Vashti Schulz 29/1/19 Vashti Schulz 29/1/19

Stronger, smarter with creatine?

You may be familiar with Creatine or you may never have heard of it. It is one of the most widely studied supplements out there and is very affordable. Let me show you why this amino acid is not going away anytime soon in gym culture but also why it is a valuable contributor to living a long and healthy life.

What is Creatine?

Creatine Monohydrate has long been used by athletes and gym junkies to give them that extra edge in performance and muscle building. Outside of the gym however, it’s not widely talked about.

Creatine monohydrate is an amino acid created by the aminos arginine and glycine and is stored in predominantly in the energy demanding skeletal muscles and brain (95%) and a little in the liver, kidneys and testes. As mentioned, it is one of the most studied substances and also one of the cheapest.

Supplemental creatine has traditionally been used to replenish the Phosphocreatine (Pc) in muscles. Pc is used for the fast energy pathway. It gives you that extra oomph for the first few seconds an exercise and high intensity exercise. Its anaerobic and doesn’t rely on oxygen to perform. Pc joins with Adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to create Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) for energy. It can also work the other way and breakdown Pc from ATP to replenish muscle Pc stores, ready for the next explosive bout. Sprinters, power lifters, tennis players, basketballs etc use the Pc energy source a lot during their sport. Whether or not you are involved in those sports, the everyday athlete (you, yes, you) can benefit. Sometimes life will require quick moves from you, ie, grabbing a falling object of various weight, size and velocity, and having your fast twitch muscles ready and able to cope with this sudden tension without damaging yourself (or others), is one of the keys to longevity.

Does it work?

In short yes.

In most people it increases the creatine content in muscle when supplemented. Studies show a 12-20% increase in strength and a 12-26% increase in power output when creatine was used in combination with an appropriate training program.

Concerned about your brain health? In those with lower creatine levels, which is generally those with low red meat and seafood intake, it will also aid in increasing alertness, memory, learning and cognition. or those with ample stores their seems to be no extra cognitive benefit.

Here is a list of other benefits from Examine.com (Examine has many links to studies there) :

DNA damage - Creatine appears to mitigate much of the DNA damage associated with exercise and may be useful for cancer therapy.
Lowers depression? - A few studies have shown a lowering in depression. It seems to help SSRI therapy and is more pronounced in females.
Heart disease - It has heart disease protective properties by lowering triglycerides, LDL and total cholesterol. It also is protective by lowering possibly homocysteine levels which are high in heart disease patients.
Anti-aging - topically applied, it has been shown to decrease lines and firm skin. (yes I’m looking further into that!)
Can be protective to the effects of stroke as it can work in an oxygen deprived environment.

Can I supplement it with just food?

Yes, kind of. Red meat and seafood contain higher levels of creatine. This will give your muscles and brain a fair bit of stored creatine to work with. However:

Those with certain gene mutations may not be able to create creatine their diets and use it efficiently.
It also may not be necessarily of benefit to eat too much red meat for other health reasons, such as heart disease risk from high saturated fat intake.
Cooking denatures creatine so to avoid destroying the creatine you would need to have your seafood raw and your steak quite under cooked.

If you do decide to follow a diet or predominantly diet way of supplementing, I would also recommend considering a broad spectrum digestive enzyme with your meals, to help your body digest and utilise the nutrients as efficiently as possible. Choose grass-fed beef and wild sourced seafood and only lightly cook them.

Are you vegetarian, vegan, sleep deprived or an older adult?

These groups are often lacking in ready creatine supplies and can benefit greatly from adding it into their diet.

Vegans and vegetarians are most likely to be deficient in stored creatine.

If you are older, then be aware that protein doesn’t digest as well, so your body won’t be able to take advantage of your food as much as say a 20 year old. Supplementation and adding a digestive enzyme will greatly enhance the uptake of creatine for muscle building and mental enhancement. You still have to lift the weights however creatine will counter act the older bodies from breaking down muscle as fast (probably due to its myostatin lowering effect which in high levels will facilitate muscle breakdown). It stops muscle wastage, builds strength and aids endurance.

Interesting

Creatine has been found to increase memory, learning and cognitive ability especially in older women.

How do I take it?

Take 2.5 - 5 gms a day. It will increase the water stored in your muscles so make sure to have plenty of water when you take it. There used to be stories of needing a juice or source of sugar to enhance its uptake and avoiding caffeine as it can nullify creatine effect. Fortunately none of that is worth following and certainly adding sugar or juice is not recommended for a healthy body. An elite athlete however may notice a difference if taking creatine with berries or a healthy low glycemic carb meal. Please note that the extra uptake a low glycemic carb can give isn’t of much benefit for those that aren’t athletes whose diet is right on point where every small change can potentially make a difference in performance.

The time of day also, doesn’t seem to play any factor in the efficacy of uptake, so take your dose when its convenient. Although there is a little research that taking it too close to bed can interfere with sleep.

Do you need to load it?

Loading is a method to take a higher dose of a product to get higher levels into your system quickly. There is no need to load creatine, you can go straight to daily doses of 2.5-5 gms. This will mean it will take 2-3 weeks for noticeable benefits.

BUT if you want to fast track the benefits. Start by loading for 5 days with approx 20 - 30 gms a day, pulling it back to 2.5-5 gms daily thereafter.Be aware with higher doses that you may experience stomach upset and bloating. Water retention is often associated with higher intake too. Counter this with high water intake when you take creatine. If you find you have gained a pound or several with creatine in water weight then consider lowering the dose and even cycling your intake by giving yourself days, weeks off from taking it.

Cycling?

There is no study showing creatine should be cycled but it may be a useful technique as mentioned above to counteract the cycling.

Which creatine is best?

