Link to access BDNF papers mentioned in the podcast.
What if you had the power to enhance your brain health through simple lifestyle changes? Join us as we uncover the secrets of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and its profound impact on your cognitive well-being. We kick off by comparing the delicate balance between BDNF and its precursor, pro-BDNF, to the brake and accelerator of a car, each playing a crucial role in brain function. You'll learn how genetic and epigenetic factors, such as the MET66 gene variant, influence BDNF levels, and why nurturing your brain with the right diet, lifestyle, and environment can make a world of difference.
Chronic stress and a sedentary lifestyle can wreak havoc on your brain, but we’ve got you covered with practical strategies to counteract these negative effects. Discover how regular physical activity not only lifts your mood but also supercharges BDNF levels, enhancing cognitive performance and mitigating depression. We also delve into the intriguing benefits of carbohydrate restriction and ketogenic diets for brain health. To wrap it up, we navigate through various natural supplements like catechins, olive leaf extract, and ginkgo biloba, while stressing the importance of a holistic approach to diet and lifestyle before turning to these aids. Tune in to empower yourself with knowledge and actionable steps towards optimal brain health!
Link to access BDNF papers mentioned in the podcast.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome to the Inflammation Nation
podcast.
I'm your host, Dr SteveNoseberg.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
One of the greatest obstacles to crafting health and
wellness is identifying andcontrolling inflammation.
It's at the core of all complexand chronic diseases and it's
the driving mechanism thatunderlies the most common
symptoms that people like youstruggle to overcome.
Join us as we explore cuttingedge science and research to
give you the information andtools you need to create the
(00:28):
quality of life you want anddeserve.
And now here is the host ofInflammation Nation, dr Stephen
Noseworthy.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast.
This is part two of our talkabout BDNF, or brain-derived
neurotropic factor, as one ofthe miracle molecules that we've
been talking about for the lastmonth or two.
So I want to go over a littlebit more about some of the
science and the physiologybehind BDNF before we get to the
(00:59):
things that impair it and thenthings that you can do to change
that.
So BDNF is it's derived from aprecursor molecule called
pro-BDNF, which actually has theopposite effect of BDNF itself.
Right, so there's always thisbalance between this pro-BDNF
(01:19):
and the BDNF in your brain thatallows you to fine-tune and
control the functions of BDNF.
Not that you have consciouscontrol over it, but the two
work in balance, and so in thatsense it's it's kind of like
having a brake and anaccelerator in your car, right,
sometimes you need to slow downand stop, sometimes you need to
(01:39):
speed up and go, and drivingsafely and in control is always
a balance between the two, andBDNF seems to be like that, and
so the whole system starts withgenes that control the
manufacturing process, and it'sa little too technical anytime
we get into genetics, but alittle more technical than I
(01:59):
want to get into here.
But the processes oftranscription and translation
refer to the action of your DNAwhen specific genes are
activated, and the result inthis case is your brain cells
make this pro-BDNF, which thengets converted into BDNF, and
you always have a balancebetween the two of those.
(02:21):
And the research shows thatthere are metabolic and
environmental factors thataffect BDNF.
It affects the levels it can beby altering the DNA action,
this transcription andtranslation processes.
But more than that, once weactually have BDNF in hand, once
we've made it, there are whatare called post-translational
(02:44):
modifications that can changeBDNF through what are commonly
called epigenetic factors, andthat would be things like diet,
lifestyle and environment thataffect our physiology.
And so scientists theorize thatthis multilayered system gives
our brains finer control andprotects the system, but it also
(03:06):
means that it tends to createpoints of vulnerability where
outside factors can cause thesystem to glitch.
Now, in healthy people withhealthy brains, the relationship
between pro-BDNF and BDNF isbalanced and the epigenetic
influences are either absent orthey're controlled, which puts
(03:28):
their brains in a pretty goodposition to handle the aging
process without, say,significant loss, assuming all
other things are equal.
But when someone has, say, agenetic or epigenetic factor or
factors that are unaccounted foror poorly managed, then BDNF
fails and bad brain stuffhappens, and that's what we're
(03:53):
trying to avoid.
So let's talk about what canimpair BDNF so that you can
start thinking about how you canprotect your brain over time.
And we're going to start withgenetics.
And you know let me put mydisclaimer out there I'm not a
genetic expert, but I'm smartenough to read research and
think about what I see inclinical practice.
And you know, put two and twotogether.
(04:13):
But I want to start with theidea, as it relates to genetics,
that, like everything thathappens with your health, is
about how your diet, yourlifestyle and your environment
and how you respond to thatinfluences your gene expression.
And I'll remind you that youknow, just because you carry a
gene variant in some systemdoesn't guarantee that the
(04:38):
function that's potentiallyassociated with that gene is
going to happen, 100% guaranteed.
You can carry a bad gene forsomething your entire life
without that gene ever affectingyour lifespan or your health
span.
In other words, gene variantsare sometimes necessary but
hardly sufficient to causehealth issues.
(05:01):
Having said that, one genevariant of interest that has
been studied with BDNF issomething called the MET66
variant, m-e-t MET66 variant.
Now if you have, say, a 23andMegene test or a gene test from
other source, you can check tosee if they actually tested this
, to see if you have this MET66variant, you have this MET66
(05:26):
variant.
But if you don't, don't freakout Because, remember, just
because you carry the genedoesn't mean that whatever is
associated with that gene isgoing to happen.
Now I'm going to paraphrase acomment from one study on BDNF
and this MET66 gene variant,where the authors were examining
or talking about conflictingresults from other researchers
on this particular topic ofgenetics and BDNF.
(05:48):
And here's the quote.
It's my paraphrase the BDNFgene may exert different effects
across the lifespan due tovariables such as gender, stress
and physical exercise known toaffect BDNF levels.
In conclusion, these studiessuggest that the presence of the
(06:08):
MET66 variant may confer adisadvantage in cognitive
performance and particularlyepisodic memory, but that the
effects of the BDNF variant maybe too complex to be analyzed
under the idea of a simple quote.
