Welcome to "Healthy Living!"
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I'm your host Margot Marshall.
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We all know that high
cholesterol is a risk factor
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for heart disease but what
effect does high cholesterol
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have on mental performance?
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The answer may surprise you!
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On the program today we have
Dr. John Clark and Jenifer Skues
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a health psychologist.
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Welcome to the
program! Thank you.
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We look forward to what you have
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to say about this
intriguing subject.
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So high cholesterol just
isn't a problem for our heart,
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it's also affecting
our mental performance.
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Would you like to just
fill us in on that a bit?
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You know when we
have high cholesterol,
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our blood gets thicker.
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When our blood gets thicker,
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it's harder to
pump around our body.
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When it's
thicker with cholesterol,
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it has less of an
oxygen-carrying capacity
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and so your brain
suffers for lower oxygen.
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That's the pathway.
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So we had an interesting
gentleman that came to us
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for help.
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He was an anesthetist -
somebody who works in a hospital
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and puts people
asleep for surgery.
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He had just finished his
schooling; he was way in debt
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and he needed to pass
his exam for certification
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before he could start work.
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He went and took the test
for the first time and failed.
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He was worried,
he was stressed out.
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He studied very hard for six
weeks and took the test again.
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Again he failed and
that's when he thought,
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"Well I better talk to Dr.
Clark and see if there isn't
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something I need to do to
improve my mental performance."
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Well, this was
a difficult thing.
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He's on the line - if he doesn't
pass the test the next time,
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he can't take the test for
a long time, he can't work,
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and yet his debts will
be coming due - more stress.
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Well, so I sat down with him
and first I took a history on
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what he was eating.
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Some of the things that
he was eating included foods
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that would make his
cholesterol go high.
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I also looked at what he
was doing in his lifestyle;
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how much water he was drinking;
how much rest he was getting;
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when he was going to
bed; definitely what other
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foods he was eating and we
looked at his type of exercise.
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Now we set him up with a
program that was designed
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to help his mental performance
- particularly eating foods
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that would be designed
to keep his cholesterol low;
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foods that would feed
the brain, like walnuts;
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different foods like
beans that feed the brain like
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lima beans.
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We gave him a lot of
good foods that would keep his
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inflammation down in his body
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so that he wouldn't
have high inflammation.
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And then, we looked at how
much water he was drinking.
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We improved his water
intake, so he was drinking
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3 liters of water per day.
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We also had him doing
exercise the would boost
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the neurotrophic factors to
help his brain learn and grow.
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And we'll talk about more
things that we did for him,
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but in the course of
time, he took his test again.
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Now he had his entire
church praying for him
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because this was D-day.
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You miss this one, you
know, he's gotta a wife and
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two kids and none of them
worked and had any income.
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He was living with
friends and so he needed to get
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his income started.
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Well, he went to take
his test for this third time.
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He actually called some of
his classmates and told them
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the Lord is going to
help me do it this time.
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"I'm going to pass."
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Well he went to go take his
test and it was a computerized
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test and you take about
100 questions of the test,
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and if you're missing a lot
of them, it will keep throwing
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more questions at you.
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If you're getting them
right, it will stop at 100.
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Well it stopped at 100 and
he went to look and see what
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his score was and they
gave him a score right away.
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He had made 100% on his test!
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Oh, that's
amazing! That's amazing!
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So you took a
multifaceted approach to that.
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There was the diet and the very
particular diet for his needs,
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and then the exercise,
and the water and prayer,
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so he had a lot of things
going for him because when
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I think of the mental,
physical, spiritual, social,
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you mentioned three of
those areas where he was getting
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specific and significant help in
that period of time - the foods,
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the water, the
exercise in the physical part,
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and then the spiritual
part, so that was fantastic,
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and I'm sure he
was very relieved.
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And talk about the
stress - Jeni, this is very much
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in your department, isn't it?
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As your talking, I'm thinking,
"Well he must have been
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incredibly stressed. Oh yes.
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I know stress
reduces your capacity
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for mental performance,
but at the same time,
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that last test would have
been probably the most stressful
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because if he didn't get
it this time, he was out.
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Three strikes
and you're out. Yeah.
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So it wasn't just stress, it
was a problem, it had to be -
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you know when you look
at the cholesterol factor,
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it had to be a big player
for him in that. Definitely!
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And when people eat good food,
they're more able to handle
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stress - they're less
likely to overreact to stress.
