Love your Brain, Love your Body, Love your Life Benefits of Stress Management and Dementia / Alzheimer’s Prevention

As we discussed in December, stress takes a toll on our body and our brain.  Stress raises your cortisol and adrenalin levels, which in excess, damage the cells in the memory center of your brain, block neurotransmitter function and cause injury to brain cells; stress is also linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol & heart disease. High Cortisol levels impact the ability to learn and retain new information (short-term memory loss). As stress and cortisol levels increase, so does your chance of developing memory loss.

What’s worse, as we age or develop an illness, you naturally have decreased ability to handle stress and lower your blood cortisol levels; damaging the brain cells, a situation that affects all areas of your memory and overall brain health.

Controlling your daily stress is a vital part of an Alzheimer’s prevention strategy. Studies show there is a high correlation between having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and/or high cortisol and the onset of Alzheimer’s. Stress has been shown to be a key factor in all these conditions.

Managing stress requires regular effort. Applying the stress management tips we shared last month go along way in keeping our brain and body in good health:

• Laughter
• Targeted nutrition
• Quality sleep
• Good hydration
• Regular exercise

You may also include these proven techniques to get your stress levels in check:

• Breathe! Stress alters your breathing rate and impacts oxygen levels in the brain. Quiet your stress response with deep, abdominal breathing. Restorative breathing is powerful, simple and free!
• Schedule daily relaxation activities.  Make relaxation a priority, whether it’s a walk in the park, playtime with your dog, yoga, or a soothing bath.
• Nourish inner peace. Most scientists acknowledge a strong mind-body connection, and various studies associate spirituality with better brain health. Regular mediation, prayer, reflection, and religious practice may immunize against the effects of stress.

Remember, you can manage your stress if you choose to. Love your brain now for a long, happy, healthy future.

Synergy Training Center

Alzheimersprevention.org

Helpguide.org

Love your Brain, Love your Body, Love your Life - Enrich your Life and Arm Yourself with a Weapon to Fight Alzheimer's, Targeted Nutrition

What is Targeted Nutrition? Feel a cold coming on? Eat an orange or other citrus fruit, why? High in vitamin C. Finished a workout? Hydrate and eat a banana to replenish lost fluids and potassium. These are just a couple of examples of “Targeted Nutrition” that help our body function properly or maintain good health. Why would it be any different for our brain? Your brain is only 2% of our body mass, yet it uses 20% of the body’s energy, it needs massive amounts of energy, in comparison with the other organs in our body. It also needs the proper materials (targeted nutrition) to build, heal and grow itself. 

What does our brain need and want?

• Vitamin C & E - Antioxidants are for cell protection from free radicals.
• Vitamin D - for focus and concentration.
• B vitamins -  for memory, nerve, cell and neurotransmitter function.
• Vitamin K - enhances cognitive function.
• Calcium - improves nerve function.
• Magnesium - improves blood flow.
• Zinc - memory and thinking skills.
• Choline - aids in memory and brain development.
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids (ALA, EPA, DHA) - improves communication between the cells; attention management, and mood balancing. Also contain anti-inflammatory substances.
• Glucose - supplies your brain’s energy; your body creates it from the carbohydrates you eat, your brain needs at least 125 to 150g per day to function. Be careful, too much is counter productive.

How can we get all these “brain boosting” nutrients? Let’s look at some super brain foods.

