Brain health has been a special interest of mine and I have realized that as humans, we forget to pay attention to the importance that brain health has on correcting our physical problems, whether that is joint, ligament, nerve or muscle pain. This is not to say that isolating and treating the specific injury is not important, I have learned from my findings that one should also treat the brain through nutrition. A lot of people cringe for some reason when they are told to eat healthy and to make dietary changes, whether that is cutting down or eliminating sugars or grains. If you had a Ferrari, would you ever put cheap gas or oil in it? Probably not, so why would you put poor quality food into your body that might be damaging your brain and body? From my personal and clinical experience, I feel that when one is treating a physical injury you must also focus on the mental part and feed it the right things from an emotional, physical and nutritional point of view. Dr. Daniel Amen, who is a neurologist has written many notable books on the brain suggesting that, changing your brain can change your body. Dr. David Perlmutter, also has a really good book entitled “Brain Maker” which focuses on how our stomach impacts the health of our brain, which in turn affects our body. I would highly suggest reading books by any one of these authors.

The brain has a strong connection to the gut and it is something that significantly influences the brain? Research shows that the gut is the second brain. Why is this? Simply due to the fact that scientists have discovered that there are so many neurons in the gut. The gut has been found to regulate muscles, immune cells and hormones. Something that you might find interesting is that the neurons in the gut produce 80-90% of the serotonin in your body. The gut makes more serotonin than the brain does. Could this be why anti-depressants may not be effective in treating conditions like depression? It could be possible. Maybe its time you focus on supplementing your gut, with the right bacteria as this can help with brain health and in turn help with your physical problems. We can improve our inflammatory conditions, whether its an inflammatory condition affecting the brain or another part of the body.  Supplementing your diet with probiotics, whether it is from capsules or through foods such as Kefir, Yogurt or Kombucha are important and will help with your physical impairments. Remember that when you consume any product make sure the sugar levels are low as we know that refined sugars will create more inflammation in your body, which could aggravate your physical ailments.

Nutrition plays a very important role if you are trying to promote healing in your body. Did you know that foods such as grains, sweet peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, legumes and dairy contain a protein called Lectin? It essentially wreaks havoc with the lining of your gastrointestinal system and destroys some of our good bacteria that we need for a proper functioning body. Keep in mind that you can eat the pulp of the tomatoes. If you already have a weak gastrointestinal system and an imbalance in good bacteria you might want to consider eliminating these foods from your diet. Also note that if you are born by C-section, you have already entered this world with far fewer good bacteria in your stomach. It is important for these individuals to get probiotics in their diet to help fight off inflammation in the brain and body and to maintain good brain health.

We talked about the importance of the Gut but lets talk a bit about the brain. SPECT scans, which essentially measure cerebral blood flow and metabolic activity patterns in the brain have shown some interesting findings. Dr. Amen has found alcohol and drug abuse to be detrimental to the brain. Scans have shown a shriveled and scalloped appearance of the brain, especially in the pre-frontal cortex and the temporal lobes. Keep in mind that the prefrontal cortex helps with judgement, decision making and working memory. The scans also show holes in the brain in those who abuse alcohol and drugs. But what about those studies that show that a little bit of alcohol is good for your heart? A little bit of alcohol might be good for your heart and brain. Some studies might even show that people who drink one to two drinks a day are psychologically healthier than those who don’t drink at all. Remember a little amount of alcohol may be fine but if it is more than that and used for long term, SPECT scans show that the brain looks shriveled. Being addicted to inhalants such as gasoline, paint thinner, glue and lighter fluid show the same changes in the brain based on SPECT scans.

Caffeine is a very sensitive topic as I know how many can be on the defensive mode when they hear something negative about caffeine. Research does indicate that caffeine even in small doses constricts blood vessels in the brain. These SPECT scans have shown that the more caffeine you consume the more under activity occurs in the brain. The issue with caffeine is that it feels good in the short run as it gives you a cognitive boost due to its stimulating effect but in the long run it is creating problems to the physiology of the brain.

The purpose of this article is to indicate to you how important the stomach and the brain are to the overall healing of your physical problems throughout the body, whether its arthritis, headaches, joint pain or mood disorders. My rule is to supplement your diet with probiotics and digestive enzymes, eat foods that are low in sugar and that are alkaline as that will reduce inflammation throughout the body and brain. Also, Omega 3 fats such as fish, olive oil, chia seeds and grass fed animals boost brain function and they stamp out inflammation. Good fats and protein are also needed by your brain in order to generate neurotransmitters. My personal choice for a good fat is to eat avocados and to eat plant based proteins. A good plant based protein that I use is Spirulina powder. It is a blue green algae that has a great deal of protein in it. Most importantly feed your brain and mind with good, happy thoughts.

A little known fact about the brain is that balance exercises can also be good for the brain. In our brain there is an area called the cerebellum and it is responsible for balance, coordination and posture control. Research shows that there is a strong neural connection between the pre-frontal cortex and the cerebellum. Remember, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision making, judgement and self control. That being said, performing balance exercises regularly may help improve decision making, judgement, self control and other emotions. So do yourself a favour, when brushing your teeth, washing the dishes and other activities simply stand on one leg and multi-task. Its as simple as that if you do not have time to perform an exercise routine. If you want to take control of your brain, simply do the work and treat it well.

REFERENCES

1) Amen, Daniel. Change Your Brain, Change Your Body. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press;1998. 
2) Perlmutter, David. Brain Maker. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company;2015.
3) Schattin. A, Arner R., Gennaro F., deBruin ED. Adaptations of Prefrontal Brain Activity,        
    Executive Functions and Gait in Healthy Elderly. Front Aging NeuroSci, 2016 Nov 23;8:278.