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Everyone should be prioritizing Brain Health did you know that a brand new study in Nature Medicine showed that Alzheimer's cases are projected to triple worldwide by 2050 if nothing changes. I can tell you from having a grandmother that just went through Alzheimer's how hard that was for my mom and for our entire family. And I don't want to see anyone else get diagnosed with Alzheimer's. And here's the good news. There are things we can do to improve the symptoms, but more than that, prevent Alzheimer's in the first place. And here's an encouraging part. Research now suggests that about 45% of dementia cases could be delayed or prevented entirely by addressing 14 known risk factors. That means your daily choices around the foods you eat, the supplements you take, your sleep and your stress can directly influence your brain's resilience and memory, especially as you age. Today I'm going to be diving deep into how to heal the brain, improve focus and memory, and prevent Alzheimer's. Welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. The dry matter of the human brain, which doesn't include water, is approximately 60% fat, with nearly half of that being cholesterol. Fat forms the myelin, that's the insulating layer around neurons that speed up signal transmission. And without adequate fats, communication between brain cells slows, impairing focus, memory and potentially contributing to neurological cases. Now I want to share with you the first patient I ever had in student clinic. This was back 20 years ago and I had a patient come in, his name was Ron, and his doctor put him on a statin drug and told him to get on a low fat diet for his heart health. Well, you know what started happening? He started getting brain f, his memory became very poor. He started having all of these neurological symptoms because his doctor put him on a low fat diet and a statin drug. Well, under my care we were able to get him off those drugs, get more on high fats, lower some of his carbs, do some supplements and he was able to lower his ldl, raise his hdl, and more importantly there's other markers today that are even more accurate there. But he was able to improve his brain and neurological health. But there are so many doctors out there today prescribing drugs and diets that actually hurt neurological health. And if you are going to support your brain health, so much of it starts with getting more healthy fats in your diet. And we really want to start with omega 3 fatty acids, specifically DHA and EPA. Now, I recently did a genetic test for my daughter and I decided to do this myself because I actually hadn't done a genetic marker test looking at things like my methylation pathways and if I have mthfr, which I do. And so I had some things sort of come to light for myself, which I was able to see. But my two markers in particular that I took the most note of and my genetic markers were I have the methylation genes variants where I don't methylate as well as some people. And I also found that I don't convert ala, that's a type of alpha linoleic acid, which is found in flaxseeds and chia seeds. I don't convert that well to dha, epa, which is found in things like fish oil. So what I discovered was I really need to personally eat a lot of wild caught salmon, a lot of wild caught fish. And that things like walnuts and flax and chia won't convert as well in my body as they do with many other people via the genetic testing I was able to do really opened my eyes to this. But for many people overall, we're not getting enough omega 3 fats in our diet on a regular basis. And your best source by far is wild caught fish like salmon. Sardines are also wonderful fish like halibut, black cod, sea bass. But you want to get more of these omegas in your diet on a regular basis. And salmon sardines are the best, followed by walnuts, flaxseeds and chia seeds. Those also have some benefits as well. I personally take an omega 3 fish oil regularly. I actually do a really unique one that also has fish roe in it. So that's caviar fish eggs from herring roe that contains a unique fatty acid. Not dha, not epa, but etawell. It does contain DHA and epa, but also eta, which is also highly anti inflammat. Medical studies have shown that getting more Omega 3s is maybe the single greatest thing you can do for supporting your brain and neurological health and preventing diseases like Alzheimer's. Now, the second fat you really want to make sure you're getting in your diet is going to be medium chain fatty acids. And you're going to get this from things like coconut oil and coconut milk. These are quickly converted into ketones in the body and they're an efficient source of energy for brain cells. Now, another group of fats or fats and proteins I want to talk about are phospholipids. These are really unique types of fatty acid plus amino acid combinations. And phospholipids are found in things like duck and chicken eggs. So all eggs are found in fish eggs, they're found in liver, and they support your cell membrane. So did you know not only is your brain made up of predominantly fat, your cell membrane, the outside of your cell, is made up of around 90% fat and protein of what makes up your cell membranes. And your cell membrane is what lets nutrients in and oxygen in your cell and also helps flush waste and toxins out of your cell. So if you want to have a healthy brain and