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And when they're exercising
so that they are physiologically
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in good shape, their body
physiology doesn't respond
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so dramatically to stress.
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The heart rate doesn't
go so high for example;
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their breathing
doesn't get so erratic.
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It buffers the stress.
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Which is wonderful
because, see the thing is,
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with the cholesterol and the
oxygen factor would have been
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a problem and the brain
can grow and change and his
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brain wasn't
because it couldn't.
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It was just sort of stuck in
neutral, I guess you could say.
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That's right! People with
their diets make it so their
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brain gets stuck where
it is and they can't learn;
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they can't grow; they can't
develop; they don't come up
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with new ways of dealing
with stress. That's right.
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And that's where I find
when I'm working with people,
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if they had that
problem, I can't help them.
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It doesn't matter what I
do, they're not going to change,
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and this is another reason
I went into looking at the
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mind-body connection and
treating the whole system
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because I found
just trying to treat the
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stress factor wasn't enough.
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And people got more
stressed because they're going,
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"But I'm doing all these
things and it's not making any
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difference or I can't do it
because I'm still stressed,"
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so we can see how important
that holistic approach is.
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So what you're saying
is, by shifting the focus
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to the physical
things that they could do,
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it took their mind off
the stress, they were focusing
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on the thing that was really...
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And looking at brain
food, the nutrients in
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the brain is very important
and getting that whole thing
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going again because I
can't help a starving brain
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make a change or a brain that
is clogged to make a change,
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and that's sort of some of what
we've been talking about here
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because the brain can't grow.
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No that's terrific that
you're able to come at it from
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both of those angles
all in the one session.
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You definitely get better
results when you get the person
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to make changes all around
and not just do one thing,
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and that's what you were doing.
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So again this is something
we all need to be aware of.
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It's a holistic program
and we need to treat every
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part of our system.
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That's right, mental,
physical, spiritual and social.
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John, you were talking about
exercise - how much actually
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did you recommend that he
would do in this instance?
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Now this was a gentleman that,
of course, was fairly young
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in his early 30s - he
has no expectations that he's
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going to have a heart attack
immediately, and one of the
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things you want to do
if you want the brain to
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particularly be able
to learn new things is to
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have what we call "BDNF,"
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brain, drive,
neurotrophic factor.
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And in order to get that to
increase in the bloodstream,
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you need some fairly
vigorous aerobic exercise.
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And so we sent him - he
actually lived on a hill,
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so I told him, "Jog to
the bottom of the hill and
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back at least once
if not twice a day."
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We also had him...
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That wasn't Everest or
anything like that, was it?
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How far would
that have been roughly?
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I'm guessing that the elevation
change over the top of his
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hill to the bottom
of the hill would be
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about 100 to
120 meters. Alright.
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That's a good run
up and down a hill.
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Yes and so the vigorous
exercise of running down and up
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would be enough to boost the
BDNF and so that was part of it.
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And then also, I had him
on a program of studying,
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I did spend some time with
him going over study techniques
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and what to focus on
for his tests and so forth
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which really is irrelevant
to health, but in-between
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times when he's doing his
studying, I told him never
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study for more than 30
minutes without taking a break
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and at least a walk and where
he lived, I said, "Well you know
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you could walk down
to that shed and over
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to that trailer
and then back again.
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And so never sit there
for more than 30 minutes.
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It's interesting, when I
was in college, I got a job
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as a night watchman and I
had several circuits I should
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walk in order to complete
my job and so I looked over
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the campus that I was
on that I was supposed
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to cover all these buildings.
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And I divided them up
and I laid out my program
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so 20 minutes - I'd be walking
and then I'd stop and I'd
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study for 20 minutes, and
then 20 minutes I'd be walking,
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and my brain was
always fresh to study! Okay.
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This 30 minutes,
what's the reason for
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cutting off at 30
minutes of studying?
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You attention span isn't
hardly longer than 20 minutes,
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and your mental performance
starts dropping at about
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20 minutes and it's definitely
dropped pretty low at 30 minutes
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if you don't take a
change of activity. Yes.
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And you're much better off
taking a break than just trying
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to, you know, keep going.
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And so this is very
important for picking back up
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the brain mental
performance in between times.
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So that was the
aerobic part of his exercise,
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was he doing more than that,
that run down the hill and back?
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Well he would then
walk every 30 minutes
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so that he never got tired.
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The run was not every
20 minutes - he'd be a
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marathoner after that.
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I'm sorry, you
did say that, yes.