There are LOADS of creatine supplements out there and most say they have the best uptake into the body because of the type of creatine they use or the extra ingredients they have added into the supplement. All this means it will cost you more. There is no research out there yet that shows that any are better than your standard readily available creatine. Personally I would look for a brand with a good reputation, that is approved and goes through testing processes, just to ensure that the product is 100% creatine and not creatine with ‘extras’.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Creatine. Its a very interesting supplement and from my personal experience, it is one of the few supplements that I did notice that extra strength I suddenly gained. Its not much but every bit counts and now that I am fully aware of its neural protective and enhancing effects I shall be much more consistent with taking it. I will still cycle the product, as is my habit, but not leave it a couple of years as I have done. I’m back on it!

Please note that if you have a poor diet, creatine will not work miracles at all. Ensure that you are exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet most of the time before trying to get extra benefits from supplementation.

If you have any interesting stories or questions about creatine please comment below. If you would like a consult to upgrade your nutrition and fitness then don’t hesitate to contact me.

Vashti x

References and Links:

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/exercise/how-to-use-creatine-to-potentially-build-muscles?page=1

https://selfhacked.com/blog/creatine/

https://www.leafscience.org/geroprotectors-creatine/

Vashti Schulz 22/1/19 Vashti Schulz 22/1/19

Brain health and Dame Judy

I’ve just been watching (please read in a posh English accent), an absolutely delightful documentary that interviews four wonderful old English theatre actresses, Judy Dench, Joan Sutherland, Maggie Smith, and Eileen Atkins. It’s called Tea with the Dames.

I’ve always found reading or hearing of others lives and thoughts a very enriching experience and this was no exception. These ladies have lived fascinating lives and have all been through ups and downs that many can relate to, although playing opposite Lawrence Olivier (one of the most famous actors ever for those unaware), is probably not relatable for most of us, however, we can imagine…ahhhhh.

One wonderful bonus from this mesmerizing documentary is that I am enjoying all my thoughts coming to me in a FABULOUS English accent….. trust me…I sound just ‘magnificent’.

The other, less self-centred bonus

While I was soaking in the wit and humour from each of these ladies. I was struck with the lost art of repartee, quick-witted direct communication in our modern society. More and more, electronics have become our main form of learning and communication…..personallyI feel that I have lost a lot of that ability even though I grew up largely without electronic distraction and plenty of note writing and outdoor play, let alone the proceeding generations who are mainly indoors and bent over some device, thumbs moving wildly.

I promise this is NOT a modern society put down piece as I am adamantly positive about our future as a species even when it can often seem to be hurtling down a terrible slope (example Trump being Trump…and STILL president! My God)

I do believe/ hope, there will be a swing in the reverse direction, back to older values like those of outdoor play, falling over, getting hurt without a helicopter parent racing in to soothe, and manners where men (and women) will once again open the doors for others. Probably the main reason I feel confident about this and don’t get too despondent is that eventually the link between being sedentary and eating processed food with the diseases of dementia, diabetes, cancer, etc, will be proof enough that even the naysayers will quieten down. It will take to go this mainstream….our governments always are the slowest to learn……. but I think it will happen.

This links to the next point and if you have remained with me this far through my waffle, this is the reason for this article.

What do you wish you had changed or known when you were younger?

Each woman was asked this question and AS THEY WERE LAUGHING AND TEASING EACH OTHER ABOUT HEARING AIDS and diminishing eyesight, Dame Joan said that she wished she had known how important our brain health is. She mentioned that it's not apparent when you are younger, how much the health of the brain affects us, but it becomes quite clear when you get older how important it is. Dame Judy now does her best to look after her mind, but she wishes she had started younger.

Each woman agreed and they all said this was the one thing they would all have changed and looked after their brain health from their forties.

I wrote a few articles on brain health last year as I noticed many of us are noticing memory loss, brain fade, or worse with too many of our family and friends being diagnosed with dementia or cognitive issues.

Its NEVER too late to start helping your brain and the wonderful bonus is that all things that help your brain also help the rest of your body and that means you are happier and are probably enjoying your life a lot more.

Click the links below for some direct ideas on improving your brain health

Nutrition for the brain

Exercise and your brain

Supplements for your brain

Vashti Schulz 21/1/19 Vashti Schulz 21/1/19

Blog Snack: Truth about sodas / soft drinks

I’m not going to preach too much today but instead let the graphics speak for themselves. You may have seen them before as apparently they are famous. I hadn’t so here they are, fresh from the Renegade Pharmacist. A great website to have a look around.

Whether you drink soft drinks or not, most of us are aware that they are not good for us. Not good is a pretty vague statement though. Here is a terrific infographic on Coke. Simple and to the point.

Infographic on Coke

Diet soft drinks

Unfortunately the only thing diet soft drinks can deliver on is a low calorie beverage. Thats where the health value starts and finishes. The artificial sugars used still trick the body to release insulin which is then not needed and so converts energy to fat by reflex. The artificial ingredients cause a major upset in the body as it struggles to break them down and the gut microbiome (last years catch phrase), is also compromised. We need healthy gut bacteria for all sorts of processes including producing hormones at the right ratio. Compromise that system and serotonin is not produced sufficiently, melatonin, the list goes on.

Have a look at this next infographic

Infographic on diet soft drinks

If you wish to drink a soft drink, it may be better for you to drink a non diet one. The chemicals are less as they use sugar to sweeten and not a poor artificial one. In some places drinks are sweetened with Stevia, a more natural sweetener that the body is able to process much more efficiently. Those ones are certainly your best bet, but always check the label and see what sweetener is used, there are sweetness made from Stevia that may not be completely good for you either

To finish, please drink water, lots of water Lemon juice or lime will make it taste more interesting if thats your need. There is no good road ahead to health and long life if you consume the more available soft drinks out there, they negatively impact your cognition and gut health, increase your chances markedly for diabetes, dementia, heart disease etc, and make those conditions worse …. and wear the enamel from your teeth.

