scienceofprevention Day 9 https://is-tracking-link-api-prod.appspot.com/api/v1/click/5190759833141248/5075654499893248 Host: David Perlmutter, MD, Board-Certified Neurologist & #1 NYT Bestselling Author EPISODE 9 OCTOBER 17: Move for a Better Brain - When was the last time you intentionally broke a sweat? With all of the conveniences of modern day living, it's very easy to lead a sedentary lifestyle. In fact, most Americans don’t get nearly enough exercise. - We go from our beds to our cars, to desks and chairs, to our sofa then back into our beds again, spending the majority of our days immobile. Unless we make a point to exercise, it just doesn’t happen. - Unfortunately, this lifestyle is not only detrimental to the health of our bodies, it’s harmful to our brains. As humans, we’ve evolved to be active, curious creatures and to interact with our environment through near constant movement. - Our bodies and our brains thrive when we keep moving, but our modern day, sedentary lifestyles are hindering us from a life of activity. The worst part is, this has a profoundly negative effect on our overall health, and especially the health of our brains. ================ in this episode: - the incredible benefits of exercise - The fundamental role of exercise in supporting healthy brain function - An amazing way that exercise can help you grow new brain cells - Simple, practical ways to make brain-healthy exercise part of your life ================ - It’s important to note that getting more exercise in your daily life doesn’t mean you have to spend hours at the gym each day. There are some easy ways to burn more calories as you go about your daily tasks - It’s important to note that getting more exercise in your daily life doesn’t mean you have to spend hours at the gym each day. - There are some easy ways to burn more calories as you go about your daily tasks - straightforward examples you can start using today ================ - things that have been discussed so far to reduce infl AND reduce the risk for alz: - - diet - - nurturing mb. - - avoiding environmental toxins - - optimizing sleep - - avoiding & managing type2d. - ex. is one of the most powerful instruments we have for reducing infl in the human body - the importance of ex. in terms of brain health: - - sedantary all day long - - ex. s/not be a supplement for anything, rather ex. s/b a core component of your life and other trhings s/b supplementing ex. - - ex. is as important as eating and drinking - - ex. improves insulin sensitivity, reduce stress, improves sleep, increases BDNF in the brain, increases blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain - - - ex. is a powerful insulin sensitiser, i.e., ex. makes your cells hungry for glucose, and, when combined w/healthy diet this effect of ex. is amplified even further - - - stress increases infl. in the brain, increases blood sugar, disrupts hormonal balance, alters gut mb. therefore need to redue stress as much as possible, and, ex. is a great way to do this, and, ex. increases the "feel good" chemicals in our brains making us more likely to continue exercising. - - - ex. helps improve depression - - - ex. helps improe the duration and quality of sleep (the time when our brains rejuvinate themselves) - - - ex. creates BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), a growth hormone for the brain that is necessary for creating new neurons (the process called neurogenesis); BDNF protects existing neurons and encourages new connections btwn existing neurons - - - - brain cells could have a few connections or as many as 3000 connections and the number of connections determines the speed of processing in the brain and your brain's strength and resilance to disease - - - - BDNF is increased significantly w/n hours of 1 session of aerobic activity - - - - when you sprinkle BDNF on nerve cells in a petri dish they sprout dendrites!!! - - - - BDNF is like Miricle Grow for your brain - - - ex. increases blood flow in the brain and blood delivers oxygen and essential nutrients necesary for brain health & vitality - - - ex. resduces infl, and brain infl - - - - ex. calms down the immune system so it doesn't make so many infl. proteins - - - - infl is closely linked to poor brain health, it's closely linked to alz - - - - exception: over exercise and get delayed muscle infl - part of the progess by which muscles repair themselves and grow - - - ex. increases antioxident enzymes which protects our cells from damages caused by chemicals called free radicals - - - ex. helps metabolism - - - ex. is actually the thing that grows the brain - - - ex. influences cognition and memory function - - - SO, one of the ways that we know ex. influences the brainis thru its effects on BDNF which are essentially growth factors that are produced in teh brain in neurons or the neighboring astrocytes - - - DBNF enhances synaptic active or synaptic function; brain cells communicate w/each other trhu synapses, synapses are formed thru a very dynamic process that requires BDNF, certain dietary protocols and ex. stimulates the amt of BDNF the cells make and the activation of BDNF receptors which stimulates the formation of new neurons and the strengthening of the connections btwn the neurons, a process called "long term potentiation" which is the underlying foundation learning and memory - - - brain is only 3 to 4% of body weight but it consumes 40% of blood oxygen, glucose and blood sugar - - - - ways to deliver oxygen to tissues: yoga, dancing - - - note: excessive exercise can lead to oxygen depravation, e.g., problem for high altitude clombers, so everythng in proper balance - - - when you ex., your biggest pump, which is your legs (not your heart), pump a lot of blood back into your circulation into your brain and w/better brain blood flow the brain can get rid of all the toxic garbage it has accumulated - - - anything that's good for the heart is good for the brain - - - - ex. improves cardiovascular health which is intimately tied to brain health - - - as we age our brain is similar to the silly outty that has set out too long ane starts to get hard, but, when you pick it up, hold it and warm it up you can start to shape it again - that's what ex. is capable of doing - - - - movement is what ends up taking advantage of that natural capacity for plasticity - practicle steps to insure you are getting enuf ex. - - find a workout buddy, bonus if it's a woman - - take it slow and make it fun - - - people don't like to do things that they don't enjoy - - - go for a walk, go to the pool, playing tennis, dancing - - - social support - if working out w/someone then helps motivate you to get it in gear and go too - - - maybe you like headphones (want to workout by yourself or can't find a buddy), that's fine... enjoy that - - take the stairs, park a little further away from the entrance to the store, make ourself walk a little bit further - - local gym, even a park where tai chi or youga is going on, walking in the park - - try to get 150min/wk of ex.; best form of ex. is the ex. that you do and that you enjoy the most - - - e.g., weight lifting and low and slow areobic ex. and hi intensity interval training - - - e.g., non-ex. activity: dancing, home maintenance, playing w/dog, movement - - - stagnation is the enemy ============ actionable steps to reap the benefits of ex. - increase physical activity in your life overall - - walking or biking to work - - taking the stairs instead of the elevator - - intentionally parking further away from the entrance of the grocery store - incorporate community info your ex. routine - - start an ex. program w/a friend or family member - - join a gym - - look for group classes - - checkout online meetup croups to find group activities in your area - find exercises that you enjoy and look forward to - - try experimenting w/diff forms of ex. until you find something that you really like - - take it slow when you're just starting out then gradually increase your ex. intensity and duration over time - - the goal s/b at least 150 min of moderate ex. each week - - find and protect a time for ex. as many days of the week as you can KF!