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So every 30 minutes he was
to do some kind of exercise.
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That would have added up to
a fair amount during the day?
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That's correct.
00:11:48.34\00:11:49.67
Yes and he was very diligent
about following his program.
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See the BDNF factor is
huge because it's about
00:11:54.14\00:11:58.85
growing the brain and BDNF
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is called
"fertilizer" for the brain.
00:12:01.85\00:12:05.09
I don't know if
that's a good term to put,
00:12:05.12\00:12:06.86
but fertilizer grows the brain.
00:12:06.89\00:12:08.96
And what it does, we
have trillions of neurons,
00:12:08.99\00:12:12.49
trillions and trillions of them
in the brain and they make up
00:12:12.53\00:12:16.10
pathways where we put
inflammation along those
00:12:16.13\00:12:18.87
pathways and the more
we act on the pathway,
00:12:18.90\00:12:21.50
the bigger that inflammation
pathway gets and I actually
00:12:21.54\00:12:24.64
call them - they
become freeways. Oh!
00:12:24.67\00:12:26.51
Now if you have an unhealthy
one, it's not good and we want
00:12:26.54\00:12:29.04
a healthy one but the
BDNF factor grows the memory
00:12:29.08\00:12:32.88
to help create
the pathways. Oh okay.
00:12:32.91\00:12:35.12
And it stimulates neuronal
growth, so that means it helps
00:12:35.15\00:12:38.59
the cells to grow and multiply,
and it also helps the cells
00:12:38.62\00:12:42.19
or the neurons to
connect, it's called "synapses"
00:12:42.22\00:12:45.56
and the synapses that
connect to make the pathways.
00:12:45.59\00:12:48.00
So if you're going to put
in and recall information,
00:12:48.03\00:12:50.70
you need good
pathways and a good memory bank
00:12:50.73\00:12:53.77
to be able to put the new
ones in and that's exactly what
00:12:53.80\00:12:56.57
this man was doing.
00:12:56.60\00:12:58.44
He was growing his
brain but in doing that
00:12:58.47\00:13:01.01
there's a part of the
brain, it's like a storehouse
00:13:01.04\00:13:03.18
for memory and it's called
the "hippocampus" and it's
00:13:03.21\00:13:05.88
just below the or at the bottom
of the brain area and there are
00:13:05.91\00:13:10.05
two areas we store memory;
one is called the "amygdala"
00:13:10.09\00:13:14.22
which is our emotional
memory and the other is the
00:13:14.26\00:13:17.26
"hippocampus" and they
are right next to one another.
00:13:17.29\00:13:19.63
And what they do is they
can change size, they can grow
00:13:19.66\00:13:23.47
to the point where they found
that sometimes there are people
00:13:23.50\00:13:26.50
who have Alzheimer's who
don't lose their memory as such,
00:13:26.53\00:13:29.94
and when they've done an
autopsy, they found they had
00:13:29.97\00:13:32.14
a very big hippocampus and
they had been highly active
00:13:32.17\00:13:35.51
in their life like this
man had and they had actually
00:13:35.54\00:13:37.98
grown the hippocampus
to the point where when the
00:13:38.01\00:13:40.55
Alzheimer's set in,
they had so many memory cells
00:13:40.58\00:13:44.02
ready to use that
they didn't lose them all.
00:13:44.05\00:13:46.39
Isn't that interesting?
00:13:46.42\00:13:48.32
It's a very powerful
thing, so we all want to grow
00:13:48.36\00:13:50.93
the brain and this is
exactly what we do. Yes.
00:13:50.96\00:13:55.06
You think there's
enough room in there? Laughter.
00:13:55.10\00:13:57.63
You mean you're
going to get a big head.
00:13:57.67\00:14:01.20
But that's fantastic
because they didn't always think
00:14:01.24\00:14:03.91
that that could happen -
it's not that long ago, is it?
00:14:03.94\00:14:06.24
No, they used to think
that once we were born,
00:14:06.27\00:14:10.21
the brain had all these
cells, trillion of cells,
00:14:10.25\00:14:12.95
and as we got older, they'd die
and we'd lose brain capacity,
00:14:12.98\00:14:15.78
but that's not true. No.
00:14:15.82\00:14:17.15
We can grow the brain.
00:14:17.19\00:14:18.52
Isn't that wonderful! Oh it is.
00:14:18.55\00:14:19.89
It's wonderful to think
that we can actually do that.
