Your Brain Is Begging for These 5 Things (And it could help you prevent Alzheimer’s disease)

24:29And we can take them one at a time if you'd like.

24:32Deena:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think as, you know, as I was sort of going deeper into understanding women's health, what I had learned that, you know, one in five women will get Alzheimer's disease. Two thirds of women make up the world's Alzheimer's patients are women. And I, you know, started asking why are, why is no one talking to us about our brains? Why is nobody educating us? Why is our doc, why is my doctor not talking to me about, you know, my brain health and what I should be doing for it. So that is what stemmed this whole idea of make time wellness. And again, it wasn't really about, it wasn't a scare tactic.

25:12Deena:It's just to have the awareness of that. Yes, women are at a higher risk for Alzheimer's than men are. One in five women will get Alzheimer's versus one in 10 men. You know, also the statistic of breast cancer, you know, one in eight women will get breast cancer versus one in five women will get Alzheimer's disease. And I just thought that was like staggering. And what we do over at Make Time Wellness is that we educate women about the pillars of great brain health. It's not just like one silver bullet's going to do it. It's a variety of things that you can do. But women don't know about that.

25:49Deena:I mean, I don't know when the last time someone asked you about your brain. I mean, really, no one was talking to me about my brain. So and that's where, you know, the pillars plus supplementation come into play. You know, I think so when we think about the pillars, they're not fancy things. They're the things that the research data has shown us for a long time support brain health. And spoiler alert, they're the things that we know support our body health too, because the brain and the body are all an interconnected system. So we're talking about, yeah, we're talking about things like diet, the nutrients that we are consuming, whether that's through food or through supplementation, movement, physical activity is critical.

26:31Sleep, super important for brain health. Stress management, which we can take in a lot of different directions, but thinking about our levels of stress, particularly chronic stress, and then human connection, being connected with other people. When we really boil all the research down on what we know supports good, healthy brain function across the lifespan, those things fall in those five types of categories. And so those are the things that we really want women focused on. And I think the key part here, you know, we talk about dementia, Alzheimer's being one type of dementia, right? But women are particularly at risk.

27:12This is why we think this conversation is so important because by the time a woman thinks she needs to be aware of something like Alzheimer's or dementia, she's already lost decades of time to take some of these proactive steps to support brain health. By the time someone ends up in my office or another practitioner's office with really serious, valid concerns about brain function, memory function, it's not that we can't do anything, but the ship has already sailed. And our conversation that we want to be having with women is about what do you need to be aware of in your 30s, in your 40s, in your 50s that will help set you up for risk reduction and that will help you be able to mitigate some of those things as you get older.

28:05And again, it's not meant to be a scary thing. It's an empowering thing, right? We want the women in our generation and younger generations to not have the experience that our mom's generation, our grandma's generations had where they didn't know, they weren't aware until everything really was a problem and they were having very severe symptoms and ended up diagnosed with a very poor prognosis. We feel like this is an opportunity to help women be aware of this and take some action. Yeah, I completely agree with you. It's like we don't want to wait till the wheels are falling off when there's stuff that we can do now.

28:42And I know for sure it feels for a lot of us like, wait a minute, like I'm 35, I'm 40, I'm 45. Dementia, it's decades away. I'm not thinking about it. But you're right. There's so much we can do right now. And I know for me, someone who's truly in the thick of like raising kids right now on top of working my job, trying to keep my marriage healthy, like all the things, you know, something that honestly helps me with those pillars that you mentioned is kind of like seeing the magic of what happens in each pillar. I know it like helps kind of flip it from, oh my God, this is like another thing on my to-do list.

29:22You know, like how, how the hell am I going to fit this in to like, oh, I see why. Like when you go to sleep, for example, can you explain exactly what happens in your brain, how it cleans up all the toxins while you're sleeping and how that would be a benefit to brain health. Absolutely. I mean, people don't realize as they think about sleep is just, oh, you know, I feel better when I've had a good night's sleep. I'm not as tired. But actually, sleep is when our brain does clear out all the debris. It takes out the trash. It does things. It reorganizes and it cleans up in ways that it can't do while we're awake and needing to be conscious and cognitively functioning during the day.