healthy cells, you need phospholipids. So again, egg yolks, liver, fish eggs, those types of foods high in these phospholipids, major, major benefits there. And you might have heard of phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylserine, they have major benef organ meats like liver and eggs, has tremendous benefits for your brain health as well. Now, there was a great landmark study done on ideal diets for brain health. And this was part of a trial called the mind Diet, which was published by the New England Journal of Medicine, where they combined the Mediterranean diet with the dash diet principles. And this is really a diet that's ideal for heart health and blood pressure. And this included a lot of healthy fatty acids and plenty of antioxidants and high fiber. And that was really the primary thing here was more fats, more fiber or healthy fats, great fiber and antioxidants to reduce cognitive decline and just show the importance of healthy fatty acids, especially omega 3s. In one study of adults age 65 and older, those consuming omega 3s from fish just twice a week had a 40% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Think about that. This isn't even every day, twice a week, consuming omega 3 rich fish, 40% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's. Now, another important thing, along with those healthy fatty acids that we talked about are these antioxidants. And oxidative stress is something that increases degeneration of the nervous system in the brain. And antioxidants neutralize these free Radicals and protect your neurons. It's sort of like rust proofing your car or home. Diets rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with bacteria. Better white matter integrity in the brain, more synapses and more neural resilience, all components of cognitive health. So if you want to put together the ideal diet for your brain health, you want to do a lot of healthy fatty acids. You want to also consume a lot of protein because you need something that's also going to balance blood sugar. You also want a lot of fiber and you want a lot of antioxidants. Those are sort of the four critical things that you need for optimized brain health. Now, when it comes to antioxidants, we talked about the Omega 3, we talked about salmon and sea bass and sardines and a lot of these foods. I do want to mention fiber there as well. Fiber is really important. Consuming low glycemic fruits, lots of vegetables, nuts and seeds and beans, those are going to be great foods. And then we need to talk about the antioxidants. In particular, blueberries have been shown to be very effective. In fact, blueberries were one of the most researched foods for brain health. They're high in anthocyanins and resveratrol. They've been shown to improve memory and motor control. Another great superfood that's not a berry, but it has tremendous benefits are pomegranates. Pomegranates contain polyphenols and ellagic acid that actually cross the blood brain barrier, reducing inflammation of the brain and supporting longevity cells. A few other things that are high in antioxidants that have been shown in clinical studies to improve brain health are green tea. Green tea contains egcg, epigalactic catechin and supports autophagy and neuroprotection. And then dark chocol doing at least 70% plus, if not 85%, dark chocolate. These flavanols increase blood flow to the brain. And there are others that stand out as well. In fact, coffee can have some benefits, according to a Harvard review. Other standouts include blackberries, raspberries, cranberries, pecans, walnuts, artichokes, spinach, and other greens, Specifically leafy greens like bok choy, Swiss chard, kale, spinach, and mustard greens are all great superfoods as well for supporting neurological health. And so, again, if you want to reduce your risk of Alzheimer's and support brain and neurological health, remember, number one, prioritize healthy fatty acids. I would say the single most important one are omega 3 fatty acids. I'm going to slot in number two, extra virgin olive oil, especially a high polyphenol, extra virgin olive oil. The polyphenols and the omegas in there are great for neurological health. The medium chain fatty acids found in coconut are great as well. So again, omega 3s, extra virgin olive oil and then doing coconut, those are the best fats for brain health overall. And then getting lots of antioxidants from berries, lots of fiber. And of course, it's not just berries. It's green tea, it's pomegranate, it's dark chocolate. But that is the ideal diet for brain and neurological health. There was another study on berries, and this was specifically wild blueberries. And they found that consumption of wild blueberries over six months restored cognitive processing to those at a younger level. And so it's important to understand that when you are consuming blueberries, again, they're not fat. In fact, it's full of more water soluble compounds. But these polyphenols protect the brain, heal the brain and really delay any sort of neurological decline. So something that's easy. You're trying to decide what to eat for breakfast. An ideal option would be some cook up some eggs that are pasture raised eggs. Cook three eggs up in coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil or both. And then do a bowl of berries for breakfast. That's a perfect meal for brain health. For lunch, have grilled wild caught salmon with a