Prevent Alzheimer’s, improve Depression, Anxiety, and Brain Fog: The Food's Power | Episode 17 of 18

the objective here is to make sure that as we  age and as we go on in our lives our brains   get healthier get better instead of getting  sicker and sicker which is generally what   happens if we're not conscious of what  we should be doing to protect [Music] them hello angels and welcome to the glucose  goddess show I'm Justin chusp a biochemist   obsessed with helping you understand your body  your brain your food so that you can feel your   absolute best and Thrive and live the life  that you want to live because that's what we   all want in this episode we're going to discuss  the brain all things brain brain fog personality   irritability mood swings mental health and  long-term Alzheimer's disease and this topic   of the brain is super dear to my heart because  the reason I even got into health and glucose   in the first place is because my brain was broken  for a long time I suffered from a lot of mental   health issues in my early 20s depression anxiety  dissociation panic attacks uh it was it was super   rough and while I was going through that phase  I realized that I didn't know very well how my   brain functioned and uh the brain is still a  very mysterious organ it's not like we have   it all figured out we don't really know how it  works completely yet but science is advancing and   showing us some really interesting things and you  might not know but actually the way that you eat   how you're eating what you're eating has a much  bigger impact on your brain than you might think   and that in turn has a huge impact on how you feel  on a daily basis and on who you are as a human   being so for my part mental health was my primary  issue and it took me years to figure out how to   start improving it until I discovered the world  of glucose and I realized that when I was having   a lot of glucose spikes on a daily basis that was  making my mental health worse that was triggering   episodes of dissociation that was increasing my  anxiety my depression Etc and so when I fixed my   food and stabilized my glucose levels that was  the beginning of healing for me and it started   all from the brain so today I'm going to tell  you a bit more about the relationship between   food glucose and different brain symptoms and  then we're going to cover some easy tips that   you can start applying today to help your brain  be in Optimal Health because I think the objective   here is to make sure that as we age and as we  go on in our lives our brains get healthier get   better instead of getting sicker and sicker which  is generally what happens if we're not conscious   of what we we should be doing to protect them so  let's get started the first topic I want to cover   is brain fog now if you've never experienced  brain fog I used to have it so so so so much   it is kind of like if somebody had replaced your  brain with a bunch of cotton you feel a little   bit underwater your vision is not completely clear  you're feeling a bit removed from what's going on   your memory is kind of messed up you're having  a hard time just focusing and doing anything   so brain fog is just a sort of abstract term for  this these symptoms of feeling like your brain is   not working the way that it should be working  and some people have it every single day some   people have it 24/7 for others it can come and  go you might have one hour or two hours of brain   frog here and there for a long time we had no idea  what brain frog actually was but now fascinating   science is starting to shed some light on this  very interesting topic and I want to mention two   scientific studies that are really interesting  in this domain the first one is called effects   of differences in postrenal glycemia on cognitive  functions in healthy middle-aged subjects uh this   one showed us that what we eat in the morning  impacts our cognitive performance our memory how   well our brain works and whether or not we have  brain fog so the scientists found that if you had   a breakfast that led to a big glucose bike your  memory attention cognitive tests were worse if you   had a breakfast that kept that kept your glucose  level steady your brain was functioning better so   that was already pretty interesting then a second  one second study that's really cool this one is   called the mechanisms of glycemic variability  accelerate diabetic Central neuropathy and   diabetic peripheral neuropathy in diabetic rats so  this was a study done in rats but what they found   was that when the rats were fed in a way that  created lots of glucose spikes over and over   again the speed of information going from brain  cell to brain cell so your neurons the speed of   information between the neurons slowed down so as  the rats were experiencing lots of glucose spikes   their brain was literally working more slowly  the information passing through was going way   more slowly and this speed of information between  neurons is called the nerve conduction velocity   and if you have low nerve conduction velocity you  will feel it also as a human being your memory   will not be as good you won't be able to perform  as well you might feel a little bit fuzzy in there   which sounds a lot like brain fog so this study  gave us a clue about the fact that glucose spikes   were creating this state in the brain this state  of inflammation of insulin resistance Etc that was   slowing down the speed of neurons that was slowing  down the speed of signal between neurons so all in   all what we understand from