This video, titled "Prevention of Dementia," discusses actionable steps to improve and maintain brain health and prevent cognitive decline. The speaker emphasizes that two out of three Americans will struggle with cognitive decline by age 70, making prevention crucial. She covers six key areas: getting enough sleep, managing stress, regular exercise, adopting a healthy diet (like the Mediterranean or MIND diet), avoiding toxins, and engaging in brain exercises. The video also touches on the role of supplements in supporting these lifestyle changes.
Key Takeaways
1
Two out of three Americans will experience cognitive decline by age 70, and dementia and Alzheimer's are the sixth leading cause of death.
2
Quality sleep is essential for brain detoxification through the glymphatic system, which clears out harmful plaques and toxins, and chronic sleep deprivation can increase dementia risk by 30%.
3
Stress hormones like cortisol contribute to cognitive decline by disrupting memory formation and causing brain inflammation, making stress management vital.
4
Regular exercise, such as walking 10,000 steps a day, can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's by as much as 50% by improving memory, reducing inflammation, and stimulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
5
A Mediterranean or MIND diet, rich in colorful vegetables, healthy fats, and protein, with low to no grains and sugar, is a main lifestyle factor in preventing plaque buildup and improving memory function.
6
Avoiding environmental toxins like pesticides, herbicides, and those found in plastics and cosmetics is important, as they can act as 'dementagens' that negatively impact the nervous system.
7
Engaging in brain exercises like puzzles, learning new languages or instruments, and lifelong learning helps keep the brain active, prevent atrophy, and maintain cognitive strength.
8
Supplements, particularly a daily multivitamin, can support brain health and have been shown to slow cognitive decline, but they are meant to complement a healthy diet and lifestyle.
9
Essential nutrients for brain health include activated B12 and folate, vitamin D, iodine, selenium, zinc, magnesium, and DHA (from essential fatty acids).
10
Neotropics like NeuroQ, MCT oil, and even organic coffee can provide alternate fuel for the brain and further support cognitive function and recall.
No matching segments found
0:01
good morning and welcome to another
0:03
edition of today's nutrition when we
0:04
look at what is new in research what's
0:06
hot in the news or any topic that can
0:08
help us lose weight feel great and live
0:11
longer better usually all three you know
0:14
more and more people are complaining
0:16
about brain
0:18
fog early cognitive decline postco
0:22
memory or at the outright diagnosis of
0:26
dementia so I thought it'd be a good
0:28
time to review what we know and what you
0:31
can do to actively help your brain be as
0:35
healthy as possible today I'm going to
0:37
cover the absolute Basics you have to do
0:41
to have the healthiest brain function
0:43
and then some additional things that may
0:45
also help you clear out the cobweb so to
0:47
speak it's all about living longer
0:50
better right my adage is my hope is my
0:54
goal is that I want to live to be 100
0:57
know I'm there and glad I'm there and in
0:59
this day and age it takes some
1:02
work first some statistics two of three
1:07
Americans will struggle with cognitive
1:09
decline by age 70 and dementia and
1:13
Alzheimer's are now the six leading
1:15
cause of death with increasing by 10 to
1:20
15% every
1:22
year who knows what's CO's going to do
1:25
with this too because of all the
1:26
inflammation it's
1:28
causing latest research shows that we
1:31
can influence how we age we can even
1:34
improve our brain health and cognitive
1:37
function and it doesn't have to be hard
1:39
in fact sometimes it can be pretty darn
1:41
easy so I hope this information is going
1:43
to inspire you to take action you know
1:46
we're often told there's nothing you can
1:48
do about cognitive decline and that is
1:51
absolutely false so the first thing I'm
1:54
going to talk about sleep I've done
1:57
whole radio shows on this I myself have
2:00
to to be a real student of sleep it is
2:02
so important you know I wear the ultra
2:05