sweet potato and a side of cooked vegetables that are baked in oil or steamed like spinach and kale and bo. Another ideal meal. And for dinner, maybe it's a grass fed burger with an avocado. And then for dinner, maybe for dessert you're having dark chocolate with some walnuts. But if you followed a diet like that, your brain and neurological system would be firing so powerfully. You would see great, great benefits from that. Do you have unexplainable illness, hormone dysfunction, weight loss resistance, brain fog, and you're tired of being dismissed when you know something isn't right? Well, get my at home testing of targeted biomarkers, including hormones, thyroid and metabolism, plus a full hour with one of my senior health advisors to help you understand your results. The truth is your doctor is probably reading your blood work all wrong. They're missing the cellular issues behind the symptoms. This new testing flips the script. The future of interpreting test results is here. I'm currently offering a simple at home blood that actually tests for the right things. And just as importantly, it comes with proper interpretation of your results. If you want to check it out and grab one before they're gone, just go to mybloodwork.com now, outside of dietary changes, there's also plenty of studies on reducing your weight, right? So the more you can lower, get rid of excess body fat and weight that you don't need, right? If you're 50 pounds over what your weight, you know you should be, and you can lose 30 pounds of it or all of that, what that does for your brain health is immense because your fat cells act as organs. They actually are producing hormonal signals that create inflammation throughout your body, and that inflammation then impacts your brain. And so that's important. Stopping smoking, of course, is important, even limitating excessive alcohol. Now, having one single glass of red wine a week is really not an issue. But drinking daily or drinking more than a glass of one glass at a time actually very much harms your brain and cognitive health. Another great thing for brain health is exercise. Exercise and physical activity, regardless of the type, have been shown in study after study to reduce the risk of dementia, according to a study published in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease. And really just exercising. If you start exercising within a day, your brain health is already getting better. Now, I want to walk you through the top nutrients you also need to support brain and neurological health and prevent Alzheimer's. One is zinc. Zinc is involved in over 100 brain enzymatic activities. It's also critical for gut health. And we know there's a deep connection between the gut and the brain. So consuming pumpkin seeds is my favorite source of zinc, along with other nuts and seeds like walnuts. And so doing snacks of pumpkin seeds and walnuts are the ultimate combination there for brain health, but also making sure you're getting, getting plenty of zinc. Vitamin D is also incredibly important because vitamin D acts as a neurosteroid hormone which regulates mood and brain function. And low levels of vitamin D double the risk of dementia and increase your risk of depression, according to multiple sources. Now you can get vitamin D. Of course, your number one source is from the sun. So that's my number one message to you. For vitamin D. Get outside, get outside, get outside, walk outside, even if it's for a few minutes, even if it's cold out, get a little bit on your face, a little bit on your arms. But do your best to get vitamin D. And if it's in the winter months or a day where you're not getting it, take at least 5,000 use of vitamin D. Now, I want to mention this for a lot of People, it's not just that you're not taking enough vitamin D, it's one, you're not getting enough sun, that's the biggest issue. But outside of that, you're not taking enough vitamin D. Now here's the third thing. Some of you aren't absorbing vitamin D very well and it's because you're not digesting fats well. So you can take things. If you know, if you've been taking vitamin D and outside and you're, your vitamin D levels are still low, I want to encourage you to take a couple supplements. One is called tudka, another is called ox bile and then also lipase, these are enzymes in bile that actually help you better break down fat and improve absorption. Probiotics do have some benefits as well, but probably not as much as ox bile and tudka and lipase. So if you know it's an absorption issue, take those and also just reduce stress during meals. Also eating green apples, more steamed green leafy vegetables, and taking dandelion as a tea, all of those can support liver function. But the problem there is that you're not absorbing and breaking down fats properly if your vitamin D levels are low. And that can also impact brain health. So remember to optimize vitamin D levels. Number one, get outside more and get sun on your skin. Number two, take a vitamin D supplement. In addition, taking cod liver oil, eating wild caught fish, mushrooms, those do have some vitamin D in them. And and then number three, if you still have an issue, focus on vitamin D absorption via ox bile, tudka and lipase with your meals that have fat. Now another thing that does support brain health is magnesium. It regulates receptor sites in the brain that are critical for learning, neuroplasticity and memory. Magnesium