12 steps to a sharper brain

Given this week is Brain Awareness week, I thought I’d share highlights from an interview in The Times I read recently with top brain surgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta. 
 
Dr. Gupta is a professor of neurosurgery in Atlanta, but many may know him as CNN’s chief medical correspondent. He recently wrote a book, 12 Weeks to a Sharper You, based on his own experience and his 20 years of attending neuroscience conferences. As well, he interviewed many prominent neuroscientists on how they live their lives differently now, based on all the new information available on brain health.
 
 He thinks of his book as a 50,000-mile service manual for the brain (he is 53!). 
 
Interestingly, Gupta feels his most important message is to rethink our notion of exercise.  Specifically, that although HIIT (high intensity interval training) may be great for our heart rates, it’s regular movement throughout the day that is far better for our brain than these short, intense bursts followed by sitting for the rest of the day.  I’ll explain why below.
 
In the meantime, his list (which includes a few surprises) is as follows:
 
Follow the MIND Diet
Most of you (hopefully all of you!) know of the Mediterranean Diet. The MIND Diet is a combination of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet (a diet for reducing blood pressure).  Foods include vegetables (especially leafy greens), nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine (although with the recent Health Canada parameters on alcohol, I wouldn’t get too excited about the wine part). 
 
And of course minimizing red meats, processed meats/foods, butter, cheese, sweets and fried/fast food. 
 
Gupta provides some stats from this study of nearly 1000 people. It states that the third of those who followed the MIND diet the least had the fastest rate of cognitive decline, whereas the highest third of MIND scores experienced the slowest rates of decline and had a 53 percent reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's. The one caveat here is the way the study was done. It leaves many factors unaccounted for. Having said that, there is no question that enough rigorous research has been done over the years to show the positive impact of a healthy diet on brain health.
 
As well, there is new research on the risks of having high blood pressure in midlife and its potential impact on developing Alzheimer’s at a later age.  That it itself should be enough to propel one to switch up their diet if they are suffering from high blood pressure. 

Cut out all added sugar (and artificial sweeteners)
Gupta says the most important dietary recommendation is to reduce sugar.  Many studies are showing that people with high blood sugar (regardless of whether they have diabetes or not) have a higher rate of cognitive decline as they age, relative to those with normal blood sugar. 
 
Although Gupta doesn’t mention this, high blood sugar over time damages blood vessels in the brain that carry oxygen rich blood.  When your brain receives too little blood, cells die. Known as brain atrophy, over time this can cause problems with memory and thinking, and potentially lead to vascular dementia. 
 
Artificial sugars are known to disrupt our gut bacteria, and of course our gut bacteria and brains are inextricably linked. He suggests, if you need, to use natural sweeteners such as stevia or monk fruit instead.
 
Slash your salt intake
As we know, salt has long been implicated in increasing the risk for high blood pressure, which in turn raises the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and other health problems.  There is also evidence showing that high salt intake harms the brain directly.
 
Having said that, we need to be careful here. We all need salt. If you are already following a Mediterranean or MIND style diet, where you aren’t eating any processed or store bought foods (ie - soups, processed meats, prepared foods, etc), ensure you are getting some source of salt as it’s a very important electrolyte and we need it to function. In general, unless you've been told otherwise by your doctor, we should be having around 1500mg or ¾ tsp of salt a day. 
 
Drink instead of eat
Gupta believes we often mistake thirst for hunger. Our brain is roughly 73 percent water, and it takes only two percent dehydration to affect our memory, our focus and our cognitive abilities.  If we misread the cues, and eat instead of drink, we could be walking around, as he says, overstuffed and chronically dehydrated. 
 
And of course when we do reach for drinks, make sure they aren’t sugar laden. Iced tea is one of the most misleading out there, having more sugar than most pops do.  Kombucha is another one to be careful of – there are huge differences between brands. Make sure you read the labels closely to determine how much sugar there is (refresher:  4 grams sugar = 1 tsp sugar).
 
Don’t sit still for more than an hour
In Gupta’s mind (and in many others), this is the single most important thing you can do to enhance overall brain function: move more.  He states that getting up and walking for two minutes every hour is associated with a lower chance of dying over a three-year period. 
 
Our brain produces an important protein called BDNF (brain derived neurotropic factor), which is essential for brain health. And, it is produced when we move. 
 
As I’ve mentioned in other newsletters, movement is essential for brain health – it reduces brain fog, increases focus, puts us in a better mood, increases our productivity, plus a whole number of additional benefits. 
 
Walk for 30 minutes a day – and walk fast
Gupta says that moderate activity, just intense enough to raise our heart rate, such as brisk walking, appears to be better for our brains than intense exercise (which raises our cortisol levels and can inhibit the production of certain helpful neurotrophic factors (aka BDNF)). 
 