human ring I used to wear the aura ring
2:08
I pay attention to my sleep your brain
2:12
actually detoxifies as you
2:15
sleep and you know and that's when your
2:16
brain also consolidates memories you
2:19
know there's the system we call the
2:21
glymphatic system that's responsible for
2:24
clearing out that beta amalo plaque and
2:27
other toxins when you sleep you know so
2:29
if you have sleep apnea that's a real
2:32
devil it's going to rob your brain of
2:35
not only the detoxification but also the
2:38
oxygen so you got to have it and boy oh
2:41
boy so many of those drugs that are
2:44
recommended for sleep that are
2:45
prescribed for Sleep actually increase
2:47
your risk for dementia ambian Sonata
2:50
Lunesta good quality sleep you need it
2:54
chronic sleep deprivation can really
2:57
increase your risk of Dementia by 30
3:01
perc so stress hormones are going to
3:03
fight it melatonin will be ineffective
3:06
you have to get that stress hormone
3:08
under control first so I love valan I
3:11
love lemon balm and other nice herbs yep
3:15
next one
3:17
stress stress hormones absolutely
3:20
contribute to cognitive decline cortisol
3:24
binds to the cells in the brain's
3:26
Hippocampus that's the area responsible
3:29
for converting experiences to memory it
3:32
totally disrupts the whole memory
3:34
forming process stress hor hormones are
3:38
also
3:38
inflammatory so that literally causes
3:41
the brain to shrink so we have to avoid
3:44
stress and learn how to manage it it's
3:46
not going to go away inflammation is a
3:49
neuron killer that's why I recommend
3:52
curamin every day with over 75% of
3:56
doctor's visits being due to conditions
3:59
caused by stress stress incorporating
4:02
daily stress reducing activities like
4:05
the belly breathing things I talked
4:07
about last week where you just rewire
4:10
your response to stress but in the short
4:13
term I love herbs like ashwagandha riola
4:18
and Valyrian there is a uh recent study
4:23
Michigan State University that confirms
4:25
the old ad adage about a happy wife
4:27
leading to a happy life according to the
4:30
study optimism in both Partners is
4:33
linked to improved Health well-being and
4:36
cognitive functioning over a lifespan so
4:38
choose happiness and avoid what makes
4:41
you
4:42
unhappy okay third thing exercise and
4:48
this is huge it is Big exercise can have
4:54
as much as a 50% reduction in
4:57
Alzheimer's risk according to Harvard
5:00
Health publishing exercise helps memory
5:03
and thinking through both direct and
5:05
indirect means you are only as old as
5:09
your feet really true that you know and
5:12
it comes from so many things reducing
5:16
insulin resistance reducing inflammation
5:18
and stimulating the re release of
5:22
bdnf that brain deriv neurotrophic
5:25
Factor what I call the Miracle Grow
5:26
fertilizer for those neurons yeah you
5:29
got got to exercise you got to get those
5:31
muscles moving you know exercise also
5:34
improves mood and all sorts of other
5:36
things but boy the the prefrontal cortex
5:41
the temporal cortex everything
5:44
everything that is responsible for
5:46
memory in the brain is bigger in people
5:48
who exercise versus couch
5:52
potatoes knowing that lack of a
5:55
meaningful treatment for dementia
5:57
including Alzheimer's boy the re recent
6:00
discovery of exercise reducing the risk
6:02
of dementia is incredibly exciting and
6:06
you know I've taken Dale
6:08
brison's courses and oh my gosh he has
6:12
seen and his research has been repeated
6:17
many times and I I know the people that
6:19
are doing this research but
6:22
84%
6:24
effective exercise is a big part of it
6:27
all these things I'm talking about it
6:29
big part of it so another study that was
6:32
in the Journal of the American Medical
6:33
Associates in September of 22 they found
6:37
um over 880,000 people they followed for
6:40
7 years the result was dramatic those
6:43
who got almost 10,000 steps a day
6:45
increased their risk of De Dementia by
6:49
50% 10,000 steps 5 miles about an hour
6:53
of walking and anything is going to be
6:56
better they've done studies that you
6:59
know there
7:00
top threshold yeah you're going to get a
7:02
50 but anything is better and you know
7:05
don't start out with 10,000 if you're
7:07
only doing 2,000 just take it up a