threonate in particular crosses the blood brain barrier more effectively than other forms. There are really, really two that I'd recommend. Magnesium threonate and a food based magnesium that's spirulina bound, that has a magnesium that's a food based magnesium that has multiple amino acids attached. So the way it works with magnesium you're aware is that you have magnesium threonate which has one amino right threonate attached or magnesium glycinate that has one thing attached. A food based magnesium might have 18 different amino acids attached because that's how it's found in nature. It's not just one, it's a food has many aminos attached to the magnesium. That's another good option as well. And then getting more food based magnesium via green leafy vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard, kale, bok choy. Also doing almonds, pumpkin seeds, black beans and dark chocolate are beneficial. And you'll notice there are. You know, the great thing about something like dark chocolate, it's got magnesium, but it also has antioxidants. And pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seeds have zinc and they also have magnesium. So with some of the foods that I'm recommending, you're going to to get multiple brain supportive ingredients in there. But really, again, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, green leafy vegetables, berries, wild caught fish like salmon, dark chocolate are really going to move the needle for brain health. Now, something else for some people that's important for brain health can be supporting methylation. Also things like homocysteine regulation and neurotransmitter synthesis. Because neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine and GABA are also really important for brain health. And B complex vitamins are what support that. So vitamin B2, B6, B9 and B12 are those critical. And you can get a methylation supplement that supports mitochondria that has methylated B vitamins that is going to support that. Certain foods also are high in these, especially organ meats like liver, including beef liver, tuna, banana, chicken, chickpeas, sardines, eggs, avocados, lentils, dark green leafy vegetables and asparagus also have many of these B vitamins that support methylation as well. But the king of all of those that I mentioned is taking liver. That's why I like taking a glandular supplement or something with liver in it is because it does support your methylation pathways, as does taking probiotics. Now here's some other nutrients for brain health. Selenium is a good one. Now this is also great for thyroid health and for your immune system. But selenium's good. The number one source of selenium is going to be Brazil nuts and seaweed. Tuna eggs and mushrooms and sunflower seeds also do have some selenium. And then choline is great for the brain. Choline is found in liver and egg yolks. We talked about the phosphatidylcholine earlier and the phospholipids. And that's why again we see there the benefits of egg yolks. The benefits of things like beef liver and salmon as well does have some of those benefits, as does eating chicken. And then cruciferous vegetables that are steamed like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale. And the last nutrient I want to hit on here is Coenzyme Q10. This is needed for mitochondrial function of your brain cells, including your neurons. And they act as fat soluble antioxidants that support the membranes of your brain and these decline oftent age. And your greatest level of coenzyme Q10 is going to be organ meats, but specifically heart glandular is the highest. Fatty fish like salmon, sardines and mackerel and certain foods like spinach and broccoli are going to be high in coenzyme Q10. Of course this is very important. If you've ever taken a statin drug, coenzyme Q10 is critical. And if you have any sort of heart issue, high blood pressure that you know is contributing to issues, take a coenzyme Q10 supplement but also get a heart glandular and get more of these fatty fish and green vegetables like spinach and broccoli. Now before I get into peptides and herbs and some other advanced therapies for brain and neurological health, I do want to talk about stress. Chronic stress floods the brain with cortisol, which actually shrinks the brain's hippocampus, which is your brain's memory center. You know one of the greatest tools to reset the nervous system and get your body out of fight or flight state is doing breath work. I mean listen, this doesn't have to be. You don't need to do this hours at a time. I mean literally taking a two minute time period to do slow breathing. In for four seconds, hold out for four seconds. So it's just, I mean just doing that simple breathing for two minutes. Put a two minute timer, try not to look at it. Just close your eyes, take these deep breaths in and out, a full inhalation very slowly, hold for a couple seconds and then outhelt resets your entire nervous system. Another great way to reset your entire nervous system is spending time in prayer, meditation and reading scripture. In fact, there is an MRI study that's been shown that when you spend some time in meditation, it actually thickens the gray matter of your brain. Brain studies on meditation have found evidence of these structural brain changes, especially in regions involved with attention, sensory processing and self awareness. So if you're spending time in meditation, it