10 Low-Cost Ways To Lower Brain Inflammation & Boost Your Memory

First, let’s talk about the signs of diminishing brain power. So, first off, forgetting someone’s name and this is socially embarrassing, it’s awkward, it may look like you’re being rude. It may make the other person feel undervalued or forgotten. You know, you can walk into a party and you know everyone but you can’t remember their names which leads to embarrassment for you, and when it’s time to introduce your friends to each other, it’s awkward. You could be misplacing everyday items. This can be embarrassing, frustrating, time-consuming, and cause delays in your tasks. You can have an inability to recall important details that leave you feeling, you know, unprepared or appearing disorganized or missing out on opportunities. So you might walk into a room, you can’t remember why you went in there or you sit at your desk to do something. It’s time to work and you can’t recall what it is you are supposed to be doing. And maybe it’s just a 1001, 1002, 1003, oh, that’s what I was doing. But that is a sign that something is going on. 

It may be difficulty following a conversation that makes you feel disconnected, misunderstood, or appearing unattentive or disinterested because you just can’t follow along. Maybe it’s frequent word-finding problems that have you stumbling on words, struggling to express thoughts, or feeling self-conscious. And this could be at a really small level. It doesn’t have to be this big, huge, you know, obvious thing but you can know it’s happening inside your own brain. You may be missing appointments or commitments, and that makes you look like you’re unreliable and maybe could inconvenience somebody else. So you unintentionally start to let people down and then you’ve got to play catch up because things are starting to stack up in your life. You might have poor decision-making that can lead to regret or feeling responsible for unfavorable outcomes, maybe unintentionally. Something happened that you didn’t mean to happen, and you could be facing criticism from, you know, your spouse, your loved ones, your family, or people you work with. 

You could have trouble concentrating and an inability to stay focused during conversations or meetings that lead to misunderstandings. Like, you’re there, you’re listening but you’re not processing. So even though somebody’s sitting there talking to you, you look and think, I didn’t even catch what that person just said. I’ve no idea. You might have slower information processing speeds that can have you feel overwhelmed. You know, the tasks that you, that require kind of quick thinking can lead to errors or just missing steps altogether. You might have difficulty learning or adapting to new skills and that can stop you from trying new things because you feel inadequate in this rapidly changing world. So, I mean, is it overwhelming sometimes to figure out how to use your devices or your computer? I can remember back when I was a kid and grandma being overwhelmed by the VCR. Right? It was just adapting that new skill and learning that. I can remember at one point, working in a big, giant health organization, a big HMO and we went from paper records to electronic records. And that learning curve there for people, you know, closer to retirement forced them into early retirement. They just couldn’t grasp learning and adapting to this new thing. Well, I’ll tell you what that was. It wasn’t because they were stubborn and didn’t want to learn a new thing. It’s because of their brain capacity that they knew that this would be really difficult because grasping new skills was hard. 

Now, brain fog, low energy, moodiness, and digestive symptoms like bloating or constipation often show up together because they all have similar causes. On a cellular level, you’re dealing with impaired mitochondria function due to prolonged inflammation, chronic invisible infections like bacteria, fungi, parasites, and environmental toxins like molds, metals, poor diet, stress, leaky gut, or lack of sleep. Now, the good news is that brain fog can be reversed. Your brain has the most mitochondria per cell around 10,000. I want to unpack like what this looks like in your body. So cells are tiny. So I want you to think, I mean obviously, you know that. But I want you to think of how small it is. Let’s just compare this to something. I want you to think of how small an ant is. The little bug in your kitchen, and how small that ant is compared to you. Now, I want you to put 10,000 little living organisms inside of that ant, and this is synonymous with 10,000 mitochondria inside of your cell. It’s crazy, right? How can 10,000 things fit inside something as small as an ant?

Well, they can and your brain is also full of neurons that generate communication signals and neurotransmitters that carry the messages around your body. So you can think of neurons like journalists or writers of a newspaper. They generate the copy in the paper. While the neurotransmitters are like the paperboys, they go out on their bikes and they deliver the news all over the city like that doesn’t even happen anymore but at least those of you watching this remember those days. So I want you to think of this like signaling and signal delivery, right? So the journalists are writing the signal and they’re creating the signal. Paperboys are delivering the signal. Now, when your neurons get damaged or dysfunctional, or if the neurotransmitters become disrupted and imbalanced then your brain can’t send or deliver the right signals for all of your body systems. And this leads to low energy, moodiness, disrupted digestion, poor sleep, pain, and all the symptoms. I actually call it middle-aged deficiency syndrome or MADS, and I’m mad about it. I hope you’re mad about it, too, because why is this happening to us? Well, there’s a big link between the four main root causes of chronic inflammatory health conditions which you’re going to hear me talk about this a lot. It’s infections, toxins, nutrient deficiencies stressors, and traumas. Now stressors and traumas go in the same bucket. 

