, it works. The seat moved backed and forth great and the mirrors are able to do their job. Your car is good to go!
It’s great that those things all work but I also want to know that the engine was working well, the transmission was working, the tires were good, etc. I wanted to know that the entire car was working well especially the most critical parts!
If that is the kind of service I got from a mechanic, I wouldn’t go back.
What’s crazy is that many of us go to the doctor for a routine physical and they check some critical parts of our body – our heart and lungs but they spend very little if any time checking our brain.
I think very few people would argue that the nervous system is one of the most critical if not THE most critical parts of our body and very few people are checking it.
Recently, we had a patient come in with significant health issues. The biggest was terrible digestive problems.
The patient was given many diagnoses but nothing was solving their problem. We did a few brain tests and were able to see why the person had the problem.
The symptoms were in the digestive system but the problem was in the brain.
Because no one had checked his brain, why would they right, his symptoms were in his gut, he wasn’t getting better.
Degenerative neurologic health issues are becoming epidemic in our country but what can we do. Can they be prevented? Can you slow down the degeneration? Can they, dare I say it, be reversed?
More and more research is showing that we can answer yes to all three questions.
While reversing neurologic illnesses is definitely the exception and not the rule, there have been cases where people reversed the illness.
I want to focus on prevention and slowing down the progression.
In Dr. Dale Bredeson’s book “End of Alzheimer’s” he identifies 36 “holes” or causes of Alzheimer’s.
The way to prevent and slow down degenerative brain changes then is to identify things that you can do that would prevent the 36 holes from happening.
In order to prevent/slow down progression there are three areas where you need to focus.
1. Prevent and reduce inflammation
2. Make sure you are not deficient in specific nutrients
3. Make sure you are not toxic
Inflammation
Wow! Where to start with this topic. There are so many things that can cause inflammation but I would say the biggest bang for your buck would be to stop eating a pro-inflammatory diet and start eating an anti-inflammatory diet.
A pro-inflammatory diet consists of processed foods (especially grains), refined sugars, foods that a person is sensitive to and non organic foods due to the herbicides and pesticides.
An anti-inflammatory diet consists of lots of organic veggies, especially raw green leafy veggies, if you do meat, meat from free range organic animals, and some whole grains (unless you have food sensitivities to grains).
Dr. Axe has a great article on the 15 of the best anti-inflammatory foods.
There are also some key supplements that help with inflammation.
Turmeric or curcumin, resveratrol and boswellia are great anti-inflammatory supplements.
Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to help with heart disease and the reason why is that they reduce inflammation.
Deficiencies
This can be very difficult to cover as there are so many things that our bodies need and if we don’t get them or bodies don’t work.
The key nutrients for the body are
– Omega 3 fatty acids – especially DHA
– Magnesium
– B -vitamins esepcially B2,B3, B6, B12 and folate -some people may need methylated B vitamins
– Alpha lipoic acid
– Vinpocitine
– Huperzine A
– Healthy saturated fats such as Coconut oil
– Sleep – not really a nutrient but definitely sleep deficiency can lead to brain degeration
– CoQ10
Toxicities
Over 80,000 new chemicals have been created since the 20th century and many have never been tested on humans and very few of them have ever been tested in combination.
With that being said there are certain metals that are known to cause neurologic damage
– Mercury
– Lead
– Aresenic
– Thallium
There are also medications that can cause damage
– certain chemotherapies
– amphetamines
– certain antipsychotics
– abuse of benzodiazapenes
There are also industrial chemicals that we can be exposed to in our everyday lives
– organophosphates such as Round up
– tetrachloroehylene – dry cleanin
– polycholorinated Biphenyls – PCBs
– polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers – fire retardants on furniture
I highly recommend spending time on Dr. Amy Myers site to learn more about toxins and how to avoid them.
Addressing these 3 issues can go a long way in helping to prevent the brain from degenerating.
There are also many tests that can be done to help you determine your risk. Unfortunately most of these tests are not regular tests that are done at your physical.
Watch for a post that reveals these critical tests.