30:03Because I want to be clear, I don't want the woman who's got babies at home going, oh my gosh, I'm not sleeping and now I'm going to get Alzheimer's. No, there are seasons for things, right? But when you go, like I'll have women in the clinic say, I've never slept well. Or I've gone now 20 years. Or I started perimenopause five years ago, and I haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since. When we look at those chronic patterns, that's what starts to set us up then for concern about, okay, this is not just a small season or a night here or a night there. This is a chronic ongoing pattern where the brain is not able to go into that deep rest and that deep cleaning mode.

30:50And we know from the data. That does lead to problems for many women and men for that matter. But women seem particularly vulnerable to that as we get older. So sleep, yeah, it's we want to feel energized. We want to be able to function. There's a million reasons to do it. Another one to consider is that it really does help support your brain long term. Agreed. okay I have a question are you like me in this way are you the kind of person who buys something and then immediately tells everyone what you paid for it because I am I am that person when you give me a compliment I'm gonna respond with something to the effect of oh my god thank you you're not gonna believe how much I got these for and now I have a great place to direct all of this energy because Rebel has recognizable brand names in home and baby and outdoor for up to 70 % off.

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36:24Deena:i promise you at some point you will get through that and you will i have two children teen and 12 and they actually sleep now oh praise i love that it does happen mine are all older now mine are 20 to 26, but yes, they do. You stop sleeping at various other stages of their life for other kinds of reasons, but you're in the thick of it now for sure. I'm for sure going to be the one staying up late. Like, is he home yet? Oh my gosh, was that your door? Yeah. And then I want to, I actually, by the way, I taught my five-year-old all about the cleanup that happens in your brain when you sleep. They love it.

37:01It also changed their relationship a little bit to sleep. I feel like we're just like proud now. He's like, oh, yes, my brain's going to do some cleanup. I'm like, yeah, dude. I want to double click on movement if you're up for it, because we hear about exercise. There's so many different styles. I feel like there's, you know, mixed advice out there like, OK, you got to get your 10 ,000 steps, but also you got to do heavy weight training and also do HIIT, but don't do too much HIIT when it comes. Don't raise your cortisol. Don't run. Don't you know, literally. So can we kind of cut through the noise?

37:34And I'd love to get your take on women and movement. And what do you see working? What do you recommend for our brain health, our bone density, kind of all that?

37:47Deena:You know, I'll just talk about the 10 ,000 steps. There was a study that came out that if you did 3 ,500 steps, you would reduce your risk of dementia by, was it 45 %? Yeah, a pretty significant percentage. You know, and that's 3 ,500, which I think is great. It's hard to get 10 ,000 steps a day, you know? It's a lot of steps. And actually not necessary. That actually has not ever been a research-based thing, which is a whole nother conversation. If you want to get 10 ,000 and you are, that's great, but you actually don't need to. I love to hear that praise. Yeah, I feel like the 3 ,500 is super doable and that, you know, that really does lower your risk.

38:23I mean, look, when people say what kind of exercise is the best one to do, the answer that I give is the one that you're going to actually do. Honest to goodness, that's what I've been saying to patients for 30 years. The best form of exercise is the one that you are going to actually work into your lifestyle in whatever season you're in and do. And that can and does change over the course of your lifespan, right? What I was able to fit in and do from a movement perspective when I had four little kids and a job and all the other things is different than I do now that my kids are grown and I'm in a very different life phase.

39:00Right. So there is no perfect thing. The best option is the one that you can fit in and feel good about and get done in this season of life. And I really want to empower women with that. And it's OK if it doesn't look like what the influencers on social media are doing or it doesn't look like all the fancy advice. It needs to be what you can and will do in your day to day life.

