brain

10 Ways To Use A Cell Phone More Safely

  On the heels of the largest cell phone study ever conducted, which I blog about here, I wanted to create a quick video giving you some easy, actionable ways to decrease your radiation exposure while still having access to your cell phone when you need to use it. I know I rely on my cell phone on a daily basis both personally and professionally… so I know that giving up my cell phone is not a realistic answer for me. But as a holistic physician, I also realize that every single cell in our body functions on the basis …

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Grounding Instantly Helps Your Brain, Mood, and Sleep

As I’ll talk about with you on today’s video… EEG studies of brain activity show that grounding instantaneously shifts our brain wave patterns and reduces ambient stress levels.   Getting into the relaxed but alert alpha brain wave pattern, which is seen in deep meditative states and healing sleep states, is the hallmarks of grounding. Grounding allows the brain to spend more time in that healing, restorative alpha brain wave state, and allows us to feel calm and alert during waking hours as well. Deeper, more restorative sleep at night puts us in a zone of healing, while lack of …

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I Had No Idea This One Neurotransmitter Changes Everything We Know About Aging

Serotonin is historically linked with depression — and poor sleep as well — since serotonin is the precursor to melatonin and folks who are low in serotonin are likely low in melatonin too. (Which sucks because as I blog about here, folks struggling with depression are only likely to have the depression resolve if they are sleeping well.) But today’s medical study truly blew me away, because it reveals that serotonin isn’t just linked with depression and sleep, but with cognition.   In fact, this study suggests that the decline in cognition and memory issues as we age isn’t simply …

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Sauna To Protect Your Brain

  Now this is a medical study I can really get behind! Woot! I LOVE HEAT. And I love love love anything that boosts circulation — like grounding, sauna, steam room, hot baths, sleeping with a hot water bottle, massage, exercise…   …it just feels intuitively right to get your blood flowing, don’t you think?   Turns out there are lasting benefits to getting your brain circulation boosted through heat specifically… having regular sauna bathing decreases risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease! Researchers had previously discovered that men who used a sauna two or more times a week had significantly …

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Household Chemicals Damage Cognition (And Small Changes You Can Make To Protect Yourself)

A recent study just published May 2016 in the journal Environmental Research reveals the extent of damage that common household chemicals are having on children… … impairing cognitive function and behavioral development.   Chemicals that are routinely found in homes that are implicated in impairing cognitive function of children are commonly found in nonstick cooking pans, carpet pads, upholstery, and in electronics. Exposure during pregnancy to these and other toxic items containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) is now definitively associated with decreased cognitive function of children later in life. These findings show that the mother’s concentration …

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How To Age-Proof Your Brain (plus 12 more medically proven anti-aging tips)

According to a recent study just published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, burning calories from physical activity is what preserves brain volume as we age, and is capable of slashing Alzheimer’s risk in half!   Although we’ve long known that being physically active is neuroprotective, this latest study shows a direct correlation between energy expenditure (calories burned from physical activity) and the volume of gray matter in our brains. And excitingly, this brain boost is independent of cognitive status, meaning even elderly who have already begun to exhibit cognitive changes will benefit from increasing their activity level. The results …

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Autism Linked To Low Levels Of This Brain Chemical…

Published December 17, 2015 in Current Biology, a new study finds and association between Autism and decreased action of GABA in the brain.   GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that is calming to the brain. It helps to down regulate brain activity and it’s absence has long been associated with seizure disorders. After noting that a striking number of patients with autism have seizures, researchers looked into GABA activity in autistic individuals. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, researchers found an absence of inhibitory signaling in the brain while participating in activities that normally activate GABA pathways. The severity of the deficit …

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