The Trumpet Medical Advisor

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patPatricia Naeder, RN, BS.

Pat Naeder

    

February, 2012 Edition ew3


 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  LETS TALK BRAIN NUTRITION ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

    

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1-   Promoting healthy brain function through food, supplements and exercise yields good results.

 

2-  Certain nutrients have been found to be deficient in Alzheimer’s patients. Antioxidant vitamins and nutrients act as free radical scavengers to repair oxidative cellular damage.

 

3-  When brain cells are not at peak function we can exhibit short term memory loss, trouble finding our keys or the right word to say. We may forget why we went into a room, etc.

 

4-  If this is mild and intermittent you can influence it, but if it progresses to where one cannot think clearly, reason, plan things, or recognize family members, the pt may be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then full care and protection of the patient is needed.

 

Contributing factors in brain dysfunctions:

-        Micro-vascular disruptions like stroke (CVA- cerebral vascular accident.) This is a blood clot or plaque that travels to the brain and cuts off oxygen supply beyond that point, and the brain cells die.

 

-       Smoking and obesity cause problems because smoking inflames the vessel walls and obesity causes diabetes type II and the excess fat itself interacts with metabolism in an abnormal way.

 

-       Obesity creates fatty plaques in the vessels and organs which contribute to abnormal cellular performance throughout the body.

 

-       Genetic pre-disposition toward developing Alzheimer’s.

 

-       Stress causes chemical disarray and intermittent short term memory loss and disorganization.

 

-       Micro-vascular brain disruptions can be caused by vessel inflammation, causing inefficiencies in getting nutrients and oxygen to the brain cells.

 

-        Recent research shows that cigarette smoking is much more damaging than formerly thought. It causes vascular inflammation and lower oxygen levels throughout the entire body including the brain

 

-       Nutritional deficiencies have been found in Alzheimer’s patients, like Vitamin B12, A, C, K and also zinc, selenium, and boron have been found to be low in Alzheimer’s patients. See your physician to check on this. Do not take supplements in large doses. They have side effects.

 

-       Find the balance between supplements and the food that contains your deficient nutrient. Ask to have strands of your hair analyzed. This can be one more indicator of your nutritional status.

 

-       Diabetes

 

Other types of dementia:

1-   Frontal temporal dementia

2-  Parkinson’s

3-  AIDS

4-  Multiple Sclerosis

 

How to keep your brain healthy:

1-   Stop smoking!

2-  Keep your weight and blood pressure under control.

3-  Get moving.

4-  Eat a low fat, low sugar diet.

5-  Take in Omega 3 essential fatty acids daily. Found in salmon, halibut, tuna, nuts, flax seeds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds and more. Otherwise take a daily capsule.

The essential fatty acids are essential to our health, especially brain health, but our body cannot make them. We must ingest them in food or supplements.

6-  Move! Walk, take ballroom dance lessons, play tennis, work out, or do some aerobic activity 6 days a week. If you are wheelchair bound move and squeeze as many muscles as possible for 20 minutes a day.

7-  Do projects. Pursue your hobbies. They keep your neurons firing.

8-  Stay involved with friends and family, even by phone. Socializing is important.

9-  Remove stressful situations and people from your life. They cause epinephrine and cortisol, the stress hormones, to rip through your blood vessels, damaging cells. Also, stressful people sap your energy every day.

10-Avoid breathing, handling or ingesting toxins as much as possible.

11- Food allergens can also adversely affect brain neuron and synapse functions. Check to see what you’re allergic to.

12-Acetyl Carnitine along with Alpha Lipoic Acid helps protect brain from free radical  damage. Take daily. Check with your doctor on all supplements.

13-Phospholipids can improve the health of neuronal brain cell membranes.

14-Krill oil has hi levels of phospholipids and omega 3 essential fatty acids.

15-Try light whole body vibration. Use a mat or hydrotherapy.

16- Try brain wave music to soothe your brain.

17-Just listening to music that you love is good for brain health.

18For hydration, besides water, try using fruit and vegetables or raw milk for whole food water hydration, especially brain hydration.

19 Juicing is a great way to control what you put into your body and it is hydrating. Have another regular meal though. Don’t juice exclusively.

20If you like alternative methods, ask your Physician about Live cell therapy extracts that can repair damaged tissues.

Some Brain foods:

-      fish

-      blueberries and other berries

-      tomatoes

-      poultry

-      nuts

-      spinach

-      broccoli

-      beets

-      avocados

-      red bell peppers

-      cherries

-      kiwi

-      garlic

-      parsley

-      basil

-      pepper

-      oregano

-      cinnamon

-      vanilla

-      green tea (helps mental alertness, and decreases brain plaque)

-      cumin

-      turmeric

-      curry

-      mustard

-      mono-unsaturated oils

-      lean beef

-      soybeans, tofu, lo salt soy

-       ginger

-       tomato sauce (no sausage)

Avoid:

1-   Hi fat foods like butter, bacon, cold-cuts, and sausage. They clog your vessels and impede good blood flow that carries nutrients and oxygen to your brain.

2-  Processed boxed and canned foods. Eat from the produce and spice aisle in the supermarket.

3-  Being overweight. It doubles your risk for Alzheimer’s.

4-  Sugar, alcohol and sugary drinks like soda with  hi fructose corn syrup.

5-  Avoid high-glycemic foods. Use the glycemic chart.

6-  It is better to eat complex carbs and whole grains if you eat carbs.

7-  Avoid hi calorie diet. Every mouthful counts. Write down what you eat in one day to get an idea of what you are ingesting and modify that.

Caretakers:

-       If you are the caretaker of a loved one with Alzheimer’s it can be very stressful. Just treat your loved one with respect, and get help.  Oversee those that help you. Trust no one with your loved one.

-       Take time for yourself to relax or get a massage

-       Go to a spa and be pampered

-       Spend time with one of your favorite friends and laugh together. It raises your “feel good” chemicals

-       Regarding your loved one’s comments; remember that it is not your loved one that is talking to you, it is the disease talking. Don’t take it personally

-       Give them hope. It helps their progress. Make them smile in any way possible, with music or children or animals. Their mood is important. It changes the body’s chemicals for the better

-       Eat healthy. Read about your brain and nutrients, and remember, it’s never too late to be healthier!

Remember- Never give up trying to be healthier! The next hour could be better. Fight on. I’m here for you. Contact me anytime.

  

Good Health to You!

  

Patricia Naeder, RN, BS

Medical Advisor

  

This column is for informational purposes only, and represents the opinion, and reporting of the author only. Any discussions with the Author should be presented to your own personal Physician for his/her Professional opinion. It is not meant to substitute for seeing one's own Medical Doctor, Psychiatrist, or Psychologist for Professional care.

This article is copywrited by the Author.