I’m always here for your health :-)

Vashti x

Vashti Schulz 16/1/19 Vashti Schulz 16/1/19

Hacks to enhance my life, brain, body, performance

A few weeks ago I was quite taken aback … in a good way ….

The owner of one of the gyms I work at asked me to sit with him and film a short video of what my day consists of. In short what do I do now, at the age of 47, to keep me fit and healthy. He knows I love bio hacking (which is just finding simple ways to live, think and move better through life), and we have spent a lot of time in the past exchanging ideas and any interesting things we come across that may help a person to perform better and more happily through life.

We chatted briefly, made a few notes and went straight to video. It’s amateur but a good first go I thought. You can see it and other videos here.

Although our chat on the video went well, due to it being impromptu, I later I realised I had missed several other interesting things that someone might find useful.

So I have decided to write a little about my daily routine with a few why’s of what I currently do and share it below.

The steps below are ones I take nearly everyday. They are things I have found through my research and experience. I try many things, some stick and some don’t . I try what appeals and keep it if it works easily into my life….. at heart I’m sure I am really very lazy. This is what I’d like you to do, pick out something interesting and doable. I think you’ll find several really easy things to action straight away, and you never know…they just might make the difference you are needing at this point in time.

I do the following roughly 80% of the week (a silly statistic meaning it may be 7 days, it may be 5 days a week).

I found being this way has allowed me to keep my figure at this current weight of **cough cough…60kg….(that was confronting to say, although I know thats very healthy, I have left over disordered thinking from being 50kg a few years back which likes me to panic if I am ‘heavy’)

…. so 60kg and approximately 19% body fat (BF)….fairly easily. Personally I would love to hit 55kg again, which with my muscle mass is around 15-16%BF, but to do that means I don’t eat out a few times a week and probably zero alcohol and a little more training…. It would make me tired and less able to cope with stress (I have a little chronic PTSD I deal with…not from the weight mentioned above …. so stress is a regular thing for me to cope with)… which reminds me…resilience training is the next thing I’ll be putting in my schedule soon!

This was a long winded way of saying I put in work, most but not all, of the time so I can still eat out and relax with friends and family and not be overly strict with my diet, and exercise constantly (I have done that in the past…and although I thought my body was great...its not the way to live a life thats happy for me and also to be good to be around).

Lets start!

First thing in the morning

I get up early.

5am weekdays, I like an early start. I try to make weekends 6am as it is best for your body’s health and circadian rhythm, to get up at the same time every morning. I haven’t mastered that, but I do the best I can, and I admit to sleeping in at least once a week most weeks.

I have half to one litre of water between now and my shower with apple cider vinegar to help the bile acids activate for the day. This aids in digestion and the natural detox system.

I walk the dogs for 30 mins. Its easy and fairly slow which used to frustrate me but they so LOVE to fossick around and check everything out…. then I decided to use this time to stretch my body and I feel so much better ( as do my joints), that I have never looked back.

I do stretching and rotations of my :

Shoulders
Neck
Chest
Hamstring
Hips
Hip flexors
Calves

…and I do some pushups and yogic down dogs on benches at certain spots.

Nothing to strenuous. I breathe deep. The shoulder and neck stretches make me look upward to the lovely trees and I always hold and relax for a breath or two. This particular one I have given the highest importance as its the key to a straight posture - so no turtle neck!

Cortisol is high in the morning and because of this I don’t overdo morning exercise as that would create too much cortisol. Instead the dog walking and stretching increases my mobility and posture while nurturing my parasympathetic system( rest and digest).

During walk I make sure to take in the sky so my eyes can soak in the morning uv light, stop melatonin production .... terribly important for a healthy circadian rhythm, enhanced immunity, weight control, stress control, and brain health amongst other things.

It's interesting actually what looking at the sky in general does.

We have all these sensors in our eyes that absorb the uv lights and others and that initiate processes and systems in the body. If we cover up our eyes with glasses or windows then we don’t get the full benefits for our body. So it doesn’t mean don’t cover up, but just try to get some pure light to your eyes in the morning and evening at least. Shield your eyes when glare is around.

When I want to burn more fat I will go for a 20 to 30 min gentle running shuffle after the dog walk, my running is a shuffle and on my toes (to use my body’s natural suspension system) ….. my version of a jog that I hope to continue most of my life. If I don’t run I will do yoga instead.

After the run, more water and then shower time.

I am gradually acclimatising myself to cold showers. I do this by playing with the temperature. A few seconds cold and then hot. I gradually lengthen the cold time and its surprisingly bearable to do it this way and my body has taeken to it well. Its no longer quick the shock when the cold hits me and I am able to keep it cold longer than the time before generally. Trust me, I’m not brave, I LOVE my hot showers and am the last to jump into pools as everyone who knows me is well aware. I’m a complete coward. So why on earth would I add this seeming torture to my morning schedule

Health benefits of cold

Hot cold contrast showers to activate brown fat, helps body’s natural thermal regulation stimulates the vagus nerve (largest cranial nerve), slows and even prevents inflammation.

The vagus nerve has been shown to cure rheumatoid arthritis when electrically stimulated. It can also be stimulated stimulated by cold and deep breathing. Low vagus activity is associated with poor memory , inflammation, brain fog and fatigue. The higher the vagus tone the more oxytocin (the cuddle hormone) you produce. ….so a cold shower and a cuddle could be the ultimate happiness recipe maybe…hmmmm

With higher vagal tone we are less anxious, gut health is promoted and with the oxytocin produced we feel closer to people and more altruistic.

Brown fat is the metabolic beast of the body. Some of us have more, some have less. The more you have, the more white (think ugly) fat we will burn doing everyday things. So we want more. It also works a charm at allowing us to adapt to extremes in temperature more easily.

My extra hack: I will be taking bitter melon before I shower as this works synergistically with the cold to increase the brown fat activity.

