Archive for year: 2020

Stress is a strange phenomenon, a signal that indicates to your body something is threatening your life and you need to do something about it immediately. As cave-dwelling Homo sapiens, stress looked like animals trying to eat you or not finding enough water to survive. Today, our stressors are not always life-threatening, but our bodies don’t know the difference. In Part I of our hormone optimization series, we discussed the major structures of the endocrine system and which hormones are responsible for what body functions. This week, we’ll zero in on the complex feedback loop that strives to keep you safe, the role of cortisol, and what you can do to reduce the negative effects of prolonged stress on your health.

---

Jack just opened a restaurant. Though he’s worked in restaurants for most of his adult life, this is the first time he’s owned his own business and taken on all the stress that comes with it. There are employees to manage, orders to make, bills to pay, and a slew of customers to win over.

As Jack walks around the restaurant, he thinks about all the things that could go wrong. The cook could quit. The food could be spoiled upon arrival. The waitresses could be stealing money. The customers could be unsatisfied with their experience.

Jack’s brain processes these imaginary events as reality. It doesn’t completely distinguish between perceived danger and actual danger. As a result of millions of years of human evolution, Jack’s body prepares itself for stress the only way it knows how- activating the HPA axis.

Role of the HPA Axis

The HPA axis is a feedback loop that regulates your reactions to stress. Specifically, it links the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenals- all vital parts of the neuroendocrine system.

The loop begins when something stressful happens- one of the waitresses at Jack’s restaurant gets ill in the middle of the busiest shift of the week. As soon as Jack hears the news, his sympathetic nervous system is activated. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are released, the hormones responsible for the “fight-or-flight” response we once used to run from saber-toothed tigers.

With these hormones released, Jack’s HPA axis is in full swing. His hypothalamus (a small part of the brain concerned mainly with keeping the body in a state of homeostasis) secretes corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) into his bloodstream. In the brain, CRH increases feelings of anxiety and temporarily improves Jack’s memory and selective attention. He’ll need his brain in an attentive state to deal with whatever stressor he’s facing.

CRH is a message to the pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which travels to the adrenal cortex like a letter traveling to your mailbox, binding to adrenal receptors, and causing the final section of the loop- the secretion of cortisol, the “stress hormone”.

Role of Cortisol

As the night goes on, and more inevitably stressful events occur, Jack’s bloodstream becomes inundated with cortisol as his adrenal cortex pumps out the hormone a little at a time. Cortisol’s main job is to release glucose into the bloodstream to be used as instant fuel for either fighting or running from his problems. Each pump results in about fifteen minutes of sustained cortisol release.

Cortisol also helps shut down secondary functions like sexual desire and urinary urges. You wouldn’t want to have to pee while running for your life or fighting an enemy and Jack is able to cover the waitress’s entire shift without having to use the restroom.

Unfortunately, Jack’s stress does not end after the difficult shift. He carries the weight of the night home with him and wakes up to another day of difficult obstacles. Each event re-actives the HPA axis and starts the whole process over again, inevitably leading to elevated cortisol levels for long periods of time.

Many studies show this kind of chronic stress is not beneficial for longevity and overall well-being:

“It appears that being exposed to stress can cause pathophysiologic changes in the brain, and these changes can be manifested as behavioral, cognitive, and mood disorders (Li et al., 2008). In fact, studies have shown that chronic stress can cause complications such as increased IL-6 and plasma cortisol but decreased amounts of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is very similar to what is observed in people with depression and mood disorders that exhibit a wide range of cognitive problems.”

Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI journal, 16, 1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480

If Jack is constantly bombarded with cortisol, his immune system is constantly suppressed. This leaves him vulnerable to disease and inflammation that can be detrimental to the body over time.

Cortisol also activates the autonomic nervous system, indirectly affecting the cardiovascular system. Jack’s heart rate increases, his muscles tense and contract, and blood flow is diverted from his organs to parts of his body that will help him fight or run. Again, this is all fine for a short period of time, but the organs need blood flow to operate correctly.

