Brain Health & Environmental Dementogens
Our environment is increasingly becoming a world of convoluted and fabricated chemicals. A few are natural, albeit that some of us have developed allergies to them (pollen being an example). However more-often-than not the chemicals are man-made in response to noble motives such as making the life of humas easier or safer.
Whilst these chemicals are perfectly adapted to do their job – the coating on non-stick cooking pans does indeed prevent food from sticking to them in the cooking process, pesticides, herbicides (glyphosate), insecticides do indeed repel predators from food crops, and flame-retarding lacquers on clothing and furniture do perform their flame retarding role, the chemicals and fumes they emit are directly or indirectly absorbed onto and into our body (through touch or the food we eat) and may, if the cumulative load gets too high, become detrimental to our Brain health.
These chemicals, fumes and toxins have been given the umbrella term Dementogens. In simple terms, Dementogens are items contribute to the likelihood and risk of us developing Dementia. Emerging research is increasingly identifying these Dementogens as contributing factors to our Brain defence mechanisms (the Immune System) going into overdrive to protect the Brain; the resulting overgrowth of β-Amyloid plaque and/or Tau protein tangles contributing to an adaptive protective shield, inadvertently overcrowding the Brain space and potentially triggering eventual cognitive decline.
Interestingly, the Brain does have its own detoxification system; the Glymphatic system which is responsible for waste clearance, elimination & removal from around the Brain primarily while we sleep, (this is one of the reasons why sleep is so important for health!). However the Glymphatic System cannot do a thorough clean if we are chronically sleep-deprived or if we perpetually bombard our Brain with Dementogen exposure over a sustained period of time. Therefore we also need to ensure that our diet and lifestyle are optimally conducive to supporting the body and Brain in its detoxification processes.
There are several simple lifestyle and dietary modifications can we implement into our living/working environments to minimise and protect against Dementogen-induced cognitive decline. The suggestions below are decent places to start, but there are many more and as with most things Nutritional Therapy is highly personalised so please seek professional recommendations from a Registered Nutritional Therapist to ensure you can pursue a lifestyle and dietary programme which is tailored and appropriate for you.
- Do not smoke or vape, and minimise being in environments with the circulating fumes.
- Remove artificial, highly perfumed chemicals (sprays, fragrances, candles) from your environment as they are direct emitters of Dementogens.
- Remove your shoes when you enter your indoor living environment as these may carry bacteria, toxins, viruses and Dementogenic chemicals into you enclosed (indoor) breathing and cooking environments.
- As far as you can, avoid highly polluted areas and seek out clean(er) air in nature-oriented environments.
- Opt for organic food where you can, these (should!) have had considerably less contact with toxic chemicals and packaging than non-organic food.
- Eat a palmful of bitter foods (rocket and/or watercress are examples) before a meal, as bitter foods support digestion and the Liver’s detoxifying pathways.
As I hope this post has highlighted, don’t forget Eat, Drink, Think Nutrition and spare a thought (no pun intended) for your Brain health. Losing your Brain power can be even more devastating to you, and those around you, than losing an aspect of your physical health, so why wouldn’t you start to look after your Brain right away since diet and lifestyle modifications actioned NOW could save a lot of distress and heartbreak later in life.
REMEMBER: if you are taking any medications always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist as well as your Doctor before making significant dietary or lifestyle changes. This blog post is written for educational purposes only and in reference to ‘food’. It is NOT advocating taking dietary supplements. It is very important to please always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist or your Doctor before introducing any dietary supplements into your health regime as these qualified professionals will be able to offer personalised recommendations.
If brain, cognitive and/or memory are issues which you are struggling with and you want to discover the inspiring & sustainable diet & lifestyle programmes offered by Nutritional Therapy, get in touch via the Contact Me page on this website, or directly on info@eatdrinkthinknutrition.co.uk for more information about 1:2:1 Consultations with Eat Drink Think Nutrition®.