Intermittent Fasting

I intermittent fast most days and everyday if possible I try not to eat for a 12 hour window. It’s a lot easier than you may think. It gives the body a chance to rid itself of old, damaged cells, and also to rest from the digestive process. Our body prioritises digestion before running other healing processes completely so allowing those to take precedence for some extra time everyday is a good thing to do for general health. It also balances blood sugar and insulin levels, which of course leads to fat loss.

Fasting is interesting, and for the health benefits I mentioned above. It can be done SO many ways. This is just one. I like the regular everyday one, or you could fast for one day a week, or a few days a month, etc…. there are plenty of ways to do it so try the one you feel will be easiest to fit into your lifestyle.

I will still have black coffee and water and then I will eat/consume any calories (like a coffee with milk) when I feel I need it between 10am to 3 pm. Because the body is so receptive at that point, I will make sure the very first thing is either vegetables or a quality protein and fat. If I put anything carby like toast, my body would go into a little spasm and over produce insulin and I’d have the blood sugar levels sky rocketing and then plunging….a recipe for ill health and fat gain.

As I have double checked all the knowledge I have on how my body works with a DNA test I know that I have a tendency to obesity, diabetes, cardiac issues. I can go into that more another time, but the upshot is I am a little more vigilant with my blood sugar response to food and drink and I supplement and choose my foods accordingly. Supplements I sweat by, especially if I eat breads, pastas, fruits, anything sugary.

Apple cider vinegar
Berberine
Bitter melon
These 3 power house supplements help my body to slowly release glucose and also for my insulin level to respond normally and immediately when these foods are eaten. The calories still count of course but my body’s response to them is sensitive now and not dulled by chronically high levels which anyone over weight, is.

Later

As the day draws on, cortisol naturally dips and even if you made sure to keep your carbs low to avoid that sleepy afternoon feeling, you may still feel flat and mentally drained. To work with this dip, I lift weights. Sometimes its quite hard to get in to the gym, but most of the time I will go their and not allow myself to start thinking about it…else I will sit my bottom back down in a chair and probably eat. Weights….or any exercise, in the afternoon will provide a lift to your energy and mood and settle the cortisol. This is even true if you are suffering unnaturally high cortisol levels which is generally due to chronic stress. In this later case the higher cortisol will be utilised more productively to enhance muscle gain and thus will lower afterwards naturally and help to reset your cortisol cycle.

Exercise is often easy to avoid later in the day. Don’t talk yourself out of a session just because its not the best time of day or you are tired. Listen to your body, do a lighter workout, do yoga, do anything, just be consistent. A little everyday ….. there’s magic in that.

The best workout is the one you do

At the end of the day

I take bitter melon with my evening meal to again deal with higher sugar levels from dinner which is often concluded by fruit (I do LOVE my sweets so fruit is a wonderful substitute to ice cream)

Sleep

Sleep is a high priority and I guard it tightly. I like to go to bed at 9pm for my 5 am start. My room is as dark as possible and I use a salt lamp as the light is not the blue of normal lights. You may remember above that you look at the sky in the morning to soak up the blue light which switches off melatonin production amongst other things, well the red light of the lamp allows the body to start producing it.

Be careful of electronics. Looking at a screen of any sort (they emit a blue light) and the body reacts by suppressing melatonin, so ideally you would wear either blue blocking glasses or turn all electronics off an hour or so before bed.

Melatonin is a wonder hormone (although aren’t all hormones wonders). It is released every evening to inform the body to shut down and wind down. It activates the healing processes and all systems needed to rejuvenate the body. It seems that as we age, we produce less and less melatonin, which could be why many older adults sleep less and less. If you go to sleep at different times then the body doesn’t know what time to release melatonin and your sleep will no doubt be quite unsatisfying. By going to sleep at a consistent time the body is able to reliably produce melatonin at the best moment for a therapeutic sleep. However one or two late nights and it takes a while to settle back down again. You can see this is why health professionals advocate sleeping at the same time everyday of the week and not just Monday to Friday. You can also imagine why jet lag takes quite a toll on the body as it has to work our gradually when on earth is the best time to release melatonin.

As a result, for many years I have cycled through supplementing melatonin.

I use either 5 HTP (5 hydroxy tryptophan, this is a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, take 150-300mg) and / or melatonin ( 1+ gm, not the homeopathic stuff) to ensure that my body and circadian rhythm is consistent. I especially use this the night after a late night before. It resets my body by ensuring the release of melatonin happens when it should, it should be taken an hour before bedtime. It really is a miracle worker for jet lag.

Now, if this has caused more questions than answers please send me a message or comment below. If you agree or disagree, also please send a message. I love to get others opinions and thoughts….and if you have tried any of the above, put that down too! The above is basically what I do, and I have another list of things I PLAN to add in the future.

Do try something, any time spent improving your health will repay you back many times over, so start small.

Click the button to download your free PDF. Start with something that seems easy to do and notice how much better you feel over the coming days and weeks.

All the very best x

Vashti Schulz 30/11/18 Vashti Schulz 30/11/18

Supplementation for a kick ass brain

I’m a happy supplementer … some would say a little too enthusiastic at times (or is that obsessive?) … So I don’t need much motivation other than it may be good for you, to try a supplement, however, many others feel a balanced diet should take care of any extra need.

In an ideal world a balanced diet would be easy to follow and would completely take care of everything our body and brain needs. Unfortunately most diets are extremely poor in the balance and span of nutrients. Environmentally we live in a more chronically stressed world which leads to a faster depletion of stored nutrients and our farming has changed, many of these vegetables and fruits don’t contain nearly as much of the good stuff as they used to early in the last century. Just bite an organic piece of fruit and compare with a store bought one…no comparison!

As always if you do decide to try any of the following supplements, please check with a doctor first, you never know how they will interact with your diet and current medications.

A fascinating study was done on 30 retired NFL players. NFL players are a great group to test cognition on as they have all been afflicted with head injuries in their playing life. Cognition later in life is very affected by any head trauma of the past, often even minor ones.