00:14:19.92\00:14:22.29
And, yes, this is an
important thing to remember
00:14:22.32\00:14:27.50
because I've had one
family bring to me the husband
00:14:27.53\00:14:31.47
and father and he
was getting Alzheimer's.
00:14:31.50\00:14:34.30
I mean, he didn't believe he was
getting Alzheimer's. They don't!
00:14:34.34\00:14:38.61
But his wife and his kids
are like, "Yeah, he forgets;
00:14:39.47\00:14:42.88
he changes; he's got
this going on and that."
00:14:42.91\00:14:45.31
And so, again I sat down
with him and took a history of
00:14:45.35\00:14:48.42
what he was eating and it
was a lot of high cholesterol
00:14:48.45\00:14:50.89
foods, foods with
cholesterol and foods
00:14:50.92\00:14:52.75
that would drive up
his cholesterol. Right.
00:14:52.79\00:14:54.96
And we did a similar
thing where we took him off
00:14:54.99\00:14:57.36
all of those things, especially
free oils which decrease
00:14:57.39\00:15:02.86
the amount of
oxygen on the brain.
00:15:02.90\00:15:04.80
And again, we put him on
the walnuts and the flax,
00:15:04.83\00:15:08.47
and coconut and brain foods,
but the added thing we had
00:15:08.50\00:15:14.44
for him, we had him doing
some hydrotherapy on his head,
00:15:14.48\00:15:16.85
but we also had him exercising
the mental part of his brain.
00:15:16.88\00:15:21.92
We had him work on memorizing
and the best thing he could
00:15:21.95\00:15:26.09
memorize was
Bible passages. Okay.
00:15:26.12\00:15:29.09
And so I'd have him pick
his Bible passages and memorize
00:15:29.12\00:15:33.06
them and work on it every day.
00:15:33.09\00:15:35.96
And then the other thing
that really helps the brain is
00:15:36.00\00:15:39.13
exercising it in studying
in comparing similar things,
00:15:39.17\00:15:44.37
we call it "the associations."
00:15:44.41\00:15:45.97
And so we had him studying
the Bible where he would look at
00:15:46.01\00:15:49.34
one passage and
compare it with another.
00:15:49.38\00:15:52.01
For example, maybe he would
go to where Jesus says, "Come
00:15:52.05\00:15:56.28
unto Me all ye that labor
and I will give you rest."
00:15:56.32\00:16:00.66
Okay, "rest." Well he
then is supposed to associate
00:16:00.69\00:16:02.99
with other things in the Bible
where it talks about "rest."
00:16:03.02\00:16:05.69
Oh, well then there's the
Sabbath day that is for rest.
00:16:05.73\00:16:09.63
And then there's Hebrews
where it says, "There's a rest
00:16:09.66\00:16:11.67
that remains the people of God."
00:16:11.70\00:16:14.24
And then, well then there's
the opposite in Revelation,
00:16:14.27\00:16:16.34
it says, "The
wicked HAVE no rest."
00:16:16.37\00:16:19.14
Anyway, the idea is to
keep comparing different
00:16:19.17\00:16:21.98
similar thoughts
throughout the Bible so he could
00:16:22.01\00:16:25.81
increase the mental performance.
00:16:26.15\00:16:28.75
Well I was giving a talk on
Alzheimer's a couple of years
00:16:28.78\00:16:34.09
later and I thought, "I wonder
what happened to that guy,
00:16:34.12\00:16:36.42
I gotta call him
before my talk so I know,
00:16:36.46\00:16:38.46
do I have a... Yeah!
00:16:38.49\00:16:40.10
Have a living
example, basically.
00:16:40.16\00:16:41.50
Hopefully he's done
some good in his example.
00:16:41.53\00:16:44.23
And sure enough, his wife said,
"You know, when he's on that
00:16:44.27\00:16:47.84
program, he's back to normal,
he has no deficits, but if he
00:16:47.87\00:16:52.44
goes down to the fast food
joint and eats some kind of
00:16:52.47\00:16:54.94
cholesterol-containing
food, he's in trouble."
00:16:54.98\00:16:57.98
Really? So in other words,
he could come back to normal
00:16:58.01\00:17:00.82
and then switch backwards and
forwards, are you saying that?
00:17:00.85\00:17:04.55
Yes, to a certain degree.
00:17:04.59\00:17:06.69
Oh, goodness me.
00:17:06.72\00:17:08.22
It is a "use it or lose
it principle" with the brain.
