Mental Health

Here’s How Alan Gained Better Cognitive Health as He Aged.

The earlier we invest in cognitive reserves, the better for long-term health, but it is never too late at any age.

Here’s how Alan gained a sharper mind in his sixties.

I introduced Alan last year in a story about detoxifying his body naturally. He is now 66, and like his body, his mental abilities are sharper than before, thanks to his healthy lifestyle choices, optimism, emotional maturity, and growth mindset.

Alan was born a healthy kid. His parent paid supreme importance to his health and fitness development. However, as he got older, he experienced severe autoimmune conditions, unbearable bloating, abdominal distension, heartburn, and eczema, causing intense itching and inflammation in his forties.

The physical conditions also affected his mental health as his brain got foggy, and his mood fluctuated with unpleasant feelings. He knew something was wrong with his body and mind. Natural detox opened a new window to his health journey and allowed him to sharpen his mind.

As norms did not reflect the truth, he had to unlearn and relearn to make sense of perceived reality, especially related to his health and fitness.

He didn’t blame anyone or his circumstances even though his problems were caused due to misinformation given to him by societal norms and pressures. He took personal responsibility for his health by adjusting his condition and leveraging the power of his newly gained information.

In this story, I summarize critical points of Alan’s inspiring routine, which improved his cognitive health as he aged. He feels younger than before. First, I give a brief background about cognitive health performance so that his adjustments can make sense to you. Then, I explain his routines.

An Overview of Cognitive Health and Performance

Cognitive health refers to thinking, learning, and remembering clearly. It is an essential component of our mental health and overall well-being.

Holistic cognitive health principles focus on lowering the risks and preventing the manifestation of neurogenerative disorders and mental health conditions with healthy lifestyle choices and professional support.

Our cognitive abilities tend to decline as we age, and we become more prone to mental disorders such as attention deficit and memory loss. For example, some people get more depressed and anxious as they age. And some people start having brain fog and even dementia.

Even though lifestyle factors plan a critical role in cognitive health, there is also a genetic component. However, healthy lifestyle choices optimizing our hormones and neurotransmitters can have favorable epigenetic effects.

Oxidative stress at a genetic level and chronic inflammation are critical factors adversely affecting cognitive health. Both stress and inflammation are necessary for growth and recovery. However, excess amounts can be toxic to the brain, leading to cognitive decline.

In general, any function related to the neo-cortex (thinking brain) relates to cognitive health. Critical cognitive functions include focus, attention, memory, task switching, and problem-solving. They are essential for our survival and well-being.

Cognitive performance refers to improving mental functions and creating cognitive reserves to reduce decline effects as we age. I touch on various ways of enhancing cognitive processes that we explore in Alan’s story.

Viable approaches to improve cognitive health and performance are to enhance cognitive reserves with healthy lifestyle choices. Creating reserves is necessary as we get older and get more prone to cognitive decline due to the effects of neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia.

Our thoughts can affect our feelings, moods, and behaviors. Therefore we need to gain cognitive flexibility by using the thinking part of the brain to regulate emotions and change our behaviors which also supports the limbic system. I introduced cognitive flexibility and the limbic system in previous articles. Therefore, I won’t repeat the details here.

1 — Detoxified his body naturally.

In this section, I’d like to summarize the previous story that helped him remove garbage from his cells, tissues, organs, and systems, creating the foundation for his metabolic and mental health improvement.

He did not use medication, supplements, or vegetable juices. You can read the details of his three approaches from the previous story. In summary, Alan used a three-pronged method to detoxify his body.

He initiated autophagy and mitophagy through time-restricted eating and long-term fasting. He activated his lymphatic system through joyful exercises. And he improved his immune system with fundamentals I will cover in the next section.

2 — Improved metabolic health with fundamentals.

Alan made four significant changes in his lifestyle. First, he focussed on his diet to get optimal macronutrients and micronutrients from whole foods. He consumed adequate bioavailable proteins and healthy fats.

He removed refined carbs and other junk foods from his diet. He also quit smoking and alcohol and lower caffeine like Tina.

Next, he started eating his food in specific windows, which had a favorable effect on his brain chemistry, increasing β-hydroxybutyrate. With usually mild ketosis daily and occasional deep ketosis, he had more physical and mental energy giving him a clear mind.

Hormetic stress from fasting initiating autophagy and mitophagy enabled neurogenesis, increasing his BDNF. In addition, fasting significantly lowered inflammation which was noticeable in his movement.

Fasting cause ketosis. Ketones provide cleaner alternative energy to the brain even though the brain mainly uses glucose. β-hydroxybutyrate is an energy source for the brain and a signaling molecule to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.

He understood the irrefutable value of movement for cognitive health. He turned physical training into hobbies by doing more festive activities as he recovered from previous ones quickly. When his workouts were joyful, his brain desired to do them more.

Like me, he enjoyed barefoot walking, calisthenics, and hopping on a giant trampoline with neighbors' kids in his greeny backyard. Joyful movements optimized his brain chemistry, increasing his BDNF and giving him more cognitive reserves with neurogenesis.

His body became more insulin sensitive and used glucose better for his muscles and brain energy requirements. His oxygen saturation and heart rate variability improved.

Some intense workouts can substantially increase the amount of BDNF (Brain-Derived Neuro Factor) in the brain. BDNF is essential to keep our brains active and young. It is a tool to increase our cognitive reserves as we age and get prone to mental decline.

