0:00

Hey it's Scott Smith. Are you ready to

0:02

prioritize your wellness? Maybe you want to make

0:04

more informed choices on the latest health trends

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or simply understand the science then I want

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to introduce you to one of my favorite

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Some of you may already be fans of

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Dr. Mark Hyman. He's a wellness expert who

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provides science-backed guidance on how to live a

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bringing you the latest science along with

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practical tools and insights to help you

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make informed decisions. So if you're ready,

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Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your

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function just by what you choose

1:01

to put at the end of your fork.

1:04

You see, food is not just sustenance for

1:06

energy to fuel our bodies. It's one of

1:08

the most potent forms of medicine that's available

1:10

to us, literally medicine. In today's

1:13

episode, we're exploring the impact of food.

1:15

Five specific foods, we call them super

1:17

foods, but really they're just foods that

1:20

help boost our mental health, reverse

1:22

brain aging, and protect us from

1:25

chronic ever more common neurodegenerative

1:27

diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia

1:29

and Parkinson's. Hi,

1:32

I'm Dr. Mark Hyman and welcome to Health

1:34

Hacks. The

1:39

typical American diet, which the vast

1:41

majority of Americans eat, is

1:44

loaded with sugars, starches,

1:46

ultra-processed food-like substances, science

1:48

projects, basically, and

1:50

inflammatory fats, which can do

1:52

the exact opposite, drive

1:54

inflammation, that harms our physical health and

1:57

clouded our brains, strips us

1:59

of our zest, and by vitality for life

2:01

and makes us prone to sadness, anxiety and

2:03

depression. It literally breaks our brain and that's

2:05

why so many of us are walking around

2:07

with a broken brain. Now,

2:10

in previous episodes of the podcast, I've discussed

2:12

in depth how food influences our mood and

2:14

mental state, which I strongly encourage you to

2:16

check out and I'll link to them in

2:18

the show notes. However, today, I want to

2:20

zero in on the research behind five specific

2:22

foods that you can add to your diet

2:24

for tremendous capacity to support your brain and

2:26

health and make us feel, think and perform

2:28

better. Now, some of you may

2:30

be familiar with a few of these foods, but others

2:33

may surprise you. So, let's jump right

2:35

in with the first food that can literally change

2:37

the way your brain works for the better. The

2:40

first is dark green, leafy

2:42

vegetables and specifically a category

2:45

called cruciferous vegetables, also known

2:47

as brassicas, basically the broccoli

2:49

family, kale, collards, spinach,

2:53

arugula, Swiss chard, collard greens,

2:55

mustard greens, bok choy, romaine

2:57

lettuce, turnip greens, beef greens,

2:59

watercress, endive, escrow, broccoli, rob,

3:01

dandelion greens, radicchio, watercress,

3:03

lettuce, chicory, pretty much anything green, right?

3:06

How good are they for our brains and

3:08

what does the research say? Well, the data

3:11

on nutrients and bio-actives in green leafy veggies

3:13

and cognitive decline is very impressive. An

3:16

observational study from Rush University in

3:18

Chicago and the Tufts Human Nutrition

3:20

Research Center in Boston followed 960

3:22

participants aged 58 to 99

3:25

who enrolled in the Rush Memory and

3:27

Aging Project. Now, researchers wanted to investigate

3:29

the effects of specific nutrients found

3:32

in green leafy veggies on cognitive decline

3:34

in older adults over an

3:36

average period of about five years using

3:38

the data from food frequency questionnaires

3:40

and cognitive assessments. Now, food frequency questionnaires

3:43

are not the best tool, but they give us

3:45

some sense of what's going on. And

3:47

the findings were striking. They revealed that

3:49

the higher consumption of green leafy veggies

3:51

correlated with a slower rate of cognitive

3:53

decline, meaning they're less likely to end

3:55

up going into dementia. Now, specifically, Those

3:58

with the highest green leafy vegetable consumption.

4:00

function average about one point be serving

4:02

city which by the way his law

4:04

are usually eat actually having two or

4:07

three ties had at least they had

4:09

an average kind decline rates equivalent to

4:11

be approximately know get this a lemon

4:13

years younger simply with the one point

4:15

three servings a day of release you

4:17

veggies compared to those with the lowest

4:19

in take a really huge stella protective

4:21

effect was still there. After. Adjusting

4:24

for all kinds of variables like age,

4:26

sex education, lifestyle factors he's like smoking

4:28

and exercise belt part of the prom

4:31

of the state is his observation a

4:33

it looks a correlation or causation spoken.

4:35

Still learn a lot from this study.

4:38

Another study was entitled the association between

4:40

eating green vegetables everyday and mild cognitive

4:42

impairment which essentially is known as pre

4:44

dementia. There was a computer to base

4:47

cross sectional study it was A.is Shanghai

4:49

and the researchers and bessie the the

4:51

relation between the jelly consumptive. Green

4:53

vegetable consumption. And. The prevalence

4:56

of pre Dementia or M C I

4:58

and what they found it looked at

5:00

about five hundred and twenty five participants

5:02

age fifty five and older as part

5:05

of this long to tunnel study that

5:07

was called China Longitudinal Aging Study it

5:09

was any Shanghai and use food frequency

5:12

questionnaire to assess her diet and the

5:14

main findings indicate the participants who consume

5:16

green vegetables had a seventy eight percent

5:18

reduce risk of M C I compared

5:21

to those who did not. Now is

5:23

not. Causation. But as

5:25

a pretty good association. and it was

5:27

and still there after adjusting for age.

5:29

Education, hobbies, internet, you sleep patterns, a

5:31

lot of other things that can kind

5:33

of mess up your kind decline Now

5:35

Ginza, the cross sectional study was cannot

5:37

prove cause and effect, but what could

5:39

be the mechanism rights? What is the

5:41

mechanism of really huge veggies and a

5:44

positive effect on their brain? Well, There's.

5:46

a lot of reasons antioxidants and protective

5:48

fido chemicals now wielding a fight of

5:50

chemicals as essential nutrients but they kind

5:53

of our their their protective suits right

5:55

we know harmful foods like sugar and

5:57

process who and so forth but there

5:59

are protective foods and we want to eat more

6:01

of those and less of the harmful foods. Now

6:04

green leafy vegetables contain anti-inflammatory

6:06

molecules and antioxidants things

6:08

like vitamin C and E carotenoids

6:10

which are the green orange

6:13

things actually also but they're in the green

6:15

vegetables, lutein which is great for eyes, alpha-leno-lenic

6:18

acid which is plant-based omega-3s,

6:20

they contain polyphenols which are

6:22

these plant-based anti-inflammatory chemicals, flavonoids

6:24

things like campfroll, all these

6:27

things reduce oxidative stress

6:29

which causes inflammation and then

6:31

reduce more importantly neuroinflammation

6:33

which is inflammation of your brain.

6:37

So oxidative stress damages your cells

6:40

and it can contribute to the formation

6:42

and accumulation of something called beta amyloid

6:44

plaques. Now you might have heard of

6:47

amyloid theory of Alzheimer's and amyloid to

6:49

be clear is not the cause of Alzheimer's although

6:52

many for many years thought it was and we

6:54

spent billions of dollars studying research to prove that

6:56

it was but we never could be successful. It's

6:59

sort of a side effect of inflammation and

7:01

it's the body's attempt to deal with a

7:03

bad set of circumstances. So it's sort of

7:05

a bystander in the process of dementia and

7:07

it does gum up your brain but it's

7:09

really not the issue it's the inflammation that's

7:11

driving the amyloid development and some of these

7:13

foods can be protected right. So some

7:15

studies suggest that polyphenols can inhibit the

7:18

formation of beta amyloid fibrils which are

7:20

these plaques that are common in response

7:22

to inflammation in the brain and they

7:24

gum up the brain that ends up

7:26

causing dementia. Now they also

7:28

promote clearance of these plaques in the

7:30

brain so these polyphenols actually help the

7:32

brain clear amyloid which is great. This

7:35

explains probably maybe some of their effects

7:37

on the cognitive function that we're seeing.

7:40

There's also other nutrients like vitamin K, filiquinone

7:43

that plays a crucial role in regulating

7:45

calcium and activates proteins that help keep

7:48

calcium out of areas where it shouldn't

7:50

be such as the brain's blood vessels.