In addition, his hippocampus is extremely sensitive to stress and also responsible for the conversion of short to long-term memory. Animal studies show that a chronic state of stress can cause a reduction in the accuracy of spatial memory and negatively affect learning. Temporarily, Jack is sharper and better able to handle his environment. But over time, this kind of attention is not sustainable, and his brain physically begins to change to compensate for the abundance of cortisol.

How to Manage the HPA Axis and Cortisol

If you can understand how your body works, you can learn to work with it instead of against it.

If Jack wants to avoid the problems caused by an overactive HPA axis, he must start with what triggers the feedback loop in the first place- stress.

It isn’t an option for Jack to sell the business he worked so hard to acquire. Even if he did, he’d still have to deal with the stressors of modern life- finding new work, paying bills, handling family life, driving at speeds of 60mph on a daily basis, and anything else that comes up.

Eliminating stress is not possible and in short bursts, it’s not even harmful. It is the chronic, constant stress that slowly erodes our body functions and mental well-being.

Jack understands it is not the elimination of stressful situations, but how he deals with them that matters. He begins to implement the following lifestyle hacks to counteract the effects of cortisol and minimize the stress he feels from work and life:

• Practice good sleep habits.
  Studies show a clear connection between sleep and cortisol levels. Not getting enough quality sleep affects you in all aspects of your health and being groggy during the day can cause more stressful situations to occur. Aim for 7-8 hours with little disruptions. Going to bed at the same time each night helps regulate the chronobiome and cortisol levels.
  
• Exercise.
  A recent study had young participants perform moderate aerobic exercise three times a week and tested their cortisol levels via saliva. Interestingly, the study found that exercise increased cortisol levels initially following the workout to deal with the stress, but over a course of four weeks, their overall cortisol levels decreased. Many people report being exercise being beneficial for their mental state, helping them make more clear decisions and better able to regulate their emotions.
  
• Practice meditation or mindfulness.
  Unfortunately, there haven’t been many large scale studies on the effects of mindfulness (focusing on being in the moment and doing things intentionally instead of letting your mind race on autopilot) on the HPA axis.
  
  Recently researchers did use a mediation retreat to test subjects’ cortisol levels before and after meditation as well as before and after the retreat as a whole. They did find that cortisol levels were decreased, but without another control group, the results are not unquestionable. However, it makes sense that quieting the mind and focusing on the moment would create less stress, and as a result, lower cortisol levels.
  
  Jack strives to focus on one task at a time and notice when his mind begins to worry about things he can’t control or things that happened in the past. Our bodies don’t understand the difference between a perceived threat and a real one and secrete cortisol either way.
  
• Have fun.
  Jack’s business is important to him, but he understands that a balance must be struck if he’s to live a long and healthy life. He begins to make time for things he enjoys and doesn’t stress him out. He goes fishing on the weekends and hangs out with his family. If he finds himself feeling stressed at work, he makes a conscious attempt to put on music that makes him happy or make a joke about the situation to lessen the tension.
  
  If your mind perceiving stressful situations is what stimulates the HPA axis, then by changing the way you feel about the situation can help dramatically. Viewing obstacles as challenges, shifting your thoughts to ones of gratitude, and laughing all help to naturally lower cortisol levels. So make stressful things into fun things.

---

At the Institute for Human Optimization, we recommend our patients receive a hormone panel to get an idea of how their body is handling daily stressors. We take an integrative approach and aim to give people practical lifestyle hacks that can lower their cortisol and reduce the likelihood of diseases that occur as a result of chronic stress.

For more in-depth information on how to hack your health, check out Dr. Anil Bajnath’s book, “The Longevity Equation” or schedule an appointment with the Institute here.

We live in our brains. They shape the way we see the world, the way our personalities express themselves, the way our hearts beat, and organs function. The brain tells us when we’re hungry, when we’re sad, when it’s time to stress or relax. Famous brains throughout history have been responsible for the way we view the universe, the way we view life on this planet, and countless other inventions in medicine, art, and science. In our Brain Health series, we’ve discussed the structures of the brain, the chemical signals that make it work, and how you can take steps to reduce your chances of suffering from neurodegenerative diseases as you age. In our final installment, we discuss neuronal plasticity (how your brain reorganizes itself based on what it sees, knows, and learns) and how you can stay mentally sharp throughout your life.