Since he was joyfully active during the day and slowed down in the evening, he slept like a baby with more adenosine, GABA, serotonin, and melatonin in his bloodstream. Restorative sleep increased his growth hormones and testosterone making his body more sensitive to anabolism, optimizing stress hormones like cortisol, and recovering quickly.

3 — Used thermogenesis and sensory deprivation.

Leveraging the benefits of thermogenesis became a valuable routine for his cognitive health and performance. He used dry saunas and ice baths interchangeably to benefit from cold and heat.

In addition, he learned to swim in the outdoor pool with cold and salty water and have cold showers every morning and evening, lowering his stress and inflammation and increasing his energy and mental clarity with optimized hormones and neurotransmitters.

Then he discovered sensory deprivation, which reduced sensory stimuli, such as coming through his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and skin. He joined a center that offered floatation-REST services. Staying in an isolation tank with Epsom Salts lowered his stress and inflammation.

4 — Boosted his neuroplasticity with daily chores, neurobics, and meditation

Learning about the brain’s neuroplasticity excited Alan. He started using daily chores as brain boosters. These activities increased his cognitive capabilities, such as focus, attention, task switching, and working memory.

He washed his dishes and clothes mindfully. He enjoyed gardening under the sun and climbing trees like a child. He learned to juggle. He brushed his teeth, interchanging his hands, and became dexterous.

When he made himself tired of chores, he sat quietly, chanted, and meditated deeply with self-compassion and self-love and empathy and compassion for others. Meditation and other mindfulness practices through his daily chores rewired his brain.

5— Started reading, writing, and listening

Alan used to read only for learning in his young years. But nowadays, he does it for fun, to increase his attention, and for therapeutic reasons. Fiction books improved his imagination.

He also enjoyed listening to classical music and audiobooks. He used different audiobooks and spiritual music for guided meditation, strengthening his auditory senses and sensations.

Exploring the power of expressive writing opened new opportunities to express his thoughts and feelings healthily, lowering his stress and increasing his attention span.

The stories he wrote enhanced the connections of neurocircuits in the brain and helped him connect with others betters, as described in the next section.

6 — Developed his social connections and improved his relationships by enhancing his adversity quotient and regulating his emotions.

Alan was hesitant to socialize in his younger years as he was sensitive to criticism. He couldn’t even handle constructive feedback for his improvement as he took them personally with low self-esteem. But now, he can handle and embrace negative criticism.

But he knew his limbic system needed social connections and did not enjoy living in isolation. He said goodbye to loneliness with an open heart to everyone who approached him.

Joining a laughter yoga club lowered his intimation, and he increased his intimacy with others by accepting them as they are and noticing each person’s uniqueness. By laughing with his friends, his brain created more endorphins lubricating his neuro-circuits and serving as an antidepressant.

His increased emotional and social intelligence helped him to regulate his emotions and lower his emotional stress.

Emotional regulation enhanced his adversity quotient (AQ). He learned to tolerate poor behavior or idiosyncracies of others by reframing them. Regulated emotions and increased AQ improved his cognitive health and performance.

7 — Learned to work in a flow state and gained new hobbies.

Alan used to feel very stressed at work as he had to deal with difficult clients. However, when he learned to regulate his emotions and increased his emotional and social intelligence coupled with adversity enhanced adversity quotient, he managed to work in a flow state.

Demands and complaints of his clients did not bother them anymore. He accepted people as they were and embraced their needs reframing them as compliments for his service.

Working in a flow state lowered his stress and increased his creativity and productivity. His focus, attention, working memory, and task-switching improved. He produced more with less effort and gained the confidence of his colleagues, bosses, and clients.

He turned his work into a hobby and gained other hobbies like bushwalking, hunting, fishing, public speaking, and several altruistic activities for his community.

Conclusions and Takeaways

Cognitive health encompasses mental functions like focus, attention, working memory, procedural memory, task switching, and problem-solving. These functions are essential for our survival and well-being.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from cognitive decline and impairment, conditions that can lead to dysfunction of the cognitive system and lower quality of life. However, there is hope to improve our cognitive health and performance at any age thanks to neuroplasticity.

While cognitive health is crucial at any age, it becomes increasingly vital for the older generation, experiencing cognitive decline and anxiety more often. Neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and mental health disorders are associated with cognitive decline and impairment.

Stress response and inflammation are key factors adversely impacting cognitive health and performance in large amounts.

While necessary for growth and recovery, excess stress and inflammation can harm the brain and mind. Balancing hormones and neurotransmitters with adequate stress is essential to maintain optimal cognitive health.

Alan leveraged healthy lifestyles by meeting the fundamental requirements of the body and mind. In addition, he used several physical and psychological methods to improve his cognitive abilities.

The key to maintaining cognitive health and performance is proactively increasing cognitive reserves. As aging is inevitable, investing in cognitive reserves while younger can benefit us long-term.

Focusing on the factors mentioned in this story can lower stress, reduce inflammation, and balance our hormones, increasing cognitive health and performance. People with better cognitive health and performance can face challenges, overcome setbacks, and create a higher quality of life.

It is crucial to prioritize our cognitive health as it directly impacts our overall well-being. Taking proactive measures to increase cognitive reserves can lower our risk of cognitive decline and age-related disorders.

I hope this story inspires and motivates you to take ownership of your cognitive health. I wrote similar stories compiled in my collection.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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