7:53

Vitamin K also has anti-inflammatory effects

7:56

And that can reduce neuroinflammation. It's also involved

7:58

in the synthesis of. Important that called

8:00

single lifted doesn't matter for a call

8:02

him but species a class of lip

8:04

is that are crucial component of your

8:07

brain cell membrane set. Your brain cells

8:09

have membranes and they have to mean

8:11

have a right fat within our the

8:13

right fats you in a bit more

8:15

information than these lip it's play a

8:17

role in cell signaling any maintain the

8:19

integrity the function if your brain cells

8:21

really important so what else is in

8:23

relief veggies the can be helpful Wealth

8:25

fully. Green. Vegetables are richer

8:27

folly not folic acid. Now where does

8:29

the word for they come from Foliage

8:31

right? Foliage Green foliage gets as why

8:33

goods are rich in fully and these

8:35

are really essential for breaking down something

8:37

called homeless sistine in the blot. Now

8:40

this a an amino acid that accumulates

8:42

in the blood in the absence of

8:44

the right amount of the B vitamins.

8:46

I fully be six and B twelve

8:48

and he goes up. When you're low

8:50

in these vitamins, be six, be troubled,

8:52

full eight and that is lead to

8:54

an increased risk for heart disease and

8:56

alzheimer's. In fact, everyone should have

8:58

their homeless as he measured. It's not

9:00

party routine checkup when you go to

9:03

the doctor, but it's essential. If your

9:05

level is over fourteen, your risk of

9:07

dementia goes up by fifty percent. Snuff

9:09

Function Health, which is the company that

9:11

I cofounded to give you access to

9:13

your own health data and lab measurements.

9:16

Is. Part of the hundred plus lab test

9:18

your to get see you can access it

9:20

at Function health.com for such mark and skip

9:22

the two hundred thousand person weightless you want

9:24

to get your almost as he checked and

9:26

there's many others as you do to were

9:28

put off by them that podcasting also. Greens.

9:31

Have Be vitamins and many leafy greens

9:33

are also rich in other b vitamins

9:36

including Be Six and Beach While which

9:38

are also vital for brain health. Now

9:40

these vitamins are really important because they're

9:42

involved in neurotransmitter synthesis, right? the little

9:45

message or chemicals of your brain and

9:47

in the metabolism of your brain. and

9:49

they help support overall brain function and

9:51

reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Now

9:54

I had this eighty five your patient

9:56

once. she was diagnosed with pre dementia

9:58

and she was told. get her

10:00

affairs in order because according to traditional

10:02

medicine, it's a one-way street. Do you have pre-dementia? You're

10:04

heading all the way to dementia and it's as slow

10:07

as slippery slope or maybe sometimes fast. Now,

10:09

as people get older, their stomachs don't absorb

10:11

nutrients so well, especially B12. And

10:14

it turned out she was really low

10:16

in B12 and folate, which we measured

10:18

by checking her home with 16 in

10:20

her blood and a special test for

10:23

B12 that most doctors again don't check

10:25

called methylmalonic acid. It's a much better

10:27

indicator of your B12 status and it's

10:29

also part of the function health basic

10:31

testing. Now, we gave her

10:33

the right forms of the nutrients and guess what?

10:35

Her pre-dementia went away and she called me a

10:37

few years later and I thought, oh, maybe she's

10:40

sliding. I don't know what's happening. She says, well,

10:42

Dr. Hyman, I'm just going trekking in Bhutan and

10:44

I want to know what I should take to

10:47

protect myself when I go away. I'm like,

10:49

oh, great. This is a fabulous story. She's

10:51

not going downhill. She's going literally uphill. Now,

10:54

what are the actual takeaways? How do you apply this

10:56

science for everyday life? Well, the

10:58

recommended intake of non-starchy veggies is

11:00

five to nine servings. That's

11:02

only about two and a half cups of cooked greens. One

11:05

serving is about a half a cup of

11:07

cooked or one cup of raw. But

11:10

you have to understand that's just the minimum,

11:12

right? If we want to use food to

11:14

feel younger to help our brain function better,

11:17

we need to boost our diet to include

11:19

eight to 10 cups of

11:22

veggies and fruit every day. Now, it sounds like a

11:24

lot, but thankfully, there's lots of ways to introduce more

11:26

veggies in your diet. You can eat more soups, for

11:28

example. Soups are a great way to get more veggies

11:30

in your diet. You can make a

11:32

vegetable based by pureeing several types of greens and

11:35

adding spices to it. You

11:37

can make vegetable noodles. Did you

11:39

know it's super easy to make noodles out

11:41

of veggies? It's also a great low-carb substitute

11:43

for regular pasta. So you insert your veggie

11:45

of choice into a spiralizer. It's a kitchen

11:47

gadget that processes them into noodle-like shapes. In

11:49

fact, they're really cool. Choose healthy snacks. Instead

11:51

of reaching for a bag of chips, keep

11:54

a stash of raw veggie sticks handy when

11:56

you're looking to munch on something between meals.

11:59

Bell peppers and carrots. carrots are great options for this,

12:01

right? Also, hide your veggies

12:03

in smoothies. Smoothies are great and they're

12:05

great tasting and they add a

12:07

significant amount of greens to your diet if you

12:09

put greens in there. And you can add any

12:11

number of different veggies without compromising the free flavor

12:14

of the drink. Now, my favorite is spinach, kale,

12:16

romaine lettuce, zucchini. And I actually

12:18

also love to make just a plain old

12:20

green smoothie with just greens and cucumbers, celery,

12:22

I love ginger, lemon, maybe half an apple.

12:24

It's so easy to make. It's so yummy

12:26

and you can get a lot of veggies

12:28

in by drinking your veggies. Literally. So,

12:31

what else besides green

12:33

leafy vegetables is protective for your

12:35

brain? What's the second big group

12:39

of food or foods that can

12:41

do this? Well, small cold water

12:43

fish. Let me explain why. Now,

12:45

I call these the smash fish.

12:48

Salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and

12:50

herring. Now, you might not like

12:52

them but they are the most nutritionally dense,

12:54

the lowest in toxins and the highest in

12:56

omega-3 fats. Plus, trout and

12:59

oysters are also great. Now, why is

13:01

fish good for our brains? What does

13:03

the research actually say? Well, a

13:05

new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition looked

13:07

at the diet of 798 adults aged

13:11

65 to 97 and

13:13

they looked at 102 item

13:15

questionnaire using the Center

13:17

for Epinomagic Studies Depression Scale. Now,

13:20

participants were categorized based on adherence to the

13:22

Mediterranean diet. Now, we can argue what is

13:24

a Mediterranean diet? Is there a better diet

13:27

out there? But it's basically a

13:29

whole foods healthy diet, right? And it's not

13:31

and basically what is Mediterranean diet? It could

13:33

be pizza and pasta. That's what we're talking

13:36

about. We're talking about whole foods, right? Lots

13:38

of veggies, fruit, olive oil, nuts, seeds, fish,

13:41

whole grains, beans. That's a Mediterranean diet.

13:43

Now, the higher adherence to the diet

13:46

was correlated with a 55% lower

13:48

risk of depression symptoms. Increased

13:50

fish intake was linked to a

13:52

44% reduced risk of

13:54

depression overall and a 56% reduction in

13:57

women. Now, each additional

14:00

gram of fish per day decreased

14:03

a woman's depression risk by 2%.

14:06

And three or more servings of fresh

14:08

fish a week reduced depression by 62%.

