In this week’s Gary Null’s Newsletter:
• Reboot Your Brain: Part 1: Introduction
• Gary Null’s Show Notes
• Recipe for Enticing Endive with Berry and Seeds Salad
Reboot Your Brain: Part 1: Introduction
By Gary Null, PhD
With this issue we will begin a multi-part series presenting a natural approach to fighting memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer’s, brain aging, and more.
Ninety-three million people over the age of forty-seven live in America. They make up the largest group of aging people in our country’s history. Most of these individuals are overweight or obese and have poor diets. Many of them experience a high-stress lifestyle and turn to smoking, drinking, drugs, and prescription medications for short-lived “fixes.” Our health care system makes matters worse through overtaxing and placing little to no emphasis on prevention. Given this state of affairs, the prognosis for America is a virtual pandemic of brain dysfunction, oxidative stress, and inflammation leading to dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Current estimates by health care experts tell us that by 2050, two billion people worldwide will suffer from dementia, costing approximately one trillion dollars in medical expenses annually. These projections may well become a reality unless we make some radical and fundamental changes.
This series is the culmination of thirty-five years of my own research into anti-aging sciences—thirty of them spent as a research fellow with the Institute of Applied Biology—as well as my clinical experience counseling more than ten thousand individuals as a nutritionist and dietitian. I have come to the conclusion that all the conditions mentioned above can be prevented and reversed with lifestyle modifications. It is my firm conviction that it is never too early or too late to change your behaviors to successfully maintain vigorous mental and physical health as you grow older. These claims are well-supported by thousands of studies published in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
Shifting the Paradigm of Aging
Science has told us we have approximately 65,100 trillion cells. We know that there are more than ten thousand gene alterations per cell per day. The reason our brains lose function as they age is that we damage them, rather than help them repair themselves. Coffee, cigarettes, white bread, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, french fries, milkshakes, cheesecakes, pretzels, bagels, grilled cheese sandwiches, white rice, colas, candies, and other junk foods allow for the biochemical reactions that cause oxidative stress, inflammation, free radical damage, and glycation that destroy, harm, or alter DNA. Such damage occurs all the time, and it will continue as long as we are doing nothing to change it.
A wealth of scientific evidence demonstrates that engaging in physical and mental exercise and adhering to a healthy, vegan diet rich in phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants can effectively prevent DNA damage and help us maintain good health. In Reboot Your Brain, I gather knowledge from hundreds of the latest peer-reviewed studies from around the world showing that our lifestyle choices play a central role in keeping the brain fit and functional. In this book, we will review cutting-edge research showing that consuming a plant-based diet rich in nutrients, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids can effectively protect against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. We will explore how modern science has identified the ancient practice of tai chi as a powerful treatment for individuals suffering from Parkinson’s disease and depression. In addition, we will look at new evidence linking cognitive degeneration with a sedentary lifestyle and investigate the connection between staying mentally stimulated and maintaining a healthy brain.
This series is meant as a wake–up call, alerting you that everything in life is cause and effect. The concept of cause and effect has been explained by some truly brilliant minds: Hans Selye, who told us in the 1950s about the effects of stress; Lawrence LeShan, who taught us in the 1960s that what we think, we then become; as well as many others.
The concept is less theoretical than practical, in actuality. Throughout our lives, we have been conditioned to believe that disease exists and symptoms—be it heart attack, stroke, cancer—manifest suddenly, when the reality is every single choice we make in our lives contributes to the disease process or the wellness process. But that’s hard to appreciate, as no one who eats a single hamburger has a heart attack and ends up in a hospital, and no one who smokes a cigarette ends up with lung disease, and no one who eats a slice of cheesecake ends up diabetic. Hence, we’re lulled into a false pattern of behavior that reinforces no such things as cause and effect. All this occurs every day with every choice we make. Granted, you may not end up with a disease, but, in time, the quality of your life will be measured by the total cumulative impact of it all. We never think in terms of cumulative impact: the 3000th hamburger, or the 2000th drink of alcohol, the 170th pound of sugar every year!
