Written by Simon J. Evans, PhD

Do you have a sweet tooth in the morning? Do you crave that bowl of high-sugar cereal or a donut with your coffee? We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and getting something for breakfast is likely better than getting nothing at all. However, a new study from a group in Australia tells us that if you must eat those sweet, high carbohydrate foods, you would do much better putting them off until lunch and grabbing some more protein in the morning.

A g’zillion different studies show us why it is so important to eat a morning meal. Breakfast eaters have an easier time controlling their weight, better energy throughout the day and higher performance on the job or at school. We also know that foods with a lower glycemic index (meaning they are less likely to spike your blood sugar because they have less simple carbohydrates) are better than high glycemic breakfasts for all this stuff.

A new study took this logic a step further and asked what would happen to your blood sugar if you spread out all your carbohydrates evenly throughout the day, or, conversely, loaded most of them up at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Researchers expected that the peak in blood sugar would be highest right after eating the high carbohydrate meal. In a sense, they were right, but with one big surprise.

A high carbohydrate breakfast meal caused a much bigger spike in blood sugar than a similar meal at lunch or dinner. It appears that our bodies can tolerate a dose of carbs much better in the afternoon or the evening, than we can in the morning. This study utilized type II diabetics to provide and exaggerated normal blood-sugar response, but presumably, this applies to everyone.

Why is this important and what does it have to do with the brain? Your body needs to control its blood sugar (glucose) in a tight window in order for all your systems to operate at their best. Importantly, your brain uses glucose exclusively as an energy source, whereas the rest of your body can tap into energy from fats and proteins. So giving your brain a steady supply of glucose is important for optimal brain function.

If you are constantly eating a big chunk of your daily carbs at breakfast (by scarfing down the donuts, pancakes, French toast or high sugar cereals), then you are probably spiking your blood sugar fairly high in the morning on a regular basis.

This has a couple of problems. First, in the short run, spiking your blood sugar causes your body to respond by releasing insulin to crash it back down. This will cause a drop in energy levels during the mid-morning hours, which is a time when many folks need to be on their toes at work, and kids need to be attentive in school. Second, in the long run, constantly spiking your blood sugar can eventually lead to insulin resistance and type II diabetes, which increases your odds for heart disease and cognitive problems as well.

Obviously it’s best to get rid of the high sugar foods from your diet completely, but let’s be reasonable. Most people, me included, enjoy a fresh-baked cinnamon roll every now and then and we aren’t willing to deprive ourselves of all of life’s pleasures.

So here’s the solution – just don’t eat this stuff for breakfast. It’s the worst possible time of day for these kinds of foods. Unfortunately, these are the common breakfast foods that we feed our kids on a regular basis and find littering the morning menu of our favorite restaurants.

Still, try to switch to higher protein meals in the morning, like eggs or a quick breakfast shake and you will likely notice an increase in energy throughout the morning and the rest of the day. If you just can’t go cold-turkey on the morning office donuts, grab one to stick in your desk and eat it with lunch instead (just keep it to a minimum).

Reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2008) 87:638-44

Written by Dr. Rob Borer

So you’ve done all the right things to enhance your brain’s function. You’ve modified your diet to optimize the raw materials needed by your brain. You’ve adopted healthy habits of mental and physical exercises to keep your brain in top shape.

But what have you done to ensure that the messages being generated in the brain are effectively transmitted throughout your body?

After all, your brain controls and regulates every function in your body from respiration and circulation to digestion and motion - to name just a few. In fact, every tissue and organ in your body is completely dependent on the messages coming down from your brain to know how to function on a moment-by-moment basis. And the demands change every moment you’re alive. Are you running or are you sitting? Did you just eat a meal or are you hungry? Are you hot or are you cold? Your body must adapt and modify to its environment continuously. And what is coordinating all this function in your body? None other than your brain!

Then should you be keeping your brain in tiptop shape? Absolutely! But could you be undermining all the good things you are doing for your brain by neglecting a critical area of the body that affects how these messages are transmitted? Very possibly!

To find the area of concern we need to first trace a nerve’s pathway. The vast majority of all nerve connections happen in the brain. From the brain, nerves travel down out of the skull and through the middle of your bony spine as part of the spinal cord. At some point the nerve branches away from the cord, passes between two bones and travels to the tissue or organ that it controls.

The most critical and vulnerable area of the nervous system is the junction between the spine and the skull as it passes through the first cervical vertebrae or atlas bone.

