Is Your Brain Starving?

By Al Sears, MD

Do you find yourself forgetting where you left your car keys… or just feel like your brain is in a fog sometimes?

Contrary to popular belief, forgetfulness is not just a normal part of growing older. As you age, your brain loses critical nutrients that it needs to fire on all cylinders.

If your mental spark plugs aren't firing like they used to, don't worry. I'll show you how to get your brain's engine back to running as smooth as a Rolls Royce. You just need to know what's missing and how to get it.

Your Brain is Begging for Nutrients
Your brain uses chemicals called neurotransmitters to transmit messages in the brain. There are millions of these messages happening every
second. Neurotransmitters are conductors of these messages, allowing them to fire from one part of your brain to another.

One important neurotransmitter is acetylcholine (ACh). Your body uses ACh to help regulate your heart, breathing, and sleep. Your body even uses it to control your muscles and keep you fired up for the bedroom.

Here's the thing… your brain needs you to supply certain nutrients to make neurotransmitters.

But there's a key nutrient it uses to make ACh that is probably missing from your diet. It's called choline, and if you don't get enough, you're headed for trouble. Choline is a necessary nutrient for overall brain health and functioning and it is important to avoid nutritional deficiencies to keep your brain sharp and healthy.¹

When you don't give the body enough choline, the brain is forced to get it from other parts of your brain. It starts eating itself alive to get what it needs for vital functions like heart and lung regulation.

I'll show you ways to get the choline your brain needs in a second, but first let me introduce you to choline's partner — DMAE.

DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol) works with choline to create ACh. In fact, it does such a good job, the FDA almost approved it as a drug. The only reason it didn't happen is that the manufacturer didn't want to pay the expenses to get it classified as one.

But it is the main ingredient in a commonly prescribed drug in Europe. Called Centrophenoxine, it has been shown to boost cognitive functions.²

Unlike Ritalin® and other brain-stimulating substances, proper doses of DMAE are a safe and side-effect-free solution to support brain health and reduce age-related mental decline and mood/behavioral problems.³

Get These Critical Brain Saving Nutrients Now
To get the nutrition your brain needs to stay sharp and clear, you may need to combine food and supplementation. Here's how to get your ACh cranking:

Choline – You need at least 425 mg a day as a woman, 550 mg if you're a man. The richest food sources of choline are (in mg per 100 g of food):

• Whole cooked eggs – 272. Make sure you get free-range eggs without antibiotics or hormones. They'll help fuel your muscles as well as give you much-needed choline.

• Raw egg yolks – 682. Go ahead and crack open a couple eggs into your protein shake. It's only an urban legend that there's danger in eating them raw.

• Chicken liver – 290. Though some people get turned off by organ meats, they're a potent source of high-powered nutrition. And it's an old wives tale that they store toxins – they don't.

• Turkey liver – 220. Another great source of nutrition. Just like any liver, it also provides vitamin A, CoQ10 and iron.

• Pork – 130. Just like beef, you want to eat only organic, grass-fed animals for the proper balance of fats and zero hormones and antibiotics.

If you're older, you may need more choline — as much as 1500 mg a day. That may require supplementation. If you take a supplement, be sure it's in the form of choline citrate.

DMAE – You need at least 35 mg of DMAE a day. Fish is a good food source, especially sardines and anchovies.

So stop starving your brain of these critical nutrients. They're easy to replace and will help to promote a healthy mind into your golden years.

References

1. Ferris SH, et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1977; 25:241-4.
   
2. Mosharrof, A.H., et al., Acta Physiol Pharmacol Bulg, 1986. 12(3): p. 7-14.
   
3. Caille E.-J, Psychol Med.1986;18:2069-2086.

[Ed. Note: Learn how you can rev up your mind and steer clear of those brain catastrophes that strike as you get older. Go here NOW. Dr. Sears is Chairman of the Board of Total Health Breakthroughs. He has written over 500 articles and 7 books in the fields of alternative medicine, anti-aging, and nutritional supplementation.]

Cutting Edge Fitness:
Cellulite-Free at Any Age
By Craig Ballantyne

If you've wasted time and money on scam cellulite solutions, you're going to be happy — and sad — to hear what I have to say. The truth is that the solution to your cellulite problem has been right in front of your face all along.

