20 ways to futureproof your brain
4 Feed your gut grow your brain
We’re always talking about gut instinct. Well, the idea of the gut as a second brain has been confirmed by science.
In the average adult, the diverse population of bacteria known as your microbiome weighs about 1.5kg, says Professor Ted Dinan, head of psychiatry at University College Cork and principal investigator at APC Microbiome Ireland. “There are far more bacteria in that kilo-and-a-half than there are cells in our body, so we’re talking about an enormous number of cells with an enormous amount of DNA and a lot of that DNA produces molecules that our bodies require.”
In one study that Dinan points to, mice that were born and raised in a sterile bubble — so they had no gut bacteria — showed differences in learning, memory and social capabilities. They even had a different stress reaction. Furthermore, their brains showed important differences in neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which is associated with mood.
Your microbiota produces threequarters of your neurotransmitters and contains two-thirds of your immune tissue. Not only does it produce certain vitamins, including the B vitamins essential to brain health, but it has a big role to play in metabolising the good fats found in fish.
The connection between mind and body is so deep, that Dinan even published a paper called ‘The Collective Unconscious’. While the title was tongue in cheek, he says: “A point I was making was that a lot of our behaviour is actually, at a subconscious level, controlled by our microbiota.”
He gives an example: “I’ve a sweet tooth and I often wonder is it my brain that is telling me I want apple pie or is it my microbes — because if you eat a lot of sweet things, you end up with a lot of bacteria that feed off sweet material. So if you don’t eat sweet material they are going to shrink and die off, so they must have their way of maintaining their existence as well.
“Without us the microbiota wouldn’t be fed. So we feed these microbes and in return they produce molecules that we require.
“The evidence would suggest that maintaining diversity in the microbiota is essential for healthy ageing. For people who lose diversity in the microbiota, frailty follows on very quickly. If the gut biota, for whatever reason” — often poor diet — “becomes less diverse, you will have poorer cognitive function.”
Some strains of bacteria may work as psychobiotics that enhance cognitive function. For example, Prof Dinan mentions a study he conducted on Bifida bacteria longum strain 1714, that was found to improve healthy brain function. However, he points out that, “If somebody is overweight, maybe has Type 2 diabetes, is hypertensive, they get no exercise, they smoke, then they are at high risk of developing dementia. No probiotic or psychobiotic will alter that fact.”
What should we eat to support our gut microbes? Fibre. In particular, he says, inulin, which is a specific type of fibre that we can’t digest but bacteria can. “It promotes the growth of good bacteria like Bifido bacteria. You’ll find it in foods like chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, potatoes, bananas, onion and garlic. They all have reasonably high concentrations of inulin and so would promote the growth of good bacteria.” Other good sources are the polyphenols found in nuts, seeds, coffee, dark chocolate, red wine, olive oil and berries, and fermented foods such as miso and kombucha.
While certain food and lifestyle choices support a rich gut microbiome, says Dinan, the reverse is also true. Trans fats and fast food, for example, as well as too much stress and lack of sleep, will reduce diversity.
5 Water, water, everywhere
“Hydration,” says Dr John Briffa, “is very important. It’s been found that relatively mild dehydration, as little as 1pc, is enough to cause problems around concentration and mood. “A lot of people will recommend two litres, or eight glasses of water,” continues Dr Briffa. “All of this is nonsense really because the amount you need to drink varies enormously between people and how much they’re sweating, or what the weather is doing. You need to be drinking enough fluid to keep your urine pale yellow; if you’re doing that, you’re almost certainly well hydrated. Thirst is a pretty poor and late indicator of dehydration.”
6 The new frontier Your nasal microbiome
Move over gut microbiome, the new buzzword is the rhinosinal microbiome in your nose and sinuses. Just as there is an optimal balance of bacteria in the gut, so there is in your nasal cavities — and, in the same way, the microbiome can tip out of balance.
“As any cocaine user will tell you,” says Dr Bredesen, in his book The End of Alzheimer’s, “the quickest way to the brain is through the nose. Microbes have also figured this out.” Often these are mould species and bacteria that dig in and cover themselves with protective shields called biofilms that make it difficult for antibiotics to destroy them. Not only do they have access to the brain but they secrete byproducts that can destroy molecules in the brain that support neurons and synapses, he says.
If you have chronic sinus problems, using a nasal spray, such as Xlear Xylitol and Saline Nasal Spray (€13.65; available at thehopsack.ie), to help clear nasty bacteria will help. Dr Bredesen recommends restoring good balance with protective probiotics, such as Probio Max and Restore, however, nasal probiotics are not yet available in Ireland.
Don’t be a damp squib Check for household moulds
There is plenty of evidence to show that household moulds and damp can affect respiratory health, but Dr Dale Bredesen believes the damage doesn’t stop there. According to his research, chronic exposure to various forms of mycotoxins often found in damp and moulds contributes to a particular variant of Alzheimer’s disease that affects up to 500,000 Americans. Whereas other forms of Alzheimer’s typically begin with loss of memory, he says: “This type of Alzheimer’s tends to start earlier, in the late forties and fifties, and the main complaint is not loss of memory, but loss of executive function. They have trouble organising, they have trouble calculating. One woman told me she couldn’t calculate a tip anymore — that was the first sign. These are the people who actually have more trouble quickly and often get fired from their jobs because they can’t bring things together and organise them.”
