Do You Want Peak Brain Power?
Most of us want emotional resilience, improved mood, mental clarity, better memories and thinking speed. Our world is experiencing an epidemic of “Broken Brains”. Whatever our age, we are suffering from some kind of brain damage. Modern psychiatry is based on adding chemicals to bodies that are already chemically overburdened. Their logic that says “you are suffering from a chemical imbalance” is largely a myth. Our systems which suffer from brain problems are giving evidence of imbalance. Let’s look at this a little more closely. Is the human system designed so that we cannot be happy or concentrate or remember stuff without pills? How did humans get by before we had drug intervention? Is depression a Prozac deficiency? Is ADHD/ADD a Ritalin deficiency? Why are these new mental problems happening on an ever increasing scale?
Psychiatric drugs are the second best selling prescription drugs after cholesterol medication. The rising rate of the use of these medications is meteoric eg over a 1000% increase in the use of stimulant medication in children. Added to that there is only a 50% improvement in half the symptoms among the half of those who respond to antidepressants in the first place. That is a very poor record. 86% of the 50% who do find some relief from their symptoms have one or more side effects including sexual dysfunction, fatigue, insomnia, loss of mental abilities, nausea and weight gain. That is why half the people who try antidepressants give up after 4 months. No wonder they give up. This sort of information is hardly ever revealed or reported This leads us to think that antidepressants and other psychiatric medications do work when they don’t work very well at all. In double blind studies of antidepressants ( where people are given either the medication or a sugar pill) 40% of people taking a sugar pill got better, while only 60% taking the actual drug had any improvement in their symptoms. Looking at it in another way, 80% of people got better with just a sugar pill. This means that our brains know how to sort out a chemical imbalance on their own. First of all we have to believe that our brains heal themselves. Then we have to take action.
When the brain is suffering, does drug therapy cure the problem? At best drugs cover over symptoms in exchange for other new symptoms. That leaves us asking how do we find the cause of broken brains? Are more drugs really the answer? Is there another way of addressing our mental/emotional epidemic? Obviously with their toxic side effects, they won’t provide a long term solution. The secret that promises to help fix our broken brains lies in our bodies and our lifestyles, places mostly ignored by the medical field.
Our broken brains cause many problems eg: bipolar disease, autism, asperger’s, attention deficit disorder, addictions, dyslexia, learning difficulties, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, personality disorders and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, dementia, MS, schizophrenia, mania and Parkinson’s. Of a less serious nature people suffer from lack of focus, poor concentration, brain fog, anger, mood swings, sleeping problems or degrees of anxiety and depression. Your brain condition does largely affect your quality of life. Most doctors do not consider the possibility that mental disorders may be related to imbalances in gut function or flora, the immune system, problems with detoxification or an imbalance in any of the body’s other key operating systems. The body influences the brain more than any of us ever imagined. When treating mental/brain disorders, a whole new array of possible causes and treatments are open to us.
Changing diet, nutrient levels, circadian rhythms or sleep patterns, the substances you use, the amount of exercise or playtime you have, getting rid of toxins in your system, balancing your hormones, correcting imbalances in your digestive tract, boosting your cells’ ability to produce energy and fixing food intolerances or allergies, can all radically transform your mood and brain function. Curing neurological diseases by altering diet and lifestyle and repairing the body’s systems which affect the body/mind system in which the brain functions is resisted by conventional psychiatry and neurology. Doctors are locked into their way of seeing and thinking. Drug companies control modern medicine via:
- The allocation of funds for research limited to their own profitable agenda
- Developing patented treatments
- Withholding any important information that contradicts their profit driven worldview
- Controlling medical education
- “Educating” doctors in practice via seminars and their sales representatives
- Marketing to consumers—brainwashing the public.
Medical aids and hospitals are completely controlled by drug companies. Medical training reinforces the illusion of separate body systems by training doctors in specialties has led to few understanding how the whole body works as one complex complete system. Even when someone like myself sees miracles happen in everyday practice, they are dismissed as spontaneous remissions because they contradict the MDs worldview. Most of the research that I find very valid and useful comes from medical researchers and is published on PubMed, yet the GPs and specialists of the world deny that it exists. I call this the flat earth syndrome. In the past if you did not believe that the earth is flat you were branded as being mad.
