Neuroscientist Shows What Fasting Does To Your Brain & Why Big Pharma Won’t Study It

Below is a TEDx talk given by Mark Mattson, the current Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging. He is also a professor of Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University, and one of the foremost researchers in the area of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying multiple neurodegenerative disorders, like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

I chose to include ‘Big Pharma’ in the title because that’s exactly what it is. There have been countless examples of the manipulation of published research at the hands of pharmaceutical companies in recent years. This is why Harvard Professor of Medicine Arnold Symour Relman told the world that the medical profession has been bought by the pharmaceutical industry. It’s why Dr. Richard Horton, Editor in Chief of The Lancet, recently stated that much of the sceintific literature published today is simply untrue. It’s why Dr. Marcia Angell, former Editor in Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, said that the “pharmaceutical industry likes to depict itself as a research-based industry, as the source of innovative drugs. Nothing could be further from the truth.” And it’s why John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, published an article titled “Why Most Published Research Findings Are False” which subsequently became the most widely accessed article in the history of the Public Library of Science (PLoS).

I also chose to mention ‘Big Pharma’ because of Dr. Mattson’s comments towards the end of the video.

“Why is it that the normal diet is three meals a day plus snacks? It isn’t that it’s the healthiest eating pattern, now that’s my opinion but I think there is a lot of evidence to support that. There are a lot of pressures to have that eating pattern, there’s a lot of money involved. The food industry — are they going to make money from skipping breakfast like I did today? No, they’re going to lose money. If people fast, the food industry loses money. What about the pharmaceutical industries? What if people do some intermittent fasting, exercise periodically and are very healthy, is the pharmaceutical industry going to make any money on healthy people?”  

Mark and his team have published several papers that discuss how fasting twice a week could significantly lower the risk of developing both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Dietary changes have long been known to have an effect on the brain. Children who suffer from epileptic seizures have fewer of them when placed on caloric restriction or fasts. It is believed that fasting helps kick-start protective measures that help counteract the overexcited signals that epileptic brains often exhibit. (Some children with epilepsy have also benefited from a specific high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet.) Normal brains, when overfed, can experience another kind of uncontrolled excitation, impairing the brain’s function, Mattson and another researcher reported in January in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.”(source)

Basically, when you take a look at caloric restriction studies, many of them show a prolonged lifespan as well as an increased ability to fight chronic disease.

“Calorie restriction (CR) extends life span and retards age-related chronic diseases in a variety of species, including rats, mice, fish, flies, worms, and yeast. The mechanism or mechanisms through which this occurs are unclear.”

The quote above is from a review of the literature that is more than 10 years old. The work presented here is now showing some of these mechanisms that were previously unclear.

Fasting does good things for the brain, and this is evident by all of the beneficial neurochemical changes that happen in the brain when we fast. It also improves cognitive function, increases neurotrophic factors, increases stress resistance, and reduces inflammation.

Fasting is a challenge to your brain, and your brain responds to that challenge by adapting stress response pathways which help your brain cope with stress and risk for disease. The same changes that occur in the brain during fasting mimic the changes that occur with regular exercise. They both increase the production of protein in the brain (neurotrophic factors), which in turn promotes the growth of neurons, the connection between neurons, and the strength of synapses.

“Challenges to your brain, whether it’s intermittent fasting [or] vigorous exercise . . . is cognitive challenges. When this happens neuro-circuits are activated, levels of neurotrophic factors increase, that promotes the growth of neurons [and] the formation and strengthening of synapses. . . .” 

Fasting can also stimulate the production of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus. He also mentions ketones (an energy source for neurons), and how fasting stimulates the production of ketones and that it may also increase the number of mitochondria in neurons. Fasting also increases the number of mitochondria in nerve cells; this comes as a result of the neurons adapting to the stress of fasting (by producing more mitochondria).

By increasing the number of mitochondria in the neurons, the ability for nerons to form and maintain the connections between each other also increases, thereby improving learning and memory ability.

“Intermittent fasting enhances the ability of nerve cells to repair DNA.” 

He also goes into the evolutionary aspect of this theory – how our ancestors adapted and were built for going long periods of time without food.

