True personal growth ultimately will lead to fulfillment, and it's my intention with these podcasts to connect more deeply with you. Thank you for joining me, Anne Corbin, and my guests, and welcome to this episode. Today, I want to talk about brain health and the issues that can affect the brain as we age. And I'm not talking about growing old as such, just simply about as the years begin to, add up as you get to middle age and so forth.
And not surprisingly, most of these problems can be addressed rather simply just with lifestyle changes. There's nothing new about that. So let's talk for a minute about the science behind aging because the fact is that the brain shrinks on a daily basis unless you take steps to stop it happening. And the horrifying fact is that this gradual shrinkage actually starts around 27.
And by 40, unless you're being proactive and doing something about it, issues like brain fog can start showing up even at that age. So called normal brain shrinkage happens at about 5% per decade from 40 onwards, but the great news is that brain cells can regenerate. In other words, taking a little bit of action can reverse, not just reduce, but it can actually reverse brain decline.
So if we consider that there are 6 pillars of brain health and care and maintenance, the first one, you might have guessed this, is going to be stress management. The, the powers that be who use MRI scanning and that kind of thing, they can detect inflammation in the brain using this equipment and the places, the main places that the stress shows up are the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus.
So the prefrontal cortex, you're probably familiar with this, it's the modern sophisticated part of the brain and it's responsible for concentration and mental focus, executive function, and it's where we experience and deal with our emotions. The hippocampus is the memory and learning center, and stress causes a particular hormone called CRH to be released in those two specific areas, and the hormone causes inflammation, and then the brain cells can't, pulse messages onto each other.
Brain cells are essentially adapted nerve cells. And you might remember from school that the messages, sent between the nerve cells or in this case, the brain cells, these cells communicate by a passing electrical and chemical impulses. And these impulses have to cross a gap called a synapse. And when inflammation sets in, it it increases the resistance in this synapse and something else happens as well, ageing causes the brain cells themselves to shrink.
So not only is there more resistance in the gap or the synapse, but there's also now going to be a longer distance for these impulses to cross. And the result is what shows up is brain fog or senior moments, memory loss, and then various named diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. And research has shown that when stress levels drop, the cells can actually regenerate.
But chronic stress, that is the sort that happens long term, day after day, or even daily top ups of ongoing stress, this is how brain impairment really sets in. So we need to address the stress, but how? Well, clearly, the, the ideal way is to reduce the causes of stress.
It's not always as simple as it sounds, but very often, you know, we put ourselves under unnecessary stress like being, guided by alarm clocks and bells, to do lists, trying to be all things to all men, yeah, and I do mean men, we do tend to help them out, stop what we're doing, make life more comfortable for them. Be kinder to yourself.
And as far as you can, banish habits like worrying and feeling guilty because neither of those things achieves anything in itself, and they just end up making you feel worse. Try listening to soothing music or sit in silence for a little while. Learn some breathing practices like box breathing. Just regulate your breathing. In for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. It's just the discipline. Learn breathing practices.
Sit in silence for a few minutes if you can grab the time or play soothing music rather than really noisy vibrant stuff. Oh, and meditate. I shouldn't have put that last. I should have put that at the top of the list. And bear in mind what they say, if you feel you haven't got time to meditate, that means you need the practice more than ever.
Because it's been proven that meditation can result in the restoration over time of both the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, and it also affects the happiness center of the brain. So if you haven't tried it yet or you've slackened off your practice because you've gotten too busy, I know life gets in the way. I'm guilty of that too but we know what we can do about it. The second pillar, you probably guessed this one too, it's a healthy diet and this will deliver 2 results.
It affects your waistline, of course, and that's what most of us expect when we are watching what we're eating, but there are certain foods which really cause brain inflammation, and this leads to atrophy. That's where the cells get so stiff and inflexible that they are not able to work the way they were designed.
And, of course, when this is happening to brain cells, this atrophication of cells, it's not only those cells that are affected but there can be cardiovascular issues and diabetes and arthritis and osteoporosis, some cancers, general frailty, all these, occurrences or symptoms, if you like, of advancing age. And they're also what I tend to think of as modern diseases because most of them were not really around a 100 years ago. They result from lifestyle and poor quality food.
And, yes, I'm talking about processed and packaged food and food which is less than fresh because when people ate fresh and unadulterated food with no preservatives, no e numbers, no GMO. And, of course, the biggest tip I can give you is steer clear of sugar. Obviously, white sugar is completely off the table but it also applies to brown sugar and to sugar substitutes, almost all of them, but specifically the chemical ones.
And aspartame is something I think I did a whole podcast about it a year or so back. It's dreadful. It has been seen to cause holes in rats' brains. It's another thing, another reason why it's not recommended to take sweeteners in place of sugar is your brain never loses the craving for that sweet taste. I'm kinda fortunate, I don't really like the sweet taste, but people who like it would do themselves a great service to wean themselves off liking sweetness.
Have you noticed if you switch from having a cake or a pudding or something like that and have a piece of fresh fruit, specifically a nice crunchy apple or a nectarine, well, depending on the time of year, of course, you can train your taste buds to be satisfied with natural sweetness rather than the sickly sweetness. And something to watch out for is that nearly all soft drinks are not only full of sugar, but the ones that say sugar free are entirely sweetened with chemical sweeteners.
