A joyful family gathering, a picnic with that special someone in your life, a really good book, these are all potentially wonderful and pleasant experiences.  Why do I say potentially - because pleasure depends on having a well functioning brain.  Just ask someone with depressive disorder, ADHD, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's, or dementia.  When the brain is not working properly, pleasure is a thing of the past.

Brain function is something so basic to our experience of life that we take it for granted.  But without it, life just does not happen for us. 

Should we be worried about this?  When I was young all the old people I knew were sharp-witted and fully functional.  I would occasionally hear about some old person getting a little crazy, but I never met one.  Such things were rare.  The major brain disorder I would hear about was brain function messed up by a stroke.  I never even heard the term Alzheimer's back then.

These days, loss of functional capacity has become the norm.  It is expected that as you get older you are going to lose your ability to care for yourself. Lose your marbles, and your kids will be looking to put you in a home.  What is going on?  Depending upon the sources I read, the expected rise in just Alzheimer's is between 70% and over 200% over the next 20 years.  We are talking an epidemic here!  Add in all the other forms of brain disease and dysfunction and it will be the rare person that escapes brain failure by the age of 70.

And it is not just older folks we are talking about here.  Autism is reaching epidemic proportions in the young.  ADD and ADHD are becoming common place diagnosis for kids in elementary school.  Brain dysfunction is becoming rampant.  Yes, we do need to be worried about this.  We are on the list and our turn is coming up unless we start doing preventative things now.  Once the symptoms start showing up, it may already be too late.

So what is causing this epidemic of brain problems anyway?  What has changed so much over the last 50 years that what was once a rare occurrence, is now becoming expected?

It would be nice if we could point to one specific cause, because then it would be relatively easy to fix.  But it is not just one thing; it is our whole lifestyle.  It is the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the stress we experience.  It is the massive increase in chemicals and pharmaceuticals we consume.  Even more importantly, it is what we are not doing, that can give us leverage to break the expectation that we will loose it in our old age.

Boosting brain health to protect our memories and our ability to enjoy even the simplest of things needs a two pronged strategy.  We have to decrease the poisons we are taking into our bodies, and we have to increase the necessary good nutrition and activities we put into and do with our bodies.  Here is my list.

Drink only pure water
Eat only real, natural, foods
Avoid any chemicals in my food or on my body
Stay away from drugs
Get plenty of exercise
Get fresh air and natural sunshine
Love the work I do
Live in a harmonious and supportive home
Connect with God and life frequently

This may seem like a simple list, but these are the elements of life that were "normal" for folks when I was a kid.  It worked to keep their brains working, so it should support my own brain health.

Admittedly there are a lot more unavoidable health stressors in our modern world than there were 50 years ago, so I support my brain health with some "boosters".

Number one is fish oil.  There are literally thousands of studies now showing the value and importance of fish oil for brain health.  Those old grandmothers that made you take a tablespoon of cod liver oil for your health knew what they were doing.  The brain is built of and lives on the DHA and EPA omega 3 oils found in fish oil.  There are no other natural sources of these oils that we as humans can effectively use.  I use Omega Co3 from the office.

Number two is vitamin D3 - the sunshine vitamin.  Vitamin D3 actually helps clear the plaque out of your brain that causes Alzheimer's.  If you were to build up to and hour or two of full body midday sun exposure every day and were careful not to wash or dry off the sweat from that exposure, then your skin will make all the vitamin D you need from cholesterol in your blood.  If you don't do this then you need probably between 2000 and 5000 IU's of vitamin D taken orally each day.

Number three is Curcumin from the spice turmeric.  Although this wonder herb is normally difficult to absorb, it has immense value in supporting brain functioning.  Special preparations of curcumin like Turmero-active liquid solve the absorption problem to make the benefits of curcumin available to support and repair your brain.

Number four is Resveratrol.  This life preserving compound was originally found in red wine from France.  Human studies have found it has "anti-aging, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties."  It seems to create some of the same life lengthening consequences that have been found with calorie restricted diets and exercise, both of which are the best methods known for extending your life and health.

Number five is pre and probiotics.  These are naturally found in fermented foods like sauerkraut, pickles, yogurt, kimchi, and the like.  If you don't eat these foods regularly (like at every meal as the do in some cultures) then I suggest taking capsules daily of good probiotic culture.  I prefer cultures that will naturally survive in a human gut like saccharomyces boulardi, and lactobacillus reuteri.  Popular yogurt cultures do not survive in a human gut.  Why?  Numerous studies have demonstrated that gut health directly relates to brain health.

These are my daily "brain boosters".  Beyond that I prepare my own food to make sure I am not consuming food chemicals as most any prepared food from the grocery store is full of them.  My drinking water all goes through a reverse osmosis water purification system first.  It just sits under my sink and gives me water any time I need it.  They are quite common these days and fairly easy to install.

Exercise is probably the most vital piece of the brain power puzzle.  For the last few years the word has gotten around that it is important to keep your brain challenged.  But more recent evidence has shown that all those puzzle books don't really do anything.  But the most powerful way to stimulate the thinking part of the brain is just to get moving.  Exercise improves memory and brain function skills more that any other activity.  Move it or lose it applies to the brain as much as your muscles.

The last piece I want to touch on is stress.  Stress hormones literally kill your brain cells.  They make them explode.  If you are living a stressful life now in hopes of setting yourself up for a relaxed and peaceful retirement, it is not going to work.  You are frying the parts of your brain that give you the capacity to relax and enjoy, and they don't come back.  Once they are gone, they are gone.  The "work hard today for a better tomorrow" philosophy does not work for your brain.  Actually, hard work is not the problem, it is the stress.  Work hard but love what you are doing.

Ease and enjoyment are life skills that take a lifetime to master.  Start learning them now.  You will be glad you did.       
      

Yours in health,

David 

Coconut Flour and Coconut Oil

Magnesium can lower risk of death from heart disease 50% 

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About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years.  He began experimenting with  medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis.  In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education.  Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic.  He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice. 
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health. 
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities. 
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth.  The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework.  Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

Dr David DeLapp DC
Chiropractor

Ellen Flowers FGM
Spiritual Life Coach

 

 

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Jin Shin Jitsu

 

 

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Massage Practitioner

 

 

 

 

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