Unquote risk allele and, and soand that's the end of the quote
(06:30):
, or at least my paraphrase.
And so what these guys aresaying is that just because you
might carry the MET 66 gene, howthis gene affects your brain
over your lifespan depends onother things like your gender,
your stress load and your stresshandling capacity, as well as
your exercise habits.
Now, in general, as a clinician, I don't find it particularly
(06:54):
helpful to put too much emphasison gene testing, because, in
the end, you can't change thegene itself, but you can make
choices and build habits thataffect your gene's behavior and
that's.
But you can make choices andbuild habits that affect your
genes behavior and that's, Ithink, where really we should be
placing our focus.
So, now that we've got that outof the way, yes, there could be
(07:15):
some genetic variants let's payattention to the two things
that this research said affectsBDNF at this genetic level,
because remember your choices,your habits and the world you
live in and how you respond tothat affects your gene
expression.
And those two things that theypointed out were stress and
exercise and for good measure,we're going to throw in diet and
(07:36):
whether or not you're living inwhat's called a sensory-rich
environment.
And I'm going to start with thisidea of a sensory-rich
environment and how it affectsyour brain.
So this concept of sensory richenvironments came about from
the world of childhoodneurodevelopment and it turns
out that one way to ensure aninfant brain does not develop
properly is to limit or removesome or all of the sensory
(07:58):
stimuli that babies wouldnormally be exposed to.
Now, in depression, researchscientists will take lab animals
.
They'll isolate them, they'llrestrict their movements,
they'll turn off the lights,they'll dampen sound, they'll
feed them bland food that has nosmell or no taste, and so on,
(08:19):
and this causes depression.
So your brain needs sensoryinputs of different kinds to
develop and thrive and to behealthy and well.
And while you may have you mayhave grown up with a ton of
sensory stimulation that helpedyour brain develop.
As I mentioned in the lastepisode, as we age, we we tend
to shrink or condense the worldthat we live in.
(08:41):
Right, we stopped doing thethings that we did when we were
young that helped our developingbrains develop to begin with.
And as adults, we need to moveand play, we need rich social
engagement, we need cognitivechallenges, like you know,
problems and puzzles to solve.
We need humor and love andmusic and art, and we need new
(09:05):
sights and new smells and newsounds.
In other words, as we age, thetypes and levels of sensory
inputs that we give our brain,our brains, reduces, and this is
part of why our brainsdegenerate as we get older is
because we're taking away thethings that helped it to develop
to begin with, and so, whilethere are many mechanisms
(09:28):
involved in how sensorystimulation drives and protects
brain function and health, oneof those reasons is that a
sensory rich environmentimproves BDNF levels, which
helps us with learning andmemory and neurological
plasticity.
So I'm going to encourage you totake a hard look at your life,
(09:49):
like when was the last time youwent out in nature, for example
Especially important if you livein a big, condensed city.
When was the last time you madea new friend or expanded your
social circle?
Have you ever learned to speaka new language?
Or have you learned to play amusical instrument?
Or if you have in the past buthaven't played it, when was the
last time you played it, forheaven's sake?
(10:10):
Like when was the last time yourode a bike or used a jump rope
?
Your brain loves novelty.
It loves new challenges and newexperiences, and so if you've
settled into a smaller butcontrolled life that feels
comfortable to you at some point, you're going to suffer the
consequences in your brain overtime.
(10:31):
So do something new and daring.
Get out of your comfort zone,challenge yourself and get more
inputs into your brain.
Your brain will love you for it.
All right, that's number one.
A sensory rich life or asensory rich environment
increases your BDNF.
Your brain likes that.
The next topic is stress, andthis is a key concept here,
(10:55):
because we have literallydecades of research showing how
chronic stress is bad for thebrain.
And here's what we know in anutshell.
I'm just going to break thisdown into a series of bullet
points or paragraphs.
So, first of all, your stresssystem, what we call the HPA
axis, hypothalamic, pituitaryadrenal axis more commonly we
(11:18):
call it your adrenals.
This system is designed to helpyour body deal with acute or
temporary stressors that arethere but then they resolve, and
in fact that system is quitegood at controlling the impact
of short-term stress.
But when our stress is chronic,the story starts to change.
With chronic stress, the stresschemistry itself in the form of
(11:40):
cortisol, adrenaline, eveninflammatory cytokines they
damage the part of the brainthat's responsible for
controlling your stressresponses.
This part of the brain iscalled the hippocampus, and that
might sound familiar becausewhen I shared the part of the
brain where we find most of theBDNF.
The hippocampus is right upthere.
(12:01):
We talked about that in thatfirst episode.
Now, in fact, your hippocampusnot only controls your adrenal
circadian rhythm, it also helpsyou form memories and it's the
first site of dysfunction whensomeone gets early Alzheimer's
disease.
So it kind of works like thisIn order to handle stress, we
(12:21):
need this hippocampus to controlhow much cortisol we produce in
response to stress.
But the biochemistry of stressimpairs and damages the neurons
in the hippocampus that let ushandle stress, and so chronic
stress literally damages thebrain, specifically in the
hippocampus, which helps tohandle stress.
(12:43):
It's a vicious loop and whilethe biochemistry is complex, one
of the reasons why thehippocampus degenerates under
chronic stress is because ittanks your BDNF, and without
adequate BDNF your brain can'tefficiently drive plasticity or
the repair processes that keepyour brain healthy.
So one tactic here is you know,look at your life and ask
(13:06):
yourself if you have chronicstress and whether or not you
have control over whatever isstressing you.
Sometimes we do, sometimes wedon't.
When I take on a personalcoaching client, I almost always
look at their salivary adrenalprofiles to get a handle on
their stress chemistry, becauseit's so fundamental to health.
But at some point in theirprogram.