7:09
little bit but be consistent you know
7:13
and and you want
7:15
to walk fast enough like you are late
7:18
for a meeting that's also get a good
7:20
glow going circulation is also really
7:24
good your brain is as young as your feet
7:27
body simply has to move rule
7:30
biology okay number four you know I had
7:33
to say it diet just like exercise and
7:37
stress relief and improved sleep you
7:40
know you've got to do these things the
7:42
American Journal of geriatric psychology
7:44
found the Mediterranean diet they also
7:47
call it the Mind diet is one of the main
7:50
lifestyle factors that helps prevent
7:54
plaque the towel Tangles um all of those
7:58
so in the I know cat tup she did this
8:01
clinical study that also found that a
8:04
mild state of ketosis resulted in even
8:07
greater benefits so chucking all the the
8:10
carbs the sugars the grains more
8:14
vegetables good healthy fats good
8:16
healthy protein and maybe even an
8:19
extended overnight fast at least 13
8:22
hours enhanced memory function so you
8:25
the diet is lots of colorful vegetables
8:28
low no grain S no sugar and the research
8:32
finding is really interesting people who
8:35
adhered to the Mediterranean diet had
8:37
more gray matter in the hippocampus the
8:39
memory Center better memory less amalo
8:43
less towel and it just works and even
8:47
those results persisted even in people
8:49
that had the apoe4 the gene associated
8:53
with increase risk so it's all about
8:57
epigenetics you've got control control
9:00
you know so the Mediterranean diet
9:02
hopefully you're not thinking about
9:03
pasta that's that's not the
9:05
Mediterranean diet you know those
9:07
refined grains equal sugar so you got to
9:10
we're talking lots of vegetables olive
9:13
oil nuts and seeds and fish and poultry
9:16
and you know little bit of cheese maybe
9:20
okay all right so so much has to do with
9:25
that glucose metabolism so the um the
9:29
Society of Neuroscience recent meeting
9:32
several research teams presented data on
9:35
what contributes to cognitive decline
9:38
and the Western diet is a biggie you
9:41
know the saturated fat the sugar
9:44
Volunteers in their 20s scored worse on
9:47
memory tests and found that junk food
9:50
more desirable immediately after they
9:53
finished a meal so yeah that's a big one
9:56
diet I know it okay number five
10:00
toxins many of these toxins are now
10:04
labeled
10:06
dagens lots of research on those
10:08
compounds that can cause dementia
10:11
pesticides herbicides fungus fungicides
10:15
are designed
10:17
to impact the nervous system of pests
10:22
well what do you think happens when we
10:25
eat the food that was sprayed for pests
10:28
yeah
10:30
so exposure starts even before we were
10:32
born you know the Red Cross this has
10:34
been 20 years ago or so newborn
10:38
umbilical cord contained almost 300
10:42
known toxins
10:44
210
10:46
neurotoxins Plastics Cosmetics household
10:51
cleaners okay number six I like this one
10:54
brain exercise you don't want to sit and
10:58
let your brain
11:00
rest when we we got to think about the
11:03
brain kind of like a muscle if you're
11:05
not going to use it it is going to
11:07
atrophy it is going to shrink when it's
11:10
not getting adequate
11:13
stimulation yeah it's going to shrink
11:15
the brain continues to grow and expand
11:18
if you use it but you got to use it you
11:21
know there's all sorts of things to
11:23
stretch your brain I mean you can do
11:25
puzzles seduko puzzles crossword puzzles
11:28
plain old memor
11:30
even table tennis or pickle ball can
11:34
stimulate the brain Pathways and help
11:36
the brain stay strong another thing
11:39
lifelong learning is linked to lower
11:43
risk for dementia anything that requires
11:46
it to stretch and grow is great you know
11:49
I think this is really interesting when
11:50
they test sharp centenarians about
11:53
cognitive Health they find that even if
11:56
they have amalo
11:57
plaque it didn't affect their mental
12:00
condition interesting isn't it because
12:03
they're keeping the new Pathways growing
12:06
exercising the brain and the body is
12:09
essential and reading books rather than
12:12
watching TV passively is
12:15
better staying you know they they say
12:18
people who take up an instrument or
12:20