14:10

Now think of that in the context

14:12

of our mental health crisis. I mean,

14:14

we're all taking Prozac and being

14:16

in therapy and doing all these things, but what

14:18

if we just ate a can of sardines three

14:21

times a week, right? You might have

14:23

no friends, they might like how I smell, but maybe

14:25

it won't be depressed. Now,

14:28

I'm just kidding. I love sardines and they're great and they're

14:31

delicious. And I just came from Europe where they have fresh

14:33

sardines, they're so good. Now, what

14:35

they found was interesting, there was no effect with

14:37

canned tuna. Now, tuna is also high in omega-3s,

14:39

but it's also high in mercury, which can actually

14:41

cause depression and it can be a

14:44

concern. So I would stay away from those

14:46

big fish like tuna, swordfish, halibut, and

14:49

so forth. Now, you can use the

14:51

guide from the Environmental Working Group, ewg.org,

14:54

and you can see their guide on choosing fish

14:56

for the lowest amount of mercury. So just go

14:58

to ewg.org and you'll learn about it. So

15:01

just a quick note about women in the

15:03

study, but women, women who consume more

15:05

monounsaturated, right, from olive oil, avocados, macadamia

15:08

nuts, right, versus saturated fat. And

15:11

they did this from fatty fish, olive

15:13

oil, peanuts, avocados, almonds, pecans, all that,

15:15

cashews, hazelnuts. They had a 42% lower

15:19

risk of depressive symptoms just by eating

15:22

more nuts and omega-3 fats. Now,

15:24

in men, fruit and nut consumption

15:26

led to an 82% reduction

15:29

in the depression risk. And

15:31

other large studies that are observational studies

15:33

have similar findings, right? There's an inverse

15:35

correlation between fish consumption and the risk

15:38

for depression. So more fish, less

15:40

depression. And the lower your

15:42

fish intake, the higher your risk for depression

15:45

and poor mental health. The same

15:47

is also true for memory and our

15:49

risk of cognitive decline. A 12-week randomized

15:51

controlled trial, and this is more of a

15:53

cause and effect type study, right? So that's

15:55

a better type of study. A

15:57

12-week randomized controlled trial published in the journal...

16:00

nutrition and healthy aging, looked

16:02

at the impact of omega-3 fish

16:04

consumption on cognition in

16:06

57 elderly adults aged 65 to 79

16:09

who lived in a retirement center in South

16:11

Africa. Now these types of studies actually can

16:13

be better at proving cause and effect. Now

16:15

the intervention group received canned sardines and fish

16:18

bread weekly, about 2.2 grams

16:20

of omega-3s daily, while

16:22

the control group received canned meatballs

16:24

and texturized soy. Now

16:27

both groups' diets included elements of the

16:29

MIND diet. Now this is a combination

16:32

of the Mediterranean diet and what's

16:34

called the DASH diet, a dietary approach is

16:36

to stop hypertension, which is again based on a

16:38

whole foods diet. So they kind of combine these

16:40

two. And it's basically whole foods,

16:42

high in fruits and veggies, olive oil, good fats,

16:44

omega-3s, nuts and seeds, whole grains, beans and fish,

16:46

right? So at 12

16:48

weeks, the intervention group consumed more

16:50

omega-3s and scored significantly higher in

16:52

cognitive function tests and at higher

16:54

levels in their red blood cells

16:56

of EPA and DHA, which are

16:58

the omega-3 fish oils compared to

17:00

the control group. Their executive function,

17:02

their memory and their

17:05

problem solving skills improved the most. I

17:07

mean, you kind of want fish for

17:09

brains, right? So the

17:11

conclusion is the 12 week dietary study,

17:13

including fish as part of a modified

17:15

MIND diet, seemed to enhance the cognitive

17:18

function in elderly people. Not

17:20

bad for canned sardines a day, right? You

17:22

can also take supplements too, if you do

17:24

this or need to. Now,

17:26

what's the mechanism? Why do

17:28

we see these positive effects? What's the

17:31

science behind it? Well, what

17:33

nutrients are responsible for these brain boosting

17:35

effects of fish? And I just want to say,

17:38

fish is great, except

17:40

for humans who've poisoned the oceans

17:43

with all the coal burning and pollution

17:45

that's gone into the oceans, all that

17:47

coal ash ends up in

17:49

the atmosphere, rains down into the

17:51

streets. It's absorbed into the water.

17:53

It gets into the algae.

17:56

The little fish eat the algae. The

17:58

bigger fish eat the little fish. and then even bigger

18:00

fish eat the next bigger fish and then on up

18:03

through the food chain. So what

18:05

happens is we're at the top of

18:07

the food chain and we eat fish.

18:09

We are exposing ourselves to mercury. So

18:11

fish, absent humans, are great, but we've

18:13

really poisoned them to such a jury

18:16

that I think most fish are not

18:18

safe to eat unless they're really small

18:20

fish, which is why I like the

18:22

anchovies, mackerel, herring, sardines. Even salmon can

18:24

be high in mercury sometimes.

18:27

So why is this so good for

18:29

our brain? Well, the brain

18:32

diseases that we see, right, whether

18:34

it's depression, Alzheimer's, even

18:36

autism and ADD, are inflammation of

18:38

the brain, brain on fire. And

18:41

omega-3s are powerful anti-inflammatories. You see,

18:43

up to 60% of our

18:45

brain is made up of

18:47

fat. So you literally are a fathead, right? Half

18:50

of that fat, by the way, is

18:52

omega-3 fats. So they're essential. These are called

18:54

essential fatty acids. They're not optional in your

18:57

diet and yet most of our diets are

18:59

deficient in these essential fatty acids. So they're

19:01

like a vitamin or mineral. If you don't

19:03

get them, you're going to get deficiency and

19:05

it shows up as depression, dementia and a

19:07

whole host of other things. Now,

19:10

as we expand in our brain, our

19:12

cerebral cortex and our executive function of

19:14

memory and intellect, it

19:16

seemed to coincide with the introduction of

19:18

fish and sea fit into our diet

19:20

about 35,000 years ago. Even

19:23

hunted land animals had higher levels of omega-3s

19:25

than industrial radium. So like, for example, wild

19:28

bison have higher levels of omega-3s than a

19:30

field log cow. Now, it

19:32

makes sense that we need these omega-3s

19:34

to keep our brains functioning properly and

19:36

that a lack of fish or omega-3s

19:38

can lead to omega-3 deficiency and that

19:40

leads to mood and memory issues. Now,

19:43

the two most important forms of fish

19:45

oil are EPA

19:48

or eicosapentaenoic acid, you don't have to

19:50

remember that, and DHA or eicosapenoic acid,

19:53

it just comes from the chemical structure.

19:55

These come from fish. You

19:57

can't get them really from plants. alpha-linolenic

20:01

acid or ALA is also an omega-3.

20:03

It's a plant-based form of omega-3, and

20:06

it comes from things like walnuts, chia seeds,

20:08

flax seeds, hemp, and some leafy

20:10

greens. The problem is that only

20:12

about 10% of

20:14

the plant-based omega-3s, the ALA, is

20:17

converted to the ones we actually need,

20:19

the EPA and DHA. So if you're

20:22

a vegan, you're not necessarily gonna be getting this, and it's

20:24

a big risk for deficiency. So you have to figure out

20:26

how to get your levels up by taking fish oil, and

20:29

there are concentrates of plant-based fish oils where they

20:31

kind of jack up the amounts and convert it,

20:33

and it's kind of a bit of a

20:35

project, but there are some around. EPA

20:38

and DHA, these essential omega-3 fats,

20:40

play crucial roles in the body's

20:42

inflammatory system. We learned

20:45

this in medical school. This is not

20:47

a new science. We know how they

20:49

regulate icosanoids, prostaglandins, all these inflammatory systems

20:51

in our body, and they produce a

20:53

whole class of anti-inflammatory molecules, also called

20:56

resolvins and protectants, right? They resolve and

20:58

protect you from inflammation. They resolve inflammation

21:00

and they protect you. Now these are

21:02

great names. I love these names, but

21:05

basically, a lot of fish oil

21:08

has this in it, but sometimes at low levels. I'm

21:11

gonna tell you a minute about when you can get, there's high levels

21:13

of these protective things. Now when we're deficient

21:15

in omega-3s, it increases our risk of inflammation

21:17

in the body and the brain, and

21:20

it can show up like depression, mood disorders,

21:22

memory disorders. EPA specifically

21:24

has been shown to reduce

21:26

neuroinflammation, right? Remember the neuroinflammation's

21:28

linked to memory issues, dementia,

21:32

Alzheimer's, depression, anxiety,

21:35

ADD, autism, bipolar disease, schizophrenia.

21:37

All of these problems of

21:39

the brain have

21:41

been linked to neuroinflammation, and

21:44

EPA actually is inversely

21:46

correlated with all these problems.