might be just clearing your head, it might be thinking of a Bible verse. For myself, it's thinking about whether I eat or drink and whatever I do, do all to the glory of God. Or thinking about the Bible verse, be still and know that I'm God. And I just sit there in quietness and stillness and do that for again, even two minutes. If I do that for two minutes or five minutes or longer of just meditate on scripture and God's word. What it's showing in studies is it actually rewires our brain. We become more self aware, we become more emotionally intelligent, we become more spiritually aware of the needs and the feelings of others. It is incredibly powerful. I mean, you become superhuman. You become more in touch with the spiritual side of yourself and become more in tune to the needs of others. It helps you grow in character. And so all of these benefits happen if you spend a little bit of time in meditation and in prayer in a similar way, presenting your request to God, talking to God, praising God and then listening what that does to your brain. So often. We're spending so much time on social media devices, I'll tell you this, for the the most part, especially scrolling, if you're scrolling or simply watching things for entertainment without learning, now it's different. You're sitting down, watching a YouTube video and learning something, watching a sermon, watching a podcast, where you're really learning something that's a little bit different. But if you're just mindlessly scrolling or you're just sucked into a show after show after show on whatever Netflix or whatever it is, most of the time it's bringing you further away from God. You are connecting with a piece of machinery, okay? Versus you're spending time in prayer, meditation, reading scripture. You are connecting deeply, neurologically, spiritually with God. It's healing, it's restoring. It's one of the greatest things you could do for brain and neurological health, but also just for your life. And studies are even proving this via pre and post MRIs. Now a few other things I think that are really good for our brain and neurological system is one we talked about connecting with God, another one would be connecting with each other. Studies have shown the more time you can connect and sit down and especially family meals, sit down and have deep conversations and really connect with the person in front of you. That boosts brain health. And here's another one, connecting more with nature. The more time you spend in nature, forest bathing, just walking in nature, going on hikes, just walking out your front door in your neighborhood, neighborhood where there's some trees and just going on a 20 minute walk. That has tremendous benefits for an area of your brain called the amygdala, which is responsible for calming your nerve system for mindfulness, for reflection and relaxation, and getting your body out of a fight or flight state. So if you truly want to build brain health, neurological health, prevent Alzheimer's, build a Deeper, more intimate relationship with God. And listen to become more spiritually aware and deep, connect more with others. Real, true, meaningful relationships. Don't go wide on social media with all of these friends. And if people are liking your posts in person, connection, high fiving, hugging, deep, intimate conversations, those move the needle. And then connecting with nature, being in the nature God created. These are some of the greatest things you can do for our brain and neurological health. And the reason is you're living by design. God created you to connect with him. God created you to connect with us others. God created you to connect with creation. And when you're doing things like connecting with machinery, it's taking you away from these other true connections that are truly meaningful. You know, imaging studies show that specific brain regions like your cingulate cortex and your insula thalamus and your amygdala actually shift in activity during meditation. Meditation, prayer, and being in these sort of restful states where you're doing something spiritually in real time, you are creating what they call real time modulation of deep brain networks. Most people are not operating in deep brain networks. Most of us are operating in the superficial survival mode. I need to rush here. I need to do this, I need to do this. And so it's all superficial. We're not going to deep. What going deep looks like is sitting down, reading your Bible or reading scripture or reading a book about the book and chewing on it, thinking on it for 30 minutes, going deep or being in a Bible study or a growth group and having those deep conversations, that's deep brain work. And when you can do deep brain work, healing happens, growth happens, chains happens even in your neural pathways. You know, there's a study called the MedX trial. This was for older adults who were having cognitive concerns. And they found that combining mindfulness based stress reduction like we've been talking about, and combining that with exercise produce better results than either one of those alone, suggesting a synergistic relationship between both stress reduction and physical activity. Right. Because we are body, body, mind and spirit. Right? Where all of those things combined and they all impact one another. And so this is where if you want to boost brain health, focus on spiritual growth, focused on eating the right diet, focused on