The Real Health Podcast

Welcome back to another episode of the Real Health Podcast. Today I'm stoked, I'm so excited, because we're gonna offer you, I think, truly transformational information today that you can apply. It's one of the things that when this topic is sometimes scary for people. I legitimately have conversations who have a fear about what we're gonna talk about and you don't have to. It's not just part of the getting old.

It is something that's completely preventable. And we shouldn't just chalk it up as, yeah, I'm just getting old, my memory's fading. The reality is, we should have a healthy brain for the rest of our lives. And today, are gonna talk about brain health. Specifically, we're gonna talk about Alzheimer's, dementia, how to prevent neurodegenerative conditions, and we're gonna talk about the causes of Alzheimer's today.

And I couldn't be more excited for you to join today's show. If you're 25 years old listening to this, this is important for you today. Not just for you, but it could be so impactful for your mom or your grandma or your father or your grandfather. You can send them this podcast and immediately if you take these strategies, you'll start to really form a healthy brain today. But guys, this is just this week I had a patient who's following this protocol as well as doing some in office procedures, getting adjusted, using a laser for the brain.

And their tau protein numbers reduced 19% in ninety days. Truly remarkable. So what are we talking about? We're talking about neurodegenerative conditions. Alzheimer's is not just getting older.

It's not random, it's not just purely genetics and it's not inevitable. We're watching rates climb rapidly, and here's the reality. Alzheimer's is largely a lifestyle driven, metabolic, inflammatory and toxic condition. And if that's true, if you believe that to be true, which I do, that means we have control. Today I'm gonna walk you through the real causes of Alzheimer's dementia.

The framework behind the conversation is based on the Bredesen Protocol, and we're gonna talk exactly how to build a brain that resists degeneration. What is Alzheimer's? What is actually happening? Well, traditionally, Alzheimer's is thought of as a genetic disorder, a genetic disease caused by amyloid plaques. But here's the problem.

Amyloid is not the root cause. It's a protective response. The reason why there's elevation of amyloid in the brain is because there is a neuroinflammatory process that's happening. You're testing a level that's showing you the activity of the brain. And think of it like this, when the brain is under attack, amyloid is produced as a defensive mechanism.

So the real question is what is the brain defending itself against? And so there are three primary drivers. Let's get into it. Let's add value to you today. There are three major subtypes based on the Predesen model.

The first one is inflammatory. Type one, also known as a hot brain, is an inflamed brain. And this inflammation is driven by poor diet, so processed foods, and tons of bad fat like seed oils. It's driven by gut dysfunction, chronic infections. And this could be Lyme, this could be mold, this could be viral, this could be bacterial.

But there's usually some infections behind this that's driving the chronic inflammatory process And environmental triggers. The key mechanism here is that chronic inflammation leads to what we call synaptic loss that then starts to shrink the brain. What are our cues? What are early warning signs? And this is crucial.

This is not, Hey, I'm just 40 years old or 50 years old, and this is happening to me. These clinical clues are maybe culturally normal, or what we call in the office culturally common, but they are not normal. The big three is do you have brain fog? Do you have fatigue? And really, cognitive fatigue.

And is there any history of autoimmunity? Those are three things that we look at. The second subtype is what we call deficient brains. The first one's a hot brain, the second one's a deficient brain. This is termed atrophic.

This is a lack of support. The problem is a lack of support, and they're key nutrients that the brain needs, drivers that the brain needs. And so, hormones could be deficient. This is massive testosterone and estrogen levels. If you're low in these hormones, it is gonna cause a deficient brain, an atrophic brain.

Low vitamin D is also associated, low B12, which is your whole methylation system, and lack of stimulation. So lack of stimulation or deficient stimulation is a problem within itself. One of the things that we talk about in our protocols with patients is, are you exercising your brain? Are you stimulating your brain? One of the most powerful ways to stimulate the brain is getting adjusted, so chiropractic care.

