Health articles related to brain function and how it is impacted by diet, exercise, sleep, stress, micronutrients and metabolic health.
Inflammation is the underlying cause of all the chronic conditions we have today and that includes heart disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases like arthritis, MS, Crohn’s, and celiac, neurological issues like Alzheimer’s, dementia, mood disorders, and anxiety. Inflammation is also the cause of the aches and pains associated with getting older, slow recovery of muscles …
Sleep is essential for life. I think the most important factors for a healthy body are eating (healthy whole food), sleeping and exercise. Poor sleep quality and duration are associated with decreased immune function, increased stress hormones (that suppress the immune system), mood disorders, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. In a normal night, we …
GABA stands for Gamma Amino butyric acid. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that decreases the stimulatory effects of excitatory neurotransmitters. Without inhibition, our brain would be constantly over-stimulated and that would feel like anxiety and to some extremes, panic. GABA is the most calming neurotransmitter we have. Glutamate is one of the primary stimulating neurotransmitters …
After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. It contains a unique amino acid called L-theanine that has several beneficial effects on our brain because it increases the levels of some hormones and neurotransmitters that make us feel good. Theanine increases molecules that affect mood Serotonin – makes us feel calm …
L-Theanine in Tea has Beneficial Effects on our Brain Read More »
Many things can impact our hormones and things can get a little out of wack if we have a lot of stress, don’t get enough sleep, then drink more caffeine than we need, maybe fighting a cold or flu, and then perhaps some bad food choices because that is easier than cooking and junk food …
What kind of diet works best? Low fat diet? Low carb diet? Do total calories matter? The most popular theory right now is that carbs increase weight gain because carbs stimulate insulin, which is a hormone that causes our liver to convert carbs into fat, so reducing carbs will help you lose weight. But, there …
What hormone causes you to feel love, empathy, compassion, and trust, makes you feel bonded to your loved ones (including pets), reduces feelings of fear and stress, increases honesty, causes women to deliver babies, and causes men and women to have orgasms? This hormone is the main reason why animals, like humans live in cooperative …
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that has several important functions in our body. Getting into the winter months, it may be time to think about adding a vitamin D supplement. Studies show that approximately 40-50% of North Americans and about 1 billion people worldwide are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D is primarily made …
Stress has a significant impact on how our body functions. Short term stress can actually be beneficial, for example, exercise is interpreted by the body as acute stress, we produce cortisol and epinephrine (adrenalin) and increase blood sugar, heart rate, and blood pressure. Then when the acute stress is over, the body regenerates cells and …
Minimizing the impacts of chronic stress. How to decrease cortisol Read More »
Lion’s Mane is a type of mushroom that has been shown to have some extraordinary health benefits. It is Hericium erinaceus, also known as Yamabushitake, but most commonly called Lion’s mane. A review article published by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2015 reviewed 139 primary research papers that describe the myriad of …
Lion’s Mane mushrooms shown to have extraordinary health benefits Read More »
One of the main stress hormones is cortisol and it can have a huge impact on your health. 75% of North American adults report that they have physical or emotional symptoms of stress. It is a significant factor in chronic health issues like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, mood disorders, and dementia. Cortisol is a …
Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that makes us feel calm and good. It is commonly called the happy hormone but it doesn’t technically make us excited happy; that feeling comes from a combination of serotonin and dopamine. When we don’t have enough serotonin can feel the following in varying degrees: Depression Loss of interest in things …