21:49

So there are actually studies from Harvard that

21:51

show you can treat bipolar disease by giving

21:53

fish oil, surprise, or ADD by

21:55

giving fish oil or depression, by giving fish

21:57

oil or dementia, by giving fish oil. That's

22:00

how powerful these are and they regulate

22:02

all sorts of compounds in the body

22:04

regulate neuroinflammation. Now, when you have a

22:06

low levels of EPA, it increases your

22:08

risk of heart disease, not just brain

22:11

diseases, but also heart disease, skin disorders,

22:13

diabetes and lots more. In fact, these

22:15

fats are absolutely essential for life. We

22:17

got to get them from our diet,

22:19

but 90% of Americans are deficient in

22:21

these critical fats and I'm going to

22:23

explain to you more where to get

22:25

them and how to take them. But

22:27

I think at this point in history,

22:30

unless you want to poison yourself with mercury from eating

22:32

a lot of fish, you're going to need to take

22:35

omega-3s from supplements. I

22:37

mean, unless you want to eat sardines every day, which most

22:39

people don't. Now, what

22:42

other nutrients are found in

22:44

fish that might be

22:46

protective for the brain? Vitamin

22:49

D. And we think of vitamin D as the

22:51

sunshine vitamin, but also it can come from fatty

22:54

fish like herring and mackerel and so forth. It's

22:57

how many populations did get this when, for example,

22:59

they were living in northern climates, they'd get a

23:01

lot of their vitamin D from

23:03

the fatty fish. If you are living

23:05

in Inuit territory in Greenland or in

23:08

Alaska a thousand years ago, where are you

23:11

going to get your vitamin D? You're not going to be on the sun all day. You're

23:13

getting it from the fatty fish. Now, vitamin D

23:15

receptors are found all through the brain and

23:18

vitamin D inhibits a really critical pathway

23:21

in the brain that controls

23:23

inflammation. This is really important, guys.

23:26

There's something that the body produces

23:28

called transcription factors, and there are

23:30

many transcription factors, and these transcription

23:32

factors regulate which genes

23:34

are transcribed or which genes

23:37

are turned on or off.

23:39

For example, are inflammation

23:41

genes turned on or are the

23:43

anti-inflammatory genes turned on? Now,

23:46

the main transcription factor that drives

23:48

inflammation, it turns on

23:51

the genes that produce inflammation in

23:53

the body, is called NF-kappaB or

23:56

nuclear factor kappaB. Don't

23:58

have to remember that, but just remember that there's A

24:00

switch that turns on inflammation. Now. Fish.

26:00

It's a crucial trace elements got a

26:02

powerful any I said capacity and it

26:04

protects against Isis stress and sailor damage

26:06

and the body in the brain. Now

26:09

it's a cool factor for an enzyme.

26:11

a very important enzyme your body makes.

26:13

It's a sullen independent and sign cock

26:15

Luna fi Own peroxydases Now you don't

26:17

remember that but glued of fire on

26:19

you should remember glued a fine own

26:21

is one of the most important molecules

26:24

in your body is the bodies mean

26:26

detoxify or to get rid of in

26:28

my Or or toxins. It's the

26:30

final. Any power most powerful

26:32

antioxidant and it's a powerful it

26:34

inflammatory it so powerful by the

26:36

way that would someone comes in

26:38

with liver failure from town all

26:40

is the only thing and it

26:42

will save your life. otherwise they

26:44

need a liver transplant. Now what's

26:46

great about good a phone? It's

26:48

kind of sulfur sticky, it sticks

26:50

the toxins said binds to and

26:52

eliminates heavy metals his like mercury

26:54

which is great as smash fish

26:56

are high in selenium which protects

26:58

against murphy absorption and toxicity. So

27:00

I. Say you know if your meat fish etti

27:03

this small fish. I'm sorry guys, I'm a big

27:05

fish too, but you just can't unless you really

27:07

do insulation all the time. which is probably I

27:09

guess ha either. Or

27:11

it. So we got. Omega Threes we

27:13

got Vitamin D, we got Slayer, what else

27:15

he got? fish for me. brought something home.

27:18

as to Xanthan. Now. As as

27:20

an fins big word it's a

27:22

karate annoyed which you might know

27:24

sounds like carrots rate is the

27:26

orange. Color. In.

27:29

Mischievous right are free

27:31

and current noise aren't.

27:34

Are. One of the haiti oxidant families.

27:36

It's a precursor by the money and

27:38

fact when you eat salmon why a

27:40

salmon Pink or orange My the way

27:42

when you wild salmon is is much

27:44

darker if you notice that while cause

27:47

him the radar is actually what gives

27:49

salmon it's color so. If you

27:51

have salmon and are you in or in salmon? that's

27:53

why it's because of the crime rates. Our factory farmed

27:55

salmon and is blew my mind. I met with a

27:57

guy who. Was us.

28:00

They're trying to source how be wild

28:02

salmon and and and market years ago

28:04

as I read the part now from

28:06

bottle choice and he he team wants

28:08

to me me and he get he

28:10

brought a like this palette it was

28:12

like this don't you picked caped piece

28:14

of it's enter your house the get

28:16

all your color samples it was like

28:18

a whole power of different orange color

28:20

seeds. The fish farmers. Could. Add

28:22

to their fish to decide what color they

28:24

wanted their farmed fish to be right. I

28:27

mean it's a whole range of dies crazy

28:29

are in fact I was in South Africa

28:31

once and I was having a meal and

28:33

to this event and it was as big

28:35

fish it kind of look like salmon but

28:37

as I don't know what that is it

28:40

was white. And. I'm like. What

28:42

is that? and the like? Whoa. That's

28:44

salmon or my really is a yeah

28:46

we don't add color to or sam

28:49

and here in the fish carved think

28:51

of like wow spray the anyway so

28:53

what's great about us as amp and

28:56

it's one of most powerful it the

28:58

accidents and that that's around and it

29:00

damn it helps also reduce new information

29:02

it's scavengers, free radicals and activate is

29:05

incredibly important pathway called an arrest to

29:07

which is it and eight inflammatory he'd

29:09

yachts and pathway we'll habits but we

29:12

don't activated enough is maintains the integrity.

29:14

Of the blood brain barrier. When you

29:16

have low levels of enough to a

29:19

waxy of stress, you get damaged to

29:21

the blood brain barrier so that means

29:23

the brain is more susceptible to injury

29:25

from outside. Influences are in also. Was.

29:28

So great about as his and it

29:30

is. It suppresses. And. If kappa

29:32

be. right? Memory talked about

29:35

that test the pathway that is a

29:37

gene transcription factor that cause you to

29:39

priest lots and slammed her Marcos call

29:41

cytokine so Morris is Anthony was cytokines

29:44

or it So let's dive in a

29:46

little more we touch always great nutrients

29:48

how mega threes Vitamin D Selenium asses

29:50

and him on a dive a little

29:53

bit more into omega threes now in

29:55

additional or inflammation which is really important.

29:57

Omega threes also support brain structure, the

29:59

fluidity of your cell membranes and your

30:02

brain can you base your brain cells

30:04

also help nerve firing rate of the

30:06

transmission of them impulses all import and

30:09

the prevention of Alzheimer's D Ha is

30:11

the most abundant. Long. Chain Fatty

30:13

Acid The brain tha is that fish

30:15

fat It's so important in most of

30:18

the fat in your brain is tha

30:20

to the cell membranes of your brain

30:22

cells have your neurons are composed of

30:24

high concentrations of tha so if you

30:27

have low the aj your brain ain't

30:29

gonna work by now. Dj House maintain

30:31

the structure. And function of

30:33

your brain and your hippocampus, which is

30:36

basically the memory center. It. Also

30:38

does cool stuff. In addition,

30:40

it increases some. They called

30:42

B D N F B

30:44

the nastiest her brain derived.

30:46

Neuro. Trophic factor at a

30:48

mouthful, but essentially a neuro trophic

30:51

means trophy needs to grow. Neuro.

30:53

Means brain So and Rose Brain said miracle

30:56

grow for the brain rate you want. That

30:58

exercise also increases that lot of things you

31:00

let's make a free pets do and what

31:02

we found is higher levels of red blood

31:05

cell levels and particular of the a chase

31:07

lower the risk of dementia the big city

31:09

the Framingham Aspirin covert they found that those

31:12

who had the highest levels. Of

31:14

red blood cell, the Ha had

31:16

a forty nine percent lower risk

31:18

of developing Alzheimer's. And. An

31:20

estimated five additional years of life free

31:22

from Alzheimer's Not bad principal official. There

31:24

was also an interaction between red cell

31:27

Dj and also a bully for carriers

31:29

who are at higher risk for dementia

31:31

that's kind of the dementia gene. It

31:33

doesn't mean you're going to get it,

31:36

but if increase your receipt of you

31:38

make for me one standard deviation increase

31:40

in red blood cell tha. The.