connecting with people mentally, like finding your purpose and passion, using those gifts, all of those together support brain and neurological health. Now I want to shift into talking about peptides. This is sort of the new cutting edge thing when we're looking at brain health. And there are some specific peptides that have tremendous benefits and promise for brain and neurological health. The first one being CMax. This is a nootropic peptide that boosts brain derived nootropic factor and supports learning, attention and recovery from stroke. It's often studied in Russia for post stroke rehab and for cognitive decline with some reports of rapid improvements in focus and resilience under stress. So CMAX is a great one. And again, if you know anybody who, who's had a stroke or anybody who just overall looking to improve brain and neurological function, this is a great one. It's called C Max. Another one that's really powerful and this is really linked to improving your sleep and anti aging of the brain. But it's called Epitalin. This has been linked to telomere protection and potential anti aging effects of brain cells. Animal studies suggest it may normalize your circadian rhythms and improve overall longevity which indirectly supports memory and brain clarity. Now I have had patients and I have recommended them get on Epitalin to help balance out their circadian rhythms. And I did that in combination with having them get outside early in the morning, spend more time outside and take some adaptogenic herbs. And when we did this, I've had numerous patients who have told me while my sleep improved and it became better than ever, my hormones were balanced, my energy got better. People really noticed a big difference though in their sleep and their brain function when using this peptide called Epitalin. The next peptide is Pinealin. This comes from the pineal gland and it typically falls in the category of peptides. As a bioregulator. This supports mitochondrial energy and protection against oculative stress in your neurons. And early findings suggest it may enhance cellular energy and the mitochondria of the brain, which actually supports brain fatigue and neurodegeneration. If you're one of those persons, you feel like God, literally my brain feels tired, okay. And some of you may just feel I feel like this mental exhaustion. The peptide Pinealin is a great one to go for. Now here's another peptide that's used oftentimes as well for mood. And it's called Salank. It has has anti anxiety properties. It helps reduce anxiety while supporting focus. It modulates GABA and serotonin activity which may help balance mood while keeping the mind sharp and attentive. And it has similar effects to anti anxiety medications. And there's one other peptide you should look into called cerebrosillin and many people. This is one of the newest peptides out there for brain health and it has a lot of benefits. Benefits for brain fog for clear thinking. For memory, it's another nootropic peptide with major benefits for the brain you can look up called cerebral silence. If you struggle with allergies, poor sleep or just feeling off at home, you might not realize how much your indoor air quality is to blame. And unfortunately, most air purifiers don't actually clean the air air. They filter a few particles, but they miss the mold spores, the VOCs and even wildfire smoke that can trigger inflammation in your body. And that's why I personally use Jasper Air Scrubber in my own home. And I can honestly say the difference is incredible. Jasper's medical grade purification actually scrubs the air, not just filtering it. And you can feel the difference too. It's fresher, it's lighter, it's easier to breathe, breathe and it's whisper quiet so you forget it's even running on top of that filter. Changes take 30 seconds. No tools, no mess. If you want to support your family's health naturally, head to Jasper co axe and use axe to save 400 off your Jasper Air scrubber. Again, that's J A S P r co axe to get $400 off your Jasper Air scrubber today. Now I want to walk you through some herbs, spices and mushrooms that also have a big impact on the brain. Now first up is a mushroom known as Reishi mushroom and this calms the nervous system. It's known as a shen tonic. So it calms the spirit according to Chinese medicine and there are studies showing it has protective benefits for Alzheimer's. In animal studies, Reishi mushroom led mice to perform better in learning and memory tests. And the mice made fun fewer errors, moved more efficiently and showed improved spatial learning compared to the untreated mice. A few others that are really beneficial in Chinese medicine and in Ayurvedic medicine. One is Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha can help reduce cortisol, it supports memory and stress tolerance. Clinical trials and a review of 41 trials on Ashwagandha show it can reduce anxiety scores and improve cognitive performance in people with chronic stress. Now that was a very specific type of Ashwagandha called KSM 66 where we saw all of these benefits for memory and mood in cortisol and overall brain health. But Ashwagandha is amazing for so many things. There is one study on Ashwagandha, this was done at 600 milligrams a day of that specific type of Ashwagandha and it improved improved cognition, energy and mood in adults with self reported cognitive and energy issues. There was also a double blind placebo