Your Brain and the Aging Process
From Use Your Brain to Change Your Age by Dr. Amen
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Dr. Daniel Amen, psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist, is one of the leading researchers on brain imaging. He is Director of the Amen Clinics and New York Times best-selling author of five books on brain function, diagnoses and treatment. Dr. Amen has written, produced and hosted nine popular shows about the brain, which have raised more than $52 million dollars for public television. He is named by Sharecare as the web’s #1 most influential mental health expert and advocate.
Dr. Amen’s research has shown remarkable reverses in signs of aging in the brain. Memory problems, brain fog, lack of clarity, low energy, depression, ADD (attention deficit disorder) and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) are problem areas his work has greatly impacted. Dr. Amen feels that brain fog before the age of sixty is a problem that calls for a decided lifestyle change. He claims that your brain does not have to deteriorate as you get older. The neuroimaging brain scans of his patients have even shown improvements in treatment for brain injury and Alzheimers.
Amen’s research relate there are factors in a person’s daily living habits that specifically influence brain activity. Sleep apnea is thought to double the chance of Alzheimers. Chronic insomnia (less than six hours daily) can impair blood flow to the head. Depression can also be a warning sign of brain dysfunction and also doubles the chance of Alzheimers in women and triples it for men. Being overweight especially with belly fat increases your risk of depression. Dr. Amen states, “As weight goes up, brain function goes down.” A lifestyle of self-neglect with drinking. smoking, poor diet and low cardiac fitness all accelerate aging of the brain.
Dr. Amen has written several books on the physical changes that are reflected in the aging brain and he offers commonplace recommendations for self-improvement. Dietary patterns are a critical influence. Dr. Amen recommends eliminating sugar, dairy, soy, alcohol and white flour and states that you can add up to fourteen years to your life by making food your medicine. He advocates eating primarily leafy greens and organic vegetables, fruits, nuts and lean chicken. Eat smaller portions of high quality foods with protein five times a day to stabilize blood sugar. Carbs and processed sugar cause a glycemic drop that kills brain cells and can lead to hypoglycemia and diabetes. Bad fats clog the veins to the brain and harm the liver. Poor nutrition adds to the stress level of the body. It is critical to learn to deal with stress to avoid rapidly aging your entire body mentally, physically and emotionally. Stress kills the cells in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that deals with memory.
Behavior patterns also have a great impact on your brain. Dr. Amen and several other forward thinkers in the medical field have shown that your thoughts and feelings affect the chemical balance of your brain and glandular hormones. Whenever possible avoid toxic people who have bad habits of raving about the problems in their life instead of doing something about them. Listening to their negative ramblings, not only enables them, it creates stress and lowers your brain capacity. Emotional toxicity is just as harmful as toxins in the air and water. Emotions of grief, anger and depression are especially destructive. Here are some helpful suggestions that related to improved brain health:
- Learn something new each day to stimulate new nerve connections in the brain.
- Walk fast daily and do strength building with sensible weight training.
- Meditation increases the judgment part of your brain.
- Chanting in meditation creates the same brain activity of endorphins that are produced by the brain while being in love and making love.
- What keeps your brain young keeps your skin young.
Together with Pastor Rick Warren, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Dr. Oz, Dr. Amen created the Saddleback Church’s “Daniel Plan,” a 52 week program to get the world healthy through religious organizations. This healthy life Style for Churches started with 3000 church members. The participants harnessed the power of connection and agreed to meet weekly in support groups of five to eight people to reduce brain aging. Dr. Amen explains that the number one trait to being healthy is conscientiousness and to use the consistent quality of good decisions.
Associating with healthy people is the best way to change your own health habits. Be positive and interact with others who are looking for the joy in life rather than focusing on gloom and doom. Individuals who see only the clouds and spend their hours in negativity miss the silver linings that make life worth living. Their program advocates to avoid anything that ages your brain like caffeine and nicotine and to stay away from pesticides, chemicals, illegal drugs and substance abuse.
Be a good role model. Ask yourself, “Am I helping my loved ones prevent devastating disease? Am I being their friend or their accomplice?” Ask the question “What are my reasons to be healthy and live longer. If I do this or that, then what”? NOW is the time to engage in healthy brain habits for you never know if you have tomorrow. As a person ages there is less room for error. Dr. Amen challenges each person by saying, “Never stop being a warrior for the health of your brain. “The fountain of youth is between your ears. It is your brain that makes good decisions to improve your life and it is bad decisions that shorten and destroy the quality of your life.”