The ex players were encouraged to lose weight and take the following supplements for 6 months.

Vinpocetine 15 mg
Fish Oil - 1720 mg EPA and 1160 mg DHA
Ginkgo Extract 120mg
Alpha Lipoic acid 300mg
Acetyl -L Carnitine 1000mg
Huperzine A 150 mcg
N-actetyl-cysteine 600mg
High potency Multi Vitamin

After 6 months they were retested and significant increases were noted in attention, memory, reasoning, information process and accuracy. Scans showed increased cerebral blood flow throughout most of the brain!

Lets look further at each supplement and see what it is that made such an incredible difference

Fish Oil

“The human brain is nearly 60 percent fat. We’ve learned in recent years that fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules that determine your brain’s integrity and ability to perform. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are required for maintenance of optimal health but they can not synthesized by the body and must be obtained from dietary sources.”

— www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20329590

Fish oil is anti inflammatory, and we just don’t get nearly enough in our diet, unless you eat fresh salmon a few times a week. Not all fish oil is created equal its worth looking for a good quality one. You can easily check the one you have bought by either piercing one capsule, if the oil smells bad, then its rancid as it should be relatively odourless, OR store the fish oil in the fridge….if it looks cloudy, its likely to be poor quality. For a real anti-inflammatory synergistic effect, pair your fish oil with turmeric and a bit of black pepper (pipeline).

Vinpocetine

Vinopocetine is a man made chemical created from the periwinkle plant. It is thought to increase cerebral blood flow and is used to enhance memory and prevent alzheimers. Its sometimes used to prevent a stroke or at least prevent disability from one as it prevents blood clotting and that can help reduce the likely hood of clots stopping blood flow to the brain, therefore keeping oxygen and nutrients flowing through and reducing neuronal death.

Ginkgo Extract

Ginkgo biloba increases blood flow in the brain like vinpocetine.

Alpha lipoic acid

Alpha lipoid acid increases antioxidant activity which reduces the harmful effects of oxidation in the hippocampus. It is also helpful in reducing blood brain permeability, a leaky brain.

Acetyl L-carnitine

Acetyl-L-Carnitine might enhance NSC proliferation and adult hippocampal neurogenesis by regulating proneural genes and cell survival related signals

N-acetyl cysteine

N acetyl cysteine increases antioxidant activity, reducing oxidative effects by increasing glutathione levels (These levels are found to be much lower in a stressed brain environment)

Huperzine A

Huperzine A increases nutrients for neurotransmitters through acetyl choline and may support proliferation of hippocampal neural stem cells.

This is a big stack, and it worked.

These were sportsmen with acknowledged cognitive difficulties due to past head trauma and they all benefited. That makes this stack a very interesting one to consider.

For the Everyday person

Perhaps you have no or little concern for your cognitive health but would like something easy and simple to supplement with to protect and strengthen your brain and keep yourself from developing any issues later.

These other supplements are also recommended by experts in the field of brain health.

First, they all seemed to agree that a high potency multi/vitamin mineral and quality fish oil supplement is a staple. The following ones are also recommended.

Vitamin D3

Most of us are Vitamin D3 deficient. This is due to our diet and more particularly our lifestyle. Get your levels checked and make sure to have your supplement with a fatty meal or with the fishtail as this will help the body absorb it. Vitamin D may support the synthesis of neurotrophic factors and neurotrophin receptors, and thereby support NSC proliferation and differentiation, neuronal maturation and growth, neuronal survival, and synaptogenesis.

Magnesium

Consensus seems that we are all magnesium deficient. Magnesium is part of over 300 enzymatic reactions in our bodies, so is extremely important to keep topped up. The kind of magnesium is also important, most forms bought in stores are not very bio available to the body. Magnesium Threonate is hard to find, but has some interesting studies stating it can cross the blood brain barrier very well, so grab that one if possible. If not choose either a glycinate or citrate version. Dr Mark Hyman, an American GP and a loud voice in natural health and preventing brain decline, recommends 300-400mg of magnesium taken before bed to relax the brain, nervous system and muscles.

He also recommends Vit D 3, Omega 3, High quality, potent, bio available and broad spectrum Multivitamin / mineral and to make sure the magnesium is a citrate or glycinate form.

Creatine

Creatine is a wonderful supplement to increase your strength and power but did you know its also really helpful as a nootropic (substances that increase cognition). It can have a neural protective effect by slowing down neuronal cell death. It also can increase levels of glutamate (a neural transmitter), aid learning, memory, and even help with depression! This study found it worked to improve memory and cognition in older and stressed people.

Try 2 or more milligrams a day.

Probiotics

The brain and the gut are inextricably linked. If our gut isn’t happy, neither will the brain be. A whole food diet will do a lot to restore the integrity not the gut lining and bacteria. These beneficial bacteria can improve your digestion, reduce food allergies, and reduce gut inflammation. Gut health plays a powerful role in brain health. When you don’t have the right gut diversity, inflammation and things like leaky brain can occur, setting the stage for diverse problems ranging from brain fog to dementia.

Add a quality, broad spectrum pro and pre biotic to your diet to facilitate gut health. Pre biotics include fibre such as psyllium husk and glucomannan. These two make excellent thickners in soups and sauces. Fermented foods include apple cider, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha etc.

Always try to get the best quality possible as there can be quite a difference in efficacy of these foods and probiotics. Its hard to find a high quality and brand spectrum probiotic…often these supplements contain very little live bacteria….an expensive exercise, so best to stick with fermented foods where possible.

Is that it?

NO!

There is a whole field of nootropics out there from the Racetams to Modafinil. Some freely available, some prescription only. This is another huge bag of interesting things but I won’t be covering that today, however, please send me a question if you are all curious. Its an interesting field.

Is supplementation worth it?