00:17:08.26\00:17:11.33
If we don't use the
brain, the cells start to die
00:17:11.36\00:17:13.83
and drop out - we
lose those pathways there.
00:17:13.86\00:17:16.90
The interesting thing is we
never totally lose a pathway
00:17:16.93\00:17:20.10
or what is a belief or
an attitude or a memory,
00:17:20.14\00:17:23.24
it's actually housed in
the outer area of the brain,
00:17:23.27\00:17:26.17
around the outer core of
the brain and they are like
00:17:26.21\00:17:30.15
dormant memories.
00:17:30.18\00:17:31.51
So for someone, for example,
who has a habit that they
00:17:31.55\00:17:34.48
wanted to change - it
might be reading or what we do
00:17:34.52\00:17:39.35
or it might be people who
smoke or drink or whatever,
00:17:39.39\00:17:42.42
and they stop - they can
find further down the track
00:17:42.46\00:17:44.73
where they
absentmindedly do it because
00:17:44.76\00:17:46.90
that habit is still there.
00:17:46.93\00:17:48.26
But if you feed it, it will
grow but if you go, "Hang on
00:17:48.30\00:17:50.70
I don't do that anymore,"
you'll find that it will
00:17:50.73\00:17:53.57
start to dissipate and the
cells are actually dropping out
00:17:53.60\00:17:57.27
and that memory goes
into that dormant space
00:17:57.31\00:17:59.74
but it can be activated.
00:17:59.77\00:18:01.28
So he would have had lots
of memories there and what
00:18:01.31\00:18:03.31
he is doing is activating
them instead of letting them
00:18:03.35\00:18:06.68
dissipate. Yes.
00:18:06.72\00:18:08.82
Now John, what about
the medications that control
00:18:08.85\00:18:12.72
cholesterol,
would that give people
00:18:12.75\00:18:14.42
a good mental performance
if they controlled their
00:18:14.46\00:18:16.89
cholesterol that way?
00:18:16.93\00:18:18.26
You'd think so, wouldn't you?
00:18:18.29\00:18:19.76
You get the cholesterol
down, we know that cholesterol,
00:18:19.79\00:18:22.16
as we've discussed here,
causes mental performance
00:18:22.20\00:18:24.93
issues but in reality they've
discovered that the cholesterol
00:18:24.97\00:18:31.37
pills actually
decrease mental performance.
00:18:31.41\00:18:35.24
So I often ask the
question, "Well, if you had high
00:18:35.28\00:18:38.11
cholesterol and your
brain function was suffering,
00:18:38.15\00:18:41.32
would you know any difference
if you started taking a
00:18:41.35\00:18:43.82
pill that also caused
brain function problems and even
00:18:43.85\00:18:49.82
though it
lowered your cholesterol?
00:18:49.86\00:18:51.19
I have a friend who had
high cholesterol, she decided
00:18:51.23\00:18:55.13
"You know, I've
struggled through it with this
00:18:55.16\00:18:57.07
all my life, I think I
should go ahead and go on
00:18:57.10\00:18:59.87
the medication
because the studies show that
00:18:59.90\00:19:03.37
if your
cholesterol is high, you've got
00:19:03.41\00:19:04.74
problems - it's
better if it's low."
00:19:04.77\00:19:07.01
So they started
taking that medication,
00:19:07.04\00:19:09.31
and one day we went
driving down the freeway
00:19:09.34\00:19:13.62
and all of a sudden
they realized they had missed
00:19:13.65\00:19:15.82
their exit two exits back.
00:19:15.85\00:19:17.35
And then we went
driving up another way and they
00:19:17.39\00:19:20.36
totally forgot where they
were and this wasn't like them.
00:19:20.39\00:19:23.43
And I'm like what's going on?
00:19:23.46\00:19:24.79
Well, they're taking this statin
drug that lowers cholesterol,
00:19:24.83\00:19:28.60
but these statin drugs are
not without their side effects.
00:19:28.63\00:19:35.20
So you think you're doing
yourself a great deal of good,
00:19:35.24\00:19:37.34
but in reality, they
also lower your immune system.
00:19:37.37\00:19:40.21
We talked about the immune
system in another program,
00:19:40.24\00:19:42.61
they depress your immune
system so much, that they
00:19:42.64\00:19:47.02
have been used in transplanting
organs as immunosuppressor
00:19:47.05\00:19:50.65
to good effect.
Wow! Oh my goodness!
00:19:50.69\00:19:53.86
That's powerful!