And novelty, learning something new. The brain is always looking to learn. If you stop learning, then we're gonna have a deficient brain. It's like if you stop strength training, you're gonna have a deficient muscular system. It's the same thing.

If you stop lifting heavy weights relative to you, you're going to have musculoskeletal loss. If you stop learning, then you're going to have a deficient brain. The brain is not getting the signals it needs to maintain itself. And so this is massive in aging populations, low protein diets, low fat diets, and sedentary lifestyle. The third subtype and the final subtype is a poisoned brain.

What do I mean by poison brain? It's toxic. What could it be toxic in? Heavy metals is one of the biggest issues that we're seeing, especially in a generation that had amalgam fillings in their mouth, tons of aluminum, tons of mercury. We see air pollution, chemicals.

There's more plastics in our society than ever before, and those plastics, they literally accumulate in brain tissue. Don't remember the exact percentage, but it's more than 1% of the brain is of microplastics. The weight of the brain is full of microplastic. Mold, mold toxicity is an extremely common issue today. And when we look at mold as a toxin, as a biological toxin, it is a root drive or root cause of Alzheimer's.

What are the clinical cues? Just like brain fog was a clinical cue before, a clinical cue for toxicity is are you sensitive to the environment? Are you like if you get a perfume, does it cause a headache if you smell perfume or cologne? If you walk into environments where there's air fresheners, does it cause brain fog, right? That means there's a toxicity issue at hand and potentially a disrupted blood brain barrier.

And do we see cognitive decline? If we're getting memory loss and cognitive decline, then this is a, hey, this is a cue, right? Check engine lights kicked on and we should be intentional with exploring toxicity as a primary issue behind why you're seeing cognitive decline. There's another connection here. Those are the three main subtypes based on the Bredesen protocol.

But there is a AKA and we call it type three diabetes of the brain. Alzheimer's is often called that because when we see an Alzheimer's brain, we see an insulin resistant brain. The brain, it becomes insulin resistant, is unable to use glucose properly. And when it can't use glucose properly, then we are in a significant metabolic loss. The brain uses sugar for fuel and it uses fat for fuel.

So insulin resistance is usually a major correction for our patients. We put them on ketogenic diets because we are trying to drive insulin sensitivity and use ketones as our source of fuel. So the brain is literally starving when it's in a diabetic state. And we usually see clinical signs like elevated blood sugar, high insulin levels and lack of metabolic flexibility. So hypoglycemia.

This is something we should be considering when looking at fixing and healing the brain. So how do we prevent, right? What's the real health company's framework to creating a healthy brain? Let's get into the solutions. And let's make this super practical.

If Alzheimer's is driven by inflammation, deficiency, toxicity and metabolic dysfunction, then we know if we support these areas that we can be on the preventative side of Alzheimer's dementia. That's the side you wanna be on. You don't wanna be on the side of trying to reverse. You wanna be on the side of prevention. So, how do we prevent?

Number one, we control blood sugar. Having a balanced nutritional plan that's high protein, high quality fats and low carbohydrates is a great starting point. You know, consuming your carbs from vegetables and fruits, making sure you're pairing every meal with protein and that you're getting healthy fats from oils like olive oil and coconut oil and avocado oil, you know, macadamia nuts, you know, nuts and seeds and butter and eggs and grass fed beef and salmon wild caught fish. This is the framework that we apply to any situation, whether it's a hormone imbalance or whether it's a brain that needs support. We need to stabilize our glucose and lower insulin levels.

Prioritize protein, consume healthy fats, reduce processed carbs and even consider fasting with your physician. Intermittent fasting can be a fantastic tool to improve metabolic flexibility. Number two, after we're supportive with our nutrition, we want to reduce inflammation. A whole food diet does that, omega-three fatty acids does that, and gut health optimization is a great strategy when it comes to lowering inflammation levels. Getting those seed oils out, it's a big deal.