Obviously this is up to you. Unfortunately the food is not like it was 100 years ago. The fruits, meats grains and vegetables are less nutritious and even now inflammatory (in the cases of grain fed meat and modern grains). Our lifestyle is more prone to chronic low level stress, less activity, poorer posture, more estrogenic (poorly metabolised versions such as is found in cling wraps, plastic containers) and all this leads to our bodies and minds needing additional nutrition to make up the lack and further nutrition to counter those environmental antagonists we are all subject to as mentioned above.

Of course always check what supplements you want to take with a doctor or nutritionist before hand. Also do yourself a favour and get regular blood tests to check all levels and create a baseline for you to compare changes. This will provide a really useful history you can reflect back on in the years to come.

With all supplementation, cycling your intake is often recommended, and of course this keeps the costs down. Supplementation can be quite costly. Join the mailing lists of your favourite sites and shops and look out for their specials and buy up.

The following are some useful sites I have used in the past (I have no affiliation with any of them)

iherb.com.au

Good Australian sites:

Bulknutrition.com.au
Createyourownsupplement.com

If you have any good sites or supplements you would recommend, please write them in the comments section below as well as what country you are from.

Thanks again, and happy supplementing!

Vashti Schulz 5/10/18 Vashti Schulz 5/10/18

Nutrition for Brain Health

“The research makes it clear: Diet plays a clear and determinant role in every aspect of brain function, literally shaping our thoughts, actions, emotions, and behaviors...If your job depends on your brain, it depends on your diet.”

— Dr Lisa Mosconi

Previously I talked about how to use exercise to improve your cognitive health, today we will have a look for the ways you can heal and rejuvenate your brain with diet.

But, before we talk broccoli and chicken, lets have a quick look at what happens to the brain as we age.

The brain depends on blood flow to deliver oxygen and nutrients for neuroplastcicty, and neurogenesis. This cerebral blood flow is delivered through tiny capillaries that surround the neurons . As we age, the brain naturally experiences hypoprefusion, which is a slowing of cerebral blood flow (interestingly ... women a little less so, heheh). This diminished blood flow is associated with cell injury, cognitive impairment and alzheimers. To quickly even the gender bias above, unfortunately women are more susceptible to alzheimers than men….damn! Scientists are still hypothesising why this is…….

…… Now, when there is any kind of interruption to this flow, your neurons can be killed or injured and that causes nerve damage and restricts blood flow.

Things like any kind of head trauma can hasten this hypoperfusion and damage. Aging can thicken veins, degrade capillaries, and a poor diet will hasten this degradation further. A poor diet causes high blood glucose, and high inflammation with an intake of vegetable oils, foods you may be allergic to, processed sugars and commercially raised meat.

What can diet do for your brain?

The brain is a very hungry organ.

It uses approx 25-30% of our daily energy intake. Its made of lipids (fats) and water, and it relies on what we eat to heal and rebuild itself. If your diet is low in fats for example, the brain is unable to build new cells and facilitate its neural pathway processes. Dehydration is also very important to avoid as well.

A lot of us are eating foods that inflame our bodies, such as processed starches and grain fed meat.

Putting petrol in first is a more efficient idea

To compound this we also tend to eat diets low in anti-inflammatory foods such as oily fish and green leafy vegetable. Like persistently putting vegetable juice in your petrol tank and getting frustrated that the car is not driving like it should. To state the obvious, cars need petrol (or electricity, thank you Tesla), and humans need a range of nutrients.

Most of us and yet looking at many diets you can see that this is not happening.

Fortunately a little know how and motivation to subtly change what we eat, should be all thats needed to give our brains the best chance of getting healthy and staying healthy.

Special mention to our second brain - THE GUT

The gut’s microbiome is basically our second brain, and more and more are we finding how important it is to our brain health. Many hormones and processes we thought were initiated by the brain are actually done by the microbiota in the gut. No wonder everyone is getting on the pre and pro biotic bandwagon. We need a healthy gut (happy bug colonies abounding) to have a healthy brain. The one influences the other.

“These hundred trillion bacteria that live within your gut are so intimately involved in your brain at a number of levels. They manufacture neurochemicals, for example. Things like dopamine and serotonin. They manufacture important vitamins that are important to keep your brain healthy. They also maintain the integrity of the lining of your gut.” - Dr D Perrlmutter

Feed the gut microbiome with fermented foods such as kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha and prebiotic foods, those high in fibre, garlic, dandelion greens, jerusalem artichoke.

What to eat for your brain

Fortunately its not that complicated to eat for brain health. If you make some small changes, you won’t have to wait till you are in the midst of a major health issue like onset dementia. If you wait till then, adjusting your diet will still make a vast difference.

If you aren’t interested in much detail, let me put this in a nutshell:

Vegetables good ………….

………….. Sugar bad

Why Vegetables?

Dr. Martha Clare Morris is an interesting lady. She is Professor of Epidemiology, Director of the Section of Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology in the Department of Internal Medicine, and Assistant Provost of Community Research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago……….what a mouthful!

For the last twenty years she has been researching factors involved in the development of alzheimers as well as other health concerns for older adults. Her research found that people who ate the least amount of vegetables had the fastest cognitive decline, but that this slowed and cognition was even protected with higher intakes of vegetables.

Her research found that eating two or more servings of vegetables per day offered a statistically significant reduction in cognitive decline. Green leafy vegetables, in particular, were associated with slower decline, and people who ate green leafy vegetables at least six times a week exhibited much slower cognitive decline — researchers estimated it was like being 11 years younger in age…

Greens such as spinach and kale contain lutein and zeaxanthin. These two carotenoids are associated with faster learning speeds and applying learning and knowledge in older adults. This study showed that lutein increased thickness in areas of the brain associated with learning and slows cognitive decline in older adults.

Spinach and eggs anyone?

What about Fruit?