(13:26):
We talk about theircontrollable and uncontrollable
stressors, and the idea is thatwe can strategize to support
their adrenal system in whateverway might be appropriate, while
removing stress by changing thestressors that people have
control over but they haven'tyet controlled.
For example, some people withchronic stress.
(13:49):
They have a personality typewhere they have a hard time
saying no to other people, andso they they take on more and
more responsibility and duties,to the point where their systems
start to break down.
Right, you can learn to say no.
It might be hard, but that issomething that you have control
over.
So the bottom line is thischronic, chronic stress coupled
(14:13):
with adrenal dysfunction impairsBDNF in your brain, perhaps
more specifically in that partcalled the hippocampus, which
leads to less control overstress responses and degenerates
the very brain networksinvolved in memory.
And that's why we often seepeople who have chronic stress
and bad adrenals complaining ofbad brains that, on paper, look
(14:36):
an awful lot like theforgetfulness of early
Alzheimer's disease.
Now, the good news is that inthose cases it's not.
It's not Alzheimer's in mostcases, and when you resolve the
stressors and improve adrenalfunction, then your brain comes
back and that's pretty cool, allright.
The next topic is exercise.
Now, in other podcasts I havedescribed how and why we look at
(14:59):
exercise as brain nutrition, orwe could say movement is
medicine, and without delvinginto that, because it is a deep
topic, one of the major reasonswhy exercise is so good for your
brain is because it undoubtedlyincreases BDNF, perhaps the
single most impactful thing youcan do Now.
(15:22):
Some studies suggest that BDNFcan increase two to threefold
after just a single bout ofexercise, compared to being
sedentary.
But if you exercise only oncein a while, those single bouts
of exercise and these short-termelevations in BDNF really are
not going to help you all thatmuch.
You get a momentary effect, butthen it goes away.
(15:42):
But when you have a habit ofconsistent exercise and then you
get repeated bouts of elevatedBDNF over long periods of time,
that's where the magic is, andthis is one of the reasons why
exercise is really the onlytime-tested, almost guaranteed
treatment for depression.
Again, the neurochemistry ismore complex and a lot of stuff
(16:04):
happens in your brain when youmove your body, but one of the
key things is the increase inBDNF in your brain when you
contract your muscles and moveyour joints, and so any exercise
is better than none.
Research has examined the effectof BDNF on low intensity versus
high intensity and shortduration versus long duration
(16:27):
exercise, and suffice it to sayfor the moment that, in general,
more intense and longerduration exercise results in
higher BDNF than lower intensityand shorter duration exercise.
But we have a little bit of aproblem because intensity and
duration are inversely relatedto each other.
The more intensely you exercise, the shorter time you can
(16:50):
sustain it.
That's a trade-off.
For shorter time you cansustain it that's a trade-off.
For example, you can't sprintall out for 40 minutes nonstop,
but any activity you engage infor long periods of time, say 40
, 50, 60 minutes or more, may betoo low intensity to make a
difference, and any super highintensity work that you can only
(17:11):
sustain for a minute or so maypush you over your metabolic
tipping point and negate anyBDNF you create, because you're
creating more inflammation andoxidative stress, which might be
bad for your brain in thatcontext.
So it's it.
There's always a balancebetween high intensity and low
intensity exercise and if you'remetabolically compromised and
(17:32):
you have low exercise tolerance,you need to do something.
But you need to be careful ofwhat you do and how you do it
and to that end, you might wantto listen to my episodes on
exercise tolerance and themetabolic tipping point that
I've put out in the last three,four months or so, just to
understand those topics better.
Now one final note on exerciseand depression.
(17:54):
If you've listened to thispodcast for a while, you know
that antidepressant medicationsassumes that depression is a
neurotransmitter imbalance, whenthe research says that
depression is mainly aneuroinflammatory problem, and
this is why antidepressants havesuch a poor track record.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Undoubtedly they work for some people, but the vast
majority of people it doesn't.
So researchers have looked atthe effect of either
antidepressants alone orexercise alone, or both together
, and how they impact BDNFlevels.
And basically, antidepressantsby themselves don't increase
BDNF unless you're exercising,and it begs the question as to
(18:34):
whether or not the effect isactually the exercise by itself
or is it the combination of thetwo, and I don't think that
answer is settled in theresearch.
But my sense as a clinician isthat it's really the exercise
that's what's doing it.
So exercise super good for yourbrain for so many different
reasons.
Okay, that leaves two moreitems on the list to cover.
(18:56):
One is diet, the other issupplementation.
Start with diet.
As often happens with diet andnutritional studies, results
quite often fall on both sidesof whatever question is being
asked.
So some studies show definitebenefits to BDNF with certain
diets, while others don't.
(19:16):
But if we look at the balanceof results on studies that look
at diet and neuroprotectionthrough different mechanisms,
including BDNF, a few things areclear.
Number one carbohydraterestriction is a good idea.
And number two a ketogenic dietmight be the king of them all
(19:37):
as it relates to brain health.
Now, about six or seven yearsago, I was asked to write and
teach a course for an onlinedegree master's degree in
nutritional medicine, and thecourse topic was nutrition and
the brain.
It was a 14-week course and thelast lesson in week 14 was
really in the form of a question, which was is the ketogenic
(20:00):
diet the best diet for the brain?
And the practitioners, thestudents taking the course, had
to review current medicalliterature on the ketogenic diet
and brain health and render awell-argued opinion on the
question.
Now I think if somebody put agun to my head and forced me to
pick one diet for brain healthforever, for me it would
(20:23):
definitely be the ketogenic diet.
And if you don't know this,right now the most prominent
psychiatric hospital in the UShas a pilot program to study the
carnivore diet and majorneuropsychiatric disorders like
schizophrenia.
And this is on the heels ofseveral recent papers and
top-tier journals that show thebenefits and success of low-carb
(20:46):
diets on things like majordepressive disorder and you know
that's depression that doesn'trespond to medications, for
example and other things.
So some of the benefits ofketogenic diets are the ketones
themselves, which areanti-inflammatory in the brain.