A study published in the June 5 issue of Cell Stem Cell by researchers from the University of Southern California showed that cycles of prolonged fasting protect against immune system damage and, moreover, induce immune system regeneration. They concluded that fasting shifts stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal. It triggers stem cell based regeneration of an organ or system. (source)

Human clinical trials were conducted using patients who were receiving chemotherapy. For long periods of time, patients did not eat, which significantly lowered their white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles “flipped a regenerative switch, changing the signalling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems.”

This means that fasting kills off old and damaged immune cells, and when the body rebounds it uses stem cells to create brand new, completely healthy cells.

“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the heatopoietic system. . . . When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged.  What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. ” – Valter Longo, corresponding author (source)

A scientific review of multiple scientific studies regarding fasting was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2007. It examined a multitude of both human and animal studies and determined that fasting is an effective way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. It also showed significant potential in treating diabetes. (source)

Before You Fast

Before you fast, make sure you do your research. Personally, I’ve been fasting for years, so it is something that comes easy for me.

One recommended way of doing it — which was tested by the BBC’s Michael Mosley in order to reverse his diabetes, high cholesterol, and other problems that were associated with his obesity — is what is known as the “5:2 Diet.” On the 5:2 plan, you cut your food down to one-fourth of your normal daily calories on fasting days (about 600 calories for men and about 500 for women), while consuming plenty of water and tea. On the other five days of the week, you can eat normally.

Another way to do it, as mentioned above, is to restrict your food intake between the hours of 11am and 7pm daily, while not eating during the hours outside of that time.

Bottom line, how you think about you’re diet is, in my opinion, one of the most, if not the most important part of staying healthy. How you think about what you are putting in your body is important, and I believe this will eventually be firmly established in the untainted, unbiased, uninfluenced medical literature of the future.

Below is a video of Dr. Joseph Mercola explaining the benefits of intermittent fasting. Here is a great article by him that explains how he believes intermittent fasting can help you live a healthier life.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/12/11/neuroscientist-shows-what-fasting-does-to-your-brain-why-big-pharma-wont-study-it/

HOW THOUGHT CREATES YOUR REALITY

Good morning! Have you ever wondered what a thought is? Where does a thought come from? Where do sensations register? Where do we experience images, sensations, feelings, emotions and thoughts? Science has not been able to answer these questions. Because science looks at the outside world and has never really focused on "who is looking". "Who is looking" is a field of Pure Consciousness and the mechanics of seeing, touching, tasting, smelling is all through the mechanism of thought. So, when you understand consciousness; the you realize that is your core being and thoughts, feelings, images, sensations, these are impulses of Intelligence that make experience possible. So, thought makes experience possible. Because, fundamentally everything we call  "an experience"  is a thought. At the most fundamental level, all experiences are a thought. Thought transforms the unmanifest consciousness into the manifest reality. And that manifest realityis first mental and then physical. So, it includes your mind and body. Your mind, your body and the entire universe are the manifestation of thought, impuselses of intelligence that transform the unmanifest into the manifest.           

Deepak Chopra 

https://www.deepakchopra.com/blog/article/4734

Experts think your crappy genes can be rewired with diet and exercise

The nature vs. nurture debate just got hotter with Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi’s “Super Genes” (out Tuesday from Harmony Books), which looks like it’ll do just as well as their best-selling 2012 tome, “Super Brain.”
The general idea is simple: Genes aren’t as immutable as you may think.

“Gene activity responds to your lifestyle — your thoughts, your feelings, your actions, your stress levels, your diet,” Tanzi, a neuroscientist at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital, tells The Post.

Nope, you can’t modify the DNA sequence that’s passed on from your family. But Tanzi notes that “most of what you inherit is written in clay rather than in stone. That means you have a chance to be the sculptor.”

Pushing the reasoning further, the book suggests those changes might be passed on: “Human beings could be the first creatures in the history of life on Earth to self-direct where their evolution is going.”

Their theory is not without its detractors in the scientific community.
“There’s not a shred of evidence that humans can change their genes in a permanent way via changes in our lifestyle,” writes Jerry Coyne, from the University of Chicago’s Department of Ecology & Evolution, in response to Chopra and Tanzi’s big idea.

Still, whether or not you buy the science, “Super Genes” offers common-sense advice for a healthier life.
Chopra and Tanzi single out six areas that can potentially change your well-being for the better, with easy, hard and experimental options.