---

The human brain is constantly evolving, not just through time, but through our own lifetimes. The brain you’re born with is not the brain you end up with.

Scientists used to believe that the brain was only malleable up to a certain age. It was thought that adults had a certain number of brain cells and they weren’t very good at re-organizing themselves.

But in the early 1900s, this idea was challenged by the father of neuroscience, Santiago Ramon y Cajal. He found that neurons were capable of changing their structures even into adulthood. His claims led to decades of research and the realization that brain organization is not set in stone. It can be “re-wired”, so to speak, depending on what a person experiences throughout their life, what they concentrate on, and how they nourish their body.

This is due to neuron plasticity– the ability of the brain to re-organize and adapt to outside stimulation. When you learn a new skill, adopt a new habit, or are exposed to a life-changing event, the physical structure of your brain changes. The neurons change. Neurotransmitter behavior changes. Your brain literally changes the way it operates based on what you expect of it.

There is a fascinating study on London taxi drivers (before the use of GPS), which showed they had heightened activity in the hippocampus region of the brain compared to non-taxi drivers. The hippocampus is involved with spatial location, therefore, by these experienced taxi drivers constantly having to recall landmarks and spatial clues, they literally built up this part of their brain.

With this knowledge of neuron plasticity, it becomes clear that we have more control over our brain functions that we ever imagined. Habits are simply the ingrained behaviors we’ve cultivated and they can be changed with intention and focus.

Types of Neuronal Plasticity

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is Newton’s third law of motion, but it also rings true in regards to neuroplasticity. Your brain organizes itself in two ways:

• Positive, or adaptive, meaning it configures to new experiences. This process is on overdrive when you’re a child, as your brain is learning everything from scratch, even how to interpret light and sound. Neurons are firing, synchronizing with other neurons, and forming connections. Positive neuroplasticity happens when you learn a new language or create a new exercise habit. It’s what enables people to recover from strokes, brain injuries, and even depression and anxiety disorders. It’s what makes your brain resilient.
• Negative, or maladaptive, neuronal plasticity is the opposite. The same systems that re-organize your brain to crave exercise can also create negative thought patterns and habits that wreak havoc on your life. Constantly thinking negatively about yourself creates a neuron pathway for this behavior. The more you engage in negative self-talk, the deeper that pathway runs, the neurons that “fire together, wire together” and it becomes a habit. Negative plasticity can also happen when a person retires, stops learning new skills, and settles into complacency. Because the brain is not using the same neuronal pathways, it begins to shut them down in a process known as “synaptic pruning”. It does this to be efficient and create new pathways that you’ll actually use.

Your brain doesn’t necessarily understand which habits are positive for your life and which are not. Its job is to learn from its environment and create neuron pathways to match it. The habits you choose to cultivate, whether they be hitting the gym regularly or biting your nails, literally change the way your neurons interact with each other.

Your brain accomplishes this mainly through neurotransmitters such as dopamine. When you do something you want to do, dopamine is released, making you feel good. Each time you repeat the action, dopamine gets released earlier, until just thinking about doing it causes a surge. This is what we call “motivation” and is an essential process for remapping the brain. Neurons that fire together, wire together.

• 

Long-Term Synaptic Potentiation

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is the constant strengthening of synapses based on consistent patterns of activity. It goes beyond negative and positive neuroplasticity, creating long-lasting experience-dependent changes in the efficacy of synaptic transmission. This could be the key to remaining mentally “sharp” as you age.

Interestingly, a breakthrough study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004 demonstrated that the simple act of thinking could cause long-term potentiation changes in the brain. 

“Learning-induced potentiation of synaptic strength is also accompanied by an increase in the threshold for further synaptic enhancements.”