Not only are they a good fuelsource for the brain.
(21:06):
They're anti-inflammatory, butagain, some papers show that
restricting carbs helps improveBDNF.
And so what is low carb and atwhat point does this effect kick
in, where the brain tends towork better?
Now I might have an answer toone of those questions, but
maybe not the other.
But by definition, low carb isanything under, say, 125, 130
(21:28):
grams of net carbs per day.
Say 125, 130 grams of net carbsper day Net carbs, that's total
carbs minus your fiber.
So keto and carnivore diets are, by definition, both low-carb
diets because they're both verylow-carb hydrates.
But not all low-carb diets areketogenic.
Like you could eat 100 grams ofcarbs a day, which is low carb
(21:49):
technically, but you're probablynowhere close to being in
ketosis.
And it varies from person toperson, but in general, ketosis
doesn't happen until you getbelow about 30 grams of net
carbs per day.
However, if you're well muscledand you work out a lot, you'll
probably be able to get awaywith eating more carbs and still
stay in ketosis, especially ifyou eat your carbs stacked
(22:11):
around your workouts.
But the key here is that if youhave a bad brain, whatever that
might mean to you, the key isto find the lowest amount of
carbs that you can function wellon, because some people when
they drop their carbs theydestabilize because they've lost
their metabolic flexibility.
It's a different conversation,but if you've never looked at
your diet critically, I wouldsuggest that you track your food
(22:35):
for five days using somethinglike MyFitnessPal.
My favorite, the one that I usepersonally, is called Carb
Manager and you can look at howmany net carbs you're eating
every day and just kind of get asense of where you are.
And if it's more than 130 gramsper day, then drop your carbs
down to there and if you're kindof ruffling around there, you
(22:56):
can start removing 25 grams ofcarbs per day, adding back
healthy fats or proteins so youmaintain calorie balance and
then start to see how your brainresponds to successively lower
amounts of carbohydrates.
Now this is in episode 159.
I think it's called Navigatingyour Personal Carb Threshold.
(23:18):
It's actually one of my morelistened to and more popular
episodes in this podcast.
I outline my strategy forwalking through that and just
trying to figure out exactly howmany carbs you can get away
with.
So that's diet.
Carb restriction is important,let's say carb control.
Ketogenic diet might be better.
Do you need to go all the wayto carnivore?
(23:39):
The answer is I don't know, butit might be worth trying,
depending on how serious you areand how bad you think your
brain is and how fervently youwant things to change.
All right, let's move on to thelast topic.
And I saved the supplement listfor two reasons.
First, it's just a list, so I'mnot going to dwell on each
individual supplement.
Everything that I'm about toread out to you can help
(24:02):
increase BDNF to one degree oranother, and I don't think we
can say one is better than theother.
These are just a list ofsupplements that can help BDNF,
but the impact is going todepend on your individual
biochemistry and the context ofyour life and your health, like
what else is going on with you.
But the second and the mainreason that I left this list for
(24:23):
last is because you can't outsupplement a bad diet or a bad
lifestyle right.
The reason why I went throughthe impacts of stress, chemistry
, diet and exercise first isbecause these are the most
important things to dial infirst.
And so if you're sedentary,chronically stressed, and you're
eating a high carb, standardAmerican diet, I don't think
(24:44):
there's any supplement in theworld that's going to move the
BDNF needle for you in anysignificant way.
I truly believe that.
But if you start making goodchanges to your diet and your
lifestyle and you add one ormore of these supplements to
those primary strategies, that'swhen I think they have value.
So here's the list.
(25:05):
I know some of these are goingto be familiar to you.
I'm going to read this outfairly quickly.
But to help you, I'm going toadd a link to my website where
you can read or download a copyof a comprehensive research
review.
I'll give you the title andthen I'll provide the link.
There'll be a link in theepisode description to my
website and then you can gothere and you can look at that
(25:26):
article.
But the name of the article isphytochemicals that Regulate
Neurodegenerative Disease byTargeting Neurotrophins and
remember, bdnf is one of manydifferent types of neurotrophins
.
So you'll find that list andmore in that paper.
So check out the link to getthat in the description.
All right, here it isSupplements that can potentially
(25:48):
increase your BDNF.
Number one and two togethercurcumin and resveratrol, and
the literature suggests thatthey're probably better used
together than eitherindividually.
So that's your turmeric andresveratrol.
Then berberine, which isactually used for many different
things.
It's quite often used to helpwith gut dysbiosis.
It's also used to modulate amajor metabolic switch called
(26:13):
AMPK in people who have, say,insulin resistance or metabolic
syndrome.
But we have some studies thatshow that it does increase, or
can increase, bdnf.
Then we have the catechins thatare found in green tea and white
tea, olive leaf extract, whichis also quite often used as an
antimicrobial for, say, gutdysbiosis.
(26:36):
Then we have ginkgo biloba,which is probably most commonly
used for increasing blood flowto the brain, or at least it's
commonly known for that.
Then we have simple things likeginger, panix, ginseng, lemon
balm, huperzine, which is anatural compound that helps with
acetylcholine levels in yourbrain.
Then we have schizandrachinensis and there's a whole
(26:59):
bunch more Like literallythere's.
You know at least a dozen more.
So what I would suggest you doagain is hit that link in the
description, just pop over to mywebsite, grab the link to that
paper and then you can readthese things for yourselves.
But I implore you don't justsupplement right.
Look at your diet, yourlifestyle, look at your stress.
Make those changes first.
(27:20):
Don't just think that you cantake a boat load of supplements
and it's going to fix all thosethings when the major players
are not sorted out first.
Okay, that is it for BDNF asone of our latest, or our latest
, miracle molecule.
The next miracle molecule on mylist is hydrochloric acid, so I
hope you join me on the nextepisode right here on the
(27:42):
Inflammation Nation podcast.
This podcast is for generalinformational and educational
purposes only and does notconstitute the practice of
medicine in any form or capacity.
