healing ways

Healthy Brain Strategies

HOW TO PREVENT COGNITIVE DECLINE

by Linda Sechrist

benjavisa ruangvaree/AdobeStock.com

A healthy brain performs mental processes known as cognition, which is the acquiring of knowledge and understanding by means of thought, experience and the senses. This includes functions and systems such as memory, learning, language, problem solving, decision making, reasoning and intelligence. The aging process, a stroke or a brain injury can cause a mild to severe reduction in healthy brain functioning resulting in impaired memory and concentration, and difficulty in learning new things or making decisions that impact daily living.

Functional medicine experts focused on preventive health care agree on the ABC’s for optimizing the brain and protecting against decline: eating a healthy diet, exercising, reducing inflammation and stress levels, balancing hormone levels, cultivating healthy relationships and getting enough restorative sleep. With their expertise, they are helping to shift the old paradigm of inevitable aging and cognitive decline into a new one based on the brain’s neuroplasticity.

Harvard-trained neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, author of the bestseller My Stroke of Insight and the recent Whole Brain Living, is a true poster child for demonstrating the brain’s neuroplasticity and ability to recover from a massive stroke. She writes about the congenital neurological brain disorder that became a problem when an arteriovenous malformation exploded in her brain’s left hemisphere. For four hours, she observed her brain functions systemically shutting down one by one. On the afternoon of her stroke, she could not walk, talk, read, write or recall any of her life. Eight years later, she was not only slalom waterskiing again, but also explaining to the world, “We are the life-force power of the universe, with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds. We have the power to choose, moment to moment, who and how we want to be in the world.”

Devaki Lindsey Berkson, author of Sexy Brain, a hormone formulator and former researcher at Tulane University’s estrogen think tank, advises, “Most people think hormones are sexy, reproductive things and when they get older, they’re relieved that they don’t have to think about them. Not true. The body has a virtual physiological internet system. Hormones are the email signals to most cells. While the robustness of hormones and their signals affects lungs, gut, kidney and vocal cord health, it especially affects the brain. Balancing hormones with bioidentical hormones is one solution.”

David Perlmutter, neurologist and co-author of Brain Wash, cites food as the biggest player in both brain and overall health in his books and PBS workshops. “Eating inappropriately causes intestinal permeability, resulting in inflammation, which in the brain, threatens good decision making—from deciding on the foods we eat to turning off our televisions at night, getting a good night’s rest, making sure that we exercise regularly and

connecting with other people. Not good for the gut are dairy products, alcohol, highly processed foods that are low in fiber, high in sugar and refined carbohydrates, as well as antibiotics,” he says, adding that meditation and exposure to nature are powerful ways of reducing inflammation in the body and brain.

As explained by neurologist Dale E. Bredesen, author of The End of Alzheimer’s, stress leads to an increase in cortisol levels that can be toxic to our brains—in particular the memory—consolidating the hippocampus, one of the first structures affected by Alzheimer’s. Studies show that high stress levels can also contribute to brain fog, involving difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness and mental fatigue. The Bredesen Protocol, available from health practitioners and online, includes exercising, eating a plant-based diet, supplementing to reduce insulin sensitivity and optimize cognitive function, reducing both gut inflammation and exposure to toxins, treating pathogens and optimizing sleep.

HealthyBrains.org, Cleveland Clinic’s Healthy Brains Initiative, is an online resource center with information on how to manage brain health and create a brain span that matches a life span. It offers six pillars of brain health as explained by brain health experts, including exercise, sleep, relaxation, mental fitness and social interaction.

Supplementing for brain health should be done wisely, says Mark Hyman, author of Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? and director of functional medicine at Cleveland Clinic. He recommends at the very least taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement, omega-3, extra vitamins B3, B6 and B12, folate and a good probiotic that enhances the brain-gut relationship. Mastery of the ABC’s in kindergarten is required as the foundation of language and a lifetime of learning. Living the fundamentals for a healthy brain can result in a brain span that equals our life span.

Linda Sechrist is a Natural Awakenings senior staff writer. Connect at LindaSechrist.com.

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MAINTAIN YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH FOR Good Mental Health

by Abbe Lang

Vitamin B12 and folate (B9) are important vitamins for maintaining a healthy nervous system. These B vitamins are needed for producing norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. Norepinephrine and serotonin are neurotransmitters in the brain which influence mental health and your mood. Studies have also shown that there is a strong connection between foods and the brain that can help fight depression and boost your mood. They include calcium, chromium, folate, iron, magnesium, omega-3 essential fatty acids, vitamins B6 and B12, vitamin D3 and zinc. In addition to improving your mood and fighting depression, all these vitamins and minerals help reduce stress, mental tiredness, and fatigue. Homeopathy is a medical system based on the belief that the body can cure itself. Tiny amounts of natural substances, like plants and minerals are used to stimulate the healing process. The basic belief behind homeopathy is “like cures like.” In other words, something that brings on symptoms in a healthy person can—in a very small dose—treat an illness with similar symptoms, and this is meant to trigger the body’s natural defenses.