Lüscher, C., & Malenka, R. C. (2012). NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation and long-term depression (LTP/LTD). Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology, 4(6), a005710. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a005710

It’s a complicated process that researchers are still trying to figure out. But essentially, the more you concentrate on doing things that are good for you, the deeper those habits are entrenched in your brain. This is why as we age, it becomes harder to change things about our lifestyles and personalities. However, neuronal plasticity is not reserved for the young. Anyone can take this knowledge and use it to hack the brain.

Can You Really “Re-wire” Your Brain?

There’s a myriad of brain supplements, apps, and how-to guides claiming to help you “re-wire” your brain- but your brain doesn’t actually have “wires”. It’s a vast array of structures, chemical reactions, and impulses that do not act independently from one another. It’s a living, evolving organ that will literally re-organize itself to meet your demands.

So what do you demand of it? Do you make your brain read and take in new information? Do you allow your brain to quiet and be in the moment? Do you load your brain with to-do lists? Do you concentrate on the things that are wrong in your life or the things you enjoy?

If you find yourself burdened with mood disorders, poor cognitive performance, or even just want to sustain mental clarity into old age, there are proactive steps you can take to align your brain with your goals.

1. Supplement. Just like any other part of your body, your brain must have the correct fuel to work properly. At the Institute for Human Optimization, we recommend supplements with scientific data to back them up. Taking a reliable multi-vitamin to cover the basics is always a good idea. There are also supplements you can use for brain health specifically.
   
   One of these substances is Alpha-GPC, a natural choline compound found in the brain. It’s also a precursor for acetylcholine, a vital neurotransmitter, and has been studied for its potential for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
   
   Choline is a nutrient that improves focus and boosts cognitive performance. It can be obtained from a diet high in whole vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, but statistically, westerners do not get enough choline from their food and should supplement if possible.
   
2. Meditate. You don’t have to be a Buddhist monk to reap the benefits of meditation. While many people link this mental exercise with spirituality, there are countless studies measuring the physical benefits of sitting still and trying not to think. One study shows meditators had more blood flow in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision making and cognitive abilities. Another study found that meditation increased serotonin production, making it a possible treatment for depression and anxiety which are often a symptom of imbalanced serotonin levels. There are so many free meditation apps and videos out there, but all you really need is 20 minutes a day, a quiet room, and your breath.
   
   
3. Keep learning. “A brain at rest tends to stay at rest”. That’s Newton again, but still relevant. Your brain needs stimuli to make neurons fire. Doing the same tasks everyday fire up the same neurons in the same patterns, leading to synaptic pruning of all the pathways you’re not using. This is why people who move to a new country often become “rusty” in their native language if they’re not speaking it often. The brain says, “I need these new neural pathways to speak this language, but these others haven’t been used in a while- let’s re-wire.”
   
   The good news is that by knowing this, you can consciously choose which pathways you want to keep and which ones you allow your brain to prune. You can make it a goal to learn new skills throughout your life, keeping your brain resilient and life exciting.
   
4. Think positive. Your neurons fire according to your thoughts. If you think you’re in danger, adrenaline is released to help you fight or run. If you think you’re in love, dopamine and serotonin are released to make you feel happy and content. The more you think about something, the deeper you dig the pathway that repeats those thoughts.
   
   Therefore, it’s beneficial to use our thoughts to help our brains. Focusing on positive things, things you’re grateful for, and taking time to talk nicely to yourself help your brain wire itself to keep doing the same. Neurons that fire together, wire together. So next time you’re feeling anxious or stressed, try naming three things you’re happy about. Make those “positive feeling” neurons fire. The more you practice this, the easier it’ll get.

---

At the Institute for Human Optimization, we believe longevity shouldn’t be measured just by the length of life, but by the quality. Keeping your mental faculties working correctly and avoiding neurodegenerative disease is one of our key points when working with patients. Every person has their own unique relationship with their brain and our goal is to make it a positive, long-lasting one.

To discuss how we can help optimize your brain health, you can schedule a discovery call or check out the rest of our brain health series on the blog.