Now brain symptoms including all the things I just described brain fog, exhaustion, sleepiness, memory problems, poor concentration, lacking mental clarity, clouded thoughts, low thinking, poor focus, depression, anxiety, and even things like fibromyalgia, migraines, and pain those are all connected. There’s a link there between chronic inflammatory health conditions and those brain symptoms and body symptoms. Now, most brain problems are linked with what we call neuroinflammation and a leaky blood-brain barrier. And I’m sure you’ve heard of that before, the gut-brain connection, the blood-brain barrier, and the neuroinflammation, all of these are connected. And I say gut-brain barrier because the gut barrier and the brain barrier are made out of the same proteins so what happens here happens here. What happens here happens here. So this barrier protects you from everything that you shouldn’t get into your brain. Things like toxins, things like infections, pathogens, things like foreign toxins particles that should be excreted. Now, at the same time, the barrier needs to let good things in. Good things like glucose, like carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, ketones, vitamins, minerals, immune cells, and hormones. The barrier becomes leaky over time due to chronic stress, poor diet, chronic hidden infections, and environmental toxins. The leakiness allows neurotoxic molecules to enter into the brain causing neuroinflammation, and neuronal injury plus the clearance of metabolic and toxic waste products is no longer efficient. So now the signal production and signal delivery, the journalist and the paperboys, they are interrupted. 

And it’s kind of like, I’m having another analogy for you, it’s like having a bathroom with leaky pipes under the sink and having a clogged drain and a toilet that won’t flush. Imagine that bathroom waste backs up all that debris, water and gunk backs up the bathroom brain, which causes neurons to fire more slowly. Brain cell communication and cognitive performance are slowed down. And brain cells become sluggish and exhausted. Now this cascade causes, go back to the ants and the 10,000 mitochondria, the cells in mitochondria. The cascade causes mitochondria dysfunction and then you can’t make brain energy or body energy because there are mitochondria in every cell in your body. I know this talk is about the brain but what’s happening in your brain is probably happening in your body as well which means you can’t heal, you can’t digest food, you can’t make hormones, you can’t fight inflammation, middle-age deficiency and inflammation syndrome. Now, the ultimate result is feeling like your body can no longer keep up. You can’t focus on your tasks. You feel scatterbrained, forgetful, anxious, depressed, tired, and frustrated. 

Now, I told you that I had 10 strategies I wanted to share with you to help correct this. So first up, strategy number one, and I can just see it right now. I mean, I can’t see you, but I can see you. I can see you rolling your eyes and you’re thinking, Laura, don’t tell me that exercise is the first strategy, but it is. Exercise is the first strategy but here’s what I have to say. Did you know that even just 10 minutes of high-impact exercise a day can help improve blood flow to your brain and grow new brain cells? Do you think you could do something you think you hate for 10 minutes a day when the payoff is so good? I promise after a while you won’t hate it anymore. Now, strategy number two is all about getting enough sleep, again another eye roll. Because I know you’re busy and there just aren’t enough hours in the day. But getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night is essential for optimal brain function. And it’s because of this, that your brain clears out waste and debris while you sleep, and that takes a few extra hours. So it’s okay to give yourself permission to get to bed early and allow yourself to sleep in a few extra days per week and work on breaking old cyclical habits, even if you don’t feel tired or ready to go to bed, you must force yourself to start rewiring your habits and get the sleep you need. So you got to, even if you have a second wind, a second energy burst at 9:00 at night, it is now time to unwind and be in bed in the next 30 to 60 minutes. So you got to break old patterns. 

Now, strategy number three is to eat a brain-healthy diet obviously, right? Certain nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, they’re important for your brain health. So skip the pre-made convenience food, and grab some fatty fish, berries, and leafy greens instead. We have several talks, I mean, you’re going to hear all about this outlining healthy eating and nutrition so just stay tuned in. Now here’s a list of brain-healthy foods green leafy vegetables, egg yolks. Egg yolks have gluten, which is a carotenoid and it’s an antioxidant and protects against DHEA oxidation inside your brain and higher levels of gluten are connected with higher cognitive function and aging better so there you go. That’s why eggs are actually really good for you. If you are not having an intolerance to the protein in eggs, and that’s a whole nother story. If you are having an intolerance, you can clear that and you can start tolerating them again. We do see a lot of egg intolerances with leaky gut, but that’s a whole other topic though. So high-quality protein, this is really important. It supplies dopamine, the precursor thyroxine, the serotonin, the precursor tryptophan, and without protein, we won’t have the building blocks to make neurotransmitters, dopamine or serotonin. And without these, we feel depressed, fatigued, apathetic, we feel off, we feel moody, and our family and coworkers and everyone around us notice it. 