Most of the soft drinks from supermarkets have got both in them. So you imagine you're making the healthy choice, quote unquote, by having regular soft drinks as opposed to the low calorie ones and then you find out that they're full of chemical sweetener as well. It's very hard to win, but really checking the ingredients is more critical these days than ever.
Incidentally, while you're weaning yourself off these sweeteners, it's recommended that you can choose date sugar, coconut palm sugar, and Stevia. The 3rd pillar, guess what? It's physical exercise. Get the old heart pumping. Sorry, get the heart pumping, doesn't matter how old it is. A 150 minutes per week of exercise is recommended. So if you're doing 30 minutes for 5 days during 7, then you are, following guidelines. Doesn't have to mean going to the gym.
It can mean brisk walking or even doing the housework if you are being quite energetic while you do that. And it promotes the growth of blood vessels in the brain, And we want this to happen because, decrease in oxygen is something that happens with age. So a few extra blood vessels will help address this problem. And if you're new to the exercise habit, don't launch into it suddenly and overdo things because you can do more harm than good.
The 4th pillar is social connection because being with friends, family, or an elevating peer group, it that will contribute conviviality, shared fun and experiences, and these all promote the production of serotonin, which is one of those feel good hormones. And serotonin actively fights depression, and it plays a role in information processing.
You know drugs such as Prozac, mommy's little helper, those contain SSRIs or sorry, they are SSRIs, that's selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors because if the serotonin is not fully taken back up, then there's more of it to flow around in the bloodstream and make you feel good. Remember lockdown? How could we forget it? When all those gatherings were completely banned and you couldn't see your extended family, you couldn't meet with people. They even closed churches for heaven's sake.
There were patients dying in hospital, and they were deprived of seeing their nearest and dearest. It was absolutely awful. And, of course, the rates of depression everywhere just skyrocketed. And when we are feeling depressed and isolated, a different hormone is produced. It's the stress hormone which is cortisol. And this is responsible for atrophy in the brain, that is the cells growing stiff and inflexible. And, of course, cortisol, we know, tends to pull on weight.
It shows up on your waistline. So do take steps to mix and mingle with friends, family. If you're really cut off for a bit, then Zoom is a pretty good substitute and there are lots of other substitutes for Zoom these days now but we all got very, very comfortable with it during lockdown and I suppose it's the one and only good thing that can be said for lockdown. The 5th column, of the 6th would be mental stimulation. How about learning something new?
The greater the novelty, the greater the benefit. You know that expression use it or lose it? It's really, really relevant when it comes to brain usage. So find something that floats your boat. It could be crosswords, Sudoku, other puzzles, strategy games, riddles, that kind of thing, or do some training. Learn how to do something you've never done before.
And if it really is new and you have to exercise your memory or you have to use a kind of association centers that you haven't used for years, it's all really good for you. Don't allow yourself to say, oh, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and, sentences like that, they're not good for you. Just introducing a bit of variety in your life is helpful as well. Dress differently. Try different makeup. Wear different heights on your shoe heels, if you're a lady.
Day to day, don't always wear the same height of shoe. Try different workouts at the gym. Just dress differently. If you kind of live in a tracksuit, stop it. Stop wearing it for a bit. Try and retrain your brain. Learn a few phone numbers. Well, learn anything. Learn something useful. Remember at school, we used to occasionally learn verses of poetry and Shakespeare and so forth? I don't think people learn anything these days. Off by heart, I mean. And number 6 is quality sleep.
Yes. I have done a whole podcast on sleep, so I won't go into too much detail here. But apparently, there is an epidemic of poor quality sleep in at least the western world and who knows, maybe the rest as well. Avoiding the use of any kind of screen, particularly, I think, the little ones, phones and laptops and that kind of thing.
I suspect TV screens, if they're at a distance, don't do quite so much damage, but essentially what comes from a screen is blue light and it tricks the brain into thinking that it's not time for sleep and you mess up your circadian rhythms and so forth. So take a bit of winding downtime and you will give yourself a better chance of a good night's sleep. In closing, there is a prediction that 50% of adults will have some form of dementia by age 85, and you might think, oh, that's so far away.
I won't worry about it yet. But also consider that a number of people, and it's an ever growing number, are intending to live way past a 100. It is thought that a 120 is a perfectly reasonable age for us all to aspire to. And then there are very unfortunate people who develop Alzheimer's really young, in their fifties. Doctors put it down to bad luck, there's probably an underlying reason. My listeners are probably familiar with manifesting. Essentially, that means that you make your own luck.
The choices that you make all the way along deliver the outcomes that you experience as your life unfolds. And this is key. In general, it's the length of time that passes between your taking the action, having the thought, whatever and the the dream or the thought or the intention actually coming to pass that we forget what the connection is.
Manifesting just means bring into being and the term is dismissed by many as being a bit woo woo but I've just been reflecting on a few simple and mostly obvious lifestyle choices or changes that are available to everyone. And longevity is a hot topic these days. We have this potential to live longer, and there's so much knowledge available to us now.
We know though that as a population, we are not becoming healthier and we don't want to exist into old age and being kept alive by pills and potions or perish the thought end up in an institution with everything being done for us because things have just stopped working. So in closing, you have the opportunity if you like the idea of living with vitality to a ripe old age, feeling, and looking great. I've given you a blueprint at least for getting started.
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