Your brain is a complicated biological machine capable of running all of your body’s functions, mental abilities, and sensory perceptions simultaneously. In reality, many facets of your personality and life choices come from the chemical substances coursing through your brain called neurotransmitters. By understanding which chemicals cause which reactions, you can learn to hack your brain to enhance your mood, improve creativity, enhance focus, and even decrease your chances of having neurodegenerative diseases as you age. In this second part of our Brain Health Series (read part one here), we cover the functions of the major neurotransmitters and what you can do to help regulate them for your own well-being.

---

You are a walking eco-system. Your life is governed by the actions of all the organisms, structures, and mechanisms you’re made of. If your gut bacteria thrive on sugar, you’ll crave sugar. If your genetics determine you have red hair, you’ll go through life with red hair.

One of the most important mechanisms happening in your body is the delicate balance of neurotransmitters coursing through your brain. These are chemical substances that react to impulses from the nerve cells. Electrical signals are not able to jump the gap between neurons, they must be first be turned into chemical signals. Neurotransmitters are these signals, traveling to muscles, tissues, and nerves to make the right things happen at the right time.

There are two types of neurotransmitters: excitatory and inhibitory. Excitatory neurotransmitters excite the neuron. They let it know that it’s time to fire. Inhibitory are the exact opposite, they tell the neuron to relax, nothing is going on.

Understanding these mechanisms can be a powerful tool for hacking your health, especially in regards to your mood, drive, and mental capacities. Each type of neurotransmitter is responsible for a specific function in your body and by learning about them, you set yourself up to better understand your own brain and its cycles.

Serotonin

Serotonin is one of the more well-known neurotransmitters. It’s produced in the central nervous system and is responsible for anger regulation, body temperature, mood, sleep, pain modulation, and appetite.

Many people cite low serotonin levels as the main cause of depression, though this has not been clinically proven. The reason this theory for why people suffer from depression has become so popular is because of the benefits many people find from taking SSRIs.

SSRI stands for serotonin repute inhibitor, but we know them by the names pharmacological companies use, Xanax, Lexapro, Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. These drugs work by inhibiting serotonin uptake back into the neuron, increasing serotonin levels, and changing the way you react to emotional-laden information.

“Unlike mood, emotions are relatively short-lived, automatic responses to internal or external stimuli, and in depressed patients, emotional responses are reliably negatively biased (12). Thus, from this viewpoint, increasing serotonin activity in depressed people does not influence subjective mood directly but, rather, as a secondary consequence of positive shifts in automatic emotional responses.”

Cowen, P. J., & Browning, M. (2015). What has serotonin to do with depression?. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 14(2), 158–160. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20229

Serotonin is often called the “feel-good” chemical, but it does a lot more than that. Most of it is produced in your gut, helping with digestion. If you’ve ever eaten something foul, your body produced extra serotonin to speed up the digestive process and get that food through faster than usual.

Serotonin works with another neurotransmitter, dopamine, to balance your sexual urges. Too much serotonin and not enough dopamine can result in hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), meaning extremely low sex drive. This is why the use of SSRIs can cause sexual dysfunction.

You may have low serotonin levels if you experience:

• Increased anger or aggressiveness
• Depression
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Tinnitus
• Fibromyalgia
• Bipolar disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Increased anger or aggressiveness
• Depression
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Tinnitus
• Fibromyalgia
• Bipolar disorders
• Anxiety disorders

Contrarily, you may have high levels of serotonin if you experience:

• Shyness
• Inferiority complex
• Nervousness
• Vulnerability to criticism
• Intense fear of being disliked
• Desire for social contact but fear about it

There are two main reasons why someone might have low serotonin: they may not be making it, or their brain isn’t using it properly. Some studies suggest that increasing vitamin D can boost serotonin levels as well as eating plenty of tryptophan-rich foods. Tryptophan is an amino acid that assists in the creation of serotonin and is found in chicken, eggs, fish, turkey, shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, raw tofu, liver, salmon, beef, lamb, soybeans, scallops and pumpkin seeds.

Seratonin can also be boosted naturally by spending at least 15 minutes in the sun, exercising, and treating yourself to a massage now and then.