1. Wholegrain Foods - whole grain bread, oatmeal, brown rice, barley, popcorn etc. Supplies, glucose, vit. B6.
2. Walnuts - omega-3 & 6, vit. E, vit. B6
3. Cashews - magnesium
4. Almonds - riboflavin (B)
5. Pecans & peanuts - choline
6. Blueberries - have compounds that turn on key systems in the brain to enable proteins to help with memory or other cognitive skills. An antioxidant.
7. Strawberries - antioxidant, improves communication among brain cells.
8. Blackberries - antioxidant, particularly anthocyanins, which fights degenerative brain diseases.
9. Sunflower seeds - thiamine (B vitamin), boosts mood and brainpower.
10. Pumpkin seeds - zinc, vit. A & E, omega-3 & 6.
11. Freshly Brewed Tea- enhances memory, focus, fights mental fatigue. Contains polyphenals (antioxidant) which help maintain a steady supply of glucose.
12. Eggs - choline, antioxidants.
13. Avocados - contain mono-unsaturated fats to help maintain healthy blood flow.
14. Tomatoes - lycopene (antioxidant).
15. Broccoli - a super food due to its overall nutrient content; for your brain it’s Vit. K.
16. Red Cabbage - polyphenol (antioxidant).
17. Spinach - slows down the effects of age-related declines in brain function, helps protect from oxidative stress. Improves learning capacity and motor skills.
18. Yogurt and Calcium rich foods - improve nerve function. Yogurt contains an amino acid called tyrosine which is responsible for producing the neurotransmitter dopamine and noradrenalin.
19. Chocolate! - Dark and Milk - antioxidant, enhances mood, focus and concentration. MORE IS NOT BETTER, indulge in moderation :o)
20. Beans - stabilize glucose levels; 1/2 cup every day.
21. Wild Salmon, sardines & herring - rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.

Eat with your brain in mind, it’s the greediest organ in the body, keeping it properly nourished is vital to creative thought, positive mood, memory and overall good health.

Love your Brain, Love your Body, Love your Life Alzheimer’s - Enrich your Life, Enrich your Brain

Neuroscientists are confirming that being proactive in choosing a healthy, enriched, well balanced lifestyle, may be the best way to maintain your overall health and reduce the risk factors for the development or advancement of Alzheimer’s and related dementias. It’s never too early or too late begin.

These five factors are valuable tools that you have control of:
1. Targeted Nutrition
2. Stress Management
3. Structured Aerobic Exercise
4. Cognitive Fitness
5. Social Interactions

During this month, we will discuss each of these items in detail and how it pertains to your brain’s long-lasting health.

Love your Brain, Love your Body, Love your Life

5 Ways to Help Train your Brain

The brain is a very complex organ, however, in some ways it is very simple, and can be compared to your muscles; If you don’t use it, you will loose it! 

There are many levels of training your brain, everything from Synergy’s M5 Performance Training Programs, to simple things you can do in your everyday life. Don’t let modern conveniences do the work for your brain! Remember if you don’t use it, you will lose it! Here are 5 easy ways to help train your brain and keep it sharp without a lot of time or expense.

1. Do your own math! You can check it with a calculator afterwards, but do it yourself. It exercises your brain to keep it sharp.
2. When using spell check on your computer don’t just click on the correct word, go back and type it correctly by hand! It anchors it in the brain and retains it for next time. Clicking on the word the computer gives you, does not.
3. Remember to turn off your own head lights on your car! If you have a car that turns them off automatically after a time, don’t let it. By training yourself to do it after parking and before turning off the engine it trains your brain how to sequence steps and improves short term memory.
4. When shopping, take the time to do good comparison of quantity vs. cost and quality on products! This will exercise several processing programs in the brain, integrating them together and help you make a smarter purchase.
5. Park you own car! If you have a car that parks itself don’t use it unless you have real issues, if you do, you need more serious therapy training than these tips. By parking your own car you train your brain’s eyesight processing and spacial recognition processing, this integrates the two programs together, making you more efficient.

What other things in your life are doing your brain’s job?

Check back for more training tips and also inquire about Synergy’s Brain Training Programs. Remember use it or lose it! Good Luck.

Love your Brain, Love your Body, Love your Life

We hope your first week of the New Year went well and continues to get better each week as the year goes on.

We have two topics for January on our Love your Brain, Love your Body, Love your Life campaign.  The first is brain fitness, yes you heard me, brain fitness. Not psychology, but actually making your brain stronger, so you can think faster, focus better and remember more.  Every year we set goals to get our bodies in shape, Synergy Training Center would like to help you get your brain in shape. Train your brain and your body will follow.

Second topic is Alzheimer’s. January is Alzheimer’s awareness month, we can all agree this is a terrible disease that is growing at an enormous rate affecting nearly every family. According to the Alzheimer's Foundation, an estimated 5.4 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. We want to do everything we can to either help for a prevention of this disease or help in dealing with the disease.

Check back often as tips and information on these topics will be posted each Monday and Thursday.  The more we know, the more we can do to have a better brain, better body, better life.