Healing the Brain: How to Sharpen Your Mind and Avoid Brain Damage

this is the second feature in our ongoing series by Jim Harris about healing the brain.

No one likes to talk about Alzheimer’s disease. We all want to keep our mental acuity sharp as we age. Knowledge is power, however, and the best way to protect ourselves from the negative impact of Alzheimer’s is to stay informed and to do what we can now to keep our brain tissues very healthy. Prevention truly is the best medicine, and healing the brain is more possible now than ever before.

Healing the Brain: The 3 Stages of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease can be separated into three progressive stages of the brain’s functional deterioration:

1. Early Alzheimer’s Disease: Associated with moderate short- term memory loss, language problems and often associated depression.
2. Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease: Exhibits more severe short-term and long-term memory loss, more severe language impairment, wandering, aggression and sometimes hallucinations.
3. Advanced Alzheimer’s disease: Virtually complete loss of memory and intellect with the individual being bedridden in a near vegetative state.

Certain pathology is present within the brain of all people with Alzheimer’s disease.

The affected brain gets smaller in size, loses nerve cells and synapses. These changes mainly occur in the outer layer of the brain or the cortex as well as in the hippocampus.

This makes sense when we understand that memory loss is a primary symptom of Alzheimer’s disease and the brain cortex is associated with long- term memory and the hippocampus with short-term memory, the two affected sites of change.

Within these same two parts of the brain, two enzymes start to cut or cleave short sections out of proteins within the nerve cells. These newly formed abnormal protein sections eventually are able to migrate out of the nerve cells and unite together forming protein “tangles.” These protein tangles, in simple terms, begin to strangle the nerve cells to death.

The third pathology, in these same two parts of the brain, is the formation of what is known as plaques of Beta-amyloid. The Beta-amyloid plaques result in brain inflammation.

Healing the Brain with Superfoods and Prevention

The cumulative result of these 3 processes is the cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Healing the Brain: Risk Factors for Brain Problems

Researchers have been able to identify particular risk factors associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease:

• the risk for the disease increases with age and peaks at about 90 years
• the next generation of an Alzheimer’s Disease patient are at greater risk for the disease
• head trauma increases the production of Beta-amyloid plaque formation and its deposition
• strokes induce Beta-amyloid production
• depression increases the likelihood of the disease by 50%
• sleep deprivation increases Beta-amyloid production. However, it is interesting to note that taking short mid-afternoon naps enhances memory recall for hours afterwards.
• type II Diabetes with high blood sugar and insulin levels gives a two-fold greater risk of acquiring Alzheimer’s Disease. Some researchers go so far as to call Alzheimer’s Disease Type III Diabetes!
• additional risk factors are: high blood pressure, poor diet with low fruit and vegetable intake, low levels of the protein “leptin,” a high fat and or high caloric diet, elevated levels of LDL cholesterol.

Healing the Brain: Natural Solutions for Brain Health

If you are considering cholesterol lowering or statin drugs, understand that they have been reported to cause memory impairment in a high number of patients (However, there are statin drugs that do not enter the brain. For example, the supplement red rice yeast is a natural low-dose statin which does enter the brain).

red wine and fish can be helpful food that is healing to the brain

As a Naturopath and Nutritionist, I believe we must always consume great nutrition to have great overall health and this includes great brain health. Fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants, and the flavenoids found in green tea, red wine, cocoa, onions and berries are associated with less cognitive decline during aging.

One glass of red wine per day when consumed with a meal has been shown to reduce the negative vascular effects seen with dementia and over a 20 year period of time individuals doing this exhibit 50% fewer deaths over non-drinkers or heavy drinkers. High dietary fish intake is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease which is probably related to the protective function of the Omega-3 fatty acids in the fish.

Caffeine is a brain stimulant but it does not increase cognitive performance above normal. It has been stated that caffeine has benefits for the damaged brain by improving performance and protecting against brain dysfunction. Studies show that caffeine suppresses the action of the two enzymes responsible for the formation of the protein “tangles” described earlier and for the removal of the Beta-amyloid plaques which cause the brain inflammation of the Alzheimer’s patient. Research indicates that Alzheimer’s patients show a lowered level of caffeine and an increased level of Beta-amyloid in the blood. Black tea can be a good safe source of caffeine.

It appears simple. Exercise, use your brain, eat right and take appropriate supplements for a better chance of having a healthy body and a healthy brain. Ask your nutritionist/naturopath what supplements are right for you.

Jim Harris is a Naturopath and Nutritional Consultant assisting people all over the world through his virtual practice at The Art of Wellness Center. Jim is a graduate from the American Naturopathic Medical Institute and recognizes that our bodies have the innate capability for self-healing — especially when the correct information and energy is supplied in combination with the correct food, supplements and herbs.