Dopamine

Dopamine is serotonin’s buddy and helps regulates your daily mood. It’s also responsible for attention, learning, motivation and reward, cognition, and making sure you’re coordinated enough to get through life.

Dopamine is the “pleasure” chemical, and its main job is to make sure you feel good when you do something good for you to make sure you do it again. Some researchers even think that higher levels of dopamine gave our ancestors a social edge over other apes, propelling us quickly through the evolutionary process to where we are today.

Dopamine would have let our ancestors know they were doing something right. For example, berries contain natural sugars that boost dopamine levels. Finding a berry bush as an early human was quite a stroke of luck as berries are more calorie and nutrient-dense than other wild foods. That dopamine spike kept them coming back for more.

In modern times, dopamine is typically more feast than famine. We have engineered our environments to give us hits of that dopamine “high” as often as possible. Sugar is a major highjacker of dopamine that acts like a drug to the brain, even causing addiction. This is why it’s important to limit sugar intake and nourish good gut bacteria. Even your phone, with all its buttons, lights and sounds, releases dopamine in the brain.

You may have low levels of dopamine if you frequently experience:

• Depression
• Anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure
• Social anxiety
• Parkinson’s disease
• Heavy menstrual cycles
• Male secondary hypogonadism
• Learning disorders
• ADD
• Chemical addictions

High levels of dopamine can cause psychosis, schizophrenia, hyper-social activity, and increased libido. Everything in your body depends on homeostasis; system balance. 

If you feel you may have low dopamine, you can try introducing wild game meat, beef, fish, oats, and dark chocolate to your diet. These contain tyrosine, an important amino acid that helps with the production of dopamine in the body.

GABA

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter of the nervous system. This means it’s an inhibitory neurotransmitter, responsible for calming excited neurons. When GABA is released, you feel relaxed and have less anxiety. It also has anti-convulsive effects, though its role in treatment for epilepsy remains unclear.

You may have a GABA imbalance if you frequently experience:

• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Seizure disorders
• Panic disorders

People who have an imbalance of GABA sometimes require medication to manage their symptoms. Pharmacological drugs have been developed to act as agonists for the GABA receptor site and are classified into two main types: benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines.

Benzodiazepines are essentially tranquilizers. They include popular drugs such as Klonopin and Valium, which are known to carry risks of dependence, withdrawal, and negative cognitive side effects. Both benzodiazepines and non-benzodiazepines typically give users anti-anxiety and relaxing effects that temporarily “take the edge off”.

GABA is found in varieties of green, black, and oolong tea, as well as in fermented foods including yogurt, tempeh, and kimchi. Other foods that contain GABA or boost its production include whole grains (oat, barley, wheat), soy, lentils, and other beans; nuts including walnuts, almonds, and peanuts; fish including shrimp and halibut; citrus, cheese, spinach, broccoli, and rice.

Acetylcholine

Acetylcholine is the “memory chemical” and is one of the most abundant neurotransmitters in the body. It’s an excitatory neurotransmitter and is responsible for alertness, attention, learning, and short and long-term memory.  It also aids in skeletal muscle contraction to help you perform all your daily activities, from sweeping the floor to lifting weights.

Because it controls memory, people with acetylcholine imbalances often suffer from:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Dementia
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Memory lapses
• Calculation difficulties
• Impaired creativity
• Decreased arousal
• Impaired judgement
• Diminished comprehension

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are the most common neurodegenerative disease experienced by the aging population. Though researchers are not completely sure what the main causes are, people who suffer from memory-loss disorders generally have lower levels of acetylcholine.

This is why it’s helpful to eat foods that impact this vital neurotransmitter, such as fatty pork, liver, fried eggs, beef, tofu, nuts, cream, milk, and fatty cheeses. These foods contain high amounts of choline, the amino acid responsible for boosting acetylcholine production in the body.

People who suffer from acetylcholine imbalances are sometimes given medications called anticholinergics. These work by blocking acetylcholine from binding to its receptors and inhibiting parasympathetic nerve functions. They are often prescribed to alleviate symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, urinary incontinence, and COPD.