I certainly agree that a 30 minute brisk walk/day is going to be excellent for our health, but you still want to get a good cardio workout once or twice a week, as well as a strength workout, ideally twice a week.  It’s all important!
 
Deep breathe, twice a day
Deep breathing is a great stress reduction technique, and there is no question doing it two times/day is going to be helpful. 
 
Chronic stress can impair our ability to learn, to focus and to remember. In fact, over time, chronic stress can actually shrink our hippocampus, which is the memory centre of our brain.
 
I’ve shared two simple but very effective breathing exercises in the past. The first is called the Physiological Sigh, re-popularized by the neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman. This exercise can literally be done in 10 seconds, and can be done anywhere (I will often use it while driving in city traffic ;-).  The second is Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 Breathing.  It takes slightly longer (although not much) and is also very effective over the long term.
 
Dr. Gupta’s breathing exercise, very similar to the physiological sigh, is as follows:
Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, close your eyes and make sure your body is completely relaxed. Inhale through your nose as much as you can, feeling your diaphragm and abdomen rise as your stomach moves outward. Then take a little more air in on top of that, and slowly exhale to a count of 20, pushing every breath of air from your lungs (he doesn’t say whether to exhale through mouth or nose, but I would guess mouth). Then continue for at least five rounds.
 
Try analytical meditation (which he learned from the Dalai Lama)
Think about a problem you are trying to solve and place it in an imaginary clear bubble. Then with eyes closed, see the problem floating weightlessly in front of you, and as it rises, watch it disentangle from other attachments, including your emotions.  Doing this, one can more easily bring logic into the picture and solve the problem reasonably and without distractions.
 
Gupta has meditated this way since 2017, and finds the first two minutes (creating his thought bubble and letting it float above him) still the hardest part. Once he is through that though, he is able to settle and will meditate anywhere from 20-30 minutes.
 
Any type of meditation will be helpful reducing stress. And if you’ve never meditated and would like to start, just ease into it, starting with 1-5 minutes.

Go to bed 15 minutes earlier
We now know that sleep is essential for consolidating our memories, as well as filing them away for later recall. Sleep is also the time where our brain is cleansed of toxins, including amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s.
 
Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, and if you aren’t close to that, start working towards going to bed earlier, by 15 minute increments every few days, or when you feel ready to trim it back more. 
 
Try using your non-dominant hand
Cognitive stimulation increases the density of neurons, synapses and dendrites, building a brain more resistant to disease.  Gupta feels many people get it wrong when it comes to defining brain-challenging activities. It’s not so much puzzles and games, rather it’s picking up a new hobby, such as painting or learning a new language (or learning tai chi, as I am doing at the moment… not well, btw!). 
 
At the recommendation of a prominent neurosurgeon, Dr. Gupta took up painting with his left hand (he is right handed). After 15 minutes of each painting session, despite (he says) being a terrible artist, he can feel different areas of his brain firing.
 
Definitely worth a try... although maybe start small, such as brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand.
 
Floss twice daily – it’s good for your brain as well as your teeth
There are more and more links between dental health and brain health. Brushing and flossing twice daily removes food residue and bacteria build-up that can ultimately lead to gum disease and risk of stroke. 
 
And how does this connect to the brain?  Gum disease, such as periodontitis, causes inflammation.  And as the barrier between the tooth and gum erode, inflammatory bacteria from the infection in the mouth can enter the bloodstream and cause havoc in other parts of our body, including our brains.

Having said all this, I find it hard enough to floss once a day, let alone twice a day. And I think that's just fine :).
 
Make more social plans
We all know by now how loneliness is a big contributor to Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive challenges. The data is very strong on this. In fact, studies have shown actual changes in our brains that take place if we don’t have any social interaction over long periods of time. 
 
Prioritize being social. Gupta suggests listing a few important people in your life today you can rely on when things get tough. Then not only cultivate those relationships with intention, but understand they need to be nurtured, just like anything else you value in life. 
 
Summary
So… there you have it.  12 steps to a sharper mind! We are already familiar with most of them (great reminders), but there are a few new ones you may not have considered that may be of interest.
 
Depending on what you already do on a daily basis, see what you could possibly add into your daily routine. The most important part is to choose one or two things that you can realistically incorporate into your life.

The bonus? What we do for our brain is also great for our overall health.

Thanks for reading :)

Gillian x
PS - Spring is in the air!  Well, sort of. For those of you in Toronto and surrounding area, my Walk & Talk Wellness Reset is up and running. It's a fantastic way to get the therapeutic benefits of a walk in nature while getting personalized nutritional and lifestyle recommendations. Let me help you get your brain and body fine-tuned, putting some systems in place to help take you to the next level. You can reach me by replying to this email or at gbwellness.ca.