10 steps for healthy brain function: Delaying onset of Alzheimer’s (part 7)

Editor’s Note: This is a continuation of a series of articles by Willaim Clearfield, D.O., breaking down his 10 steps for healthy brain function. Visit www.hbmag.com to read parts 1-6.

Let us recap the seven (of 10) steps to a healthy brain covered thus far:

1. Keep Your Blood Sugar Balanced
2. Eat Healthy Fats
3. Get Adequate and Restful Sleep
4. Enough (but not too much) Vitamin D3 is Essential for the Brain to Function Properly
5. Get Your Gut in Order
6. Maintain Adequate Methylation
7. “Clearfield Goes Hormonal, Balance Your Hormones.”

Step No. 8

The eigth step — “A Healthy Heart leads to a Healthy Brain” — is mostly a matter of common sense:

1. Do not smoke.
2. Exercise at least 2.5 hours each week, and, limit TV watching to less than 7 hours a week (see the article psst.ph/7-ways-improve-memory for details).
3. Consume a high antioxidant diet (see “Teddy’s Leaky Gut” article from the April edition of Healthy Beginnings for details).
4. Maintain BP <130/<85; Total Cholesterol <200
5. Limit alcohol to no more than one drink daily (see Dr. Mercola’s tips at https://bit.ly/2jlyH3jfor more).
6. Maintain a Body Mass Index less than 25.

Four supplements

What do you do if the (heart) damage is already done? Check with your doctor, of course. Here are four supplements useful for mitochondrial (energy) restoration with a diseased heart:

1. L-Carnitine: 1-2 gram/day:
   1. Transports energy into cell.
   2. Decreases inflammation and oxidative stress.
   3. Improves insulin sensitivity.
   4. Decreases BP.
2. Magnesium glycinate: 500-1000 mg/d
   1. Key to turning on the energy enzymes.
   2. Important for: protein synthesis, membrane integrity, muscle contraction, hormonal balance and vascular tone.
   3. Reduces CA spasm, improves vascular tone and reactivity, decreases irregular rhythms, reduces platelet aggregation, lowers BP, glucose, improves insulin sensitivity.
3. Coenzyme Q10: 100-400 mg/d
   1. Improves heart contractility.
   2. Decreases all-cause mortality by 50%.
   3. Acts as a powerful antioxidant.
   4. Reduced levels of CoQ10 is an independent risk predictor of increased mortality in CHF, CHD and MI patients.
   5. Reverses muscle cramps, liver toxicity of statins.
4. D Ribose: 5 grams twice a day – three times a day (95% absorbed in 30 minutes)
   1. Stabilizes and energizes the heart
   2. Improves cardiomyopathies, CHF (SD, DD), pre/post CABG, post MI
   3. Reduces oxidative stress and increases glutathione
   4. Other Uses: Skeletal muscle diseases, fibromyalgia, CFS, post-exercise endurance, performance enhancement, reduces oxidative stress, and relieves altitude sickness.

Stay tuned

Next month, we delve into one of the most powerful steps one could take to preserve brain health: Step 9. The Exercise Cure.

Reno physician William Clearfield, D.O., of the Clearfield Medical Group provides patients with treatment plans that boost their overall quality of life. For more information concerning traumatic brain injuries and safe hormone optimization, or information about his “Ten Steps to A Healthy Brain” program, 

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