00:19:53.89\00:19:55.22
Oh and we're not told that?
00:19:55.26\00:19:58.36
I mean people take
things trustingly, don't they,
00:19:58.39\00:20:03.60
and don't realize all of that.
00:20:03.63\00:20:05.50
I know they do print out
big sheets of side effects,
00:20:05.53\00:20:08.50
but that's really bad.
00:20:08.54\00:20:10.24
Just going back to your
first story, tell us a bit more
00:20:10.27\00:20:14.14
about why you selected
some of the foods that you did
00:20:14.18\00:20:17.58
for that young man who
needed to pass his exam.
00:20:17.61\00:20:21.45
Yes, one of the things
we wanted to do is make sure
00:20:21.48\00:20:24.09
his brain had good oxygenation
which means good flow.
00:20:24.12\00:20:29.16
So like for breakfast, we'd
have him eating lots of good
00:20:29.19\00:20:32.19
fresh fruit, particularly things
like pineapple and grapefruit,
00:20:32.23\00:20:37.07
both of which
improve blood flow.
00:20:37.10\00:20:40.37
We would also make sure
he was getting the essential
00:20:40.40\00:20:43.17
fatty acids - both omega
3 and some of the others,
00:20:43.20\00:20:46.94
and that's why we
gave him like walnuts.
00:20:46.98\00:20:49.74
We had him eating certain
things like flax and then
00:20:49.78\00:20:53.65
there are certain foods
that boost neurotransmitters.
00:20:53.68\00:20:56.05
And so beans, such as
lima beans and soybeans which
00:20:56.08\00:21:01.72
improve certain things
like serotonin and dopamine,
00:21:01.76\00:21:06.83
and things like that.
00:21:06.86\00:21:08.30
And so we made sure that
his food was such as would
00:21:08.33\00:21:12.43
feed his brain and it
wouldn't clog his brain.
00:21:12.47\00:21:16.27
And then another
factor here is we made sure he
00:21:16.30\00:21:19.07
stayed on schedule.
00:21:19.11\00:21:20.71
This is a huge thing we
really haven't gotten into but
00:21:20.74\00:21:23.14
people who eat at
the same time every day,
00:21:23.18\00:21:25.45
like if they're going
to eat breakfast at 7:00,
00:21:25.48\00:21:27.65
they always eat at 7:00,
come weekend or week day,
00:21:27.68\00:21:30.09
they have lower cholesterols
and better digestion;
00:21:30.12\00:21:33.12
they eat less food;
they have less diabetes.
00:21:33.15\00:21:36.16
There's a lot of
important things for the brain
00:21:36.19\00:21:38.43
about staying on schedule,
your brain runs on a schedule.
00:21:38.46\00:21:42.93
Your brain has
circadian rhythms.
00:21:42.96\00:21:45.57
Well it's hard for
people to stay on schedule and
00:21:45.60\00:21:48.30
I find when I'm working
with people and I try and get
00:21:48.34\00:21:50.74
them to do a schedule,
they really struggle and it's
00:21:50.77\00:21:53.07
hard for them to stay on track
00:21:53.11\00:21:55.08
unless they're a
very disciplined person.
00:21:55.11\00:21:57.18
So that's something
that's a real challenge
00:21:57.21\00:21:58.91
for most people too. Yes.
00:21:58.95\00:22:00.48
And by eating on schedule,
what times are we talking
00:22:00.52\00:22:04.45
about here to get
someone to religiously do this?
00:22:04.49\00:22:08.92
Basically, I tell people to
figure out in their schedule
00:22:08.96\00:22:12.26
what are the
immovable appointments and then
00:22:12.29\00:22:15.63
establish a schedule for
their eating around that,
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.87
that they can
keep seven days a week.
00:22:17.90\00:22:21.27
And it doesn't matter how many,
there are certain optimal times,
00:22:21.30\00:22:24.11
but that doesn't necessarily
mean everybody can do it,
00:22:24.14\00:22:26.41
but if your breakfast
is 8:30, always at 8:30
00:22:26.44\00:22:30.65
from weekend to week day.
00:22:30.68\00:22:32.58
Same is true of going
to bed and getting up.
00:22:32.61\00:22:34.98
We had him established on a
very strict schedule - always
00:22:35.02\00:22:38.49
go to bed and for
people wanting their brain to
00:22:38.52\00:22:41.16
function better,
getting hours before midnight
00:22:41.19\00:22:43.96
are extremely important
for your melatonin. Absolutely!