Glutamate

Glutamate is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the body, present in nearly every excitatory brain function. Its job is to get neurons excited and ready to work. It’s also a metabolic precursor to GABA. Glutamate plays a vital role in synaptic plasticity—the strengthening or weakening of the signals between neurons over time. This is how your memories are formed, not by the creation of new neurons, but by strengthening the connections between them.

You may have an excess of glutamate in the brain if you experience:

• Restlessness
• Inability to focus
• Hyperalgesia (amplified pain)
• Anxiety

You may have heard of monosodium glutamate, or MSG, a chemical compound often put in commercially prepared food to make it taste better. MSG acts on glutamate receptors and because the neurotransmitter is required in almost all metabolic activities, this wreaks havoc on the entire body.

“Insulin resistance and reduced glucose tolerance in rodents due to MSG consumption raise concerns about the development of obesity in MSG consuming humans. The same study revealed that MSG intake causes a disrupted energy balance by increasing the palatability of food and disturbing the leptin-mediated hypothalamus signaling cascade, potentially leading to obesity.”

Niaz, K., Zaplatic, E., & Spoor, J. (2018). Extensive use of monosodium glutamate: A threat to public health?. EXCLI journal, 17, 273–278. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2018-1092

If you’re looking to improve brain and metabolic health, glutamine is a good place to start. Dietary sources include beef, chicken, fish, dairy, eggs, beans, beets, celery, kale, Brussel sprouts, papaya, wheat, and fermented foods like miso and kimchi.

Endorphins

Endorphins are discussed in fitness circles as the chemicals responsible for that “runner’s high” people experience after vigorous physical activity. Their main job is to minimize pain and discomfort and understanding how they work led to the development of opioid drugs like codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and oxycodone.

Using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, researchers were able to view athlete’s brains both before and after exercise. They found an increase in the release of endorphins after exercise. This led to a wealth of research on how exercise affects our mood, ability to focus, and even clinical depression.

“30 community-dwelling moderately depressed men and women were randomly assigned to an exercise intervention group, a social support group, or a wait-list control group.¹⁷ The exercise intervention consisted of walking 20 to 40 minutes 3 times per week for 6 weeks. The authors reported that the exercise program alleviated overall symptoms of depression and was more effective than the other 2 groups in reducing somatic symptoms of depression.”

Craft, L. L., & Perna, F. M. (2004). The Benefits of Exercise for the Clinically Depressed. Primary care companion to the Journal of clinical psychiatry, 6(3), 104–111. https://doi.org/10.4088/pcc.v06n0301

You may have low endorphin levels if you experience:

• Depression
• Chronic headaches
• Fibromyalgia
• Low energy
• Chronic pain thought the body

If you’re looking to improve your mood, decrease pain, and maintain brain health, exercise is a great way to boost endorphins. You can also meditate or practice yoga, eat some dark chocolate, or do an activity that makes you laugh. Feeling good is usually an indicator that you’re doing the right things.

---

At the Institute for Human Optimization, we utilize a unique approach to brain health optimization by taking into account your unique genomic blueprint. We are accurately able to identify patterns of genes involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and metabolism along with risk factors for premature cognitive decline. We then correlate this data with personalized brain health assessments to determine any underlying brain-based imbalances and give you relevant lifestyle recommendations.

Inside all of us is a complicated system of structures that we don’t consciously control. Our nervous systems are our programming, using signals in the form of nerves, hormones, and a cocktail of biochemicals we have only just begun to explore. At the Institute for Human Optimization, we take a multi-faceted approach to healthcare that includes utilizing the parasympathetic nervous system as a means to improve the healthspan and mitigate potential future disease. In this week’s blog post, we cover the functions of the parasympathetic nervous system, how it relates to your health, how heart rate variability might be the key to monitoring your stress, and how what you can do to balance negative and positive stress in your life.

---

Paula is going on a first date. It’s been a few months, so she’s rightfully nervous. She arrives at the restaurant early and sits down, facing the door so she knows exactly when her date walks in.