Then one day, we end up with symptoms represented by a healing crisis. Inflammation anywhere in the body is inflammation everywhere in the body. As blood courses through the body, hetracyclic amines in BBQ chicken or deep-fried french fries, or the brown crust of toast or the bagel or donut, all cause inflammatory agents in the blood. So every cell fed by blood is also impacted. But our monotheistic medical model consists of highly skilled specialists with highly specialized technology to determine specific damage to a specific part of the body, and they do not look beyond, they can’t see the whole—not in the holistic way. We are looking at the whole process and the cumulative progression, whether positive or negative. In our culture, we don’t often examine the problem until the breaking point—but look at the metaphor of the person who goes broke or gets divorced. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Back when I was young, we infrequently had fast or junk food. We had family table dinners. We had backyard gardens where our fruits and vegetables were organic and pesticide-free. We’d store and date frozen foods. our lives were in many ways less stressful. Today young people are living in a different world with considerable challenges: They don’t have proper vitamin supplementation (vitamin deficiencies); they eat processed foods and have massive pro-inflammatory diets; they are surrounded by electromagnetic pollution; they get poor sleep; they consume caffeine and processed sugars and high fructose corn syrup and aspartame; they get excess calories from excess proteins and fats all of which have excess sodium; they experience mitochondrial destruction through chemical exposure; they battle allergies and therefore immune system over stimulation from diets high in gluten and dairy and yeast; they have high glycemic intake overtaxing the pancreas leading to pre-diabetes and metabolic syndromes; and they have high stress made worse only by a lack of exercise—all cause aging of the brain as they age the body.
So when I looked at former President Clinton, who had quadruple bypass surgery, I predicted he would be diagnosed with ALS or Parkinson’s or dementia within ten to fifteen years, unless he made a radical change. And he did—he’s been vegan for years and he’s never seemed better. But the concept of radical change scares so many. And we have the concept backwards. We are extremely radical when it comes to consuming wrong things and very conservative with the right ones. Ask the average person to substitute coffee with green tea, even today, and they’ll immediately think you’re nuts.
We must remember diets are only part of this—our beliefs, the epigenetics of our family life, the understanding that everything that occurred emotionally from conception to adulthood impacts us. And we can’t forget the significance of our environment—our water, the impact of stress, our responses to it, even reality TV—which is an escape, a way to say, “As bad as my problems are, I’m way better than these low-life degenerate idiots on TV!” And we champion the wrong people and attitudes—like the “food gladiator” at the heart of the recent reality TV show Man v. Food on the Travel Channel, who goes to popular restaurants around the country and eats several pounds of the worst foods imaginable. our public cheers this behavior on. And what happens? Now we are faced with the first generation where parents will outlive their children.
So as we approach this puzzle, there is no one piece, but millions. Each element, regarded with discipline and mindfulness can connect the direction we have gone to the one we should go, and in time we can fix much of what we suffer and prevent worse from happening.
The time is ripe for a shift in the paradigm. The new fifty is thirty. The new sixty is forty. The new eighty is sixty. All biologically speaking, but for those who are doing it right. In that context, we are seeing a transition. We are seeing a whole new generation of people who are not willing to wake up one day and have Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, forgetfulness, wrinkles, and arthritic joints. They are finally willing to stop long enough to say, “Cause and effect. If it works in finance, if it works in raising a child, it certainly should work with my body.”
This book is such a tool. It is specifically meant to help you understand what to do for your brain. In the end, this is not just about rejuvenating and protecting the brain as you age. It is about rejuvenating and protecting every cell of your body, with the brain as the primary focus. But everything you do for the brain will have a residual positive effect.
And so, I challenge you to examine your definitions of aging, to challenge a belief system that says you must accept a quiet decline, a gradual fading of mind, body, and spirit. I challenge you to remember that it is the quality of your own beliefs that ultimately determines the quality of your life and growth for your brain and your body, no matter what your age.
Adapted from Reboot Your Brain by Dr. Gary Null, PhD
Gary Null’s Show Notes
Green tea compound aids p53, ‘guardian of the genome’ and tumor suppressor
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, February 21, 2022
An antioxidant found in green tea may increase levels of p53, a natural anti-cancer protein, known as the “guardian of the genome” for its ability to repair DNA damage or destroy cancerous cells. Published in Nature Communications, a study of the direct interaction between p53 and the green tea compound, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), points to a new target for cancer drug discovery. “Both p53 and EGCG molecules are extremely interesting. Mutations in p53 are found in over 50% of human cancer, while EGCG is the major anti-oxidant in green tea, a popular beverage worldwide,” said Chunyu Wang, corresponding author and a professor of biological sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “Now we find that there is a previously unknown, direct interaction between the two, which points to a new path for developing anti-cancer drugs. Our work helps to explain how EGCG is able to boost p53’s anti-cancer activity, opening the door to developing drugs with EGCG-like compounds.”
Sweet discovery in leafy greens holds key to gut health
University of Melbourne (Australia), February 15, 2022
A critical discovery about how bacteria feed on an unusual sugar molecule found in leafy green vegetables could hold the key to explaining how ‘good’ bacteria protect our gut and promote health. The finding suggests that leafy greens are essential for feeding good gut bacteria, limiting the ability of bad bacteria to colonise the gut by shutting them out of the prime ‘real estate’. Researchers from Melbourne and the UK identified a previously unknown enzyme used by bacteria, fungi and other organisms to feed on the unusual but abundant sugar sulfoquinovose – SQ for short – found in green vegetables. Dr Goddard-Borger said the discovery could be exploited to cultivate the growth of ‘good’ gut bacteria. “Every time we eat leafy green vegetables we consume significant amounts of SQ sugars, which are used as an energy source by good gut bacteria,” he said.