00:22:43.99\00:22:48.60
And the melatonin is its
own, well, it's your body's
00:22:48.63\00:22:52.63
anti-inflammatory hormone!
00:22:52.67\00:22:55.04
It also sets that clock for
them to get a good sleep and to
00:22:55.07\00:22:59.27
let the whole body
clock do the right cycle.
00:22:59.31\00:23:01.98
So I know that with
people I work with insomnia,
00:23:02.01\00:23:05.01
if they don't do that, the
melatonin cycle is going to
00:23:05.05\00:23:08.35
malfunction and then
they'll have insomnia.
00:23:08.38\00:23:11.35
And insomnia will
definitely knock out your mental
00:23:11.39\00:23:13.86
performance the next day.
00:23:13.89\00:23:16.16
Yes, it's a whole
range of things, isn't it?
00:23:16.19\00:23:19.46
Another thing we were
doing in this program was having
00:23:19.49\00:23:22.30
him drink lots of water
and people don't realize
00:23:22.33\00:23:26.27
when they're behind on
water that by the time you are
00:23:26.30\00:23:28.80
thirsty, you're
already 30% down.
00:23:28.84\00:23:32.51
And now you think about a
jug of water or a tank of water,
00:23:32.54\00:23:37.11
when the water starts
to decrease in the tank,
00:23:37.15\00:23:40.22
where does the water go?
00:23:40.25\00:23:42.22
Down - the level drops.
00:23:42.25\00:23:45.02
Well where is the top of
your water level in your body?
00:23:45.05\00:23:47.89
Your brain!
00:23:47.92\00:23:49.26
So people who are
dehydrated, their brain shrinks,
00:23:49.29\00:23:53.70
and their mental
performance suffers. It does.
00:23:53.73\00:23:56.33
And they end up not
being able to think.
00:23:56.36\00:23:58.67
And so a well-hydrated
brain is key to keeping
00:23:58.70\00:24:03.14
the neurofunctions going.
00:24:03.17\00:24:04.77
Also, it's true that
when you drink plenty of water
00:24:04.81\00:24:07.34
and you're not
dehydrated, you can raise your
00:24:07.38\00:24:09.94
blood volume by 6% and,
therefore, you're diluting
00:24:09.98\00:24:13.92
out things in your bloodstream
by 6% including cholesterol.
00:24:13.95\00:24:17.02
So you have a
relative drop in cholesterol
00:24:17.05\00:24:19.29
due to being well-hydrated. Yes.
00:24:19.32\00:24:21.76
John, what are the
foods that contain cholesterol
00:24:21.79\00:24:24.83
because obviously, if
we're to eliminate cholesterol
00:24:24.86\00:24:27.43
we need to be very clear the
source of cholesterol in foods.
00:24:27.46\00:24:31.57
And we're going to do a
whole topic here on cholesterol
00:24:31.60\00:24:35.70
and lowering it, but you
might be surprised to find out
00:24:35.74\00:24:39.41
that it's not just the
foods you eat WITH cholesterol
00:24:39.44\00:24:42.38
which are a problem - it takes
a liver to make cholesterol
00:24:42.41\00:24:45.51
so if your food had a
liver or a mother or whatever,
00:24:45.55\00:24:48.98
then you know
it has cholesterol.
00:24:49.02\00:24:50.62
A chicken has cholesterol,
an avocado doesn't have a
00:24:50.65\00:24:53.22
mother, doesn't have a liver,
so it doesn't have cholesterol.
00:24:53.25\00:24:56.56
But it's also true that anything
you eat that's high in fat
00:24:56.59\00:25:01.56
whether it has
cholesterol or not,
00:25:01.60\00:25:04.27
will raise your cholesterol.
00:25:04.30\00:25:06.23
Also, any animal
protein, even people working out
00:25:06.27\00:25:10.07
in the gym trying to get
extra protein by drinking
00:25:10.11\00:25:12.71
these high protein shakes that
are largely some part of the
00:25:12.74\00:25:16.14
milk protein like casein
or whey - the milk protein
00:25:16.18\00:25:22.75
even in the absence of
fat or cholesterol will tell
00:25:22.78\00:25:27.76
your liver to
produce more cholesterol
00:25:27.79\00:25:31.09
and you'll have
a high cholesterol.