In her studies Dr Morris found fruit did not offer this protection, but berries did. Dr Richard Isaacs, Director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Memory Disorders Program, and Neurology Residency Training Program at Weill Cornell Medical College, also is a firm proponent of eating a diet full of vegetables and blueberries …thank goodness…I love a blueberry!

So all kinds of berries were protective with strawberries being the gold standard for Dr Morris and blueberries for Dr Isaacs.

Coffee

Coffee appears to play a protective role in the risk for MS, alzheimers, Parkinson’s and perhaps even early mortality. This maybe partly due to its role in reducing inflammation that is associated with reduced cognition. We certainly are all aware of its stimulating effects which is in its ability to block an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, adenosine. Adenosine can reduce mental stamina and make you feel tired. It also activates our Nrf2 pathways that fight off oxidative stress and protectactivate our Nrf2 pathways, helping to fight off oxidative stress and protect against neurodegenerative diseases,

This study showed that by drinking 3-5 cups a day in midlife had a significantly lowered chance of getting Alzheimers and dementia by a HUGE 65%.

The sweet spot seems to be 2-5 cups a day. So make it organic and put that kettle on!

Green Tea

High-dose green tea extract was found to scavenge oxygen free radicals, enhance antioxidant potential, decrease lipid peroxide production, and reduce oxidative DNA damage. The high-dose group had better spatial learning and memory than saline-treated rats.

Eggs

Eggs contain lutein and choline. Choline is of particular importance for your neuronal membranes and is the precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Acetylcholine is important for learning and memory, as well as deep sleep. Some of the drugs approved to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a fatal memory disorder, work by boosting levels of acetylcholine in the brain.

Unfortunately our bodies are only able to produce a small amount of choline so its very dependant on dietary intake.

Chocolate

The theobromine and polyphenols in chocolate correlate to better cerebral blood flow, improved cognition. Just make sure you eat a quality chocolate source at least 70% cacao bean and preferably higher, like 85% with low sugar.

More frequent chocolate consumption was significantly associated with better performance on the Global Composite score, Visual-Spatial Memory and Organisation, Working Memory, Scanning and Tracking, Abstract Reasoning.

Water

Our brain is mostly water, with fat coming a close second…enough said!

Kind of. Being an electrical system, the brain needs adequate water to function efficiently. The brain will react to even the smallest amount of dehydration which can cause brain fog, faitgue, dizziness, confusion and brain shrinkage. So drink those 8 glasses at least, a day. Go for quality water high in minerals and natural electrolytes where possible.

Fats

Here we need the good oils found in avocado, olive oil, MCT oil, quality fish oil. The brain can only rebuild itself with the right equipment and that is fats. Make sure your fats are from good sources and bear in mind the change that some fats go through if they become overheated such as olive oil. It will quickly become rancid and inflammatory when heated, so just save it for salads and dressings.

Protein

Quality protein is important and as we age we need a little more. It doesn’t appear as important before the age of 65 (check the research of Dr Longo), but after that, make sure to get a few serves in a day. Animal protein should be grass fed and free range. This is particularly important with red meat. Grain fed cows have meet that contains a large amount of omega 6 which is essential but not in large amounts. Grass fed cows have meat that is rich in th perfect ratio of 6 to omega 3.

“... you are what you eat ate. Yes, that’s right: you better think twice about whether your steak ate grass vs. GMO corn, your chicken ate bugs vs. herbicide-laden grains or your fish ate worms vs. pieces of other dead fish ground up with fish farm meal. Nowhere is this truer and more applicable than when it comes to fueling your brain”

— B.GreenField

Now its very important to know……

……… What to Avoid

Ideally you would want make sure your diet has none of the following:

Vegetable oils
Heated nuts and seeds
Processed sugar (always check the sugar levels in the ingredients of foods. There are a lot of hidden sugars lurking around)
Grain fed meat and farmed fish (full of omega 6, have an omega 3 capsule with these if you must eat them to balance the 6:3 ratio)
Processed starches and grains

I hope this article will inspire you to take control of your brain health and those around you.

Knowledge is power.

Don’t let the above doesn’t overwhelm you with information and do’s and don’ts. Keep it simple, its never to soon to increase your brain health. Remember Alzheimers starts more than 10 years before diagnosis is made.

Have a look through your pantry and fridge. Take note of what you are regularly eating and see how many of the mentioned foods you are there. Try writing down it down in two columns and see how it measures up. Are there more ‘avoid’ foods? More ‘eat more’ foods?

The beauty with that little exercise is we that we know where you and your household are at now. Each day,

incorporate more brain health foods and less of those to’ avoid’ foods.

Especially if you are currently feeling in a healthy state, you can take your time with this and not be too militant. If you or a loved one is experiencing brain fog, early signs of cognitive difficulty, or is right in the midst of dementia, then try everything you can to improve the food choices you make for yourself and others. Please bear in mind I am no doctor and please run any major changes past a doctor and get an ok first. For example, if you are on blood thinners then increasing fish oil can be hazardous as that also thins the blood. So you need to make sure.

I’ve included an easy PDF printout you can stick on your fridge to help remind you of what choices are best. Please download and use that if you would find that helpful.

If you have any questions at all contact me or comment below. Check out my regular updates and tips on my Facebook page too and its another great place to message me :-).

Next blog will be on supplements that have been shown to improve brain health.

Further Good References:

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Alzheimers Universe

Max Lugavere

Books that may interest you:

Genius Foods, Max Lugavere

You Can Fix Your Brain, Tom O’Bryan

Deep Nutrition, Dr Cate Shannahan

Longevity Diet, Dr Valter Longo

Brain Maker, Dr David Perlmutter

Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power, Dr Lisa Moscow

Vashti Schulz 20/9/18 Vashti Schulz 20/9/18

How exercise can improve brain health

Researchers say one new case of dementia is detected every four seconds globally. They estimate that by the year 2050, more than 115 million people will have dementia worldwide.