No doctor-patient relationshipis formed.
The use of the information inthis podcast or any materials
associated with or linked to thepodcast is at the listener's
(28:06):
own risk.
The content of this podcast isnot intended to be a substitute
for professional andpersonalized medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment, andlisteners should not disregard
or delay obtaining propermedical advice when a health
condition exists and warrantsthat.
And finally, functionalmedicine is not intended or
(28:26):
designed to treat disease, butrather is a natural approach to
support restoring health andwellness.
The use of diet and lifestylemodifications and nutritional
supplementation is supportivefor adjunctive care.
Hey everyone, welcome to the Inflammation Nation
podcast.
I'm your host, Dr SteveNoseberg.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
One of the greatest obstacles to crafting health and
wellness is identifying andcontrolling inflammation.
It's at the core of all complexand chronic diseases and it's
the driving mechanism thatunderlies the most common
symptoms that people like youstruggle to overcome.
Join us as we explore cuttingedge science and research to
give you the information andtools you need to create the
(00:28):
quality of life you want anddeserve.
And now here is the host ofInflammation Nation, dr Stephen
Noseworthy.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast.
This is part two of our talkabout BDNF, or brain-derived
neurotropic factor, as one ofthe miracle molecules that we've
been talking about for the lastmonth or two.
So I want to go over a littlebit more about some of the
science and the physiologybehind BDNF before we get to the
(00:59):
things that impair it and thenthings that you can do to change
that.
So BDNF is it's derived from aprecursor molecule called
pro-BDNF, which actually has theopposite effect of BDNF itself.
Right, so there's always thisbalance between this pro-BDNF
(01:19):
and the BDNF in your brain thatallows you to fine-tune and
control the functions of BDNF.
Not that you have consciouscontrol over it, but the two
work in balance, and so in thatsense it's it's kind of like
having a brake and anaccelerator in your car, right,
sometimes you need to slow downand stop, sometimes you need to
(01:39):
speed up and go, and drivingsafely and in control is always
a balance between the two, andBDNF seems to be like that, and
so the whole system starts withgenes that control the
manufacturing process, and it'sa little too technical anytime
we get into genetics, but alittle more technical than I
(01:59):
want to get into here.
But the processes oftranscription and translation
refer to the action of your DNAwhen specific genes are
activated, and the result inthis case is your brain cells
make this pro-BDNF, which thengets converted into BDNF, and
you always have a balancebetween the two of those.
(02:21):
And the research shows thatthere are metabolic and
environmental factors thataffect BDNF.
It affects the levels it can beby altering the DNA action,
this transcription andtranslation processes.
But more than that, once weactually have BDNF in hand, once
we've made it, there are whatare called post-translational
(02:44):
modifications that can changeBDNF through what are commonly
called epigenetic factors, andthat would be things like diet,
lifestyle and environment thataffect our physiology.
And so scientists theorize thatthis multilayered system gives
our brains finer control andprotects the system, but it also
(03:06):
means that it tends to createpoints of vulnerability where
outside factors can cause thesystem to glitch.
Now, in healthy people withhealthy brains, the relationship
between pro-BDNF and BDNF isbalanced and the epigenetic
influences are either absent orthey're controlled, which puts
(03:28):
their brains in a pretty goodposition to handle the aging
process without, say,significant loss, assuming all
other things are equal.
But when someone has, say, agenetic or epigenetic factor or
factors that are unaccounted foror poorly managed, then BDNF
fails and bad brain stuffhappens, and that's what we're
(03:53):
trying to avoid.
So let's talk about what canimpair BDNF so that you can
start thinking about how you canprotect your brain over time.
And we're going to start withgenetics.
And you know let me put mydisclaimer out there I'm not a
genetic expert, but I'm smartenough to read research and
think about what I see inclinical practice.
And you know, put two and twotogether.
(04:13):
But I want to start with theidea, as it relates to genetics,
that, like everything thathappens with your health, is
about how your diet, yourlifestyle and your environment
and how you respond to thatinfluences your gene expression.
And I'll remind you that youknow, just because you carry a
gene variant in some systemdoesn't guarantee that the
(04:38):
function that's potentiallyassociated with that gene is
going to happen, 100% guaranteed.
You can carry a bad gene forsomething your entire life
without that gene ever affectingyour lifespan or your health
span.
In other words, gene variantsare sometimes necessary but
hardly sufficient to causehealth issues.
(05:01):
Having said that, one genevariant of interest that has
been studied with BDNF issomething called the MET66
variant, m-e-t MET66 variant.
Now if you have, say, a 23andMegene test or a gene test from
other source, you can check tosee if they actually tested this
, to see if you have this MET66variant, you have this MET66
(05:26):
variant.
But if you don't, don't freakout Because, remember, just
because you carry the genedoesn't mean that whatever is
associated with that gene isgoing to happen.
Now I'm going to paraphrase acomment from one study on BDNF
and this MET66 gene variant,where the authors were examining
or talking about conflictingresults from other researchers
on this particular topic ofgenetics and BDNF.
(05:48):
And here's the quote.
It's my paraphrase the BDNFgene may exert different effects
across the lifespan due tovariables such as gender, stress
and physical exercise known toaffect BDNF levels.
In conclusion, these studiessuggest that the presence of the
(06:08):
MET66 variant may confer adisadvantage in cognitive
performance and particularlyepisodic memory, but that the
effects of the BDNF variant maybe too complex to be analyzed
under the idea of a simple quote.
Unquote risk allele and, and soand that's the end of the quote
(06:30):
, or at least my paraphrase.
And so what these guys aresaying is that just because you
might carry the MET 66 gene, howthis gene affects your brain
over your lifespan depends onother things like your gender,
your stress load and your stresshandling capacity, as well as
your exercise habits.
Now, in general, as a clinician, I don't find it particularly
(06:54):
helpful to put too much emphasison gene testing, because, in
the end, you can't change thegene itself, but you can make
choices and build habits thataffect your gene's behavior and
that's.
