Looking for simple ways to keep your brain in top shape for longer? Newsweek spoke to a Harvard-trained doctor who shared some “science-backed” tips for brain health.
Dr. Saurabh Sethi is a gastroenterologist who was trained at Harvard and Stanford universities. Sethi highlighted some key “brain facts” including ways to prevent and reduce the risk of dementia in a video shared last week from his Instagram account @doctor.sethi and expanded on those points while speaking with Newsweek.
Dementia is not a specific disease but rather a general term referring to “the impaired ability to remember, think, or make decisions that interferes with doing everyday activities,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common type of dementia.
Overall, around 10 percent of those aged 65 and older among the U.S. population has dementia, according to a National Health Statistics Report released by the CDC in June.
There was estimated to be 5 million adults in the U.S. with dementia in 2014 among those 65 years of age and older, and the figure is projected to be nearly 14 million by 2060, the CDC says.
Five Ways to Keep Your ‘Brain Sharp’
In a caption shared with his Instagram post last week, Sethi asked, “Who else wants to keep their brain sharp for longer? Check out these science-backed health tips.”
Below, the doctor unpacks these brain health tips.
Limiting Alcohol and Brain Shrinkage
“Chronic alcohol consumption leads to neurotoxicity [damage to the body’s nervous system] and loss of brain tissue, particularly in regions like the hippocampus [the part of the brain associated with memory], resulting in a reduction in brain volume, or brain atrophy,” Sethi told Newsweek.
Having even one alcoholic drink per day on a regular basic can “shrink your brain,” the Harvard-trained doctor warned in his recent social media post.
Sufficient Sleep and Toxin Clearance
The gastroenterologist explained that during deep sleep, “the brain’s glymphatic system [a system for waste clearance] facilitates the clearance of neurotoxic waste products, including beta-amyloid, which is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, thereby reducing dementia risk.”
Sleeping seven to nine hours a night is “critical” for your brain to “flush out toxins & prevent dementia,” he noted in his Instagram post.
Neuroprotective Foods
Walnuts, berries, salmon, leafy greens, and dark chocolate are rich in polyphenols, omega-3 fatty acids, and other bioactive compounds (a chemical found in small traces in plants and certain foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, and whole grains), which helps lower the risk of dementia as they “reduce neuroinflammation, enhance cerebral blood flow, and combat oxidative stress,” Sethi says.
Omega-3s and Vitamin D
Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D can also decrease the risk of dementia, Sethi notes.
Both have “neuroprotective effects by modulating inflammatory pathways, supporting synaptic plasticity [the ability of neurons to change the strength of their connections], and promoting neuronal survival, which collectively mitigate the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia,” the doctor explains.
Limiting Sugar and Brain Inflammation
The doctor warned that excessive sugar intake promotes brain inflammation by “activating pro-inflammatory pathways and increasing the production of cytokines [molecules that are important for the immune system and cell communication], which can contribute to neuronal damage and increase the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.”
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