Nevertheless the recent discovery of how behaviour, mood and mental functioning are linked to our biology is one of the greatest advances in twenty first century medicine. Other advances spearheaded by men like Bruce Lipton show how our thoughts, feelings and life experiences literally shape our brains and influence our biology. Such research holds the key to the epidemic of mood, behaviour, attention and memory problems that are rampant in todays’ society. Even if you don’t have one of these diseases and feel fine, feeling fine is less than you could be feeling. You should and can feel alert, focused, happy, energetic, unstressed and mentally sharp.
Years of investigation have revealed that our troubles with mood, behaviour, attention and memory don’t come from bad parenting or bad genes, but from imbalances in the underlying systems in the body. In fact they do not exist as diseases. Mental disorders and brain disorders are simply the names of common responses our bodies have to a variety of toxic chemical insults and deficiencies of resources to deal with them. Fix the underlying problems, rebalance the various systems and the body and mind will come back into balance. Fixing the imbalances in the dozen key systems of your body will allow for a miraculous recovery of your brain.
As we age we begin to notice lapses in memory. It is common to lose our car keys or cell phones and forget words or names. Memory loss does not have to be a part of aging. Our brains can be fixed fuelled and maintained. Your brain is capable of making new brain cells at any age. If you find yourself repeating the same things in one conversation or being unable to recall recent events or battling to remember everyday words, then it might be time to do something about it while you still can remember that you are becoming forgetful. If the memory problems relate to stress ie high levels of cortisol then that also needs to be addressed.
Getting Under the Hood.
These are introductions to the subjects listed here. See my other blogs, articles, workshops and training on these subjects for further in depth information.
1Nutrition:
Eating correctly is vital to your brain and memory. We are made of the stuff that we eat. We need the right balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates plus the right vitamins and minerals tailored for each of us as individuals and all the colourful pigments found in plants and herbs called phytonutrients that support our well being and function. Nearly everyone is nutritionally imbalanced in several ways. This means that we have very physical reasons for memory lapses. In older adults dehydration can cause memory and brain malfunction. As we age we do not extract all the nutrients from the already nutrient deficient food that we eat. Also the production of many chemicals and hormones declines as we age. The most powerful tool you have to change your brain is your knife and fork. Food is the most powerful medicine for all of us. As people age they fail to eat as well as they did when they were younger. They go for quick fix instant food. This makes matters worse. In fact they should be eating way more healthy food than when they were younger for several reasons. Supplements are essential in todays world as well.
2Balance your Hormones:
A faulty thyroid could cause mental blanks. Too much or too little insulin, sex hormones and stress hormones like cortisol all influence mental functioning. They all have to work in harmony for you to be healthy. The pineal, pituitary and the hypothalamus are also vital to clear headedness.
3Avoid Chemicals and Increase Detoxification:
Most people know that excess alcohol consumption creates brain toxicity and increases the risk of conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. Smoking can cause vascular disorders that can limit oxygen to the brain. Our bodies must eliminate all of our metabolic wastes and toxins created by everyday breathing and living. On top of that comes all the environmental toxins via our food, air, water and medications. The toxic burden in this day and age is overwhelming and often, when our bodies can’t keep up, we end up with malfunction or illness. There are certain detox trains as it were, that have to keep running. These are called methylation, sulphation, glutathione pathways and the heavy metal detox pathways. They have to take care of chemicals from our workplace, chemicals we release/use in our homes, personal care chemicals, airborne chemicals from all kinds of pollution as well as chemicals caused by living in a world that is very stressed. Do you think that you and I can escape the stress of humans doing horrible things to each other, to animals and to mother nature? I think not. Vibrations affect us. The sun, moon and planets affect us. We have to literally detox lots of vibrational, electrical and energetic toxins that we have created and subjected each other to. Fortunately we can now use hi tech detox methods to get rid of the internal and external toxins. These are best used before you attempt to detox the liver, kidneys, lymph system and the remaining detox pathways in the body. One source of horrible toxins are vaccinations. In fact they are a genocide or population control tool. There are new vaccines coming out monthly aimed at young and old alike. All of them contain heavy metals and other extremely toxic man made chemicals. Our body toxic burden is vastly increased and often reaches tipping point from vaccines as is seen in autistic children (watch the movie Vaxxed). This can damage and overwhelm our detox capabilities. Remember this: toxins give rise to all manner of diseases and malfunctions in the body. They will not go away if you ignore them. They have to be pushed out of the body. All your body needs is a little help.