31:42

Risk of dementia at went down even

31:45

more so. How do you know

31:47

your Dh he loves most? You probably know your

31:49

cholesterol our but who knows her Dh a level?

31:51

well you need to know it and again is

31:53

why I created Function Health. her cofounded this companies

31:56

to help people get access to all this data

31:58

about themselves is so important to the. The

32:00

you're typically getting like your real function

32:02

kidney function, out, liver function, electrolytes all

32:04

as tough question is kind of not

32:06

as important as some of these other

32:08

things and you can modify these things

32:10

by changing your habits and function. Help

32:13

is also one of the best places

32:15

to check your levels of omega threes

32:17

including the Ha can check Lenny and

32:19

Vitamin D. I'm super for it. Also

32:21

check your mercury level because that can

32:23

be assigned reading too much the wrong

32:25

fish. In addition, all the stuff omega

32:27

threes help maintain that fluidity of your.

32:30

Brain cell Membrane so that we call

32:32

the neuronal membrane. So really important of

32:34

healthy cell membranes with attire says communicate

32:37

with one of the room your cell

32:39

memories aren't healthy, you're not healthy. He

32:41

did you meet healthy Some Amritsar proper

32:43

neurotransmitter cycling across. the synopsis. At junctions

32:46

you're with, your transmit are released to

32:48

communicate from one neuron to another. It

32:50

also enhances. The. Responsiveness of our

32:53

neurons to the neurotransmitter so makes

32:55

our brain cells respond better. things

32:57

like serotonin and dopamine and that's

32:59

why the Ha also been shown

33:01

to help regulate. Serotonin.

33:03

Levels and as a result mood, appetite,

33:05

sleep, Other that stuff. So what's the

33:07

action? out of here? How

33:10

can you apply the science to your

33:12

everyday life? While the American Heart Association

33:14

recommends having to palm side servings of

33:16

oily fish per week which have greater

33:18

than two hundred fifty milligrams of each

33:20

year in tha per day. now I

33:22

love my can sardines and can macro

33:24

in water or extra virgin olive others

33:26

while planets their patagonia makes them by

33:29

the choice of as wild the sardines

33:31

and neck Now I bring a came

33:33

at me when I travel I don't

33:35

want to in the food emergency I

33:37

live a stick in my bag. a

33:40

taste great plane or i like to

33:42

put it i mates i call my

33:44

fat salad which has so mugler sally

33:47

olive oils them all as nods tons

33:49

of veggies fatty fish are all i

33:51

could be fiber fight of chemicals and

33:53

also the crucial fast for my brain

33:56

health the fire ourselves from got in

33:58

a healthy gut leads to

34:00

a healthy brain. Now you can also have

34:02

canned wild-caught salmon or herring or anchovies. If

34:04

you don't like fish though, you're

34:07

not out of luck. You can take

34:09

one to two grams of high-quality omega-3

34:12

fatty acids every day. Now you want

34:14

one sort of third party tested for quality and

34:16

purity and the recommendation I have is

34:18

the omega-3 rejuvenate

34:21

from BigBold Health. Now just transparency, I'm an

34:23

investor. I helped with BigBold

34:25

Health. It was started by my mentor Jeffrey Bland who

34:28

I think is one of the greatest minds of the

34:30

20th and 21st century in medicine. He pretty much taught

34:32

me most of what I know and

34:34

he's been just religious about creating something

34:36

that has high levels of the right

34:38

omega-3s, that's pure, clean, doesn't have toxins

34:41

in it and also has high levels

34:43

of these pro-resolve and mediators that are

34:45

like a super anti-inflammatory on top of

34:47

an anti-inflammatory supplement. So that's what I

34:49

recommend. All right, so we covered

34:51

greens, we covered fish. What is

34:54

the third biggest category of things that are

34:56

good for your brain? Well

34:58

grass-fed, this might shock you,

35:00

grass-fed regenerated raised meat, right?

35:03

Things like lamb, beef,

35:05

bison, venison, wild game

35:07

like deer, elk. So why is

35:09

grass-fed meat good for our brains?

35:12

Well grass-fed meat contains higher quality

35:14

protein and more bioavailable nutrients

35:16

than for example certain plant foods

35:18

that have protein. A report by

35:20

the Food and Agriculture

35:22

Organization or the FAO examined

35:25

more than 500 studies and

35:27

250 policy documents and they concluded

35:30

that animal foods offer

35:32

a crucial source of much needed

35:34

nutrients. Animal protein contains all

35:36

of the essential amino acids for supporting human

35:38

health, for supporting immunity,

35:40

for anti-inflammatory pathways, the raw materials

35:43

for synthesizing our hormones, our neurotransmitters

35:45

that are important for memory and

35:47

cognition, and the amino

35:49

acids and the bioactive factors with

35:52

high digestibility that are found primarily

35:54

in animal foods. Things like carnitine,

35:57

creatine, taurine, hydroxyproline, anserine, these are

35:59

all nutrients that are not available

36:01

in plant foods. Tyrosine, for example,

36:03

is an important precursor to dopamine.

36:05

Cryptophan is a precursor to serotonin,

36:08

which is important for mood. The

36:10

animal protein is also rich in

36:13

bioavailable micronutrients that help protect against

36:15

deficiencies like iron, zinc, and

36:17

B12. And they're also,

36:19

if you have the right rigidly

36:21

raised or grass fed

36:23

finished animal foods, they have higher levels

36:26

of the essential fatty acids that are

36:28

important for brain health, cognition, metabolism, and

36:30

neurodevelopment. So it's not just fish that

36:32

had the omega-3s. For example,

36:35

all the Native Americans were eating bison. All got

36:37

their omega-3s, not from eating fish because they lived

36:39

in the middle of America. They got it from

36:41

eating bison. They were eating wild plants. They converted

36:43

it into EPA and DHA. There's

36:45

also something in animal foods called heme iron,

36:48

which is essential for the growth and branching

36:50

of neurons during fetal development. Also,

36:53

zinc is found in high

36:55

levels in animal foods, and

36:57

it's really important for memory and

36:59

for learning, for immunity. B12 also

37:01

is critical and is only available

37:03

from animal foods. And

37:05

there are some plant sources that you can

37:08

kind of get like nutritional yeast and weird

37:10

things, but basically it's pretty much absent from

37:12

most plant foods. And that's why vegans need

37:14

to supplement with B12. Now,

37:16

B12 helps because it maintains the mildest

37:19

sheath and protects nerve cells. Island, for

37:21

example, and medical school, that B12, if

37:23

it's low, will cause depression. It can

37:25

also cause neuropathy, meaning damage to your

37:27

nerves because it's so critical for maintaining the

37:29

nerve sheath. So I hope you can see

37:32

that high-quality animal protein is the super food

37:34

for your brain and also many other aspects

37:36

for your health that I like to talk

37:38

about, like longevity, including muscle health, which is

37:41

very important. We've had some podcasts on that.

37:43

We're going to have some more. So low

37:45

levels of critical micronutrients that we see that

37:47

are found in animal foods are linked to

37:50

things like a lower IQ, autism,

37:52

depression, dementia. And

37:55

it's easier to get these nutrients from meat than

37:57

plants. For example, non-heme iron is in the form

37:59

that's found in meat. plants but

38:01

it's bound to phytates which is a

38:03

compound that blocks the absorption of the iron.