Paula’s heart is beating at 100 beats per minute. Her palms are sweaty. Her eyes are dilated. This is because Paula’s body doesn’t understand the difference between being nervous for a date and being nervous because something might pop out of the jungle and kill you unexpectedly. Her sympathetic nervous system is activated- fight or flight. Her mind is signaling that it’s stressed and her body does what it does best, adjusts to deal with perceived danger.

PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM

Most modern humans don’t experience the same stressors as our ancient ancestors did. We don’t have saber-toothed tigers biting at our heels or starvation looming over our heads. But we do have the same systems for dealing with those problems, and our bodies still rely on them to keep us healthy and safe.

In the old days, you escaped the tiger, the danger was averted, and the stress is gone. Today we carry the stress of work, the news, social media, and all the millions of things we have to do on our shoulders most of the day. This keeps us in a constant state of “fight or flight” and can cause health problems if not addressed.

On her date, Paula’s sympathetic nervous system is activated. Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline spike to prepare her to deal with whatever’s coming. If she was perpetually stressed this way, and her cortisol levels remained high, Paula would be statistically more likely to experience cardiovascular disorders such as strokes or heart attacks.

This chronic wear and tear on the body due to chronic stress is known as allostatic load. Striking a balance between positive and negative stressors through lifestyle and behavioral changes is called allostasis. Studies show that while chronic stress is detrimental to many body systems, short-term stress (like when exercising vigorously, fasting, or sitting in a sauna) has been shown to boost the immune system and create resilience.

The parasympathetic nervous system is activated in times of resting and digesting. It involves nerves, glands, organs, and muscles that work together to control the parts of your biology you don’t have time to regulate manually. Just think about how impossible it would be to mentally control your digestion, heart rate, hormone production, tears, saliva, sexual arousal, urination, and defecation all consciously.

Thankfully, Paula doesn’t have to. She goes to the bathroom before her date arrives and everything happens just as it should without her having to put in any effort at all.

Heart Rate Variability

Doctors, biohackers, and researchers have been studying new ways to see what’s really happening in their patient’s bodies. One interesting field of study is the correlation between heart rate variability (HRV) and health.

HRV is, simply put, the amount of time between heartbeats. Reduced HRV is associated with the development of numerous conditions, for example, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, obesity, and psychiatric disorders. The company HeartMath currently offers technology that monitors your HRV so that you can see the difference in when you’re stressing about things and when you’re meditating or spending time doing something you enjoy. Our mental states influence our body states.

If we were to look at Paula’s HRV at the beginning of the night, we would notice a chaotic rhythm as her heart rate spikes and drops in reaction to her perceived stressors.

But as the night goes on, the date begins to go well. Paula starts to feel comfortable, enjoying the conversation and meal they share. If we were to measure her HRV at this point, we would see a more even, stable pattern as the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in to slow the heart rate and begin digesting the dinner she just devoured.

Ways to Assist Your Parasympathetic Nervous System

At the Institute for Human Optimization, we take your mental health into consideration when dissing any healthcare treatments or lifestyle adjustments. We understand the implications of parasympathetic nervous system health and your ability to regulate your thoughts, and find allostasis in this modern world.

Exercise is an activity that causes short-term stress that has an overall benefit on the body. It stimulates the sympathetic nervous system for a short time and then allows you to slide more easily into a parasympathetic state afterward. This is the mechanism responsible for what some call a “runners high”. Endorphins are released after you accomplish something physically difficult that make you feel good and able to rest.

When we are constantly bombarded by projects and situations that stress us out but are never truly resolved, our “fight or flight” systems never shut down, our “rest and digest” systems never come online, and we suffer health consequences in the long run.

It was even shown that listening to music during exercise increased parasympathetic activity afterward and could be an effective tool for improving recovery time and cardiac stress.

We encourage our patients to take the time to relax and unwind, meditate, stretch, and exercise in a way that contributes to their allostatic load in a positive way. Stress is a part of life, but its health effects can be mitigated by understanding and hacking the parasympathetic nervous system.

The mind state affects the body state.

---

If you’re ready to get a comprehensive overlook of your health and discuss how we can help you reach your goals, schedule a free discovery call here.