Keeping your Brain- Part 2

For those of you who read last week’s post, you know that I have embarked on a journey of exploration regarding brain health. Namely, I have now completed the book “The End of Alzheimer’s” by Dr. Dale Bredesen and have begun to implement the protocol to see what changes, if anything, I experience. In a nutshell here is what I have learned so far:

1. The basic thesis of the book is the dementia in general (and Alzheimers in particular) is not one disease, but rather a natural (and protective) response that our bodies have to various environmental threats, exacerbated by a possible predisposition for this affliction.
2. There are a host of things that cause this reaction- including diet, exercise (or lack thereof), environmental toxins, vitamin deficiencies, hormonal imbalances- and of course genetics. We can’t do anything about the genetics but apparently if we deal with the other things, there is remarkable evidence that we can stave off the ravaging effects of dementia.
3. Dr. Bredesen recommends that people adopt his protocol starting at the age of 45 (so I am nearly a decade late, but better late than never!). For me this is an experiment- one that I plan to be on for the next 6 months — and longer if I feel it is working. From what I can see there isn’t any downside, so apart from requiring some effort, it seems to fit nicely into my perpetual quest for higher energy levels, and my long term goal of not being a burden to my family in my old age, to the extent I can do anything about that.

So far, I have started a notebook/journal to write down all of the things that I need to do on this program, which includes:

a) Track my weight

b) Track what I eat- which needs to follow the “Ketoflex 12/3” plan- basically a high vegetable and high fish keto diet (where non-fish meat is a condiment). The 12/3 part means that you need to fast for 12 hours over night, and to stop eating 3 hours before bedtime.

c) Be more consistent with exercising (and incorporating weight training with cardio)

d) Doing some brain exercises

e) Getting lab test for the hormones, toxins and vitamin deficiencies- which is in the works.

f) Monitoring sleep and implementing some changes to insure the length and quality of sleep necessary.

I am only a couple of days into the program, and the good news is that I am not hungry, and some skin allergies seem to be clearing up. A big point of the dietary changes is to reduce inflammation, so it stands to reason that this would positively impact allergies- so that is definitely a plus! I will write about this again in a few weeks to let you know if I see any changes beyond that which I have already identified- and depending on my lab tests I may be taking a boat load of supplements- so that could be interesting! This is a project management exercise, but apart from some pre-planning on food doesn’t seem too difficult- but I may have a different view in a few weeks!