The second sign may be that they develop depression, he says. “Next, they often have word-finding problems, trouble speaking and trouble with visual recognition, often with recognition of faces, which is called prosopagnosia.” This is the tip-off that the problem stems from some sort of toxic exposure, “and it’s often the biotoxins from the moulds”. Physically, the symptoms may include asthma, rashes, headaches and fatigue.
“If you have a house that has ever had water damage, or has mould, that really should tip you off. Please look further into this,” says Dr Bredesen. “There are now tests you can get for mycotoxins in your urine, so you can look at that. And get your house tested.”
There are a number of options for anyone concerned that their home may be affected. To check whether biotoxins from spores may be affecting your health, you can use a kit obtained from mycometrics. com in the US, who will analyse the results and give you a risk score. Closer to home, UK-based Buildings Forensics (buildingforensics.co.uk) will visit to assess your risk and how to tackle the problem, while Irish company Quigley Preservation (quigleypreservation.ie) treat mould and damp. You can also contact the architect’s representative body in Ireland, riai.ie for details of an expert in assessing your home.
Those in rentals or who can’t stretch to the measures needed to address mould and damp, can invest in a HEPA air filter such as the Dyson Pure Cool. But, warns Bredesen, “You really have to be careful because as long as you’re exposed to this stuff, you are damaging your brain.”
Up in smoke?
The debate rages on about legalising cannabis but, in the meantime, what is its impact on the brain? Dr Daniel Amen has just published a study that examined 62,454 SPECT scans to discover the factors that cause premature ageing. Schizophrenia was number one. “The next worst surprised us,” says Dr Amen. “It’s marijuana.” He supports legalisation, but “let’s not say its good for us.”
9 Inflammation When your system is on fire
The same process that leads to an increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, premature aging and other conditions, surprise, surprise, also affects brain health and links directly to Alzheimer’s. “This is the key reason why people have long-term brain health issues but also short-term issues,” says Dr Briffa. “It can upset the chemistry of the brain in a way that causes anything from brain fog to depression.”
Inflammation is the result of an immune system that has become permanently switched on, and can sometimes lead the body to attack its own tissue as an auto-immune condition.
How do you know if your body is in an inflammatory state? “If you have pain, you’re more likely to have inflammation,” says Dr Amen. “If your gut is not right, you’re more likely to have inflammation. If you don’t eat fish or have low omega-3 fatty acids, you’re more likely to have inflammation. If you eat a lot of processed foods, you’re more likely to have inflammation.”
There are also simple blood tests that your GP can carry out to check markers for inflammation, says Dr Bredesen. Ask for your high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP) to be tested. Ideally, says Dr Bredesen, it would be less than 0.9mg/dL. Routine blood tests usually include the ratio of albumin to globulin (A/G ratio), another measure of inflammation, which is best, he says, if below 1.8. Other good measures are the ratio of inflammatory omega-6 to omega-3s in your red blood cells, which he advises should be less than 3 but above 0.5.
If you find your inflammatory markers are higher than you would like, you may want to clean up your diet — reducing sugar, reducing simple carbs that are high GI, such as breads, pasta, flour-based products, processed foods, alcohol and bad fats including trans fats. Replace with anti-inflammatory foods such as green, leafy veg, brassicas and beetroot. Fish oils are hugely helpful. Aim for 1g daily of EPA from fish oil, krill or algae, suggests Dr Bredesen. And brew teas or use spices and herbs such as ginger, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric and thyme as often as possible. Tackle stress, and check your oral hygiene and gum health. If, when you retest, your markers are still high, then ask your doctor to delve a little deeper to check for any chronic infections, for example.
10 Check your homocysteine
The amino acid homocysteine is a reliable marker for inflammation and also for poor nutritional status and can be checked by your GP. One UK study showed that as homocysteine levels creep up, so does brain shrinkage — the higher the levels, the greater the impact on cognitive function. The effect stopped as soon as homocysteine came down to optimal levels.
Dr Bredesen says that having enough B vitamins, in particular B6, folate and B12, will help reduce your homocysteine to below 6mol/L. You’ll find these vitamins in foods such as wholegrains, dark leafy greens, legumes, almonds, sunflower seeds, fish, eggs and poultry. Alternatively you could supplement with a B complex vitamin that uses the active form of the vitamins — P5P, methylfolate and methylcobalamin.
11 Watch your carb intake
“The general view,” says Dr Briffa, “is we need carbohydrates because we need glucose for brain fuel. That’s not strictly true. A lot of carbohydrates, including starchy carbs, are quite disruptive of blood sugar levels so you can have highs of blood sugar and then lows a couple of hours later.” This has a short-term impact on brain function, killing your concentration and motivation. “And with a lot of glucose in the system from all these carbs, you make a lot of insulin, and we’ve got pretty good evidence that insulin resistance is a major underlying factor in cognitive decline.”