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GUT BIOME

The diverse population of microbes or bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract play an important role in the health of the gut, from physical health to obesity, to inflammatory skin disorders. Studies are now showing that promoting good health also includes the health of your brain and neurological systems.

THE GUT-BRAIN CONNECTION

Both good and bad bacteria populate our microbiome that normally exist in a balance that leans toward good bacteria to prevent the overgrowth of the bad. When there is an imbalance of the microbiome due to inflammation, for example, can lead to a leaky gut syndrome where undigested particles leak through the intestinal wall and end up in our bloodstream, which affects our brain. When there is an imbalance of bacteria in the microbiome, it can cause the immune system to overreact and contribute to the inflammation of the GI tract. This leads to the development of symptoms of diseases that occur throughout the body, but also in the brain. This communication and connection between the GI tract and the brain is known as the “gut-brain axis” which can be altered by eating unhealthy foods, taking antibiotics, chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Therefore, it is important to maintain and restore the health of your microbiome by maintaining a strong balance of beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract. This is done by eating a well-balanced diet, getting enough probiotics through eating Kefir or plain yogurt, fresh sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, miso, apple cider vinegar, or taking a good quality probiotic that nurture the growth of good bacteria in the gut, all of which can reduce the symptoms of mental health disorders. The gut is truly connected to the brain.

Abbe Lang, a health coach and homeopath based in Marlton, informs clients about the importance of physical and mental health. For more information or to make an appointment, call 856-452-3434 email Abbe@AbbeLang.com or visit AbbeLange.com.

Our Sound Connection

by Maryann Pino Miller

In his book, Power Vs. Force, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D, discusses how our levels of consciousness, awareness and energy dictate our thoughts, words and actions. “All levels below 200 are destructive of life in both the individual and society at large; all levels above 200 are constructive expressions of power,” he states. Fear, anger, shame and guilt are among the emotions below 200; willingness, acceptance, love, peace and joy are above 200. These statements have a lot to do with sound and our connections to it: We are energy. We vibrate. We emit a frequency. Sound is energy. Sound vibrates. Sound emits a frequency. So, it’s not surprising that we relate to sound and that sound can alter our frequency.

THE ANCIENTS KNEW

Consider that most cultures share the concept that life began with a sound. In Vedic tradition, as Lord Vishnu rested on the cosmic, shoreless ocean, the silence was broken with the cosmic hum we know as Aum. In the Bible, John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word …” Basically we were birthed into existence with a sound.

SCIENCE NOW KNOWS

Even science has found proof we live in a sea of sound. Geneticists have decoded the musical expression of our DNA. NASA has captured the sounds of all the planets and in November 2014, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe recorded the sound of a comet. So, it’s certain that our bodies respond to sound.

SOUNDING HEALING

Sound healing has been around for quite a while. The ancient Greeks used music to cure mental disorders. Australian aboriginal tribes used the didgeridoo as a sound-healing instrument. Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowls were used in spiritual ceremonies. Science is catching up with the ancients. One study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine found that an hour-long sound meditation helped people reduce tension, anger, fatigue, anxiety and depression while increasing a sense of spiritual well-being. The sound meditation used a range of Tibetan singing bowls, crystal singing bowls, gongs, Ting-shas (tiny cymbals), dorges (bells), didgeridoos, and other small bells. The main instrument used was the singing bowls for 95 percent of the session. People that had never done sound meditation experienced significantly less tension and anxiety afterward, as well as those who had done it before. Malbert Lee, a Hong King-based Crystal Bowl and Gong Master, says vibrations are especially useful for healing the body. “The adult body is 75 percent water, and water is a great conductor for sound vibration,” he notes. “When vibrations travel through the body, they promote circulation, energy flow and rejuvenation. The frequency of the sound synchronizes with the brainwaves and activates de-stress responses in the body.”

Photo by Magicbowls from Pexels

SOUND PROVIDES ANOTHER TOOL FOR OUR OVERALL WELL-BEING

And sound may put us back in touch with the Beginning, with Source when all was peace. Being in touch with Source puts us in touch with our true essence … with the peace and love that exist within us as our natural state. The more we can be in touch with our natural state of beingness, we begin to live from the place, from that truth and that energy … emitting the higher frequency of love and joy. Sometimes called sound baths, sessions can be private or in a group. Crystal singing bowls are popular in our area. The bowls vary in size which determines the frequency they each emit and the resonance the sound will have in the body.

The Center, Life in Balance, located at 45 S. Main St., in Medford,, offers Crystal Bowl and Reiki Meditation Healing sessions each month. For more information or to register, call 609-975-8379 or visit TheCenterLifeInBalance.com.

Maryann Pino Miller is a spiritual teacher, awareness coach and author.

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