Using Qigong to manage COVID-19 in older adults
Massachusetts General Hospital, March 14, 2022
A study published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry reports on the possible usefulness of the integrative practice called Qigong to prevent and manage COVID-19 in older adults. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Qigong are reported to have been valuable in controlling the spread of the pandemic in China. In field hospitals set up to isolate patients with mild disease, rather than practice home quarantine, patients were treated with Ba Duan Jin Qigong under the tutelage of TCM practitioners. This was both a valuable means of exercise and a therapeutic approach. In older people, the organ function declines, and chronic medical conditions set in, causing their energy to decline. This is thought of as a deficiency of Qi and blood. TCM practitioners say that Qigong may help prevent and promote recovery from respiratory infections in such conditions because of its regulatory function in the human body, including Wei Qi.
“Cat’s claw” extract inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
University of Antioquia (Colombia) and Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Peru), March 2, 2022
Researchers in Columbia and Peru have shown Uncaria tomentosa or “Cat’s claw” exerts in vitro antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study found that the hydroalcoholic extract of Uncaria tomentosa inhibited SARS-CoV-2 viral replication and reduced its cytopathic effect on Vero E6 cells. Just 48 hours following treatment, the plaque reduction assay showed that U. tomentosaextract had inhibited the number of infectious SARS-CoV-2 particles by 92.7% at a dose of 25.0 µg/mL.
How Tai Chi Proves to be a Gentle Solution for Improving Heart Health
Brown University School of Public Health, March 21, 2022
Some of the dietary and exercise changes and rehabilitation programs that doctors recommend to heart patients can seem more than a little intimidating, especially for inactive people. But a small study suggests that Tai Chi can be a gentle way for people with heart problems to get moving at a less overwhelming pace. One group practiced Tai Chi twice a week for 12 weeks by attending sessions at the hospital. The participants in the other group attended Tai Chi sessions three times a week for 24 weeks. Both groups received DVDs so that they could practice at home. Most of the 21 men and eight women in the study had also had a previous heart attack or had undergone bypass surgery to clear a blocked artery. All the volunteers were physically inactive and had rejected conventional cardiac rehabilitation, but expressed an interest in Tai Chi. Additionally, all continued to have high cardiovascular risk factors, such as high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, overweight, and smoking. [2]
Find at: https://prn.live/the-gary-null-show-notes-03-29-22/
Recipe for Enticing Endive with Berry and Seeds Salad
Yield: 2 servings
Dressing:
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed
Sea salt to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne
Salad:
1 cup endive leaves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ head Bibb lettuce, torn into pieces
½ cup fresh basil leaves; reserve a few leaves for garnish
½ cup sunflower sprouts
½ cup red cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup carrots, shredded
¼ cup blueberries; reserve some for garnish
½ cup sunflower seeds
Whisk mustard and vinegar together in a small bowl until smooth. Add oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and cayenne and blend well.
Sprinkle the endive with lemon juice to avoid wilting.
Place the Bibb lettuce in a large salad bowl and cover with endive leaves.
Combine basil, sprouts, tomatoes, carrots, blueberries, and sunflower seeds in a bowl and toss with the dressing.
Place the tossed salad on top of the endive and Bibb lettuce.
Garnish with blueberries and basil.
Endive is commonly known as escarole, and is packed with numerous plant nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B, beta carotene and folic acid. Like other green leafy vegetables, it is an excellent source of omega-3s.
From: Anti-Arthritis Anti-Inflammation Cookbook: Healing Through Natural Foods. By Gary Null, PhD. Essential Publishing
About Gary Null
An internationally renowned expert in the field of health and nutrition, Gary Null, Ph.D is the author of over 70 best-selling books on healthy living and the director of over 100 critically acclaimed full-feature documentary films on natural health, self-empowerment and the environment. He is the host of ‘The Progressive Commentary Hour” and “The Gary Null Show”, the country’s longest running nationally syndicated health radio talk show which can be heard daily on here on the Progressive Radio Network.
Throughout his career, Gary Null has made hundreds of radio and television broadcasts throughout the country as an environmentalist, consumer advocate, investigative reporter and nutrition educator. More than 28 different Gary Null television specials have appeared on PBS stations throughout the nation, inspiring and motivating millions of viewers. He originated and completed more than one hundred major investigations on health issues resulting in the use of material by 20/20 and 60 Minutes. Dr. Null started this network to provide his followers with a media outlet for health and advocacy. For more of Dr. Null’s Work visit the Gary Null’s Work Section or Blog.GaryNull.com In addition to the Progressive Radio Network, Dr. Null has a full line of all-natural home and healthcare products that can be purchased at his Online Store.
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