Diet

“There is clearly a gut-brain axis,” says Tanzi, who’s been a vegetarian since college. “It brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘gut feeling.’  ” But since science has yet to formulate the perfect array of intestinal bacteria for overall health, the authors claim that following an anti-inflammatory diet is the next best thing, helping to combat an array of health issues, from chronic disease to obesity.
To fight inflammation, Chopra and Tanzi recommend eating more fiber and probiotics, and cutting down on processed foods. If you’re going to eat beef, grass-fed is better than grain-fed — the authors allow that, unfortunately, eating better also costs more.

Meditation

“Super Genes” acknowledges that the practice is “a major lifestyle change,” but well worth the effort. While meditation is often seen as a spiritual matter, the book argues it can have a physical impact by helping you battle stress, and even suggests the practice can help turn down stress-response genes. It can also prep you better for success by improving focus, the ability to make sound decisions and so on — a line of argument that should be familiar to regular Chopra readers.

Sleep
We all know a good night’s rest is essential, but the authors argue that sleep could affect what they call the “clock genes.” To activate them, which will impact appetite, mood and energy levels, they recommend you “avoid reading or watching TV [a half-hour] before you go to sleep.”
Stress
It’s “the first area where the mind-body connection could be proved” and guess what? It’s bad for you! Stress hormones can lead to a cascade of physical reactions, which, if experienced chronically, can “damage tissues and organs throughout the body,” according to the book.
Since the authors equate modern life with stress, they argue that it’s easier to “stop being the cause of stress for others.” How? For one, stop complaining and criticizing, start listening and address issues before they snowball into major problems.

Emotions

While it’s “highly unlikely” there’s anything like a “happiness gene,” the book suggests you can still do much to improve your emotions — which in turn impact your physical being. To reduce fear and anxiety, seek “emotional intelligence and happiness” by controlling your impulses, empathizing with others and making sure your needs are met by developing “the courage to find the right people” — even if that means risking rejection.

Exercise

Despite his busy schedule, Tanzi does yoga every morning and plays six hours of basketball a week. If your schedule’s too packed, the book recommends yoga, “the single activity that does the most for body and mind together.”

 http://nypost.com/2015/11/10/can-some-yoga-fix-your-familys-crappy-genes/

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EXERCISE?

1. Muscles contract to create movement

Break down and grow back stronger and shapelier.

2. Bones bear additional weight

Collect calcium and become stronger and denser.

3. Oxygen delivered via lungs to bloodstream

Red blood count and skin tone improves.

4. Healthy new cells are created and old ones are eliminated

Toxic wastes in old cells are removed from the body more quickly.

5. Neurotransmitters release mood-altering chemicals

Blocks pain, regulates sleep, stimulates libido and improves bonding.

6. Heart beats faster to deliver oxygen to cells

Becomes stronger and more richly populated with new blood vessels.

7. Fat stores are metabolized for extra energy

Fat tissue is burned off to reveal shapely underlying muscles.

8. Heat produced from exercise is released by sweating

Unclogs pores and expels heavy metal toxins plus disease-producing virus and bacteria.

9. Thirst, digestion and bowels are stimulated

Liver and kidneys filter and remove remaining bodily toxins.

10. Happy, healthy, disease-resisting person is produced and maintained!

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/6178493-the-effects-of-exercise

Science Proves the Healing Power of Prayer

For the devout, there never has been any question that prayer has the power to heal.

Now, more and more medical research from leading hospitals and universities across the U.S. has shown conclusively a belief in God really IS good for you, making you healthier and happier, and helping you live longer.

“Studies have shown prayer can prevent people from getting sick — and when they do get sick, prayer can help them get better faster,” Duke University’s Harold G. Koenig, M.D., tells Newsmax Health.

An exhaustive analysis of more than 1,500 reputable medical studies “indicates people who are more religious and pray more have better mental and physical health,” Dr. Koenig says.
“And out of 125 studies that looked at the link between health and regular worship, 85 showed regular churchgoers live longer.

“There’s a lot of evidence out there.”

Dr. Koenig — director of Duke’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health and the author of several authoritative books on faith and healing — says a striking study published in the Southern Medical Journal demonstrated that prayer has a remarkable effect on patients with hearing and visual deficiencies.