But you can make choices andbuild habits that affect your
genes behavior and that's, Ithink, where really we should be
placing our focus.
So, now that we've got that outof the way, yes, there could be
(07:15):
some genetic variants let's payattention to the two things
that this research said affectsBDNF at this genetic level,
because remember your choices,your habits and the world you
live in and how you respond tothat affects your gene
expression.
And those two things that theypointed out were stress and
exercise and for good measure,we're going to throw in diet and
(07:36):
whether or not you're living inwhat's called a sensory-rich
environment.
And I'm going to start with thisidea of a sensory-rich
environment and how it affectsyour brain.
So this concept of sensory richenvironments came about from
the world of childhoodneurodevelopment and it turns
out that one way to ensure aninfant brain does not develop
properly is to limit or removesome or all of the sensory
(07:58):
stimuli that babies wouldnormally be exposed to.
Now, in depression, researchscientists will take lab animals
.
They'll isolate them, they'llrestrict their movements,
they'll turn off the lights,they'll dampen sound, they'll
feed them bland food that has nosmell or no taste, and so on,
(08:19):
and this causes depression.
So your brain needs sensoryinputs of different kinds to
develop and thrive and to behealthy and well.
And while you may have you mayhave grown up with a ton of
sensory stimulation that helpedyour brain develop.
As I mentioned in the lastepisode, as we age, we we tend
to shrink or condense the worldthat we live in.
(08:41):
Right, we stopped doing thethings that we did when we were
young that helped our developingbrains develop to begin with.
And as adults, we need to moveand play, we need rich social
engagement, we need cognitivechallenges, like you know,
problems and puzzles to solve.
We need humor and love andmusic and art, and we need new
(09:05):
sights and new smells and newsounds.
In other words, as we age, thetypes and levels of sensory
inputs that we give our brain,our brains, reduces, and this is
part of why our brainsdegenerate as we get older is
because we're taking away thethings that helped it to develop
to begin with, and so, whilethere are many mechanisms
(09:28):
involved in how sensorystimulation drives and protects
brain function and health, oneof those reasons is that a
sensory rich environmentimproves BDNF levels, which
helps us with learning andmemory and neurological
plasticity.
So I'm going to encourage you totake a hard look at your life,
(09:49):
like when was the last time youwent out in nature, for example
Especially important if you livein a big, condensed city.
When was the last time you madea new friend or expanded your
social circle?
Have you ever learned to speaka new language?
Or have you learned to play amusical instrument?
Or if you have in the past buthaven't played it, when was the
last time you played it, forheaven's sake?
(10:10):
Like when was the last time yourode a bike or used a jump rope
?
Your brain loves novelty.
It loves new challenges and newexperiences, and so if you've
settled into a smaller butcontrolled life that feels
comfortable to you at some point, you're going to suffer the
consequences in your brain overtime.
(10:31):
So do something new and daring.
Get out of your comfort zone,challenge yourself and get more
inputs into your brain.
Your brain will love you for it.
All right, that's number one.
A sensory rich life or asensory rich environment
increases your BDNF.
Your brain likes that.
The next topic is stress, andthis is a key concept here,
(10:55):
because we have literallydecades of research showing how
chronic stress is bad for thebrain.
And here's what we know in anutshell.
I'm just going to break thisdown into a series of bullet
points or paragraphs.
So, first of all, your stresssystem, what we call the HPA
axis, hypothalamic, pituitaryadrenal axis more commonly we
(11:18):
call it your adrenals.
This system is designed to helpyour body deal with acute or
temporary stressors that arethere but then they resolve, and
in fact that system is quitegood at controlling the impact
of short-term stress.
But when our stress is chronic,the story starts to change.
With chronic stress, the stresschemistry itself in the form of
(11:40):
cortisol, adrenaline, eveninflammatory cytokines they
damage the part of the brainthat's responsible for
controlling your stressresponses.
This part of the brain iscalled the hippocampus, and that
might sound familiar becausewhen I shared the part of the
brain where we find most of theBDNF.
The hippocampus is right upthere.
(12:01):
We talked about that in thatfirst episode.
Now, in fact, your hippocampusnot only controls your adrenal
circadian rhythm, it also helpsyou form memories and it's the
first site of dysfunction whensomeone gets early Alzheimer's
disease.
So it kind of works like thisIn order to handle stress, we
(12:21):
need this hippocampus to controlhow much cortisol we produce in
response to stress.
But the biochemistry of stressimpairs and damages the neurons
in the hippocampus that let ushandle stress, and so chronic
stress literally damages thebrain, specifically in the
hippocampus, which helps tohandle stress.
(12:43):
It's a vicious loop and whilethe biochemistry is complex, one
of the reasons why thehippocampus degenerates under
chronic stress is because ittanks your BDNF, and without
adequate BDNF your brain can'tefficiently drive plasticity or
the repair processes that keepyour brain healthy.
So one tactic here is you know,look at your life and ask
(13:06):
yourself if you have chronicstress and whether or not you
have control over whatever isstressing you.
Sometimes we do, sometimes wedon't.
When I take on a personalcoaching client, I almost always
look at their salivary adrenalprofiles to get a handle on
their stress chemistry, becauseit's so fundamental to health.
But at some point in theirprogram.
(13:26):
We talk about theircontrollable and uncontrollable
stressors, and the idea is thatwe can strategize to support
their adrenal system in whateverway might be appropriate, while
removing stress by changing thestressors that people have
control over but they haven'tyet controlled.
For example, some people withchronic stress.
(13:49):
They have a personality typewhere they have a hard time
saying no to other people, andso they they take on more and
more responsibility and duties,to the point where their systems
start to break down.
Right, you can learn to say no.
It might be hard, but that issomething that you have control
over.
So the bottom line is thischronic, chronic stress coupled
(14:13):
with adrenal dysfunction impairsBDNF in your brain, perhaps
more specifically in that partcalled the hippocampus, which
leads to less control overstress responses and degenerates
the very brain networksinvolved in memory.