39:29Deena:I think that's so important. It's just like to turn off the noise of social media and everything that we see and what we think we should be doing. I mean, it's so true. You have to really disconnect from all of that, really dig deep into your soul and really connect to like, who are you and what do you want to do? I mean, that was the whole thing with make time was what do you want to make time for? What is important to you and what is going to feed your soul? Just like exercise. What is something that is going to work? What feels good on your body? I mean, I know now at 50, there are certain things that I can't do because my shoulders tweaked and now my knee hurts.

40:06Deena:It's like all of a sudden all of that happened. So I have to now adjust these workouts that I used to love doing. I can't do those anymore. So you shift and find new things that work for your body and that feel good. Totally agree. And I guess it changes throughout life too. It does. And the most important thing we think about from a brain perspective of why movement is so important is because the brain is a hugely oxygen and blood flow dependent organ and movement, physical activity, even if that's standing up, you know, from your desk once an hour and doing some jumping jacks or walking around, you know, the couch in the living room or whatever, what we're looking for is that blood flow.

40:51We're looking to be keeping blood flowing. Now, yes, there's benefit to, you know, muscle development. There's lots of cognitive and brain benefits to all of these different types of exercise. But fundamentally, why is movement important for your brain. It's because it gets your blood flowing and your brain really needs blood flow in order to function. Yeah, I agree with you. And I think a lot of people don't realize too, when we're having this conversation, your brain is an organ in your head. Yes. And it's connected to your entire nervous system that runs throughout your entire body, which is connected to your senses, which is connected to your emotions.

41:30So they are all so tied together. And that's why when you exercise, you do end up feeling good, you know, because it is all connected. So I love that. And yeah, I've definitely had chapters where I was like a 5 a.m. yoga class girly. And now you could not pay me enough to go to a yoga class right now. Yeah. And you just got to find what works, you know, and giving yourself grace around that and realizing that you are a real human being living in the real world and things are going to shift and need to look different. And that's actually normal and okay. And I think just giving ourselves grace around that.

42:08We're not good at doing that as women, giving ourselves grace and space to be in different seasons, to not have things be optimized all the time. Yeah. And I think finding the joy in movement as someone who honestly used to do exercise more in like a punishment, a really rigid kind of way. I feel like I finally found my flow where I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do what feels good because I just want to be strong for life, like really cut through the rest of it. It doesn't matter. So yeah, I feel like I've finally found that. And I love going to the gym and to a class and I don't have to use my mind to come up with some routine or whatever's next.

42:52I just turn my brain off. I'm like, you tell me what to do.

42:54Deena:Tell me what to do. Tell me what to do and I'll do it. Yeah. Well, what is like the single biggest piece of advice? If you could pick one thing to tell a woman right now to like optimize her well-being and her brain, what would it be? I mean, I think for me, it's sleep. It's something that I, you know, I used to be good at, had kids, wasn't good at it anymore. And I've learned that I feel better when I sleep. I understand what it does to my brain when I sleep. And I really strive to get, you know, I'm lucky seven hours of sleep, but I'm hoping that it's just good, solid, you know, restorative sleep.

43:41Deena:I think that sleep is probably my top pillar that women should think about. I love sleep. Kristen, if she was here, she would be like, I love my bed. I love delay. Well, I'll double click on that because that's super important. But I will say that at whatever stage of life you're in, if you're noticing that just consistently you are not feeling like yourself, you are, whether that's, you know, postpartum or you're in perimenopause, whatever phase of life you're in, that it's important to not just ignore that. It's important to reach out to a trusted healthcare provider. If you don't have one of those, if you have someone who's dismissing you, advocate to find someone who really will listen and provide you the support that you need and deserve.

