Mental Health

Here’s How to Become Less Prone to Neurodegenerative Disorders in Five Steps.

A practical approach to reducing the chances of developing dementia and other brain disorders with healthy lifestyle habits

Influence of Lifestyle Habits on Neurodegenerative Disorders

As life-threatening conditions, neurodegenerative disorders adversely affect the lives of millions of people globally. For example, Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia, is the most common one affecting over six million Americans.

Other common neurodegenerative disorders affecting memory and other cognitive systems are Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Korsakoff’s Syndrome, and Motor Neuron Diseases such as ALS.

Particularly ALS is close to my heart as my father died from this deadly disease. During his illness for four years, I read almost every substantial scientific study about ALS. Unfortunately, there was no viable solution.

I also had numerous friends, relatives, and colleagues with dementia, mainly Alzheimer’s disease. In my father’s case, lifestyle habits played a critical role in forming his debilitating condition. He simply couldn’t express his emotions and repressed them to make others happy, ignoring his childhood traumas.

In a nutshell, a neurodegenerative disorder happens due to nerve cells and the nervous system losing function. The most common risk is aging. According to medical literature, the bad news is that there is no effective cure for neurodegenerative diseases yet, even though some promising drugs have recently hit the market.

The good news is we might reduce the risks of neurodegenerative disorders before our nerves, and the nervous system gets damaged.

One of the meaningful approaches, from my perspective, is to increase cognitive reserves in our younger years so that when we face these disorders, at least we might continue our mental function.

For example, gaining cognitive flexibility via various means, such as brain boosters might be beneficial to improving our mental health.

However, realistically, whatever we do, it is impossible to eliminate cognitive decline as we age. There are still many things that we cannot control with our abilities.

Even though age is a well-known and significant factor for cognitive decline, other known factors include chronic stress, chronic inflammation, inadequate nutrition, sedentary life, environmental toxins, and genetics.

Medical professionals also use some medications to reduce the risks, especially for patients with a genetic predisposition or underlying health issues, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, infectious diseases, or cardiovascular conditions influencing our nervous system.

However, these approaches are beyond the scope of my article.

In this short article, I only focus on fundamental lifestyle changes to reduce the risks of mental decline.

Another good news is that by improving our health and interacting with the environment meaningfully, we might affect our genes through the process known as epigenetics. This means that our actions and habits can influence our genes to turn on good ones and turn off bad ones.

1 — Dealing with Emotional Stress Effectively

Accumulated emotional stress is a known risk factor for many physical and mental disorders. Unexpressed negative emotions, such as fear, anxiety, anger, and grief, might have harmful effects on the body and the brain, causing trauma.

Chronic stress caused by unexpressed negative emotions can change the hormonal and neurochemical profile of the body and the brain.

As I mentioned in this article, numerous studies identified links between chronic stress, emotional traumas, and dementia. I see emotional stress as a larger part of the iceberg in energy deficiency affecting our

2 — Preventing Chronic Inflammation

Even though the body needs acute inflammation to repair an injury or damage to cells, chronic inflammation puts the body and the brain in a vulnerable situation.

Neurological diseases are linked to chronic inflammation in the literature. Like stress, inflammation is also inevitable as the body needs it for healing.

However, we might get inflammation checked and learn about our status, especially when it passes the threshold, via blood tests checking markers such as CRP (C-reactive Protein), ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, and PV (Plasma Viscosity).

Medical professionals could prescribe medication to reduce chronic inflammation. Behavioral changes, such as effective stress management, might also decrease inflammation and manage it better.

3 — Improving Intimacy and Social Connections

As mentioned in my previous articles, the limbic system (the emotional part of the brain) is an open system craving intimacy and connections with others. Since our childhood, social connections have been critical for brain development.

Social connections and intimate relationships can also improve our cognitive flexibility. As cognitive flexibility can improve brain function, meaningful social connections can nourish the brain.

As mentioned in the Blue Zones studies, we know that people who have an expressive social life live longer. In my experience, our emotional maturity and social intelligence might improve the quality of our social connections.

4 — Meeting the Fundamental Requirements

This comprehensive item is critical as the body and brain have fundamental needs such as adequate nutrition, sleep, movement, rest, and fun. Eating nutrient-dense food and having optimal blood glucose is essential to prevent neurodegenerative disease.

Insulin resistance and excess visceral fat is a risk factors for these disorders. In my experience and literature reviews, ketosis can significantly change brain chemistry for better function.

Daily quality sleep and movement are also non-negotiable to improve physical and mental health. In addition, refraining from toxins, cigarette smoke, harmful drugs, and excessive alcohol is essential for brain health.

5 — Rejuvenating the Body with Autophagy

Toxins present in the environment pose a challenge to the body and the brain when exposed to them. They can handle them in small amounts using the defense system such as our immune system, lymphatic system, blood vessels, and microbiome.

However, as I introduced in this article, we might need to activate natural cleansing systems such as mitophagy and autophagy to reduce the effects of toxins, pathogens, heavy metals, and damaged cells.

In addition to initiating autophagy via fasting, intense workouts, and sauna, I also occasionally use activated charcoal to remove heavy metals, which are risky for nerve cells.

Conclusions and Takeaways

I offer some practical tips on improving mental and physical health to reduce the likelihood of developing neurodegenerative disorders.

I believe these simple yet powerful tips might help you customize your lifestyle choices.

1 — Eliminate chronic stress and chronic inflammation.

2 — Reduce toxins, pathogens, and heavy metals. Abstaining from smoking, taking illegal drugs, and excessive alcohol can reduce some toxic load.

3 — Activate autophagy naturally to reduce the effects of harmful materials.

4 — Keep the defense system active with healthy nutrition, movement, high-quality sleep, rest, and fun.

5 — Build and maintain meaningful social connections.

6 — Regulate emotions by expressing them and addressing traumas timely.

7 — Maintain cognitive reserves by keeping the brain active with daily activities.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life. If you enjoyed this story, you might also check this article titled Ten Tips to Slow Down Dementia.

Let’s take this information and use it to make a meaningful difference in our lives and those we care about. Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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