these two studies and  a bunch of other ones in the field is that if you   eat in a way that creates a bunch of glucose  spikes in your body that's going to be felt by   your brain and you're going to have significant  impact on the functioning of your brain and this   is an interesting one for breakfast in particular  because in the morning we tend to Gra gravitate   towards sweet breakfast foods because sweet Foods  in the morning release dopamine in the brain which   is the pleasure molecule so when you eat like an  orange juice and cereal dopamine floods your brain   in response to the Sweet Taste but that's very  shortlived and that pleasure then gets replaced by   these negative impacts on your neurons and on your  brain leading to potential brain fog so that's the   first link between glucose and the Brain glucose  spikes increase the risk of brain fog so if you   want to feel sharp if you want to feel alert awake  if you want your brain to function at its best   it's very important to keep your glucose level  steady so that you don't trigger this reaction now   let's move on to the topic of mood irritability  this study I'm about to share has to be one of   my favorite studies of all time just because it  took so much courage courage for the scientists to   perform this study and to organize it um seriously  hats off it's it's very impressive uh and this   study looked at glucose levels and married couples  it's a very funny study uh the study is called   low glucose relates to Greater aggression in  married couples so here's how the study went the   scientists recruited over 100 cou they gave each  person in the couple a voodoo doll representing   their spouse so their husband or their wife so  all of these couples got voodoo dolls representing   the person they were married to and then the  researchers asked the participants for three whole   weeks to do the following every time their partner  irritated them they were instructed to put a pin   like a needle in the voodoo doll representing  the fact that ooh my husband or my wife really   ignored me right now at the end of the three  weeks the researchers got all the voodo dolls   back they counted the pins in the voodoo dolls  and they also measured the glucose levels of the   participants over a period of time they found that  in people who had steady glucose levels so no big   spikes no big drops below Baseline those people  had put fewer pins in the voodoo dolls that they   had representing their spouse so they were less  irritated by their partner however the scientist   also found that the people the participants who  had a lot of incidents of low glucose levels so   low blood sugar those people tended to have put  way more pins in the vood doll representing their   spouse so when the participants had variable  glucose levels and lots of low moments in their   glucose levels and by the way the low moments  usually happen after a Spike Spike and then a   crash those people were way more irritated by  their partners and it showed in the poor voodo   dolls that had a bunch of pins in them I love this  study because it shows us that our glucose levels   and the way that we eat can actually impact  our personality and the relationships we have   with others another good example of this is many  parents tell me that now that they've Incorporated   the glucose hacks into their lives their  relationship with their kids has improved they are   more Zen they have more patience and also their  kids are more Zen throw Tantrums have a steadier   mood so you're you're not necessarily somebody who  gets irritated or even being hangry being hangry   is such a common sign of being on glucose roller  coaster I used to be hangry all the time being   hangry means that when you haven't eaten in a few  hours you are a nightmare to deal with like guys   I used to be a nightmare like do not talk to me  if I'm hungry kind of Vibes like I would snap at   people be super rude I'm not proud of it but it's  just a situation and what I didn't realize is that   my glucose level was on a total roller coaster  all the time all the time so I had big spikes   and then big drops and those drops really added  ated me and made me a not very nice person now in   terms of if you want to be a nicer person and you  think you might be experiencing glucose spikes and   glucose drops which by the way most of us are um  if you want to know how to get started there's a   link in the description of this episode with one  page recapping my 10 super easy glucose hacks so   just go ahead and download it then you can start  with that and then if you want more there's my   books Etc but that's a free resource that I have  for you now let's think about a little bit why we   see such an impact between glucose and personality  irritability so the scientists believe that this   is due to the fact that when we have a lot of  glucose spikes there are some molecules in our   brain that get altered in particular big glucose  Spikes have been shown to lead to lower levels   of tyrosine and tyrosine is a neurotransmitter  that is in charge of helping our mood be nice and   balanced so it's possible that these big glucose  spikes are impacting our tyrosine levels which in   turn is creating these different personality  changes and this irritability so all in all   if you're married highly recommend studying your  glucose levels you're welcome maybe you can print   out the one pager of the hacks and just put it  on your partner's desk as if nothing happened and   maybe they'll be less irritated towards you anyway  this is science