38:06

So you need about two and a half

38:08

kilograms of spinach, about six pounds of spinach

38:10

to get the same amount of iron that's

38:12

in 625 grams of cooked beef or

38:14

300 grams of liver. Now liver is probably one of

38:16

the most nutrient-tense foods on the planet. In

38:19

another study, a new study actually, it

38:21

was relatively new study, 2024, they looked

38:23

at data from NHANES. I've talked about

38:25

the four, that's the National Health and

38:28

Nutrition Examination Survey. And

38:30

this is research done by the government on thousands

38:32

and thousands of people every year. They looked at

38:34

their lab work, got some questions, examined them and

38:36

they looked at 20,000 participants over 10 years to

38:38

look at the adequacy

38:41

of their nutritional intake when

38:43

increasing protein intake from plants. In other

38:45

words, if you were more plant-based and

38:48

even more from plants, what happened? Now

38:51

they reported that with increasing plant

38:53

protein, this is important, with increasing

38:55

plant protein, the diet was not

38:57

adequate for total protein,

39:00

for calcium, potassium,

39:03

vitamin D, vitamin

39:05

A, choline, selenium,

39:08

B12 and zinc. Now

39:10

that's a lot of nutrients and

39:12

those nutrients are ones that are

39:14

essentially important for your brain. Now

39:16

certain nutrients were higher in the

39:19

plant, higher plant-based diet like copper,

39:21

folate, non-hemion, magnesium, thiamin and vitamin

39:23

C, which is great. So you

39:25

can, you just eat meat, you're eating plants and meat,

39:27

so you're getting both, right? But if you're vegan, you're

39:29

going to be a bit in trouble here. Now

39:32

the results really suggested here that

39:34

probably being a vegan is not such a great

39:36

idea and the best diets come from mixed sources

39:39

of food, from plants and animals and animal and

39:41

plant protein. Those are the most nutritionally adequate. So

39:43

let's look at some more research. Now

39:45

there was a study published in the American

39:47

Journal of Clinical Nutrition that looked at 500,000

39:50

people who were studied in the UK Biobank

39:52

and they reported a 20% lower

39:55

risk of all-cause dementia

39:58

and a 30% lower risk of Alzheimer's

40:01

for every 50 gram a day of

40:04

Unprocessed red meat intake that's bacon, but

40:07

like you know Grass-fed

40:09

steak and so forth and

40:11

that was independent of their status of

40:13

ApoE Which is the gene that increases

40:15

your Alzheimer's risk. That's pretty amazing another

40:18

review of 18 studies over 160,000

40:22

people aged 11 to 96 look at the link between meat extension

40:27

right not eating Pete and depression

40:29

anxiety and other related

40:31

mental health outcomes and They

40:34

reported a higher prevalence or

40:36

risk of depression anxiety and

40:38

self harm in those who

40:40

avoided meat Now the authors

40:42

concluded that the evidence does not

40:44

support avoiding meat consumption for overall

40:47

Psychological health benefits right really

40:50

important a cross-sectional analysis another study

40:53

Coard of over 14,000 Brazilians aged 35 to 74 They

40:59

found a positive association between the

41:01

prevalence of depressive episodes and

41:03

a meatless diet in other words being

41:06

vegan can make you more depressed and there's

41:08

a lot of Scientific evidence

41:10

about why that occurs and

41:12

the mechanisms just for example vitamin D

41:14

and omega-3 fats alone can explain a

41:16

lot of that Now

41:18

meat non consumers experienced about two

41:21

times the frequency of depressive episodes

41:24

compared to meat eaters Now there

41:26

are a lot of key brain nutrients that you need for

41:28

a happy healthy brain that are found in animal foods

41:30

So you need to eat some of those? systematic

41:33

review and there's another study right a systematic

41:35

review and meta analysis of 33 prospective

41:40

Co-hard studies they report a link between total meat

41:42

consumption and a 28% lower risk of cognitive impairment

41:46

So all this is not just one study. It's

41:49

study after study after study now. There are controversies

41:51

around meat, right? Right many

41:53

studies link red meat to risk for

41:55

all-cause mortality for cognitive client for Alzheimer's

41:57

for heart disease for cancer diabetes diabetes,

42:00

etc. And this may be attributed

42:02

to other factors and there are observational data so

42:04

there's a whole confounding set of things called the

42:06

healthy user bias. In other words, people who, in

42:09

most of these large studies who ate meat, it

42:11

was during a time when meat was seen to be not good for

42:14

your health. So if you ate meat,

42:16

you typically were not healthy, right? You ate

42:18

more food. In fact, the studies

42:20

show you ate 800 calories more a day. You smoked

42:22

more. You drank more. You didn't eat any fruits and

42:24

vegetables. You didn't take your vitamins. You didn't exercise. So

42:26

of course you had more disease, right? It may not

42:28

be the meat itself. Now there

42:30

may be other factors like TMAO or saturated fat

42:32

for some people. We just don't know.

42:35

Now we have to kind of be more

42:37

sophisticated if you look at nutritional data. But

42:39

the problem is that nutritional data is just

42:41

inherently weak and we have to do the

42:43

best we can by looking at all the

42:45

studies, the mechanisms and the science behind it,

42:47

right? So it's combining basic science data, animal

42:49

data, population study data, randomized

42:52

control that are small trials, large randomized control

42:54

trials. So you eat all of it together.

42:56

You can kind of read the tea

42:58

leaves and see the smoke signals and get a

43:01

sense of what we should be doing. And basically

43:03

the bottom line here is that we've

43:05

been eating meat and animal foods for

43:07

as long as we've been human. It's basically not

43:09

the meat that's bad for us. It's

43:11

the quality of it. And maybe if it's

43:14

grain fat or if it's conventional and for

43:17

eating ultra processed meats like hot dogs and

43:19

hamburgers, and maybe we're eating it with

43:21

other stuff, right? Maybe we're just not paying attention to

43:23

health. So we're eating our burger with a can of

43:25

fries and a 32 ounce coke,

43:27

right? That may be the reason it

43:29

increases risk. So the reason many population

43:31

studies show plant based diets may be

43:34

healthier is what we call the healthy

43:36

user bias. I sort of mentioned that earlier.

43:38

Vegetarians tend to have overall healthier habits and

43:40

don't smoke, they exercise regularly and more. It's

43:42

not the vegetarian or vegan diet that protects

43:44

them. It's all their other healthy habits. In

43:46

fact, the vegan diet may be hurting them.

43:48

There was actually a study I like to

43:50

quote, which looked at meat eaters and vegetarians

43:52

who shop at health food stores. And

43:55

they both had their risk of death reduced

43:57

in half. Why? Because they were eating whatever

43:59

their eating in the context of an overall

44:01

healthier diet. So what's the

44:03

takeaway here? How do you apply this

44:06

to your life? Well grass-fed meats are

44:08

good and if you can get the

44:10

regenerally raised meats that's even better. So

44:12

I recommend places like farmers markets which

44:14

are around everywhere in America, places like

44:16

Thrive Market, Forest of Nature which

44:19

has incredible sourcing of regenerative meats from around

44:21

the world and ButcherBox. Try

44:23

to eat depending on your biology

44:25

you might not tolerate saturated as well, you

44:28

might leave leaner cuts of meat. Saturated

44:30

fat from high quality sources is not necessarily

44:33

the enemy. In fact saturated

44:35

fat is important for your brain and those who

44:37

have lower saturated fats in their diet tend to

44:39

have more stroke because it's so important for the

44:41

structure and function of your brain. It's

44:43

a very nuanced topic so it's not the saturated

44:46

fat necessarily problem it's what you're eating it with.

44:48

So if you eat saturated fat with carbohydrates and

44:50

starch, bad combo. So butter and bread,

44:52

bad combo. Ice

44:54

cream, bad combo. You

44:56

know french fries, bad

44:59

combo because you're eating starch and fat at the

45:01

same time. All that's really bad but saturated fat

45:03

for example butter on your broccoli may not be

45:05

so bad and of course

45:07

it's very different right depending on the

45:10

person. Personalized medicine is where we all

45:12

need to be going and we need to understand

45:14

our own biology and how our own biology reacts

45:16

to what we're doing. So there's no one-size-fits-all diet,

45:19

one-size-fits-all prescription and you have to look at your

45:21

weight, your lipid metabolism right and

45:23

you don't want to like be a carnivore right

45:25

and forget everything else. You want to eat meat

45:27

but be smart about it. Most your diet should

45:29

be plants and meat is a side dish right.

45:31

46 ounces which still gets

45:33

you plenty of protein but veggies should be the main

45:35

dish. So you can have animal protein every meal. You

45:38

can have that to our meat from dinner or breakfast

45:40

or lunch. You can try grass-fed beef

45:42

sticks as a snack or there's now Maui

45:44

Nui. I don't have any

45:46

connections in but they're great for venison meat sticks.

45:48

You can have canned

45:50

salmon or sardines even

45:53

canned chicken on a salad for lunch. Alright

45:55

so That's meat, grass-fed meat.