After prayer sessions, “They showed significant improvements based on audio and visual tests,” Dr. Koenig said.

He added: “The benefits of devout religious practice, particularly involvement in a faith community and religious commitment, are that people cope better. In general, they cope with stress better, they experience greater well-being because they have more hope, they're more optimistic, they experience less depression, less anxiety, and they commit suicide less often.

“They have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, and probably better cardiovascular functioning.”
 The proof of the power of prayer is overwhelming, says researcher and writer Tom Knox, a one-time atheist who became a regular worshipper after doing in-depth study of the medical benefits of faith.

“What I discovered astonished me,” admits Knox. “Over the past 30 years a growing and largely unnoticed body of scientific work shows religious belief is medically, socially, and psychologically beneficial.”

Study after study backs up the benefits of having faith, especially in prolonging life.
In 2006, population researchers at the University of Texas discovered that the more often you go to church, the longer you live.

“Religious attendance is associated with adult mortality in a graded fashion,” says Knox.

“There is a seven-year difference in life expectancy between those who never attend church and those who attend weekly.”

The American Journal of Public Health studied nearly 2,000 older Californians for five years and found that those who attended religious services were 36 percent less likely to die during that period than those who didn’t.

A study of nearly 4,000 older adults for the U.S. Journal of Gerontology revealed that atheists had a significantly increased chance of dying over a six-year period than the faithful.

Crucially, religious people lived longer than atheists even if they didn’t go regularly to a place of worship. 
 The American Society of Hypertension established in 2006 that church-goers have lower blood pressure than non-believers.

Scientists have also revealed believers recover from breast cancer quicker than non-believers, have better outcomes from coronary disease and rheumatoid arthritis, and are less likely to have children with meningitis.

Research at San Francisco General Hospital looked at the effect of prayer on 393 cardiac patients. Half were prayed for by strangers who had only the patients’ names. Those patients had fewer complications, fewer cases of pneumonia, and needed less drug treatment.

They also got better quicker and left the hospital earlier.

Concluded Knox: “Atheists can sneer at faith all they like, but they can’t assume science is on their side.”
 http://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/635623

Foot Reflexology: 7 Pressure Points To Reduce Stress & Boost Metabolism

Your thoughts and visualizations affect the world around you — starting with your body. If your goal is the best possible version of yourself, picture that person mind's eye.
Your ability to imagine is most effective when you’re relaxed, so try visualizing your best self first thing in the morning and then again before you fall asleep at night.
And of course there's always after a yoga, meditation, massage or reflexology session. 

Reflexology soothes you into a state of deep rest and relaxation, where you are open to the suggestions you give yourself — much like in hypnosis. You enter a receptive place of allowing your heart’s desires to manifest.
Your brain is just like a computer ... you can program and delete anything about yourself or your life that you choose.
Reflexology gently affects your organs, glands, and each part of your body by stimulating reflex areas/points on your feet, hands, face and ears. 

There are thousands of nerves in these areas — 15,000 nerves in your feet alone! That’s why the effects of reflexology are so calming and soothing.
Many of us seek comfort in excess, which can have a negative impact on our well-being, so reflexology can be a wonderful, nourishing replacement for harmful self-indulgences. Oftentimes, we overeat as a reaction to stress and tension. 

The time you invest to pamper yourself with any form of relaxation will leave you feeling nurtured, loved, grounded and much better about who you truly are. And whether you're trying to shed excess pounds or make better lifestyle choices, reflexology can help. Stimulating the areas on your foot indicated in this chart will have a direct correlation to the glands, organs and nervous system, helping you look and feel your best.

Using your thumb or index finger, simply press for five seconds on each of the following areas indicated above. Note: this chart depicts the sole of the left foot.

• The hypothalamus area of your brain (outside of big toe) controls appetite and thirst.
• The pituitary or "master gland" (center of big toe) stimulates and balances hormonal secretions of all other glands.
• Your thyroid (bottom of big toe) regulates your metabolism.
• The solar plexus/diaphragm (under ball of foot) reduces stress.
• The adrenal glands (near inner edge of foot at center sole) help to maintain your energy levels to burn off calories.
• Stimulating the urinary system helps to release water retention.
• The colon and intestines of the digestive system (near bottom of foot at center sole) are stimulated to promote elimination and relieve bloating. 