00:25:31.13\00:25:33.16
And so any animal
protein, be it white meat,
00:25:33.19\00:25:36.46
be it red meat, whatever -
will raise your cholesterol
00:25:36.50\00:25:39.30
even if they've done
something to lower the actual
00:25:39.33\00:25:41.44
cholesterol
content of that meat.
00:25:41.47\00:25:44.57
I've been told seafood is
high in cholesterol - your
00:25:44.61\00:25:47.04
crustaceans and that's a
very popular food for a lot
00:25:47.08\00:25:49.98
of people - prawns
and crayfish. True.
00:25:50.01\00:25:53.11
Yes, so this is where
people have to make massive
00:25:53.15\00:25:56.22
changes if they
really want to watch
00:25:56.25\00:25:58.42
their cholesterol
levels and improve on that.
00:25:58.45\00:26:01.32
Yes, so the plant foods,
it comes back to plant foods
00:26:01.36\00:26:04.29
again, doesn't it?
00:26:04.33\00:26:05.69
Whole plant foods
are the ones to aim at.
00:26:05.73\00:26:08.73
And when you eat cholesterol,
unlike when your liver
00:26:08.76\00:26:13.60
makes cholesterol, it's very
hard to keep that cholesterol
00:26:13.64\00:26:17.51
that coming through your
mouth from coming in contact
00:26:17.54\00:26:19.91
with air and
getting oxidized. Yes!
00:26:19.94\00:26:22.01
Oxidized cholesterol then
increases brain inflammation,
00:26:22.04\00:26:27.68
and when the brain is
inflamed, you end up with more
00:26:27.72\00:26:31.39
functional deficits and
especially with Alzheimer's,
00:26:31.42\00:26:35.42
Parkinson's and all the other
neurodegenerative diseases.
00:26:35.46\00:26:40.10
A major contributor to
mental illness with depression,
00:26:40.13\00:26:43.06
anxiety disorders, it's all
brain inflammation and again,
00:26:43.10\00:26:46.43
there's that problem with
medication because some of
00:26:46.47\00:26:49.40
these medications
like your antidepressants
00:26:49.44\00:26:51.97
can inflame the brain
which is really counteracting
00:26:52.01\00:26:56.11
what the brain needs to
deal with the depression.
00:26:56.14\00:26:59.91
It's the same sort of principle.
00:26:59.95\00:27:02.68
So another thing we
had him doing is we had him
00:27:02.72\00:27:08.06
breaking his day up and we might
talk a little more about that.
00:27:08.09\00:27:12.93
People who get into a rut
and spend a lot of time on
00:27:12.96\00:27:16.30
one thing, become less and less
efficient and then they start
00:27:16.33\00:27:19.90
thinking, "I'm not very
good at this," and then they
00:27:19.93\00:27:22.67
start getting
depressed. That's right!
00:27:22.70\00:27:24.84
That's when they come and
see me and then we have to look
00:27:25.91\00:27:28.54
at what is depression and
when it's something to do with
00:27:28.58\00:27:31.51
what they're eating and
their lifestyle, if that doesn't
00:27:31.55\00:27:34.05
change, the
medication does not do the job,
00:27:34.08\00:27:37.12
so they have to change
what you're talking about.
00:27:37.15\00:27:39.72
Yeah, then it might be so
simple as they need to take
00:27:39.75\00:27:41.66
a break more often. Yes!
00:27:41.69\00:27:43.39
That's a tremendously
simple thing to do and it's
00:27:43.43\00:27:47.03
refreshing, isn't it?
00:27:47.06\00:27:48.43
It's refreshing to take a break.
00:27:48.46\00:27:50.67
Well like some people I know,
it's not, they like to just
00:27:50.70\00:27:54.10
do something endlessly and
that's just their personality.
00:27:54.14\00:27:57.54
Well thank you so much, both
of you for your input today,
00:27:57.87\00:28:01.38
and that's our
program for today.
00:28:01.41\00:28:03.75
If you'd like a fact sheet
of the program or you'd like
00:28:03.78\00:28:06.68
to watch our programs on demand,
just visit our website at:
00:28:06.72\00:28:10.29
3abnaustralia.org.au
00:28:10.32\00:28:13.42
and click the watch button.
00:28:13.46\00:28:15.69
And John and Jenifer are
happy to answer your questions
00:28:15.72\00:28:18.43
personally - just email them at:
00:28:18.46\00:28:20.66
healthyliving@3abnaustralia.org
.au
00:28:20.70\00:28:24.63
Join us next time
on "Healthy Living!"
00:28:24.67\00:28:28.00