Personalized Nutrition, Blood Tests & Dementia Risk: A Harvard Scientist Explains the Science

The brain doesn't age through one nutrient at a time. It's all about patterns. So you have to realize that the brain is exposed to thousands, hundreds of thousands of things all the time. You have a blood brain barrier that's protecting it. It's very selective. So the idea that a single supplement or a single nutrient is going to really have a profound effect. on the brain, you should already be skeptical. We've realized that through so many unsuccessful clinical trials in the space of Alzheimer's disease, you know, trying to prevent the progression of the disease. Now that we have the tools to detect the pathology that's occurring in the brain before the symptoms of onset, we're realizing now that the pathology and the seeds for those conditions in the brain are seeding decades before the onset of the symptoms. Trans fats actually get into your brain cells. They actually get across the blood-brain barrier. They get bound in there into the lipid bilayer and they raise habit. When you give something like omega-3 fatty acids, there's a lot of things that happen. Those fats get broken down into other compounds that have anti-inflammatory properties. At age 70, you know, if you're cognitively intact, that's fantastic. but there's probably an abundance of pathology brewing there. There is opportunity for nutrition at every stage, but I think ultimately you want as early detection and intervention as possible. Traditionally, it's been a lot more bitter in our diet that kind of primes our gastrointestinal system to actually pull things out of the foods that we're eating and break these things down to improve absorption.

One thing that really troubles me intraweekly is that fluctuation in energy levels and mood, like this brain fog that I will sometimes experience for days on end. What do we know about that and how to manage it?

It's probably a combination of several factors. From the food perspective,

as our life expectancy continues to rise one question is becoming more important than ever how do we protect our brains against the onset of cognitive decline today's guest is dr gene bowman he's a neurologist harvard physician scientist and one of the leading researchers exploring how nutrition metabolism and lifestyle influences brain health and alzheimer's disease His work sits at this intersection of cutting edge neuroscience and practical prevention, asking a question that affects every single one of us. What can we do today to reduce our risk tomorrow? Now, if you've ever worried about losing your memory, your executive function, your cognitive health in general, or watched a loved one experience symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's, or just simply wondered how to keep your mind sharp as you age, this is a conversation you will not want to miss. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode with Dr. Jean Bowman. I think a good place to start would be take us back to the 90s and your time spent, I believe, in North Carolina in a cardiac ward where we were or you guys were doing things that were very helpful and efficacious for rehabilitating heart and other organs, but not so much the organ we're going to talk about today. So let's start there