Seafood, it contains DHEA and EPA fatty acids. And you don’t need a lot about 500 to 1000 milligrams a day. If you don’t like to eat seafood, then you can take a supplement and some other good brain foods are berries, nuts, beans, whole grains, poultry, and olive oil. All super brain foods. I notice that most of those things are whole foods, unprocessed, eating them the way that with minimal processing, the way they come from the earth. Okay. Strategy number four is all about managing stress. And let’s be honest, we all have stress in our lives, especially these days but chronic stress shrinks your brain and shrinks your brain function. So take a deep breath. Get outside for a few minutes every day. Download a meditation app. Just indulge in a little weekend getaway. And if you think your stress is linked to trauma, be sure to catch all the talks we have here about releasing trauma from the body. So strategy number five is about challenging your brain. Now, neurologists know that engaging in mentally stimulating activities like puzzles or learning a new skill can help improve brain function and prevent cognitive decline. So get a Sudoku book. It’s over in the corner collecting dust, right? You may even have one. Learn how to play an instrument. Start studying a foreign language, take a dance class, sign up for a cooking class or a pottery class because your brain is going to thank you for that. 

Now, number six, I got another strategy for you here. Taking nutritional supplements and it’s always important to consult with a health care professional before taking any new supplements, especially ones like fish oil, mushrooms, ashwagandha, or ginkgo biloba because they do benefit brain function and they can interact with medications if you’re on them. So just make sure you’re getting support from someone to help you navigate this. Strategy number seven is staying socially connected. So people who are connected with a community of other people actually live longer. And social interaction is proven to have positive effects on brain function. So stay connected with friends, family, and maybe join a new club or an organization in your area. And strategy number eight can be a tough one, but it’s important to cut out alcohol. So depending on your genetics, liver function, and your current toxic load it can have negative effects on brain function and negative effects on overall health. So ditch it for three months and just see how you feel. Our strategy number nine is all about practicing mindfulness and what does that mean anyway? You know, like mindfulness is one of those concepts that’s like, what does mindful mean? Well, here’s the thing. What I realized is it’s different for different people. So, you know, if you’re sick of hearing that, you need to meditate. Maybe that’s not for you, right? 

So maybe it’s reading, maybe it’s reading scripture, maybe it’s reading a book, maybe it’s just escaping into a novel. Or maybe it’s journaling what you’re grateful for each day before you go to bed. Or when you get up in the morning. Some people do love meditation. Some people love breathing exercises. Maybe it’s getting out in nature and taking a walk. Maybe it’s gardening. Maybe for you, that’s an escape-mindful activity. So whatever it is for you, mindful behaviors have been shown to improve brain function and reduce stress. So just take a deep breath and find your peace. And last strategy, number 10, seek professional help because every doctor has a doctor. I’m wondering if you knew that every coach has a coach, every health nutritionist works with somebody else to support them in their health. Even I see a functional medicine specialist at least every six months. So if you’re experiencing any kind of significant cognitive decline, low energy, or other symptoms don’t hesitate to seek help from a practitioner. Don’t be DIY-ing your health by trying to piece it together on your own from everything you can Google because you get to have help too. So there you have it, 10 fun or easy ways to boost your brainpower and improve your overall wellness. If you feel like your brain just isn’t functioning as well as it used to get in contact with me or one of the practitioners who are teaching you on the summit. If you’re diligently watching the summit then you’re learning all kinds of new tools to help you solve your symptoms. You’re also hearing from experts all over the world who have the ability to help you. 

And while you’re viewing the summit, look for your practitioners, look for the ones that you resonate with, and be sure to connect with them afterward to get the help you need. If you want more information on how to get permanent access to the summit interviews just email [email protected] and the help team will get you all sorted out. Also stay in tuned after the summit finishes airing because I’ll be hosting a series of masterclasses to get you more information on your favorite topics from the summit, including how to get functional lab testing, to look for toxins in your body, how to work with me from many countries and around the world. So be sure to add [email protected] to your safe email list and I will be in touch. And you can find me at laurafrontiero.com. There is a clickable link to my Bio-Radiant Health website near the bottom of the page where you’re watching this video. My company is Bio-Radiant Health. You can find out more information about me and what we do to support you. So until next time, take good care. Bye, now.