Sandwiches for breakfast, pasta for lunch and a pile of potatoes in the evening is generally not so good for brain health — both in the short term and long term. Instead, choose the most nourishing carbs, and choose the ones that are not particularly disruptive to blood sugar. That really means vegetables, advises Dr Briffa. Add healthy wholegrains and legumes to bulk up your meals if needed.
12 Don’t retire Challenge your mind
If you’re watching in despair as the official age at which you can cash in your pension drifts further and further towards 70, there is a silver lining. The later you retire, the more you help your brain. “When you stop learning,” says Dr Amen, “your brain starts dying.” He points to a study conducted with 500,000 people which showed that for every additional year of work, the risk of dementia was reduced by 3.5pc.
However, it is probably safe to say that if your job doesn’t challenge your grey matter, this protective effect may not apply. “You want to be doing new and different things,” says Dr Amen. “If you’re a master chef, learning new recipes is not going to help you. You want to pick up things that you don’t know or you’re not good at. Humans hate that because we hate feeling inadequate.”
When it comes to brain training with crosswords and suduko and the like, he says: “Just doing crosswords is like going to the gym and doing a right bicep curl. It’s sort of dumb.” He favours a business practice called ‘cross training’ where two workers in the same company learn how to do each other’s jobs for a period. “It’s good for the business and it’s good for the employee.
“When it comes to new learning, think of it this way: you want to work out your whole brain, not just, say, the language part of your brain. Some really good whole brain exercises are learning new dance steps with a partner (see Loretta Yurick, right, for more). There’s all the social-skill stuff that goes along with dancing with a partner and you’re learning coordination. Exercise to music.”
How does he challenge himself ? “My favourite game is table tennis — you’ve got to get your eyes, hands and feet to work together while you think about the spin.”
13 What did you say?
Hearing loss and brain power are linked, according to studies conducted at John Hopkins University in the US. One study showed that those with hearing loss were 24pc more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, while in another, the greater the hearing problem, the higher the risk of dementia. One possibility is that the extra cognitive stress of processing sound diverts energy that would otherwise have gone to memory and other functions. But there’s good news too. If you find yourself lip reading at parties, a French study gave a cohort of people with deafness in at least one ear cochlear implants and rehab; 80pc showed brain improvements within the year.
14 Brain stealers What’s keeping you awake?
It’s in our forties and fifties that many of us begin to notice changes in our quality of sleep. Anything from wakeful children, to stress, to alcohol intake can start to interfere, while falling progesterone levels can be a factor for menopausal women. So can sleep apnoea, a condition where you periodically stop breathing for anything up to 80 seconds.
According to Dr Amen: “When you have sleep apnoea it steals your brain. It damages your brain. If you’re not sleeping seven hours a night, you will have low overall blood flow to your brain.”
Dr Bredesen agees, and recommends that anyone who is overweight or who snores, men over 40, those with short, thick necks, or even those who wake up exhausted should get tested with a pulse oximetry test. This is a device fitted to your finger overnight that records the oxygen saturation levels in your blood and will tell you whether you need to take action. There are also some simple DIY tests and solutions (see case study above).
15 What do brains love?
Optimise your sleep, says Dr Amen. “A number of years ago, we figured out that while you sleep your brain cleans and washes itself. So, if you don’t sleep, trash builds up and leads to cognitive impairment.” It’s also the time when your brain heals and produces new supportive brain cells, as well as processing and packing away memories. In fact, there are few cognitive processes that aren’t affected by sleep.
Dr Briffa adds: “When people aren’t getting enough sleep it can lead to all sorts of mental problems — everything from slowed thinking and errors of judgment, right through to mood issues such as anxiety, low mood or even full-blown depression. Sleep debt also depletes willpower, which makes doing the right thing — rather than the easier thing — harder. Running short on sleep makes life more difficult in a number of ways.”
How do you know if you’re getting enough sleep? Dr Briffa says that everyone has different requirements, “but if you are regularly waking to an alarm, that’s normally not a good sign. If you were properly rested from sleep you would wake naturally, feeling rested.
“A lot of people wake up feeling they wish they hadn’t, and would like another hour or two of sleep. That’s a pretty sure sign of sleep debt. One way this manifests is through use of the snooze function.”
He is not a fan of sleep scheduling — the idea that you rigidly follow, for example, a 10pm to 6am bedtime routine. “This is just not practical for most people.” Instead, he suggests trying to catch up on sleep by going to bed earlier when it’s practical to do so. Sleeping in a bit when the occasion allows is another way of topping up. Naps are also helpful.
“These can really restore mental energy, but we just need to be careful about timing. Ten to 20 minutes usually works well, but 30 or 40 minutes tends not to.” Shorter naps allow you to dip in and out of relatively shallow REM sleep that can be very restorative. Longer naps risk you dropping into deeper sleep and waking from that can be tough. “Some people do take naps during the working day,” he says. Maynooth University and Nike HQ have all installed sleep pods in their offices, but most companies are not yet recognising the benefits of a well-rested work force.
Until that happens, the rest of us may just have to follow the example of one of Dr Briffa’s patients: “He goes to a quiet toilet in his office and and naps there.”