And that's why we often seepeople who have chronic stress
and bad adrenals complaining ofbad brains that, on paper, look
(14:36):
an awful lot like theforgetfulness of early
Alzheimer's disease.
Now, the good news is that inthose cases it's not.
It's not Alzheimer's in mostcases, and when you resolve the
stressors and improve adrenalfunction, then your brain comes
back and that's pretty cool, allright.
The next topic is exercise.
Now, in other podcasts I havedescribed how and why we look at
(14:59):
exercise as brain nutrition, orwe could say movement is
medicine, and without delvinginto that, because it is a deep
topic, one of the major reasonswhy exercise is so good for your
brain is because it undoubtedlyincreases BDNF, perhaps the
single most impactful thing youcan do Now.
(15:22):
Some studies suggest that BDNFcan increase two to threefold
after just a single bout ofexercise, compared to being
sedentary.
But if you exercise only oncein a while, those single bouts
of exercise and these short-termelevations in BDNF really are
not going to help you all thatmuch.
You get a momentary effect, butthen it goes away.
(15:42):
But when you have a habit ofconsistent exercise and then you
get repeated bouts of elevatedBDNF over long periods of time,
that's where the magic is, andthis is one of the reasons why
exercise is really the onlytime-tested, almost guaranteed
treatment for depression.
Again, the neurochemistry ismore complex and a lot of stuff
(16:04):
happens in your brain when youmove your body, but one of the
key things is the increase inBDNF in your brain when you
contract your muscles and moveyour joints, and so any exercise
is better than none.
Research has examined the effectof BDNF on low intensity versus
high intensity and shortduration versus long duration
(16:27):
exercise, and suffice it to sayfor the moment that, in general,
more intense and longerduration exercise results in
higher BDNF than lower intensityand shorter duration exercise.
But we have a little bit of aproblem because intensity and
duration are inversely relatedto each other.
The more intensely you exercise, the shorter time you can
(16:50):
sustain it.
That's a trade-off.
For shorter time you cansustain it that's a trade-off.
For example, you can't sprintall out for 40 minutes nonstop,
but any activity you engage infor long periods of time, say 40
, 50, 60 minutes or more, may betoo low intensity to make a
difference, and any super highintensity work that you can only
(17:11):
sustain for a minute or so maypush you over your metabolic
tipping point and negate anyBDNF you create, because you're
creating more inflammation andoxidative stress, which might be
bad for your brain in thatcontext.
So it's it.
There's always a balancebetween high intensity and low
intensity exercise and if you'remetabolically compromised and
(17:32):
you have low exercise tolerance,you need to do something.
But you need to be careful ofwhat you do and how you do it
and to that end, you might wantto listen to my episodes on
exercise tolerance and themetabolic tipping point that
I've put out in the last three,four months or so, just to
understand those topics better.
Now one final note on exerciseand depression.
(17:54):
If you've listened to thispodcast for a while, you know
that antidepressant medicationsassumes that depression is a
neurotransmitter imbalance, whenthe research says that
depression is mainly aneuroinflammatory problem, and
this is why antidepressants havesuch a poor track record.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Undoubtedly they work for some people, but the vast
majority of people it doesn't.
So researchers have looked atthe effect of either
antidepressants alone orexercise alone, or both together
, and how they impact BDNFlevels.
And basically, antidepressantsby themselves don't increase
BDNF unless you're exercising,and it begs the question as to
(18:34):
whether or not the effect isactually the exercise by itself
or is it the combination of thetwo, and I don't think that
answer is settled in theresearch.
But my sense as a clinician isthat it's really the exercise
that's what's doing it.
So exercise super good for yourbrain for so many different
reasons.
Okay, that leaves two moreitems on the list to cover.
(18:56):
One is diet, the other issupplementation.
Start with diet.
As often happens with diet andnutritional studies, results
quite often fall on both sidesof whatever question is being
asked.
So some studies show definitebenefits to BDNF with certain
diets, while others don't.
(19:16):
But if we look at the balanceof results on studies that look
at diet and neuroprotectionthrough different mechanisms,
including BDNF, a few things areclear.
Number one carbohydraterestriction is a good idea.
And number two a ketogenic dietmight be the king of them all
(19:37):
as it relates to brain health.
Now, about six or seven yearsago, I was asked to write and
teach a course for an onlinedegree master's degree in
nutritional medicine, and thecourse topic was nutrition and
the brain.
It was a 14-week course and thelast lesson in week 14 was
really in the form of a question, which was is the ketogenic
(20:00):
diet the best diet for the brain?
And the practitioners, thestudents taking the course, had
to review current medicalliterature on the ketogenic diet
and brain health and render awell-argued opinion on the
question.
Now I think if somebody put agun to my head and forced me to
pick one diet for brain healthforever, for me it would
(20:23):
definitely be the ketogenic diet.
And if you don't know this,right now the most prominent
psychiatric hospital in the UShas a pilot program to study the
carnivore diet and majorneuropsychiatric disorders like
schizophrenia.
And this is on the heels ofseveral recent papers and
top-tier journals that show thebenefits and success of low-carb
(20:46):
diets on things like majordepressive disorder and you know
that's depression that doesn'trespond to medications, for
example and other things.
So some of the benefits ofketogenic diets are the ketones
themselves, which areanti-inflammatory in the brain.
Not only are they a good fuelsource for the brain.
(21:06):
They're anti-inflammatory, butagain, some papers show that
restricting carbs helps improveBDNF.
And so what is low carb and atwhat point does this effect kick
in, where the brain tends towork better?
Now I might have an answer toone of those questions, but
maybe not the other.
But by definition, low carb isanything under, say, 125, 130
(21:28):
grams of net carbs per day.
Say 125, 130 grams of net carbsper day Net carbs, that's total
carbs minus your fiber.
So keto and carnivore diets are, by definition, both low-carb
diets because they're both verylow-carb hydrates.
