Ancient Proverbs – Time to Smile!

French: A brain is worth little without a tongue.

   Long on hair, short on brains.

   If your brain is made of butter, do not be a baker

English: Shut the gate before the horse has bolted—not after.

   If the brain sows not corn, it will plant thistles.

   Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain.

Albania:  Mind the goats so that you will drink their milk.

German:  You don’t see the brain on one’s forehead.

Arabic:  Arrogance over the arrogant is modesty.

Corsica:  An idle person is up to no good.

Age-proofing Your Brain, Weight, 8

UCLA researcher Stuart Wolpert found dieting does not work. (I’m tempted to say “Duh,” but I will refrain. Smile.) By their very nature diets are designed to fail. Initially you many lose a few pounds as the brain and body respond temporarily to something new and different. But dieting cannot be maintained over time, especially when it involves food deprivation. Within a space of just two to three years, most eventually gain back everything they lost—often more—and risk damaging brain and body systems in the process. A study published in the journal American Psychologist found that dieting does not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people. The first step in escaping a diet trap is to recognize that you are in one. Stop dieting. If you aren’t dieting, don’t start. Instead, adjust what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat as part of a high-level-healthiness lifestyle—and do that for the rest of your life. It matters. (For more information, refer to Longevity Lifestyle Matters, by Taylor, Horton, and Briggs.)

Age-proofing your Brain, Weight, 4

Obesity is not just a problem for women. Lugging excess weight around one’s middle is an especially ugly risk factor for a testosterone-estrogen hormone imbalance. Testosterone plays a vital role in how the body balances glucose and insulin and in fat metabolism in both males and females. Aromatase, an enzyme in fat tissue, converts testosterone into estradiol, a type of estrogen. That can result in a decrease in testosterone levels and a corresponding increase in estrogen levels, undesirable for anyone regardless of gender—although perhaps of particular concern to sexually-active males. Snacks or meals loaded with refined and processed carbohydrates from white flour and sugar can trigger the biggest surge in aromatase. The New England Research Institutes (NERI) reported a study of 1,822 men, which concluded that a man’s waist circumference is the single strongest predictor of low testosterone. It’s a two-way street: obesity can cause low testosterone and low testosterone can contribute to obesity.

More tomorrow.

Age-proofing Your Brain, Weight, 3

Obesity is not just a problem for women. Lugging excess weight around one’s middle is an especially ugly risk factor for a testosterone-estrogen hormone imbalance. Testosterone plays a vital role in how the body balances glucose and insulin and in fat metabolism in both males and females. Aromatase, an enzyme in fat tissue, converts testosterone into estradiol, a type of estrogen. That can result in a decrease in testosterone levels and a corresponding increase in estrogen levels, undesirable for anyone regardless of gender—although perhaps of particular concern to sexually-active males. Snacks or meals loaded with refined and processed carbohydrates from white flour and sugar can trigger the biggest surge in aromatase. The New England Research Institutes (NERI) reported a study of 1,822 men, which concluded that a man’s waist circumference is the single strongest predictor of low testosterone. It’s a two-way street: obesity can cause low testosterone and low testosterone can contribute to obesity.

More tomorrow

Age-proofing Your Brain, Weight, 2

According to Roland Sturm, RAND Corporation Economist, being obese is like being twenty years older than you really are. It does more damage to your quality of life, causes more chronic medical conditions, and incurs more healthcare expenditures than either smoking or alcohol abuse. According to the World Health Organization, the worldwide epidemic of obesity is reaching critical proportions. An estimated 250 million people in the world are obese, and this number is predicted to reach 300 million by 2025. Interestingly, obesity is usually not about food anyway. It’s often about using food to self-medicate and to alter your neurochemistry to help you feel better. Remember: everything starts in your brain. Being either too heavy or too thin are both bad for your brain and, therefore, for your body as well. More tomorrow.

Age-proofing Your Brain, Weight, 1

What does weight have to do with anything except wardrobe—and whose business is it anyway? Researchers say it’s your business. The bad news: Obesity is now linked with more than 50 diseases—including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, cancer and cancer reoccurrence, and dementia. Obesity may even be worse for females. Women who are obese throughout life are at increased risk for developing dementia, perhaps due to increased secretion of cortisol. As a female I’ve watched that acted out in my own family—I’ve also seen the opposite, so thin as to be malnourished.

The good news: there is a middle ground and most people can attain that—even if some need a little help. The World Health Organization or WHO defines overweight and obesity as an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair one’s health. Overweight means you have a Body Mass Index or BMI greater than or equal to 25. Obesity means a BMI greater than or equal to 30.

More tomorrow.

Age-Proof Your Brain - Sleep, 6

After 20 hours without sleep your brain functions as if it had reached the legal blood alcohol limit in the State of California. (Per California's driving under the influence or DUI laws, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle with any of the following blood alcohol concentration or BAC percentages: 0.08% or higher―21 years old or older operating a regular passenger vehicle. 0.04% or higher―when operating a commercial vehicle.) There are good reasons for that. Fatigue is believed to have contributed to both the Exxon Valdez and space shuttle Challenger disasters. Motorist sleepiness accounts for 33 percent of traffic accidents. In some countries, sleep deprivation accounts for an estimated $16 billion in annual medical costs.

David K. Randall points out in Dreamland, that within the first 24 hours of sleep deprivation, the person’s blood pressure begins to rise, then metabolism processes start to go haywire, resulting in an uncontrollable craving for carbohydrates. Soon the body temperature drops and the immune system gets weaker. If this goes on for too long, there is a good chance that the mind will turn against itself, triggering brain phenomenon in which the person experiences visions and hears phantom sounds akin to a bad acid trip. 

(For more information see “Age-Proofing Your Brain” by Taylor and Briggs.)