EXERCISE

There is no denying it, like healthy food the brain needs aerobic and resistance exercise. This supplies the brain with richly oxygenated blood and nutrients. Exercise stimulates chemical changes in the brain that support mood and energy. Exercise also improves blood pressure and protects from strokes, heart disease, and diabetes. Exercise protects and enhances brain memories and thinking skills.

Gut-Brain Connection

If you have ever trusted your gut on a big decision or felt those butterflies in your stomach when thinking about something exciting, then you have already had some experience of using your “second” brain, which is an organ hidden deep in your digestive system. The brain-gut connection has been in the center of medical research for a long time, as it can explain the link between your digestion, mood, brain activity, cognitive abilities, and other factors.

Recent studies show that this tiny organ - gut - can directly impact your brain health, and your brain affects your gut health. Your gut and brain are connected with a communication network called the gut-brain axis. This axis links special Vagus nerves in your body that send signals to both the brain and gut. However, complicated it sounds, it is crucial to keep your gut and brain in a healthy condition by
introducing more probiotic- and prebiotic-rich produce, high-fiber foods, and omega-3 fats to your diet.

Blood-Brain Barrier

More than 100 years ago scientists made an experiment: they injected blue dye in an animal’s bloodstream, and it happened so that all tissues of the body turned blue except for the brain and spinal cord. This is when a blood-brain barrier was discovered.

Blood-brain barrier means that the materials from the blood cannot always enter the brain, although blood is constantly circulating in the brain. Blood-brain barrier, or simply BBB, is semi-permeable, which signifies that some elements that the brain needs can enter, but others have to stay outside.

Therefore, BBB is crucial for brain health, as it prevents foreign harmful substances from entering the brain. Sometimes the blood-brain barrier (BBB) are breached creating an immune response (creation of antibodies) that causes inflammation. Usually a leaky -gut is responsible for this response.

How Antibodies Attack the Brain.

Surprisingly, antibodies and immune cells might not always be that good for us. They can also attack our brains, which causes a severe condition called autoimmune brain disease, or AIBD. When the gut leaks the immune system responds by making antibodies to neutralizes any foreign particles in the bloodstream. Those antibodies can also continue to attack other parts of the body. Some may cross the Blood-Brain Barrier and attack parts of the brain.

In recent years, new antibodies have been discovered that might lead to antibody encephalitis. Once this disease has been identified, treatment must begin immediately: blood washing, or plasmapheresis, is expected to destroy the harmful antibodies in the brain. In addition, the antibody-producing cells are destroyed with immunosuppression. If nerve cell damage has already occurred at the beginning of immunotherapy, this cannot be reversed, which might lead to, for example, permanent memory damage. It is therefore important to recognize and treat the disease as soon as possible.

Brain Healing

You must have already heard about those trendy “superfoods”, such as chia seeds, ginseng, or blueberries. Apparently, there are also special “brainfoods” that are crucial for the health of your brain. Rather than being a trend, eating brain foods are actually good guidelines to follow if you want to keep your brain healthy and young for years to come.

In fact, our brains are highly dependent on water, nutrients, vitamins, fats, and minerals. Only then will it work optimally. A lack of energy supply and important building blocks means that brain performance is lower than it could actually be.

In the first place, you should make sure you are drinking enough water throughout the day. About one and a half to two liters of pure water is the minimum you need to strive for. If your brain does not get enough water, you might end up with a headache, tiredness, and poor concentration.

Moreover, polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as those found in salmon and mackerel, are crucial for brain function. Nutrients in almonds and other nuts, including high-quality oils such as coconut and linseed oil, are, are some of the elements, really critical omega-3 fatty acids that the body cannot produce itself. Other ways to keep your brain healthy through nutrition is providing your body with enough high-quality proteins, and preferring complex carbohydrates over quick sugary snacks.