Youtube daily Lifestyle Jun 24 2017

How to produce more brain cells. The content of this video is based upon the

book titled the Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle, authored by Brant Cortright.

The book summarizes our current knowledge about how we can influence our

brains neurogenesis, which is the production of new neurons. It was

previously believed that we stopped creating new brain cells once we became

adults. Science has proven this to be false and coined the term brain

plasticity. The brain is flexible, everything we experience is constantly

changing and shaping our brains to some degree. The hippocampus might sound like

it's part of a college for hippos, but it's actually an important part of the

brain, responsible for learning and retaining new knowledge. Certain factors

that you will learn about in this video can have a big impact on the activity

and brain mass of your hippocampus, and the size of it is directly related to

the level of neurogenesis. You can increase your rate of neurogenesis at

any age, and in the reference studies it was possible to increase it by up to 500

percent. So, how can we increase our production of new brain cells? The book

categorizes these things in five areas: diet, body, heart, mind, and spirit. Let's

take a closer look at each of these, starting with the diet. The four most

powerful dietary neurogenesis factors are blueberries, omega-3 fatty acids ALA,

DHA, and EPA, which are found in fish or krill oil. By the way, if you're vegan

you should look into supplementing with algae, because flaxseed oil is not

adequate. Next up is epigallatecatechin gallate, or EGCG for short, which is a

powerful polyphenols found in green tea. However, chronic caffeine intake is

detrimental to neurogenesis, so the author recommends taking decaffeinated

extract supplements. And lastly, curcumin, a compound found in turmeric. Other food

compounds and supplements that stimulate neurogenesis include

quercetin, vitamin e, grapeseed extract, ginseng root, ginkgo biloba, goji berries,

rhodiola rosea root, and lotus root. Let's move on to the body category. Exercise

can massively increase your neurogenesis, specifically exercise that increases

your heart rate, for example high intensity interval training. Other things

include sex, proper sleep, music, silence, sounds of nature, and simply being in

nature, and lastly novelty and new sensory experiences. The heart category

is about emotions. Feeling good, experiencing joy, love, interest,

excitement, essentially positive emotions. Of course nobody feels these things all

the time, but optimally you should be experiencing these things often.

Relationships are huge influencers. Positive relationships breed

neurogenesis, while negative ones that cause stress, anger, or anxiety, decrease

neurogenesis. Feeling love increases neurogenesis by the means of oxytocin,

the hormone associated with love and physical contact. When it comes to the

mind we have learning, reading, writing, problem solving, complex work that

involves using cognitive abilities, discussing ideas, musical training, and

also mentioned in the book was that there seems to be a very strong link

between how much you use your mind early during your life and the prevalence of

Alzheimer's later in life. For example, nuns that were teachers had much lower

chances of developing Alzheimer's than nuns that didn't teach. This is called

cognitive reserve. In the spirit category we find mindfulness meditation, where you

pay attention to your breathing, and compassion meditation, which involves

wishing wellness to others. Prayer can also have a similar effect to compassion

meditation. I want to end this video with a list of things that decrease

your rate of neurogenesis, and that you should avoid if you want a healthy brain.

These are: chronically elevated blood sugar levels, high amounts of

carbohydrates, sugar, overeating, inflammatory foods such as fried foods,

cooking oils, and factory farmed meat, eggs, and dairy. Chronic caffeine intake,

smoking, alcohol, obesity, stress, despair lack of engagement, depression. Blows to

the head can be devastating to the brain. In fact a single concussion doubles a

person's chances of getting Alzheimer's later in life. Chemical and environmental

pollution also play a role, for example mercury which is found in many fish, is

the second most neurotoxic substance in the world.

And lastly, deprivation of sensory stimulation or emotional nourishment,

basically living a boring life, not experiencing interesting things, never

doing anything new and living every day exactly the same. And by the way,

excessive TV is also linked to increased risk of Alzheimer's.

I put countless hours into creating this video, so I truly hope you enjoyed it. Links to the

book and some of the mentioned supplements can be found in the video

description below. If you enjoy this type of video and would like to see more,

subscribe to this channel. I'll see you in the next one!