Discover your best self with reflexology as you step forward into spring, one foot at a time. 

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18426/diy-foot-reflexology-7-pressure-points-to-reduce-stress-boost-metabolism.html

The Benefits of Drinking Turkish Coffee

Though the excessive intake of coffee may bring negative effects on your health, drinking coffee is still a healthy habit when done in moderation. And just like any type of coffee, Turkish coffee can bring you various health benefits. Turkish coffee basically refers to the method of brewing or preparation of roasted coffee beans.  Any type of coffee can be used for Turkish style coffee. Generally, Turkish coffee is the same as any other brewed coffee; only the flavor and strength are different or distinctive.

Coffee is primarily appreciated for its energy-boosting effect and for its anti-oxidant content. Coffee has been part of people’s daily life for centuries.  Many researchers have tried to unmask the risks that coffee drinking may bring to the human body, but more benefits are also revealed in the process. The magic content of coffee that makes it a valuable drink is caffeine, which is a chemical that is known for its energy-boosting properties. Drinking coffee is the best way to consume healthy amounts of caffeine.

Below are the known benefits of Turkish coffee and other caffeinated coffee:

Coffee can lower the risk for cancer – Long term consumption of coffee has been proven to reduce your chances of developing cancer. A good example is endometrial cancer.  It has been found that coffee protects the body from developing this type of cancer by 25 percent. Coffee is also known for reducing risks of developing breast tumors that are estrogen-receptor negative.

These studies, however, were only observed in participants who consumed Scandinavian boiled coffee that are chemically the same as French Press, Greek, and Turkish coffee. Regular coffee shop coffees may not work the same protection. This is because filtered coffee does not contain plenty or enough coffee-specific fatty acids. These coffee-specific fatty acids have been shown to reduce and inhibit the growth of cancer cells in animal experiments. Organic, fair-trade coffee would be the best choice for consumption and should not be prepared and brewed with chlorinated filters. Decaffeinated coffee that are of the same nature may still work, but it would be a less natural option because of the extensive chemical process that was used for removing the caffeine content.

Coffee can reduce the risk for diabetes – Studies about coffee reveal that coffee consumption can protect against the development of type 2 diabetes. Coffee works on this by increasing the level of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in the blood. SHGB is a type of protein that regulates estrogen and testosterone activities, both of which are thought to play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

It was found that women who consume about four cups of coffee had higher levels of SHGB and are 56 percent less likely to develop the disease compared to non drinkers. Coffee consumption is also thought to improve glucose tolerance by increasing body metabolism and improving insulin sensitivity.

Coffee can lower the risk of premature death – Researchers found that java drinkers have lower risks of premature death in adults who are over 50. This was observed in men and women who consumed an average of four to five cups of coffee a day.

Excessive coffee drinking, however, can cause anxiety, nervousness, throbbing headaches, and stomach problems. It would be best to either substitute or alternate your coffee consumption with another drink that provides the same benefits such as green tea.

Coffee can burn more fats – Drinking coffee prior to a workout can boost your endurance and fat-burning potential. This is because caffeine is thought to delay the onset of muscle fatigue by helping your body utilize your fat reserves as energy. Additionally, caffeine is also shown to reduce muscle pain during exercise so your body can withstand the workout a little longer.

Coffee can reduce fatty liver – A new study found that coffee consumption helps reduce fatty liver in people who are suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This type of liver disease is usually developed by those who already have pre-existing conditions that affect the liver, like diabetes.

The consumption of Turkish coffee can help you reap the benefits of caffeine that were previously mentioned.  This is primarily due to the following reasons:

• It is concentrated. Turkish coffee is served as a concentrated coffee brew where in the coffee content of a small demitasse cup is equal to that of a regular-sixed coffee cup.
• It is cost-effective. Preparing Turkish coffee is less expensive than using an espresso machine. You can also opt to prepare more or less coffee, depending on your desired amount, because it is unfiltered.
• It is flavorful. Turkish coffee is a delightful coffee drink because the brewed beverage is richer in taste and the amount of sugar and spice additive can be adjusted according to your taste. 

 http://thesavorycafened.com/the-benefits-of-drinking-turkish-coffee/