In our society today, sadly many health issues are accepted as “normal” consequences of aging.

These include impaired hearing, weight gain, arthritis, reduced stamina, constipation, and the one that is probably feared the most… mental impairment !

As in, forgetfulness, dementia, “CRS disease.”

But the thing is, NONE of these issues are “normal” and certainly are not a “given” as we age!

The reason they rear their ugly heads as we get older is largely because we create the environment for them to flourish.

Today I’d like to zero in on brain health and show you why cognitive impairment is not an automatic consequence of aging, as well as talk about how to keep your brain sharp well into your golden years.

The right connections

As we age, it’s not our brain cells (neurons) that are diminished, but rather the connections between them—including synapses, dendrons and axons.

Since our neurons are typically pretty intact and high in number as we advance in years, it only follows that as long as you can keep your connections healthy (or help repair them if they have been impaired), then you can enjoy a clear mind and sound memory for years to come!

There are a number of factors that can impact your brain connections including your diet, level of exercise, stress and lifestyle habits. 

Genetics may also play a role, but your lifestyle habits influence which of your genes are awakened and which lie dormant. So having a genetic predisposition to any condition is not an iron-clad guarantee that you will develop the condition. You have to help pave the way with your personal choices.

In addition, exposure to environmental toxins such as fluoride, mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides can accelerate brain aging.

And the one thing that all of the factors associated with brain aging have in common is: They all cause brain inflammation.

Help keep your brain sharp for years to come!

The best way to counteract diminished brain function is to address the common factors behind it and help support the health of your synapses, dendrons and axons.

Here are some effective strategies you can try:

Start with your diet

I know I sometimes sound like a broken record, but your diet is the number one factor behind your level of health (or lack thereof) and that includes your brain health.

Be sure to incorporate lots of fresh vegetables into your meals. Especially helpful are cruciferous vegetables including broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage.

Fresh fruits are also beneficial, with a special shout out to blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.

Get the right fats and stay away from the wrong ones

Avoid inflammatory vegetable oils at all cost—especially corn, soybean, safflower, canola and sunflower. These fats trigger inflammation all throughout the body, including the brain.

Note this also includes margarine and “buttery spreads” since they are made with these oils, and pretty much all forms of processed foods.

<As an aside, it boggles my mind that many health “experts” still tout these garbage fats as “heart healthy” when nothing could be farther from the truth.>

As far as good, health enhancing fats go, your brain and nervous system are especially dependent on soothing, anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids—specifically EPA and DHA.

Unfortunately, these fats are also a very common deficiency. The primary source of Omega-3 fats is fresh fish, and that’s simply not something the average person eats every day.

Plus the animals raised for our consumption are not allowed to graze in pastures any longer, which used to be a source of Omega-3 fats for the animals, and we would in turn get those fats from their meat and eggs.

Instead, most animals are now fed a grain-based diet which is lacking in Omega-3 fats, but is inundated with inflammatory Omega-6 fats, which of course eventually make their way into us.

That’s why supplementing with a fish oil formula like VitalMega-3  can help ensure you have optimal levels of this crucial brain nutrient!

VitalMega-3 provides 1,000 mg of Omega-3s in every daily two-capsule serving, including 600 mg of EPA and 400 mg of DHA—to support sharp brain functioning. 

Avoid exposure to toxins

Here are some ways to help reduce your exposure to environmental toxins:

• Drink fluoride-free filtered water and use fluoride-free toothpaste.
• Avoid using lawn chemicals.
• If you smoke, please stop.
• Read the full product insert and ingredients for all vaccines prior to injection, as mercury and aluminum are common adjuvants in many vaccines.
• Replace any existing amalgam fillings with composites. Most dentists won’t tell you this, but amalgam fillings are half mercury.

Limit your intake of sugar

Sugar is so inflammatory and detrimental to your brain that it should be labeled with a skull and crossbones.

Note that sugar also includes starchy carbs like white bread, pasta, pastries and white rice, since they turn to sugar upon digestion.

Also, read labels for hidden sugars in many food products. Note that “sugar” has many aliases including these below:

Agave nectar	Barley malt	Beet sugar	Blackstrap Molasses	Brown sugar
Buttered syrup	Cane juice crystals	Cane sugar	Caramel	Carob syrup
Castor sugar	Confectioner’s sugar	Corn sugar	Corn syrup	Corn syrup solids
Crystalline fructose	Date sugar	Demerara sugar	Dextran	Dextrose
Diastatic malt	Diatase	Ethyl maltol	Evaporated cane juice	Florida crystals
Fructose	Fruit juice	Fruit juice concentrate	Galactose	Glucose
Glucose solids	Golden sugar	Golden syrup	Grape sugar	High fructose corn syrup
Honey	Icing sugar	Invert sugar	Lactose	Maltodextrin
Maltose	Malt syrup	Maple syrup	Molasses	Muscovado sugar
Panocha	Raw sugar	Refiner’s syrup	Rice syrup	Sorbitol
Sorghum syrup	Sucrose	Treacle	Turbinado sugar	Yellow sugar

Support sound digestion

Inflammation in the gut can affect your entire body and eventually make its way to your brain.

Eating simpler meals, avoiding starchy carbs and loading up on fresh vegetables can all help pave the way for better digestion.

But unfortunately, as we age our body’s production of digestive enzymes may be reduced.

In those cases, a complete enzyme formula like Digestizol Max   can help pinch-hit where your body may be lacking in enzymes and support its efforts to complete and thoroughly digest all your foods.

Get regular exercise

Yup—Sherry the drill sergeant is at it again, telling you to exercise.

Like it or not, you cannot duplicate the benefits of regular exercise with anything else. I don’t care how healthy you eat or how many supplements you take. Nothing approaches regular exercise.

And exercise has repeatedly been shown to help improve cognitive function, especially in elderly people!

So get your doctor’s OK and get moving. You don’t have to get fancy—even brisk walking is helpful and just about anyone can do that.

Now you are armed with highly effective strategies to help keep your precious brain sharp for years to come!

To your health,

Sherry Brescia