The atlas bone is particularly susceptible to misalignment due to its design and the task it is given to perform. The atlas bone has the fewest overlapping bony structures to help in maintaining it’s proper alignment compared to all other vertebrae in the human spine. Thus the atlas bone relies strictly on muscles and other soft tissue to maintain its alignment. Additionally, the weight of the head is equivalent to an average size bowling ball. The atlas is attempting to keep this very heavy object of yours balanced upright. This task becomes very difficult to achieve when the head is moved too rapidly, such as during a fall from a height, an auto accident, or a sporting or recreational accident. Research has shown that the muscles of the neck are incapable of controlling the weight of the head in these situations and misalignment will result. Chiropractors refer to these misalignments as subluxations.

When subluxation occurs in the spine, irritation and pressure on the nerves passing through or between the involved bones results. The irritated nerve is no longer able to pass information efficiently and effectively and improper function occurs and health problems result. Subluxations have been shown to cause a wide range of health problems such as:

• neck pain
• back pain
• numbness
• digestive problems
• immune problems
• migraine headaches.
• allergies & congestion

Subluxations at atlas are particularly concerning. When we consider that 90% of the nerves traveling down from the brain pass through atlas we understand that a subluxation at this level can affect virtually every nerve in the entire body and can play a large role in many of the health problems one may experience.

Additionally, when atlas is subluxated the entire body must contort and distort to keep you upright. To understand what happens to the spine when atlas subluxates, try holding a bowling ball with you hand upright in front of you with your forearm straight up and down. Then bend your wrist slightly so the bowling ball is leaning to one side without changing the position of your forearm (this will be simulating an atlas subluxation). Notice the affect it has on the position of your entire body as you try and keep from falling over (or dropping the bowling ball!). Roger Sperry, a 1980 Nobel Prize winning scientist in brain research, best captures the impact of the distortions on the body in the following statement:

“Better than 90% of the energy output of the brain is used in relating the physical body in its gravitational field. The more mechanically distorted a person is, the less energy available for thinking, metabolism and healing.”

So regardless of how many good things you are doing to keep your brain in shape you may be undermining all this beneficial effort due to a subluxation at atlas.

So what can you do to avoid subluxation from occurring at atlas? What can you do to keep your spine from getting on your nerves? There are some healthy habits you can adopt to keep your self out of trouble. First of all buy yourself a headset for both your home phone and your cell phone. Bending your head over as you try to cradle the phone between your head and shoulder has been shown to cause subluxation. Sleeping on your stomach should also be avoided. Having your head twisted as you sleep on your stomach is extremely bad for your spine and has been shown to cause subluxation as well. Lifting something from the ground using your legs with your back straight up and down is tried and true advice you’ve probably heard before, but bears repeating. You should also always avoid using your head to raise or turn your body. Additionally, you might begin an activity that strengthens and tones the intrinsic muscles that hold the spine in place. Activities like yoga and pilates are especially beneficial for achieving this.

Finally, if you have had some type of unfortunate accident and believe that you might have an atlas subluxation or are experiencing some of the symptoms of an atlas subluxation, you should be evaluated by an upper cervical specialist. Some of the most common symptoms of an atlas subluxation are:

• neck pain
• headaches
• restrictions in the normal motion of your neck
• popping or grinding sounds during neck motion
• migraines

There are several good resources for finding a good specialist near you. Two of the best ones are www.upcspine.com & www.uppercervical.org.

About the author: Dr. Rob Borer is an upper cervical specialist. He has been in private practice for the past 8 years with his wife Dr. Sherri Borer. Dr. Rob has delivered over 30,000 upper cervical atlas corrections and regularly speaks on the detrimental effects an atlas subluxation has on ones health. For more information about Drs. Rob & Sherri Borer they welcomes you to visit www.borerchiro.com.

By Paul R. Burghardt, PhD

A couple of recent articles in the journal Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, reported exercise as an effective adjunctive treatment for individuals suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

An Italian research group [Pilu et al, 2007] reported that individuals receiving antidepressant drugs along with cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise for eight months had decreased severity of depression compared to individuals receiving drugs but not exercise. A follow up analyses of the study determined that these individuals’ perception of their quality of life was also improved [Carta et al, 2008].

One of the interesting things about this study is that the researchers specifically chose women who were not responding to drug treatment. But when drug treatment was coupled with exercise they felt better! Pretty cool.

Lack of response to antidepressant drug treatment is a pretty sizeable problem. Many times individuals will be placed on different drugs, sometimes combinations of drugs, or varying doses of drug, until something seems to work. This can be unpleasant due to the side effects of antidepressant drugs, and relative amount of time it may take to find the appropriate drug and dose.

So the potential for exercise to increase the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs is an important finding that will hopefully be incorporated at the clinical level.

There are a couple of limitations to the study that the authors acknowledge. First, only a small number of participants were included. Generally, results from studies with larger numbers of participants have more statistical power. That means that researchers can more confidently attribute the results to the treatment, and not just random chance.