4Cool Inflammation Down:
When there is heat generated in the body in excess of what is normal, we are on the slippery slope to acute or chronic disease. Inflammation accompanies disease, pain, and discomfort. We must protect and defend ourselves from foreign invaders or abnormal cells inside our bodies. Too much inflammation at the cellular level leads to disease. Chronic bodily inflammation is normal in our modern world. We are assalted by huge numbers of viral and bacterial invaders as well as toxic mold daily. Many of them have taken a hold on our bodies and cause low grade infection and inflammation. We are bombarded with 1,000s of man made toxic chemicals each day. They are present in air pollution and raining down on us from chem trails. Our drinking water is polluted by intentional chemicals. Our food is full of pesticides, Roundup and other man made poisons. Cell phones and cell phone towers are a huge source of bodily intoxification caused by free radicals generated by the toxic electro-magnetic fields they create. Our homes and workplaces are often a source of mold spores from hidden mold in corners or air conditioners that are circulating unclean air. Most city dwellers and farmers have low or high grade inflammation in their bodies and brains. This inflammation of the brain is present in almost all psychiatric and nerve conditions as well as all chronic disease. If your brain is not working properly, it is almost certainly inflamed. Fortunately there are many methods of using foods, superfoods, supplements, herbs and types of fasting that can bring inflammation under control. Getting body cells (both internally and externally) more alkaline also helps control inflammation.
5Heal the Gut and Fix Digestion:
Breaking down and absorbing all food we eat is critical for health. The digestive system has to protect us from internal toxins, bugs of all kinds, moulds, allergens as well as eliminate wastes. If there is a breakdown in digestion, assimilation, or elimination we start with inflammation and illness and mental problems start. In has been recently found out that an inflamed leaky gut causes a leaky blood brain barrier. Read the books ‘Grain Brain’ and ‘Brain Maker’ by Dr David Perlmutter to come to a better understanding of this subject. So many people are infested with candida, parasites, worms and unfriendly bacteria today for a variety of reasons. We have lots of great products to repair all these problems. This is one of the places to start healing your brain.
6Increase your Chi, Energy or Vitality Levels:
The above names have been used to describe the energy levels in a persons body. Low levels of energy are associated with disease ranging all the way to cancer. So many people are vertically ill running around trying to live their lives while chronically fatigued. Life is energy. Once no more energy is produced in your cells, you die. The process of extracting energy from the food you eat and the oxygen you breathe is the most essential process of life. Keeping that metabolic engine running smoothly and protecting it from harm are essential for health. Loss of energy is found in almost all brain disorders. Your brain uses the amount of power that a 14 Watt light bulb does. That is more than the rest of your body. The brain has the most mitochondria in it. They are the little factories inside your cells that produce energy. Energy is necessary for memory, learning and the flow of information that keeps everything in the brain healthy. Broken brain? If you want more energy then heal and feed your mitochondria. Energy is something we lose with age,but the good news is that you can turn it around. Energy can also be lost because of anything that triggers more free radicals and oxidative stress damage to the mitochondria. Injured mitochondria lead to many neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Ensuring that you are well fed, hydrated, powered by healthy thyroid and adrenals and powered by optimum functioning mitochondria leads to a healthy body and mind. See my other articles, workshops and training on the subject of brain and mitochondrial health.
7 Supplements:
There are many smart nutrients, smart herbs, smart drugs and other foods that can supercharge the mind without causing damage.
8 Beat Stress:
A life of meaning and purpose, a life in balance with connection, community, love, support and a sense of empowerment are essential for health. The overwhelming stresses of the twenty first centuary, including social isolation, overwork and disempowerment create enormous strain on our nervous systems, leading to burnout and breakdown. Most people are carrying the burden of past hurts and toxic belief systems that are sabotaging their every attempt at gaining excellent health. These can all be detoxified and replaced with healthy beliefs and a happy outlook. Emotional care comes into the picture as much as caring for the body. Attaining a good attitude to life is essential to health and well being.
10 Avoid Chemical Drugs.
11 Exercise.
12 Get Enough Sleep.
13 Master the Edge Effect:
Simply put, it’s all about the brain and proper balancing of the brain’s four primary chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters – dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, and serotonin. This balance can restore or create whole brain and body well-being.
Don’t wait for this revolution in health to eventually trickle into your doctor’s office. It usually takes 20 years for knowledge to move from research lab to the patient. The answers are here in this article. Time to get cracking. It’s your Health!