power your brain

Stephen Cunnane, Ph.D., researcher, author and

full professor, will be the featured speaker for the Ocalabased IHMC Evening Lecture Series on February 15.

› By Cynthia McFarland

We want our brains to stay sharp as we age, but all those supplement advertisements and recommendations can be confusing at best—and misleading at worst.

Dr. Stephen Cunnane notes that, although there’s no “magic pill” for maintaining cognitive function, we have at least two very powerful keys at our disposal: exercise and nutrition.

A full professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology & Physiology at the Université de Sherbrooke in Québec, Canada, Dr. Cunnane was awarded a Canada Research Chair at the university’s Research Center on Aging in 2003. He is the author of five books, including two on nutritional and metabolic constraints on human brain evolution: Survival of the Fattest: The Key to Human Brain Evolution (World Scientific 2005) and Human Brain

Evolution: Influence of Fresh and Coastal Food Resources (Wiley, 2010).

Although many people in developed countries— especially the Baby Boomer population—turn to pharmaceuticals, Cunnane notes that this isn’t the answer for such debilitating problems as Alzheimer’s disease.

“We’ve had spectacular drugs in the last 50-70 years, including antibiotics, painkillers and blood pressure medication, but, so far, there are no drugs for chronic Western diseases like Alzheimer’s,” he says.

“As we age, the brain is increasingly starved for energy, with most people over age 60 experiencing at least a 10 percent energy deficit in the brain. Ketones are chemicals made from fat that are an excellent source of fuel for brain energy. You can eat a diet high in fat and very low in carbohydrates to produce ketones, or you can use a ketogenic supplement containing medium chain triglycerides (MCT),” Cunnane explains. “We’re doing controlled trials with MCTs now to determine whether the improvements [seen on] brain energy level[s] from ketones also reduces memory loss.”

“Nutrition is part of the e ective prevention strategies to control the rate of decline in memory associated with aging, but it’s just one part of the puzzle, which also includes our social milieu, cognitive stimulation and physical activity,” Cunnane says, adding that the sedentary lifestyle so common in developed countries is highly detrimental to overall health, especially as we age.

Bottom line, we need to eat better and keep moving.

“Take care of what’s below the neck and you’ll take care of what’s above the neck,” says Cunnane.

“A diet rich in vegetables and fish is beneficial to brain function, and you should reduce the amount of refined sugar as much as possible,” he advises. “Nutrition goes hand in hand with exercise, and the majority of people over 60 aren’t coming close to doing the amount of exercise they should, which is at least 30 minutes a day, preferably with a friend.” underpasses at 49th Avenue and County Road 484 before ending at State Road 200.

These preventative measures help brain function, support the cardiovascular system and improve overall health.

“At this time, there isn’t a paved connection to the Ross Prairie Trailhead and no parking area at the end point. When the paved trail is extended to Dunnellon, a paved connector trail to the Ross Prairie Trailhead will be constructed,” says Ximenes. “The best Greenway trailheads to access the paved trail are Santos, Land Bridge and 49th Avenue.”

The multi-use paved trail will be open to all non-motorized users, including bikers, hikers, rollerbladers and skateboarders. And Ximenes adds that “it is handicap accessible for those who ride hand-powered bikes. It will be a safe place, away from tra c, for all users.”