Thats a little scary….

Dementia, alzheimers, losing brain cognition……its all around us. We ALL know someone directly or indirectly who is stricken some form of it. There are signs, posters,tv and radio shows ad nauseam regarding this epidemic.

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with my 80 yr old aunt after our workout session. She was talking about looking into things to stimulate and help keep and even improve her brain health. Ah ha! I thought…..I’ll write some stuff down for her…..and before I knew it I was neck deep in study upon study that shows us that we can indeed have a positive effect on the health of our brain. Whether you feel terrifically cognitive, are struggling with brain fog, have onset cognitive decline or are in the middle of serious case of it, it is worth devoting bit of time to the health of your brain. I can’t think of a lot worse than going down the slippery slop of mental decline. Only fairly recently, studies have emerged showing, that as adults, we can do plenty to change the state of our brain. Previously it was thought that only children experienced could grow new brain cells. Now we know that adults are able to direct increases in neuroplasticity (changes in the brain) and neurogenesis (birth of new brain cells)

We are the only species to direct our own plasticity as adults -
Dr Andrew Huberman

Thats a huge thing! We all have the power to increase our brain capacity and repair it too …… and so do the loved ones around you …. best of all, it is FREE!

The brain is a wonderful, mysterious organ. It communicates with the entire body. It regulates our hormones and therefore our energy, movements, emotions/ mental state. It is composed of fat predominantly. Its current state is mainly due to all our PAST dietary intake, movements (physical and mental), and emotional states. Its wellbeing and future is directed by what you choose to do now in each of those things, and also its affected by our age (thats a little harder to control, but people are working on it!)

Lets address each of those areas that we have control over.

First -

Exercise.

Exercise helps the brain directly and indirectly. During exercise, blood flow, oxygen, the growth of new blood cells and neurogenesis increases, insulin sensitivity increases, the release of growth factors is stimulated and chemicals affecting the abundance and survival of new brain cells is increased

Indirectly, exercise improves mood and sleep, and reduces stress and anxiety and improves your ability to deal with stresses.

So what kind of exercise?

Aerobic

Aerobic style training like walking, and running, is shown to have a positive affect on the regions of memory and retention.

In fact walking, 30-45 minutes three times a week, is enough to delay the onset of dementia as shown by a 6 month 2006 study with sedentary people aged 60-79 years. The walking increased to increase brain volume even more than stretches and toning.

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Dancing also has been found to improve cognition and neural-plasticity. If the thought of your two left feet make you shudder a little, the linked study showed that the benefits were regardless of how naturally talented or not these people were, in fact, those less gifted showed the most gain, I’m surmising that is due to increased demand on the brain to learn the moves. So no excuse, turn some music on and get movin n groovin!

Stretching

Stress, depression, traumatic brain brain injuries all shrink the hippocampus, the centre for memory and emotional regulation. Exercise has been shown to be, slightly more effective than other modalities such as medication and counselling at relieving depression. A wonderful body stretching session of yoga will increase overall brain wave activity, brain volume and activation in both the amygdala and frontal cortex.

Studies measuring mental health outcomes have shown decreases in anxiety, and increases in cognitive performance after yoga interventions

When you feel sad or stressed, try a walk or some stretches combined with deep breathing

Lifting heavy things

A 12 month study was done to see if strength training could also have significant effects to neural-plasticity. They found that training twice a week had a significant effect on this whereas training just once a week did not…..interesting

For your best brain health, it needs stimulation from a variety of movements as each part of the body is connects and communicates with various areas of the brain. As the Chinese use meridian points to influence related parts of the body, so this applies to our brain. Small movements like finger wriggling will influence certain brain neurons, and these neurons won’t be influenced without those movements. In a real world example, people confined suddenly to bed and no longer moving their lower bodies very much tend to suddenly show steep cognitive declines. This recent study found that limited physical activity decreased the number of neural stem cells by 70 % and cells that are supportive and protective to nerve cells were no longer able to fully mature. In particular it found that weight bearing leg exercises were shown to have the most benefit. Leg weighted exercise sends signals to the brain that are vital for the production of healthy neural cells, essential for the brain and nervous system.

But, is getting hot and sweaty necessary? …. kinda ….

Beta Amyloid is a protein that comprises the plaque that is found to be built up in the brains of Alzheimers sufferers This build up is caused by proteins becoming disfigured and clumping together. Something that is able to break down and prevent this build up are heat shock proteins. These heat shock proteins are activated by the heat stress that you feel during saunas and during a decent exercise session. When activated, they can be used as structural scaffolding to other proteins and prevent the beta amyloid form clumping together.

It is clear,

purposeful exercise is a vital way to keep your brain healthy. It increases neural plasticity, blood flow, increases dopamine and endorphins, increases brain volume, memory, focus. It can help the brain self regulate and calm down from stressful events. PLUS you’re burning calories at the same time! Exercise, a gift that keeps giving

Bring this into your world

Try to incorporate a variety of purposeful movement in everyday for 30-60 minutes. Get in a bit of each of the following:

Aerobic:

Long walks, riding, rowing, jogging etc

Strength:

Lift some heavy things at the gym
Do body weight moves like lunging, squatting, twisting, pushups, pulling.

Stretch.

Yoga is terrific and is also very adaptive it can be made as strong or gentle as you need it to be. There's also Tai Chi, dance, pilates and many other options available. Get inspiration from animals and see how they stretch constantly throughout the day.

A typical day might be …..

Wakeup and go for a walk for 30 mins. Then stretch, maybe some sun salutations (link) which stretch the whole body.
Later in the day either before lunch or before dinner (as this has a great effect on insulin levels) do 10 each of the following, squats, pushups, lateral lunge with shoulder press, deadlifts, calf raises, rows (link). Repeat this for 2 to 4 times through and increase weights when it feels a little easy.
Before bed do some foam rolling……

…….. Voila!