Second, the study only included women within in a specific age range (40-60 years old). The problem here is that the findings might not apply to a different demographic, say 18-25 year old males. On the positive side, it does suggest a benefit in that age group of women which is of interest since the rates of depression our about twice as high in women compared to men.

Third, they didn’t have the full set of control groups. Since the exercise sessions were conducted as a group, it may be that the social interaction among the participants during the exercise period is what caused the improvements in depressive symptoms. However, several prior studies also suggest anti-depressive effects of exercise. Still, the authors can’t say for sure that these effects were due to exercise, and not the social aspects of coming together to exercise in a group.

But if we step back and look at the big picture, it doesn’t really matter if it is “just” the exercise that reduces depressive symptoms. These women felt less depressed and that they had a better life! So if we feel the need to be scientifically cautious about these findings….. for now, get together with some other people to exercise.

Again, this was a small study that didn’t have the full array of scientific comparison groups, but this is another option for people suffering from depression who are not responsive to their medications. You may be wondering, did these women even need the drugs? Great question! We’ll talk about that in an upcoming post.

By Paul R. Burghardt, PhD

A recent issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (volume 7, 2008) painted an interesting portrait of the current state of drug approval by the FDA. The editorial, responding to an article by Bethan Hughes in the same issue, reported that in 2007 a total of 19 requests (17 new drugs and 2 license applications for existing drugs) were approved by the FDA; making it the LOWEST year for novel drug approvals since 1983.

There are several potential arguments to why this has happened, which the editorial and article touch upon. These include lack of novel science, insufficient funding, overregulation, understaffing, and bureaucracy. But aside from the intricacies of why there were only 19 approvals issued by the FDA in 2007, the fact remains that there were only 19 approvals issued by the FDA in 2007.

So with the veritable trickle of drug approval over the past couple years (hence the “drip”) a couple questions immediately come to mind. Should you wait for the new drug to treat your ailment? If so, what drug is it that you are waiting for?

Here’s what I think. Whatever the cause of declining numbers of approved drugs, it graphically illustrates the delicacy of a system. A very important system set in place to protect the public by both producing novel therapies while ensuring that those therapies are not harmful. This process that takes time. First, to find a treatment that is effective. Second, to ensure that said treatment doesn’t screw up the rest of our biology. Not a trivial task! But ultimately, this is a system that profoundly affects individuals’ health (for better or worse) as well as the well-being of their loved ones.

Can you afford to wait?

Making smart lifestyle choices that promote overall health is something that is completely within your control. Not only on what you choose to do, but when you choose to start.

The take home message is that there has never been a good reason to wait around for a drug to improve our health. For one, a drug that effectively treats your problem may not be developed for some time, if ever. If there is a drug that looks promising for you, it still takes time to get through the approval process (for good reason . . . safety). There are many choices we can make on a daily basis to improve our health. And although it is never too late to start, the sooner you start the better your odds of avoiding a problem in the long run.

This is particularly important to keep in mind when thinking about brain health. The complexity of our brains has been said to rival, and probably surpass, the complexity of the Universe. Remember that we’re talking about an organ that can think about, how it (the brain) is thinking about how complex the Universe is. So it’s a bit of a stretch to assume that any drug will be able to solve all the problems related to mental or cognitive disorder. A drug may help alleviate a specific problem/symptom, but it won’t fix the underlying cause.

The question you should have been asking yourself about any drug is “do the benefits outweigh the side-effects?” Now, that question comes along with the caveats “when will it be developed,” and “what if it’s never developed?”

If you want control of your health, take it.

By Simon J. Evans, PhD

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted new studies directed at figuring out how long-time married couples can keep their romance alive. The answer was very simple. Do something different.

In one ten-week study, researchers worked with 53 couples. They instructed one third of them to spend 90 minutes per week doing familiar but enjoyable activities, like going to dinner or a movie. Researchers instructed another third to spend 90 minutes doing something exciting that they both enjoyed. This group spent time doing new things or things they didn’t do very often. The final group received no specific instructions.

After the study was over, researchers interviewed the couples to rate the quality of their relationships. The couples that spent time doing new things scored higher than the other two groups.

This may all be common sense. The more exciting stuff you do together, the stronger your relationship can get. But it’s interesting to look at the underlying brain science, because it has implications for your overall brain fitness as well.

The brain enjoys new things. New experiences crank up the brain’s reward system, driven largely by the ‘pleasure’ signal, dopamine. This same circuit is very active early in the intensely romantic part of a relationship. So, the theory goes that doing new, exciting stuff together, may literally help rekindle the brain circuits that drive romance.

We have been promoting interjecting variety into your daily routines, as good for your brain fitness, for some time now. Beyond variety improving your relationships, it also helps you make new brain connections that are good for all kinds of brain functions.