45:57

We Got greens, we got. A

46:00

fish we got grasp meets

46:02

the third category as he

46:04

really was sitting. map our

46:07

brains is pasture raised. Ace.

46:09

So wire A's good for your brain

46:11

while the yoke has everything you need

46:14

to grow and maintain a healthy brain.

46:16

The eggs are often described as. Perfect.

46:19

Food or nature's perfect multi Vitamin

46:21

A Think of what they do

46:23

right? They. Have incredible nutrition

46:25

profile because they provide all

46:27

the nutrients for a brand

46:29

new wife. All. The nutrients

46:31

from further development and that helps.

46:34

Grow a new check and provides lots

46:36

of benefits for us to for humans

46:38

in terms of know developments, mental health

46:40

and cognition. So what's the mechanism here

46:42

By one of the nutrients responsible for

46:45

these brain boosting effects or the first

46:47

one is called coleen? Calling is an

46:49

essential nutrient that often doesn't get as

46:51

much attention as it served for brain

46:53

and mental health. Coin is a micro

46:56

nutrient important for many vital functions in

46:58

the human body In the brain is

47:00

necessary for dinner development for making new

47:02

brain rates for nerve cell. Function for

47:05

muscle function and for making new

47:07

neurotransmitters, particularly by his conversion to

47:09

something called acetylcholine. Narseal calling is

47:11

critical for memories. Fact: one of

47:13

the drugs we use for dementia

47:16

were some work brawl but it's

47:18

designed to increase acetylcholine to a

47:20

seal calling his mom and memory

47:22

and learning cognition, mood, mental health.

47:24

It also plays a major role

47:27

in neurogenesis, making new brain cells

47:29

and synaptic genesis which was the

47:31

formation of new connections and new

47:33

neural networks. and pathways in the brain

47:35

which is important for learning and memory cognition

47:38

and pretty much everything around us to his

47:40

concept is known as neural plasticity the idea

47:42

that our brains are plastic inevitability grown trade

47:44

you nerve connections through our whole life is

47:46

out of old and right up into death

47:48

really important understand your brains are not fixed

47:50

so you need to take a of your

47:53

be really oh gonna take your a hard

47:55

for any better access we have to learn

47:57

how to take care of our brains now

47:59

study suggested consumption can have an

48:01

actual positive effect on cognition. It

48:03

was a 12-week randomized controlled trial,

48:05

which is the best kind of

48:07

study, in 41 middle-aged and elderly

48:09

adults without dementia. Now,

48:11

they were randomly assigned to take a supplement containing

48:14

300 milligrams of egg

48:16

yolkoline or a placebo. Then

48:19

they looked at verbal memory scores and they were

48:21

higher than the placebo group at 6 and 12

48:23

weeks, so their memory was better. In

48:25

another longitudinal study of 2500

48:28

dementia-free men, they measured

48:30

the impact of choline intake on

48:32

the risk for getting dementia. And

48:34

the highest intake of choline, about

48:38

430 milligrams a day, was associated with a

48:40

28% lower risk of

48:42

developing dementia. So how much choline

48:45

is in an egg? Well, one egg is about 150 grams, so

48:48

two eggs about 300, three eggs about 450, which

48:51

is about what they found in that study. And

48:54

the recommended dietary intake for choline

48:57

is about 425 milligrams a day

48:59

for women and about 550

49:01

milligrams a day for men. And many of us are very

49:03

long choline, but guess what I also saw as choline? Sardines.

49:06

I know you hate me pushing sardines, but

49:08

they are a super food. Now, some experts

49:10

suggest that, now this may be even

49:13

more for optimal brain function and

49:15

optimal brain health and cognition. And

49:18

guess what, folks? 90% of Americans

49:20

are not meeting the minimum recommended amount

49:22

of choline. So egg intake is associated

49:24

with a lower risk of depression. A

49:27

longitudinal study in Chinese elderly found that

49:29

those who were compared to a non-egg

49:32

eating group, those who had three

49:34

eggs or more a week had a 38% lower

49:37

risk of depression, and each additional egg

49:39

per week was associated with a 4% lower

49:42

risk. There's also a lot of

49:44

other stuff in eggs, right? All

49:46

the B vitamins, B12, folate, B6,

49:48

biotin, and B6 is important.

49:50

Why B6 is so important for neurotransmitter

49:53

synthesis? Just to make your happy mood

49:55

chemicals like serotonin, or to make dopamine,

49:57

or GABA, the relaxation neurotransmitter you need.

50:00

vitamin B6 and it's critical

50:02

for mood regulation. It helps

50:04

alleviate mood swings, irritability, anxiety,

50:06

really important. What

50:08

else is in eggs? Biotin. Biotin

50:11

is involved in generation of myelin. Myelin is

50:13

that sheath I was talking to you about

50:15

that protects the nerves, sort of like the

50:17

coating of the nerve that kind

50:19

of runs within this little kind of

50:22

tube, let's call it, like a pipe

50:24

and that's myelin. And myelin

50:26

is really important for the generation of nerve

50:28

impulses and you know loss of myelin is

50:30

what happens with multiple sclerosis. You know what

50:32

happens there? It's pretty bad news. So, biotin

50:35

is super important and biotin efficiencies are common

50:37

and they can lead to neurologic symptoms and

50:39

they can lead to lethargy, depression, even

50:41

hallucinations because they

50:43

affect the myelin sheath integrity

50:45

and the regulation of our

50:47

neurotransmitters. Now, one egg contains about

50:50

10 micrograms of biotin or about 33%. So, if you

50:52

have three eggs, you're about

50:54

getting 100% of what you should

50:56

be getting. Now, what else is in

50:58

eggs? Sphingomyelin. Now, sphingomyelin, mouthful I know,

51:01

medical words or whatever, it's a type

51:03

of phospholipid. It's found in cell membranes

51:06

and it's especially important for nerve cells.

51:08

Now, egg yolks contain a whole variety

51:10

of phospholipids and sphingomyelin is one

51:12

of the most prominent among them and

51:15

it's a key component as I mentioned before

51:17

of the myelin sheath that protects the nerves,

51:19

right, the covering around the nerves. Now, this

51:21

sheath as I mentioned is essential for proper

51:23

neural function because it enables the fast and

51:25

efficient transmission of electrical impulses along

51:27

nerve cells and when you have no myelin,

51:30

you see what happens with MS, people can't

51:32

move their limbs and they get really uncoordinated

51:34

and it protects the nerve cells from

51:37

damage due to inflammation and oxidative stress.

51:39

It can also help protect against

51:41

neurodegenerative disease. So, sphingomyelin is really important.

51:43

One of the controversies about eggs, cholesterol,

51:46

right? I mean, this is such

51:48

old news but anyway, a lot of

51:50

this was based on observational studies which

51:52

show correlation but not causation. But there

51:55

are new randomized controlled trials. There was

51:57

one presented at the American College of

51:59

Cardiology. annual conference, it showed that 12

52:02

eggs a week for four months

52:05

did not have any meaningful impact on

52:07

cholesterol levels of older adults. There

52:10

was a study in the New England Journal

52:13

of a guy who ate 88 eggs a

52:15

week. He was a little mentally ill and

52:17

he had no impact on his cholesterol or

52:19

heart disease risk. Now a review of 30

52:21

randomized controlled trials show that egg consumption may,

52:23

in some people, increase cholesterol, but

52:26

it increases both LDL and

52:28

HDL. What matters more is

52:30

the ratio of those. If they both go

52:32

up, it's not a big issue. Most studies

52:35

around eggs show a reduced risk for heart

52:37

disease or maybe no association at all. What

52:39

are the take-homes here? How do you apply

52:41

this science to your everyday life?

52:43

Well, buy eggs from small

52:45

local farms or farmers markets. You

52:48

can find out a farmers market

52:50

area by going to localharvest.org or

52:53

eatwild.com. When you're buying eggs, look for

52:55

the following labels on poultry and eggs,

52:57

venture grocery store co-op, right? It should

53:00

say pasture raised, maybe

53:02

animal welfare proof, certified humane, organic. But

53:04

pasture raised is really the best because

53:06

organic could be feeding an organic corn

53:08

and it's not necessarily what you want

53:10

your eggs to be eating. So pasture

53:12

raised is really the best. There are even some companies

53:14

that create scorecards to rate different egg companies based on

53:17

how they treat their heads. You can

53:19

eat eggs for breakfast. My favorite way to have them

53:21

is to buy a jar of pre-made czechuca, pour in

53:23

a cast iron pan, put three eggs in it, throw

53:26

in the oven until the eggs are poached and yum.