And yes, it's the classic 3-step system of the right diet, the right exercise, and getting social support. There's nothing fancy, nothing expensive, and nothing magical about any of these. Perhaps you expected me to promote some magical seaweed that's harvested off the coast of the Canary Islands only between November and December when the moon is full? Well, if that's the case, I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Instead, you're going to discover that it's possible for a woman to lose cellulite in her 40's, 50's and 60's, even when the majority of women have given up on beating the cellulite curse.

Most women rely on long, slow cardio training, but in all my years as a trainer, I've never seen jogging build a better butt. In fact, most women joggers still have the same saggy butt and thighs problem as non-joggers. And sometimes it's even worse (plus, they notice it more too, with all that thigh-rubbing during their long, slow cardio workouts).

Instead, women need to focus on interval training to lose cellulite from their thighs and resistance training to tone up their tush. That's exactly what one my clients, a British woman named Serena did by switching to three short, but intense workouts per week. She started with 20 minutes of total body resistance training and finished with 20 minutes of interval training.

Serena found these workouts to be much more effective for losing cellulite than her old workouts of long cardio. Australian researchers have also found that interval training is more effective for burning belly fat in woman as well, even though the interval workouts lasted only half the time.

Each workout started with a circuit typically consisting of bodyweight squats, push-ups (kneeling if necessary), split squats, and an upper back mobility exercise called the "stick-up" (to help fight against the bad posture many computer workers exhibit all day).

After the warm-up, Serena did strength training supersets, such as dumbbell step-ups combined with close-grip pushups, or abdominal exercises paired with a unique lower body exercise cryptically titled, "Bulgarian split squats". This is a slightly more advanced single leg exercise compared to step-ups, but it will do wonders to raise a woman's butt at least an inch, if not two!

Finally, the workout finished with the belly fat burning interval training. These workouts are simple and can be done on cardio machines or outdoors, and can even be accomplished using bodyweight exercises. Serena's routine included a short warm-up followed by six intervals of 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of recovery.

That's it, no marathon cardio sessions needed. Instead, her cellulite solution workouts focused on short-burst activities only. But none of this would have been possible without the support of her husband.

Most women don't know this, but social support is one of the most important factors in the success of any fat loss program. If you don't have someone motivating you, encouraging you, and holding you accountable, all the magic in the world won't cure your cellulite, because at the end of the day, you still have to do the work.

Along with a 1600 calorie per day diet of whole, natural foods and the loving social support of her husband, Serena was able to lose over 21 pounds in 12 weeks and dropped her body fat 7.7% to an all-time low of 16.9%. She lost 2 inches from her thighs and over 3.5 inches from her hips. It literally looks as though someone elevated her butt two inches and removed all the fat from her low back.

By getting rid of her cellulite and boosting her butt, Serena not only changed her body but transformed herself inside and out. She now has power over food, rather than food having power over her. And at age 44, the age when most women simply give up or continue to rely on cellulite scams, Serena has her best-ever body.

[Ed. Note: Craig Ballantyne is an expert consultant for Men's Health magazine.]

Healthy Recipes:
Anti-Aging Smoothie
By Kelley Herring

This smoothie has it all: potent cell-protecting antioxidants from the blueberries and acai; probiotics from the kefir, and high-quality protein and vitamin C from the HealthFX Whey Advanced. While you might think vitamin C is one of the easiest nutrients to get in your diet, a USDA study showed up to 23% of Americans aren't getting enough.¹ This tasty treat provides a hefty 1670% of your daily requirement.

Time To Table: 5 minutes
Serves: 1

Excellent Source of: Protein, Vitamin C
Good Source of: Calcium, Fiber, Omega-3
Preferences: Low Sodium, Gluten-Free

Ingredients
1/2 cup frozen wild organic blueberries
1/2 cup raw grass-fed kefir
1/2 cup spring water
1 scoop grass-fed whey protein isolate (try HealthFX Whey Advanced)
1/2 Sambazon Acai Smoothie Pack
1 packet Truvia natural sweetener

Preparation
Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth

Nutrition Information
212 calories, 6 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 1 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 78 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 8 g sugar, 2 grams fiber, 30 g protein

Reference

1. Hampl, JS et al. Vitamin C Deficiency and Depletion in the United States: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 to 1994. May 2004, Vol 94, No. 5, American Journal of Public Health.

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs [Issue 02-27-09] which offers alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com/