controlled trial that was 90 days of Ashwagandha use and improving memory focus, reducing cortisol, improving sleep quality and enhancing psychological well being compared to placebo. So there are so many studies and in fact Ashwagandha might be the most well studied herb having adaptogenic benefits on the brain. And of course it's also great for the thyroid and for cortisol levels. Now my favorite mushroom for direct brain benefits is lion's mane mushroom. It stimulates in the body something called ngf, nervine growth factor which aids in neuron repair in the brain. And it's been shown to be nearly unmatched when it comes to long term neuroprotection. And lion's mane mushroom also acts as a nutrition so people will really notice a benefit when they are looking to improve memory and focus. Now I will sometimes if I'm I do a lot of writing. I'm finishing up another book I'm writing right now and oftentimes I will take a mixture of lion's mane mushroom and Ginkgo biloba and sometimes some energy boosting herbs like cordyceps and ashwagandha and take a nootropic blend. If I'm writing something that I really need to do some deep work for a few hours and I see a lot of benefits. But lion's mane is one of my favorites. Maybe my single favorite for brain health herb is Ginkgo biloba. This is the herb that was used most in Chinese medicine historically for brain health. Ginkgo biloba improves blood flow and may enhance memory in older adults. There was one study in 2021 that found that combined training turmeric with curcumin, Ginkgo biloba and lion's mane mushroom showed great promise in improving memory, executive functions and attention span. So lots of benefits there. Another one that was used primarily in Ayurvedic medicine was Bacopa that was shown to improve synaptic communication between the brain and improve memory recall. Also be very effective for adhd. And I'll say that as well, a lot of these herbs are very effective, effective for ADHD if there are issues with focus. And then one of my other favorite herbs, now this is one that's referenced in the Bible by King Solomon and it's saffron. Now I recently went on Dr. Daniel Amen's podcast and we talked all about brain health, in particular some of the biblical remedies that the Bible talks about. And saffron is one of those herbs used by the wisest man to ever live, live before Jesus, which was Solomon. And clinical trials show that saffron extract improves mood and brain health. It's been studied as an alternative to antidepressants in mild to moderate depression and may support memory and overall mood balance. Typically the clinical dosage is either 30mg or around 88-90mg daily for those with Alzheimer's or for those lower looking to improve ADHD symptoms and brain and memory focus. And for mood like depression and anxiety. But this is an absolute favorite that's typically underutilized. But finding a good saffron supplement has major, major benefits there for brain health as well and is one of my absolute favorites. And I would say if you're looking at, hey, what should I take as supplements for brain health, an omega 3 fish oil should be at the top of your list, followed by vitamin D. If you also have gut issues, maybe zinc. But omega 3 fats and vitamin D are the most important supplements. And in terms of herbals, I would say ginkgo biloba, ashwagandha, I would definitely say saffron as well would be very, very high up on that list. And lion's mane mushroom, I mean, those are the ones I think that I found clinically as I've prescribed them to patients, if I use them myself, that I have noticed the biggest differences with everybody's different. If you have methylation issues, it might be that you need methylated B vitamins. If you've got a gut microbiome issue and that's causing the brain issues, high dose probiotics with zinc are going to move the needle the most. So knowing, okay, what is the exact issue? And if you have a heart issue and a brain issue, well, then ginkgo biloba and turmeric are going to be the biggest needle mover. So it really depends on maybe the other symptoms you might have or the other risk factors you have in your in terms of what supplements and foods will make the biggest difference for you. Now, one other area that's frequently talked about, and rightfully so when it comes to preventing Alzheimer's is learning. The brain thrives on novelty, stimulation and growth. Did you know that studies show that being bilingual or continuing your education or learning a new skill like music are associated with delayed onset of Alzheimer's and prevention across the board. And so just learning and growth, you know, learning about leadership, learning about health, but just learning and growing in different ways. Daily reading, learning new skills, traveling and learning from New environments. Studies that are using MRI show that navigating new places actually helps prevent Alzheimer's and improve spatial memory and gray matter volume, which is what you you want in the brain for learning, for growth and for wisdom. Also doing things like puzzles, listening to classical music from people like Beethoven and Mozart and the other great musicians and conductors, creative hobbies, all help. In fact, a meta analysis found that creative leisure activities like art, music and writing lower dementia risk by 17 to 36%. These make a big difference. And of course, what you want to avoid is drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep. In fact, lack of sleep is one of the most harmful things you can do for your brain. In fact, one study found that just one night of poor sleep reduces hippocampal activity by 40%, negatively impacting work, memory, positive and negative emotions and attention span and learning. So sleep is critically important for brain. And then there are toxins, that's another thing that can affect the brain health. Heavy metals like mercury, lead and aluminum are linked to neurodegeneration. Drinking filtered water, that would be one thing. And eating more organic food can make a big difference in your brain health. And then of course, I need to mention here the damaging effects of social media and overstimulation. Listen, every time you're scrolling on social media, every time you're just sucked in on a TV show mindlessly, it's hurting your brain. Brain studies have shown. This isn't one study, this is tens to hundreds of studies are showing shortened attention span, lower dopamine sensitivity, rewiring your brain for distraction. So now you can't connect as well. Actually, you literally have to rewire your brain. I mean, oftentimes you see this with kids that spend a lot of time on social media devices, there's almost a glaze over their eyes. It's very hard to connect with them because you actually have to rewire their brain to connect with you. So the more time they're spending on it, the more damage it's doing. Recent studies show that heavy social media use in teens is linked to changes in brain regions regulating attention and rewards, lowering dopamine sensitivity. So now it's even harder to get their attention. So do everything you can to get yourself outdoors, your kids outdoors. This is why, you know, one thing we did as a family, Chelsea and I invited invested in getting this real big playset out for our kids with swings and a bridge and slides. And our two daughters spend so much time outside. We also got a trampoline. And so our daughters spend loads and loads and loads of Time outside. And we did this even when buying a house. We ended up getting a pool. Because we're like, we want to do everything we can to encourage our daughters to spend as much time outdoors as possible. And so we spend, spend as much outdoors as possible and away from social media. And it's not to say that our daughters don't watch maybe, I don't know, 30 minutes to an hour of screen time a day, they get that. What we typically do is we eat dinner. If it's still light out, we're out there. We all, as a family might watch, let's say a 45 minute or an hour show, but then it's off and then it's our showers and it's getting to bed. But you need to create these rhythms where you're not on social media and you find replacements because you literally, in the Bible talks about this, right? It talks about it in Romans 12:1 and 2 says, do not be conformed anymore to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Now, part of that can be, what are your kids watching? What are they exposed to? What are they doing with their time? They need to be connected to God, connected to other people and connected to nature. Is scrolling on social media, is spending time on the iPad, Is being locked in on a TV show? Is that bringing more connection to God, more connection to others, more connection to the earth and creation? If not, it's hurting their brain and it's hurting them. So doing everything you can to help them heal their brain, rewire the brain and help you rewire your brain as well. Here's another thing that actually is bad for your brain being stuck in your ways. Rigidity reduces neuroplasticity. You want to stay adaptable and keep learning for that very same reason. Reason your brain is one of your most valuable assets, if not your most valuable asset as an organ. And how you fuel it, how you challenge it, and how you protect it determines your future clarity, your vitality, and your health for decades in the future. Again, I just went through seeing my grandmother. She was 96 years old, but for her last few years of life, battle dementia, Alzheimer's. It was hard on her. It was hard on our family. Nobody wants to go through that. It starts now. It starts in your 20s, in your 30s and your 40s, it starts impacting your brain health. So you want to do everything you can right now to choose brain health, not brain decline. Every choice you make, for better or for worse, impacts your brain health. So choose wisely. I want to say thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. Each and every week we explore explore the science and principles of how you can grow physically, mentally and spiritually and take your health and your life to the next level. Make sure to subscribe. It's the number one thing you can do to support the show. One of the big reasons is if you subscribe, I'll pull up in your feed. If not, sometimes I won't because we're covering so many controversial topics on this show like cancer, like vaccines, like drugs, pharmaceuticals, and the latest things going on on with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. All of those things. And if you're not subscribed, sometimes it gets shadow banned. So make sure to subscribe like and also I'm so grateful for all of you that have shared this podcast. For all of you that have left positive reviews, thank you so much. I'm so grateful. We're making a big impact together. I can't wait to see you on the next episode.