pretty interesting hey really   quickly if you can't always do my food hacks and  you want to eat the carbs that you love with less   impact on your glucose levels I created a capsule  just for that it's called anti-spike formula you   take two before a meal it cuts the glucose Spike  of carbs by up to 40% 100% made out of plants and   tested by over 25 clinical trials link is in the  description okay back to the episode uh another   one I want to talk about is the link between food  glucose and mental health so as I mentioned the   reason that I got into glucose in the first place  was because my mental health was in shambles and   so this topic is super important to me and I think  there's not enough conversations going on that   are about the fact that the way we eat and our  lifestyle the way we live our life can actually   directly impact our mental health to give you an  example if you're eating in a way that's creating   lots of glucose spikes we know that glucose spikes  increase inflammation in the body and when there's   glucose spikes in the body there's also glucose  spikes in the brain the blood brain barrier   really protects the brain from Big variations  in glucose levels but there are still still   felt and inflammation that is created in the body  because of glucose spikes also gets created in the   brain and this in turn can lead to symptoms like  depression anxiety Etc so the brain is not immune   to what's going on and when there's something  wrong in our brain it cannot alert us with pain   like other organs do because there are no sensory  nerves in the brain all the brain can do is make   us feel certain ways so if you're struggling  with mental health ISS ises it's a good idea to   look at the way you're eating because you might be  making something worse without even realizing and   of course a mental health is a very multifaceted  issue it's not all about food but for me getting   my glucose level stable was the foundation that  then helped me build on it and you know I did a   lot of therapy EMDR was amazing for me EMDR is  something to help you process difficult emotions   difficult trauma and because I broke my back when  I was 19 I had a lot of stress my body a lot of   emotions that were stuck from that experience  so that helped me so so so much but the food   piece and the glucose piece was the first step  for me and I think if you're trying to improve   your mental health listen it's it's a journey  you know it's work but if your glucose levels   are super variable and you're on a roller coaster  all the time you're not going to have the energy   and the solid foundation to then go and heal your  brain and you know heal whatever's going on in   your life so it's so key to get your glucose right  in order to have a good footing on which to stand   so anyway back to the science so the relationship  between glucose and mental health is an emerging   field of study it's very very interesting but the  studies show us that the more glucose spikes you   have the more you're going to experience symptoms  of anxiety and depression if you're somebody who   already has those conditions and as the glucose  spikes get more extreme the symptoms get worse so   here's a study I want to mention it is called  incident major depressive disorder predicted   by three measures of insulin resistance a Dutch  cohort study uh so in this study the scientists   looked at about 600 participants male and female  18 to 65 years old without any signs of insulin   resistance or mental health issues and these  participants were followed for nine years so   when they enrolled in the study they had no  glucose issues because insulin resistance   and glucose go hand inand and they had no mental  health symptoms okay as they were followed for the   next 9 years the scientists found that becoming  insulin resistant so if one of the participants   became insulin resistant probably because of too  many glucose spikes leading to that condition they   then had an 89% increase in risk of developing  major depression so insulin resistance was a   strong risk factor for developing depression it's  linked guys it's all connected connected if we   experience insulin resistance if we have lots of  glucose spikes inflammation glycation all of these   things are also felt by the brain so again it's an  emerging field field of study but we have enough   data and evidence to support a strong connection  between how we eat and our mental health the way   we eat also impacts our gut health and gut health  in turn impacts mental health especially when   we're thinking about these very easy hacks that  I'm going to share with you there's no reason not   to try them so if you're somebody who struggles  with mental health have a test see if you feel   better for me it was in a matter of days it  completely changed my brain so I highly recommend   testing it out and of course I'm just going to  say this again glucose is not the whole answer   it's not going to solve all of your mental health  problems but it's an important solid foundation   that you need to have in order to go after all the  other layers and finally in this episode I would   like to talk about Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's  disease is becoming more and more common in the   world at younger and younger ages interestingly  we're starting to discover a strong link between   glucose insulin and Alzheimer's disease so much so  that some scientists call Alzheimer's disease type   three diabetes or diabetes of the brain I know  that sounds pretty surprising but the