53:28

Now you can also make an omelet or

53:30

hard boiled egg as a snack to take with you

53:32

on the go. Those are easy. And the last of

53:35

the five foods we're going to talk about today is

53:37

blueberries. Now you might have heard a lot about blueberries,

53:39

but we're going to talk a little bit more about

53:41

them. Now why are blueberries good for our brains? And

53:43

I think blueberries, and it can be really any dark,

53:46

colorful berry, which

53:48

is risk in phytochemicals and a

53:51

set of compounds called promenthusanidans, which are

53:53

found in dark berries, but blackberries, blueberries,

53:55

raspberries, all that's great. There

53:57

are anti-inflammatory nutrients in them. And

54:00

they're an incredible source of polyphenols

54:02

or anthocyanins, a phytochemical

54:04

that are responsible for giving blueberries their

54:07

blue color, right? And

54:09

they also have flavonols, they have asperitrols,

54:11

they have vitamin C, they're high in

54:13

fiber, they're great for the microbiome, they

54:16

increase something called butyrate, which is an

54:18

anti-inflammatory postbiotic that's made by healthy bacteria

54:20

and you're feeding those. And all this

54:22

does is help

54:25

fight no inflammation. And

54:27

it also suppresses the toxicity

54:29

of beta amyloid. So really

54:31

important, blueberries basically fight brain

54:33

inflammation. And as I mentioned, brain inflammation

54:36

is the root of all of the

54:38

issues with the brain, whether it's mood

54:40

disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, attention disorders, autism, you

54:42

name it. So what's the mechanism,

54:44

right? How do blueberries work? What's responsible

54:47

for these brain-boosting effects? Well,

54:49

it improves something called endothelial function

54:51

and vascular health, right? Endothelium

54:54

is the lining of your blood vessels. It's super

54:56

important for your overall health and helps your blood

54:58

flow and it reduces inflammation, all of

55:00

these are great effects for your brain. There

55:02

was a study published in the American Journal of Clinical

55:04

Nutrition that looked at about 61

55:07

healthy older adults and they gave them either

55:09

26 grams of freeze-dried wild

55:11

blueberry powder, which had about 302 milligrams

55:14

of anthocyanins or a placebo,

55:16

right, with zero milligrams for 12 weeks. And

55:20

then they measured the endothelial function, in

55:22

other words, the health of your blood vessels were

55:25

widely measured, cognition, like memory, executive

55:27

function. They also measured the

55:29

arterial stiffness, how stiff your blood

55:31

vessels are in blood pressure, which is not good if they're stiff.

55:34

They looked at brain blood flow or cerebral

55:36

blood flow. They looked at the gut

55:38

microbiome and they looked at a bunch of blood biomarkers. So it

55:40

was a great study. They Found

55:42

significant improvements in endothelial function, which enhance blood

55:44

flow, better blood pressure, better cognitive performance, but

55:47

there were no real changes noted in cerebral

55:49

blood flow or in the microbiome after the

55:51

Wild Blueberry powder intake. And They were not

55:53

able to get any more or longer, right.?

55:55

Of Course, it was funded by the Wild

55:57

Blueberry Association, but still. I Think we're going.

56:00

The Weldon Independent Study Many epidemiologic studies

56:02

population studies also show the same thing

56:04

stealing flat and I did take from

56:06

blueberries specifically to a positive impact on

56:08

mood and executive function. Now in a

56:11

double blind placebo controlled crossover study, this

56:13

is the best kind of study one

56:15

and young adults and the other in

56:17

young children. Both cards were giving a

56:19

slab and I'd risk blueberry drink and

56:21

a mask placebo so they can tell

56:24

the difference right? The impasse and the

56:26

participants mood is indicated by the positive

56:28

effect. Scorches? Precious. Yeah, Two hours

56:30

after the drink consumption was significantly

56:33

higher in the blu ray group.

56:35

soap, blueberries help your mood. In

56:37

a randomized double blind placebo controlled

56:39

trial, older adults with cognitive impairment

56:41

were given a while blueberry powder

56:43

or placebo for six months. And

56:46

the results showed significant improvement in cognitive

56:48

processing speed which is a basic components

56:50

that underlies all kind of guy is

56:52

right how fast frameworks and when be

56:55

tested this they were using electro physiological

56:57

and behavioral protocols for they did race

56:59

is getting measurements and a B C

57:01

found the brain worked faster on blueberries

57:03

at also might help with sewing kind

57:06

kind aging. In. The brain kind

57:08

of fatigue and may even predict he has been

57:10

for So what are the take ways Hear? how

57:12

do you apply the science for everyday life? Well

57:14

he at least a serving of blueberries everyday. One.

57:17

Cup. Now personally I like to buy

57:19

the frozen wild blueberries because they are

57:21

the most nutrient dense. Do you have

57:23

any smooth in the morning you can

57:25

saw them out and just maximum with

57:27

yogurt or whatever. But. That

57:29

rate and anchors leader Now Want to mention

57:31

one more food? During. a bonus

57:33

food here which is very promising ideas

57:36

can be very important for overall health

57:38

and immune help now the five superfoods

57:40

i mention above have extensive research behind

57:42

them and and they demonstrate deposit fact

57:45

on brain health and the neuroprotective properties

57:47

there's no doubt about this but there

57:49

is another asian functional superfood they deserve

57:51

the spotlight and is my favorite himalayan

57:54

tartare buckwheat sprout powder was bequeathed sprouts

57:56

and is powder made from as kind

57:58

of pre cut it It's 100%

58:00

regenerative, it's gluten free, it has zero

58:03

fillers, no additives or sugars, it's got

58:05

high levels of certain polyphenols like rutin

58:07

and choracin which has been linked to

58:09

longevity and it's farmed,

58:11

packaged and sprouted right here in the

58:13

US. Now what's the

58:15

mechanism for these brain

58:17

boosting effects? Well, HTB or

58:20

Himalayan TariBukwet is rich in dietary fiber,

58:22

vitamins, minerals and a whole diverse

58:25

array of bioactive compounds, flavonoids, anthraquinones,

58:28

phenolic acids, there's a lot of big words but

58:30

basically all these wonderful medicines and food that we

58:32

need to be eating more of. And

58:35

the research on Himalayan TariBukwet shows that

58:37

these compounds are neuroprotective, they're

58:39

anti-inflammatory, they're heart healthy and they work

58:41

through the epigenetic modulation of our genes,

58:43

right? We talked about the epigenome a

58:46

lot on the podcast basically it's the

58:48

piano player that plays the genes, right?

58:50

Your genes are fixed like a piano

58:52

keys, the epigenome is the piano player

58:54

and the epigenome modulates your genes for

58:56

good or bad. And this

58:59

Himalayan TariBukwet positively impacts the epigenetic modulation

59:01

of your genes which is a good

59:03

thing. There's also other stuff

59:05

in there like Rutan and Corcetin. Rutan is

59:07

a distinctive flavonoid that benefits heart health, it

59:10

also enhances circulation, strains your blood vessels.

59:13

Corcetin is a powerful anti-inflammatory,

59:15

it's also antimicrobial, helps immunity,

59:18

it supports overall longevity and overall health and it works

59:20

on many of the longevity pathways that I talked about

59:22

in my book Young Forever. It supports

59:25

healthy aging through many ways and

59:27

also is important for the gut microbiome, for

59:29

balancing immune system and has immunorejuvenation

59:31

properties. So how do you apply the science

59:33

to everyday life? Well you can put

59:35

the Himalayan TariBukwet sprout powder in smoothies, you

59:38

can mix it in salad dressings, you can

59:40

put it in coffee, in a blend of

59:42

coffee, it's great for you and it's really

59:44

delicious. I hope you enjoyed this little summary

59:47

of some of the five and maybe six

59:49

most important foods you can use to support

59:51

your brain health, to take care of your

59:53

brain, to reduce brain inflammation, to reduce

59:56

cognitive decline and to help your mood.

1:00:00

Thank you.