Learn, Share, Grow – Memory Rescue

Below is a lesson from Daniel Amen’s book, Memory Rescue, as well as our key learning.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

What’s Good for the Brain is Good for the Body and What’s Good for the Body is Good for the Brain

By Daniel Amen

The Program

Memory Rescue, Health and Wellbeing, is based a simple idea to maintain brain health and over all wellbeing is to reduce the risk factors represented by the mnemonic BRIGHT MINDS.

Purchase the book here.

Watch Daniel Amen’s video series Bright Minds here.

Key Learnings:

Bright

B – Blood Flow: hypertension or prehypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol problems, erectile dysfunction, infrequent exercise (less than twice a week)

R – Retirement/Aging: risk increases with age (over 50); lack of new learning-when you stop learning, your brain starts dying

I – Inflammation:  gum disease, high homocysteine or C-reactive protein(CRP)levels in your blood, low omega-3 fatty acids

G – Genetics: a family memory with Alzheimer’s disease, any other form of dementia, or Parkinson’s disease; having e4 version of the APOE gene

H – Head Trauma: history of head injuries with or without loss of consciousness; playing contact sports, even without concussion

T – Toxins: alcohol or drug abuse, exposure to toxins in the environment (mold, pollution) or personal products, cancer chemotherapy, etc.

Minds

M – Mental Health: chronic stress, depression, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia

I – Immunity/Infection Issues: chronic fatigue syndrome; autoimmune issues, such as rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis; untreated infections, such as Lyme disease, syphilis or herpes

N – Neurohormone Deficiencies: low levels of thyroid, testosterone (males and females), estrogen and progesterone (females), DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone); high cortisol levels

D – Diabesity: diabetes, prediabetes, and obesity

S – Sleep Issues: chronic insomnia and sleep apnea

On the bright side (pun intended) is all most all of the risk factors are preventable or treatable, including family history of dementia.

The Prescription to Reduce Your – 

Brain Blood Flow Risk:

1. Avoid anything that hurts vascular health – sedentary lifestyle, caffeine, nicotine and dehydration
2. Seek treatment for anything that damages your blood flow – heart arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, diabetes, prediabetes, prehypertension, hypertension, insomnia, sleep apnea and drug and alcohol abuse
3. Lose weight if BMI is over 25
4. Spend 10-20 minutes a day in deep prayer or mediation
5. Strength you blood brain barrier – eliminate of reduce gluten, dairy and toxins, treat infections
6. Adopt natural strategies to blood pressure healthy – eat more plant-based food, limit dairy, limit salt intake, eat more food high in magnesium and potassium
7. Take medications as needed
8. Exercise – to include burst training strength training, coordination activities, mindfulness exercises
9. Ginkgo biloba extract- has been shown to increase cerebral blood flow

Retirement/Aging Risk:

1. Be serious – even when you my not feel like exercising or health healthy
2. Focus on new learning
3. Keep iron on target, not too high or too low
4. Intermittent fasting – 12-16 hours nightly fasting
5. Strengthen your telomeres – 
   1. avoid things that shorten them; smoking, alcohol, inflammation, stress, poor quality sleep, high body mass index – 
   2. protect your telomeres by; exercise, stress reduction, continues learning, mindfulness and meditation, omega-3 fatty acids, DHEA, vitamin D3, lower LDL cholesterol, daily multivitamins (strengthen telomeres by 5%)
6. Get Social – reduces isolation and loneliness
7. Make love regularly

Genetics Risk:

1. Go for screening early
2. Take brain health seriously
3. Hop on the exercise bandwagon
4. Avoid head trauma

Head Trauma Risk:

1. Reduce your risk of head injury
2. Go and smell the roses – literally

Toxin Risk:

1. Limit smoking; quit smoking, address drug and/or alcohol abuse, replace silver dental fillings, reduce your consumption of toxin-contaminated foods, read and understand food labels, add fiber to diet, etc.
2. Strengthen your detoxification system; support your guy, support your liver and kidney with nutraceutical and food, support your skin(largest organ in the body), take a sauna, take a nutraceuticals and eat foods that are good for your skin

Mental Health Risk:

1. Get treated
2. Try research-proven tips; start every day with the words “Today is going to be a great day”, write down 3 things you are grateful for, write down the name one person you appreciate every day, pray about concerns, limit screen time, exercise, listen to music, drink green tea, etc.

Immunity and infectious disease risk:

1. Work with a knowledgeable health-care professional
2. Do an elimination diet for a month – stay away from sugar, gluten, dairy, corn, soy, etc.
3. Get tested for heavy metals
4. Take steps to fix your gut
5. Optimize your vitamin D level
6. Work n managing stress

Neurohormone deficiencies risk: 

1. Love your hormones – optimize and prioritize them
2. Limit the bad and expand the good hormones
3. Steer clear of endocrine disrupters – pesticides and other chemicals
4. Use hormone supplements and medications wisely

Diabesity Risk:

1. Follow the Memory Rescue diet see the Brain Warrior’s Way Cookbook
2. Lose weight slowly (if needed)
3. Exercise!
4. Check with your Physician to see if others treatments are necessary

Inflammation Risk:

1. Address the health of your guy with four strategies
   1. Avoid anything that hurts you gut
   2. Increase prebiotics
   3. Increase probiotics
   4. Be careful with antibiotics
2. Reduce homocysteine (an amino acid produced by the body and also is in your blood. When the levels get too high, it increases your risk of heart disease) vitamin B, especially B6 and B!2 and folate help lower levels
3. Boost your Omega-3s
4. Take care of your gums

Sleep Issue Risk:

1. Make room cooler, darker and quitter
2. Turn off devises 
3. Listen to music with a specific rhythm
4. Sleep hypnosis 
5. Magnesium and Melatonin
6. Journaling