explanation   is simple the reason that some people call alzer's  disease type 3 diabetes or diabetes of the brain   is because of two things first in people with  Alzheimer's disease scientists are noticing that   their brain also shows signs of insulin resistance  insulin resistance inflammation and glycation   which are telltale signs in a body that has Type  2 diabetes so they're seeing a connection they're   seeing patterns that are super super similar  and what they're noticing is that in people   who have Alzheimer's they also have this kind of  situation where their brain has Type 2 diabetes   so it's all connected and the second thing  is that people who have type 2 diabetes   are at significantly higher risk of developing  Alzheimer's disease and there's one study that   I'll cite it's called midlife lipid and glucose  levels are associated with Alzheimer's disease   in this very big study 3,000 200 participants  aged 35 to 50 years old were followed up for   38 years that is that is a long time that's a  lot of work kudos to the scientists and a lot of   things were measured triglycerides blood pressure  glucose levels and what the scientists found is   that the people who had high glucose levels at  midlife so at 35 40 years old had a 14.5% higher   risk of developing Alzheimer's later in life  because the scientists could follow these people   for so long they were able to see this PA pattern  they were able to see that if somebody and looking   back of course they were able to see this looking  back they were able to see that if somebody had   high glucose levels in their midlife then they  were more likely to then develop Alzheimer's   later in life and so we have these two things we  understand sort of the mechanisms a bit more that   Alzheimer's might be a met metabolic disease  with insulin resistance and the brain and we   have data like this one that shows us oh yeah it  appears that high glucose levels at midlife is a   risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease  later on but there is hope first of all from this   data we can sort of get a sense that Alzheimer's  disease is not 100% genetic and that we can do   something about it so keeping our glucose level  steady as early as we can is going to be helpful   to our brain in the future and second there are  some studies even showing that some cognitive   decline may be reversible if you significantly  change your diet and that's really amazing it   shows us that the way we're eating is impacting  our brain and that we have agency and we have   power and we can change how our health is going to  look like in the future so if you're interested in   all of this if you want to help your brain get  healthier as you age not get sicker as you age   my glucose hacks are a really easy place to start  and I'm going to tell you my four favorite glucose   hacks right now and again you can download all 10  in the fre PDF in the description of this episode   so my four favorite glucose hacks for brain  health are number one have a Savory breakfast   not a sweet one as we saw in the early paper if  you have a sweet breakfast that's going to lead   to glucose spikes and that's going to lead to  poor cognitive function lower memory brain fog   from the glucose spikes slowing down the speed  of signal between your neurons second hack that   I would highly recommend is the veggie starter  so before your lunch or before your dinner add   a plate of vegetables to the beginning of your  meal the fiber in the veggies is going to protect   your body from too big of a glucose Spike coming  through during the rest of the meal third hack   never eat sugar on an empty stomach if you want  to eat sugar and guys I love sugar as well so   this hack is really key for me if you want to eat  sugar let's say you want to eat like a chocolate   cake or something do not have it first thing in  the morning and do not have it between your meals   have it as dessert at the end of a meal because  if you have sugar on an empty stomach or between   meals the glucose molecules in it are going to go  really quickly to your blood blood stream because   there's going to be nothing holding them back if  you have the sugar at the end of a meal instead   then the food that's already in your stomach  is going to slow down how quickly that sugar   is going to get to your bloodstream and as a  result it's going to slow down the appearance   of glucose in your blood and it's going to reduce  the glucose Spike of that sugar and final one is   moving after eating so after your meals whenever  you can whenever it's easy use your muscles for   10 minutes you can go for a walk you can clean  your apartment you can do some calf raises like   this uh at your desk so just by putting your  feet on the ground and raising your heels for   10 minutes uh you can dance you can go to the gym  and lift weights you can do whatever you want but   these are really easy tools that that are going  to help your brain so you can feel better today   and also prevent any issues long term have a look  at the free pdf in the description of this episode   with my 10 hacks and that is all we have time for  today I hope you enjoyed the science I'm really   fascinated with this topic I think it's so so  so so cool um yeah so if you want to be a better   wife or husband as well you should study your  glucose levels okay I'll see you next time bye [Music]

Channel: Glucose Revolution

Views: 1,183,250

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Id: 5-oUFBTyw74

Length: 23min 23sec (1403 seconds)

Published: Wed May 29 2024