Your brain is a web of about 100 trillion connections between 100 billion neurons. When we do new things and learn new stuff, the level of connectivity increases, and not just in your pleasure circuits but in other parts of your brain as well.

Increasing the connectivity between neurons in parts of the brain responsible for memory, decision making and creative thinking, is very beneficial to your long-term brain fitness. The more connectivity you create, the more defenses you have against cognitive decline as you age.

Think of an old tree with many branches. This is sort of what neurons look like. The more you learn by experiencing new things, the bushier the neuron gets and the more connections it can make. In fact, neuroscientists use the term ‘arborization’, meaning a tree-like appearance, to define the amount of branches a neuron has.

The degree of arborization is an indicator of a neurons health, especially in brain regions associated with learning and memory. Although we can’t directly measure arborization in people, studies in rodents show that those exposed to new environments on a regular basis have more arborization in neurons involved in memory.

What we can do in people is use new brain scanning technology to determine the level of activity in brain regions, which has some correlation with the level of connectivity and neuronal arborization in animal studies.

These brain-scanning technologies show that people in long-term, high quality relationships have greater brain activity in their pleasure centers when shown a picture of their spouse. Researchers believe that interjecting new experiences into marriage is one thing that helps maintain these connections.

So this Valentine’s Day, instead of visiting your favorite restaurant, try a new one. Or get out and do something you both enjoy but don’t get the opportunity to do very often. It will be good for parts of your brain that will help keep your mind and your relationship young.

Written by Simon J. Evans, PhD

We have are fortunate enough today to expect to live about 20 years longer than our grandparents did. Since the 1950s, we have enjoyed a two-decade increase in lifespan. The downside is there is a big difference between lifespan and healthspan, which is the number of years that you remain healthy.

A new editorial in Archives of Internal Medicine looks at the health of people reaching 100 years of age. Today there are 55,000 centenarians in the US. The people that make it that far today generally fare pretty well. That’s because it’s still difficult to reach that status without some strong genes and a healthy lifestyle.

But modern medicine is pushing more and more people to a ripe old age. In fact, conservative estimates predict 800,000 centenarians by 2050. That’s a lot of people reaching 100 so the issue of healthspan becomes a very important consideration.

A specific component of healthspan that most people care deeply about is their brainspan, or the number of years you maintain a healthy brain. Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia are probably the most feared diseases we have. The vast majority of people rate brain health at the top of their list for quality of life indicators. The more fit your brain, the better you feel.

Unfortunately, increases in brainspan have not yet paralleled increases in lifespan. Over the age of 65, there is still a 5% chance of having Alzheimer’s disease. Over the age of 85, those odds jump to 50%. But frankly, those statistics are much scarier than they need to be. When people hear statistics like that, they tend to feel helpless, as if they are rolling the dice. However, when it comes to your brainspan you can weight the dice in your favor.

Saying that people over 85 have a 50% chance of having Alzheimer’s disease is a little misleading. The real statement is that by the age of 85, 50% of people have Alzheimer’s disease. That may seem like the same thing, but it’s really a very different statement. Putting it the first way, it seems that everyone has a 50-50 chance of getting the disease, but that’s not really true. Some folks have a very high chance, while others are completely safe. Your chance of developing Alzheimer’s by the age of 85 is not necessarily 50% – so what is it?

The new editorial cites a 2004 study that looked at correlations between metabolic syndrome and cognitive decline. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of problems, including abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and difficulty controlling blood sugar (usually insulin resistance).

About 1 in 5 (23%) adults have metabolic syndrome in the US today, but almost 1 in 2 (43%) of folks over 75 find themselves in this state, curiously similar to the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease at that age.

In fact, researchers found that those with metabolic syndrome had a much greater chance of experiencing cognitive decline. The good news is that metabolic syndrome is highly preventable by simply eating better and exercising. It just takes a little investment of effort to dramatically shift the odds in your favor.

Now, this study was only observational, meaning researchers can’t conclude that metabolic syndrome causes Alzheimer’s. However, many other studies show that similar risk factors are involved in both diseases and it’s not a stretch to think that if you take care of your body you will also be taking care of your brain.

We understand perfectly well the relationship between saving and investing money throughout your career to enable a comfortable retirement. If you choose not to save anything, you aren’t surprised when you retire broke.

Yet, this association of investing in the health of your body and brain doesn’t seem to be as obvious to many folks. Perhaps it’s because we don’t get monthly balance statements to watch our ‘health accounts’ grow or shrink. Yet, the relationship between lifestyle and late-life brain health is clear.

This is more important today than ever. Since modern medicine will likely help you stretch your lifespan by many years, wouldn’t it be nice to do the same for your brainspan?