Removing ultra processed foods is a big deal. These are inflammatory markers. We see inflammatory markers increase when we consume seed oils and processed foods. So clean up the nutrition, reduce healthy fats. Number three, support the brain.

How do we support it? How do we strengthen it? Well, we learn something new. Whether it's an app that we use, there's I think one called Lumosity, which is a fantastic learning app, a memory app that you can use that every day, three to five minutes a day can make a big difference if you do it every day to strengthen these neural pathways. Strength training, huge when it comes to creating a healthy brain.

Zone two aerobic training, so just fast paced walking is a great, great tool to exercise the body, but really what you're doing is exercising the brain. And something that is overlooked a lot and we see it a ton is sleep disruption. When you sleep at night, seven to eight hours of quality deep sleep, you are repairing and flushing the brain. You're flushing the brain full of it accumulates toxins throughout the day from just burning fuel. So sleep and getting good restorative sleep is a great way to support the brain.

A deep sleep allows for brain detoxification to happen every night through the lymphatic system. It's the lymphatic system of the brain. Number four, detox strategically. Glutathione, antioxidants, addressing mold and heavy metals is essential strategy. Lowering your toxic exposure by the food you're eating, the air you're breathing, the water you're drinking is going to help over time.

If we can reduce the bioaccumulation of these toxins over the course of decades, then we're moving in a positive direction to driving a healthy brain in the future. Number five, you gotta optimize your hormones. It's a must. Making sure that at 40 years old, 30, 40 years old, you're already looking at optimizing your hormone system before it becomes a problem, before you walk into your menopause for a female and you have no estrogen. Estrogen is one of the most important hormones for a healthy brain.

It is a hormone that reduces inflammation of the brain. So what's your estrogen levels? What's your testosterone levels? These two hormones we need to be looking at for hormone optimization. Thyroid is another one and then the essential hormone as well we talked about just a second ago is insulin.

Number six, stimulate the brain. We talk about novelty, but also being on purpose and living a purpose driven life is going to help stimulate the brain. So learn something new, get on a learning app, and have a sense of purpose. If you've retired from your traditional career, hey, what else are you doing with your life? How are you adding value to people as this is important as well?

Alzheimer's is not a sudden disease, guys. It's something that is progressive over time. It's a decade long process and it's preventable. The brain, the good news is that prevention starts decades before the diagnosis. So today, whether you're 20 years old or 40 years old or even 60 years old, it doesn't matter.

These strategies will help you develop a healthy brain. And if you wait for symptoms, you know, you're already too late. You're behind the eight ball. So let's go ahead and start preventing today and incorporate these strategies. But if you build metabolic health, keep your inflammation levels low, live in a clean environment and you stimulate the brain, you can dramatically reduce the risk of something that a lot of people are fearful of.

And I get it. It's a nasty disease. But when you take it from the context of, hey, it's not just purely genetics, there are genetic factors, but if it's not purely genetics and lifestyle plays a role, then you have control. The ball is in your court. What are you gonna do with it?

So if you're listening to today's podcast and you're like, Hey, what's one strategy that I should be considering for a healthy brain? You look through these categories, whether it's metabolic health, whether it's simulation, whether it's exercise, whether it's detoxification or inflammation, choose one, right? Be intentional in one area. If you were to ask me and peg me on one thing, nutrition matters. Nutrition matters so much.

So clean up your diet, eat protein, clean fats, keep your inflammation levels low and you're going to start shifting the brain to an energy system that is dependent upon fats and not carbs and starving it out. The brain is rewarded with years of intentionality. So why not today? Why not start today? Don't forget that we have a gut workshop coming up in April.

Make sure you get into our link tree, sign up for our gut gut workshop because the digestive system plays a massive role in a healthy brain. And if you can support the gut today, it'll support your brain in the future. Well, hey, thanks for listening to another episode of the Real Health Podcast.