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 1-9, which broke down the 10 steps. This article, part 10 in the series, breaks down the first five steps as a reminder to readers; look to hbmag.com next month for a breakdown of parts 6-10.
Our Ten Steps to a Healthy Brain are complete! In summary, they are:
- Keep Your Blood Sugar Balanced
- Eat Healthy Fats
- Get Adequate and Restful Sleep
- Enough (but not too much) Vitamin D3 is Essential for the Brain to Function Properly
- Get Your Gut In Order
- Maintain Adequate Methylation
- Balance Your Hormones
- Healthy Heart; Healthy Brain
- Get Off the Couch! (Groan) Healthy Body=Healthy Brain
- Lifelong Learning.
It takes work to keep our brain healthy and vibrant. Like a well-oiled machine, the result is worth the effort. Today, we present the skinny on implementing the first five steps.
Step 1: Keep Your Blood Sugar Balanced
In terms of your diet, replace refined carbohydrates with:
- Quinoa, brown rice, oats, buckwheat, millet, whole-meal bread, whole-meal pasta
- Fewer high sugar foods: White bread, white pasta and white rice, pastries, confectionery, and sugary drinks.
- Avoid stimulants that raise our blood sugar levels, such as coffee and alcohol.
- Normalize blood sugar with our Mini-Fast with Bone Broth Diet (go here for a refresher — bit.ly/2BzT3kD) or a whole-foods, low-glycemic diet.
Supplements:
- Cinnamon 500-1000 mg/d
- Chromium Picolinate 400-600 mg/d
- Berberine 500-1500 mg/d
- Gymnema Sylvestre 50-100 mg/d
- Vanadium 50-100 mg/d
- Alpha Lipoic Acid 100-400 mg/d
- CBD Oil
- Budwig Snack: Mix all these ingredients in bowl or blender and consume 1 time daily: 6 oz of Cultured Dairy (cottage cheese, goat’s milk kefir); 4 Tbsp of sprouted and ground Chia or Flax; 1 Tbsp Flaxseed Oil; 1 tsp turmeric powder; and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
Step 2: Eat Healthy Fats
With your diet, increase:
- sardines, anchovies, mackerel, herring and wild salmon
- flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds and walnuts
- extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, whole eggs, nuts, and seeds.
- avoid hydrogenated vegetable fats in processed foods such as shop-bought cakes and biscuits, hard margarine, takeaways, pastry, pies and fried foods.
Supplements:
- EHA/DHA (Fish Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Krill Oil) 1000-4000 mg/d.
Step 3: Get Adequate and Restful Sleep
Action Step:
- Get 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night for optimal brain function.
Supplements:
- Take all of these 2 hours before bedtime: Vitamin D3, 5000 IU; Magnesium Taurate, 100-400 mg; and Melatonin, 0.5-3 mg.
Step 4: Vitamin D3
Action Step:
- 20 minutes of unblocked sun exposure adds 20,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day.
Supplements:
- High-quality supplementation will increase serum blood level by 8 ng/ml for every 1000 IU administered in 6-8 weeks. The goal is to maintain a 25 OH D level least 50-80 ng/ml. (“normal 30-100 ng/ml)
Step 5: Get Your Gut In Order
Action Steps: The 4 R Program
- Remove Inflammatory Foods like gluten, dairy, corn, soy, eggs, and sugar; as well as gastric irritants such as alcohol, caffeine or drugs.
- Repair: Eat clean whole foods and fermented foods; add Omega 3 F.A; and healing herbs; and increase intake of L-glutamine, Zinc, Omega 3 fish oil, Vitamins A, C, E, Slippery Elm and Aloe vera.
- Restore GI Lining: Fermented Foods and Probiotics.
- Replace: Increase intake of digestive enzymes; and Use Himalayan pink salt instead of sea or table salt.
Next month, we complete our summary on developing and maintaining healthy brain function.
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, visit www.clearfieldmedicalgroup.com, or contact Dr. Bill at doctrbil9@gmail.com or 775-359-1222.