But not all low-carb diets areketogenic.
Like you could eat 100 grams ofcarbs a day, which is low carb
(21:49):
technically, but you're probablynowhere close to being in
ketosis.
And it varies from person toperson, but in general, ketosis
doesn't happen until you getbelow about 30 grams of net
carbs per day.
However, if you're well muscledand you work out a lot, you'll
probably be able to get awaywith eating more carbs and still
stay in ketosis, especially ifyou eat your carbs stacked
(22:11):
around your workouts.
But the key here is that if youhave a bad brain, whatever that
might mean to you, the key isto find the lowest amount of
carbs that you can function wellon, because some people when
they drop their carbs theydestabilize because they've lost
their metabolic flexibility.
It's a different conversation,but if you've never looked at
your diet critically, I wouldsuggest that you track your food
(22:35):
for five days using somethinglike MyFitnessPal.
My favorite, the one that I usepersonally, is called Carb
Manager and you can look at howmany net carbs you're eating
every day and just kind of get asense of where you are.
And if it's more than 130 gramsper day, then drop your carbs
down to there and if you're kindof ruffling around there, you
(22:56):
can start removing 25 grams ofcarbs per day, adding back
healthy fats or proteins so youmaintain calorie balance and
then start to see how your brainresponds to successively lower
amounts of carbohydrates.
Now this is in episode 159.
I think it's called Navigatingyour Personal Carb Threshold.
(23:18):
It's actually one of my morelistened to and more popular
episodes in this podcast.
I outline my strategy forwalking through that and just
trying to figure out exactly howmany carbs you can get away
with.
So that's diet.
Carb restriction is important,let's say carb control.
Ketogenic diet might be better.
Do you need to go all the wayto carnivore?
(23:39):
The answer is I don't know, butit might be worth trying,
depending on how serious you areand how bad you think your
brain is and how fervently youwant things to change.
All right, let's move on to thelast topic.
And I saved the supplement listfor two reasons.
First, it's just a list, so I'mnot going to dwell on each
individual supplement.
Everything that I'm about toread out to you can help
(24:02):
increase BDNF to one degree oranother, and I don't think we
can say one is better than theother.
These are just a list ofsupplements that can help BDNF,
but the impact is going todepend on your individual
biochemistry and the context ofyour life and your health, like
what else is going on with you.
But the second and the mainreason that I left this list for
(24:23):
last is because you can't outsupplement a bad diet or a bad
lifestyle right.
The reason why I went throughthe impacts of stress, chemistry
, diet and exercise first isbecause these are the most
important things to dial infirst.
And so if you're sedentary,chronically stressed, and you're
eating a high carb, standardAmerican diet, I don't think
(24:44):
there's any supplement in theworld that's going to move the
BDNF needle for you in anysignificant way.
I truly believe that.
But if you start making goodchanges to your diet and your
lifestyle and you add one ormore of these supplements to
those primary strategies, that'swhen I think they have value.
So here's the list.
(25:05):
I know some of these are goingto be familiar to you.
I'm going to read this outfairly quickly.
But to help you, I'm going toadd a link to my website where
you can read or download a copyof a comprehensive research
review.
I'll give you the title andthen I'll provide the link.
There'll be a link in theepisode description to my
website and then you can gothere and you can look at that
(25:26):
article.
But the name of the article isphytochemicals that Regulate
Neurodegenerative Disease byTargeting Neurotrophins and
remember, bdnf is one of manydifferent types of neurotrophins
.
So you'll find that list andmore in that paper.
So check out the link to getthat in the description.
All right, here it isSupplements that can potentially
(25:48):
increase your BDNF.
Number one and two togethercurcumin and resveratrol, and
the literature suggests thatthey're probably better used
together than eitherindividually.
So that's your turmeric andresveratrol.
Then berberine, which isactually used for many different
things.
It's quite often used to helpwith gut dysbiosis.
It's also used to modulate amajor metabolic switch called
(26:13):
AMPK in people who have, say,insulin resistance or metabolic
syndrome.
But we have some studies thatshow that it does increase, or
can increase, bdnf.
Then we have the catechins thatare found in green tea and white
tea, olive leaf extract, whichis also quite often used as an
antimicrobial for, say, gutdysbiosis.
(26:36):
Then we have ginkgo biloba,which is probably most commonly
used for increasing blood flowto the brain, or at least it's
commonly known for that.
Then we have simple things likeginger, panix, ginseng, lemon
balm, huperzine, which is anatural compound that helps with
acetylcholine levels in yourbrain.
Then we have schizandrachinensis and there's a whole
(26:59):
bunch more Like literallythere's.
You know at least a dozen more.
So what I would suggest you doagain is hit that link in the
description, just pop over to mywebsite, grab the link to that
paper and then you can readthese things for yourselves.
But I implore you don't justsupplement right.
Look at your diet, yourlifestyle, look at your stress.
Make those changes first.
(27:20):
Don't just think that you cantake a boat load of supplements
and it's going to fix all thosethings when the major players
are not sorted out first.
Okay, that is it for BDNF asone of our latest, or our latest
, miracle molecule.
The next miracle molecule on mylist is hydrochloric acid, so I
hope you join me on the nextepisode right here on the
(27:42):
Inflammation Nation podcast.
This podcast is for generalinformational and educational
purposes only and does notconstitute the practice of
medicine in any form or capacity.
No doctor-patient relationshipis formed.
The use of the information inthis podcast or any materials
associated with or linked to thepodcast is at the listener's
(28:06):
own risk.
The content of this podcast isnot intended to be a substitute
for professional andpersonalized medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment, andlisteners should not disregard
or delay obtaining propermedical advice when a health
condition exists and warrantsthat.
And finally, functionalmedicine is not intended or
(28:26):
designed to treat disease, butrather is a natural approach to
support restoring health andwellness.
The use of diet and lifestylemodifications and nutritional
supplementation is supportivefor adjunctive care.
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