learn a new language in midlife reduces
12:22
their Risk by dementia
12:26
significantly okay so now some people
12:28
are going to want to know about
12:28
supplements and there really are a lot
12:31
of supplements that are being researched
12:33
now um but the thing is supplements are
12:36
designed to supplement the things I
12:39
talked about before the other six things
12:42
you know diet and lifestyle supplements
12:44
are going to fill in the cracks that
12:46
we're going to have in a depleted
12:48
environment but we need to supplement
12:51
the diet and lifestyle so even a simple
12:55
thing this was the um journaling of
12:58
Alzheimer's in dementia September 14th
13:00
of 22 found that people over 65 who took
13:04
a multivitamin for 3 years slowed
13:08
cognitive decline by
13:12
60% that was in a random double plank
13:15
control gold standard and it was over
13:18
2,000 people took three years and that
13:20
makes sense it takes years or even
13:22
decades for nutrient deficiencies to
13:25
develop and in Dale brison's work that
13:28
is all part of it he looks at all the
13:30
nutrients all the hormones all the
13:33
toxins along with genetics so 3 years of
13:37
a multivitamin use improve Global
13:41
cognition episodic memory and executive
13:45
function that's exactly what we need as
13:48
we get older there is no pharmaceutical
13:51
drug that's going to do that every cell
13:53
of the body needs those
13:55
nutrients so I guess it shouldn't be any
13:57
surprise so my favorite favorite is the
14:00
o multi- daily that has the activated
14:03
B12 and folate and your vitamin D iodine
14:07
selenium zinc all those things might
14:10
want to think about added
14:12
magnesium you know 300 enzymatic
14:15
reactions even more biochemical
14:17
functions in the body and 80% of
14:20
Americans don't get enough you know
14:22
magnesium is important and essential
14:25
fatty acids we need DHA for the brain
14:28
studies show that old people who remain
14:31
mentally sharp have higher levels of DHA
14:35
in their brain so pretty basic you know
14:38
you can get it in the one M multivitamin
14:43
the barlin omega-3 and maybe a little
14:45
bit of magnesium glycinate not not
14:48
expensive but really important for the
14:52
health and then there's some
14:54
neotropics that I like you know we
14:57
talked about the um neuro Q couple weeks
15:02
back it's got the whole coffee fruit
15:04
extract it has the turmeric you might
15:06
even want to think about MCT oil MCT is
15:11
um an alternate fuel for the brain that
15:14
helps it fuel not on sugar but on
15:18
healthy fats that's been really
15:20
effective um plal organic coffee is
15:24
known to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's
15:26
disease but I really do like that neuroc
15:29
been taking it for a few years now and I
15:31
find my recall is much better there some
15:34
interesting research on Lion's man Rush
15:36
mushrooms I love those mushrooms but you
15:39
know there are actionable steps backed
15:42
by the latest Cutting Edge research that
15:45
you can take to improve and maintain
15:47
brain function so six things you know
15:51
you've got the Mediterranean diet you've
15:53
got exercise toxin avoidance Stress
15:56
Management restorative sleep brain
15:58
exercise es and then the supplements so
16:01
thanks for listening to another edition
16:03
of today's nutrition I hope you learned
16:05
something that will help you or someone
16:07
you love as always if you want to listen
16:09
again or listen to other shows you can
16:11
go to my website de.com or iTunes under
16:15
today's nutrition thanks have a great
16:19
day and do something really good for
16:21
your brain today your future self will
16:24
thank you
Start a conversation
Ask anything about Prevention of Dementia
100/100 free messages remaining
AI responses may be inaccurate. Verify important information.
Prevention of Dementia
Deb Ford DCN RDN
12 views
Jan 24, 2024
16:26
So much can be done to protect the healthy functioning of the brain and since 2 out of 3 of our seniors will suffer from dementia, we need to be starting the healthy habits that will protect not only our brain but also our heart. Find out what sleep, the exact diet, what type of exercise and what supplements can be important at preserving the memory.