44:33For those of us in that perimenopause kind of stage, there are all kinds of options now that we have available to us that our moms and our grandmas did not have the benefit of having education about or even having access to. And so I think it's important that we tune into ourselves. And if we notice that something pretty consistently is off or getting worse, to reach out, to ask for support, to understand what your options are so that you can not only protect your brain, but just feel and function at your best.

45:10Deena:And also to know that like just because you are feeling these symptoms, you're having these symptoms, it doesn't automatically mean that you have Alzheimer's. No. You know, I think that when I started having that feeling of like, oh, my God, I'm forgetting something's going on. I have Alzheimer's. Yeah. No, that's not that's that's not the case. It's just that now my brain needs to be supported in a different way. So advocating for yourself is so important. You know, being brave to be able to do that and question your doctor. I agree. And I really do. I'll come at it from a personal kind of experience.

45:41I hope that we continue to make progress in science and research when it comes specifically to women, because so much of the existing literature and research is based on men's health. And personally, going through endometriosis, I was written off by so many different doctors who are just like, oh, bummer, hard periods. Oh, sucks. You know, and like I had to go to five different people being like, this is not OK. I can barely live like it should not. This is not normal. Someone needs to help me. There's something going on until finally someone was like, oh, you might have endometriosis. And the only way to know is to do this procedure.

46:22And we go in there and take a look. And lo and behold, that's exactly what was going on. Yeah. So, you know, same. I'm so glad that we are finally talking talking about perimenopause, I feel like it's getting a little bit more, you know, like airtime now. And I hope that the research continues on it. But what is your, I guess, advice or guidance on like, how do we find someone who's not going to write us off? You know?

46:48Deena:Well, I guess we don't know until we know. I mean, it's like, I think for me, it's like I had a great doctor. I really thought that I did. But then I realized that, you know, he was kind of a toad. So I moved on. I think that's the thing, you know, as women especially, we're so conditioned throughout our lives to just keep the peace, to not question, to not have conflict that, quite frankly, we tolerate subpar care from providers. And sometimes it's the case where our primary care provider, for example, might be a great human being who's great at doing primary care things. But we may be having issues that are not in the wheelhouse of a primary care provider.

47:26And we need to find somebody with more expertise or who has more understanding or specialization of what we're dealing with. And I think the key is we know when something feels off, right? You know when you're feeling dismissed or when you're unheard or when you're just not being, you know, your care isn't being approached in the proper way. And I think to not be afraid to go and seek out somebody else, sometimes you have to go to a few people. Yes. Okay. I'm so glad we covered that. I feel like there's probably a bunch of us who needed to hear that. Listen to yourself, believe yourself, listen to your body.

48:04If something feels off. Don't give up. Keep flagging it and carry on with it. Listen to your intuition. So yeah, completely agree. Well, thank you both so much for being on the show and sharing everything you know. I'm sure this is going to help a lot of people. And there are such practical things that we can start trying to weave into our everyday life here. Absolutely. Thank you for having us. Yes. Well, where can people find more of you?

48:33Deena:So you can find Make Time Wellness at maketimewellness.com. You should follow us over on Instagram. I think we're at Make Time Wellness. And yeah, that's there. You're going to learn really easy, practical tips on how to care for your brain. And I will mention, too, because this might be of interest to your audience, our products are available at Target. That's true. So for everybody who's already at Target and shopping at Target, this makes it super convenient to get your brain support nutrients in the aisle at Target. That's right. Amazing. Emma, Dr. Nicole, thank you both so much for being here.

49:08I mean, we covered so much. That was crazy and so, so helpful. And I think for me, one of my biggest takeaways from this conversation is actually a really hopeful one. Like taking care of our brains doesn't have to begin someday in the distant future when we're worried about cognitive decline. It starts now in these tiny choices we make every day. And especially as women, I think so many of us are conditioned to put ourselves at the very bottom of the list. We're taking care of our kids and our partners, our parents, our jobs, everybody's appointments, everybody's needs, and our own health. I mean, it becomes something that, you know, we'll get to later.

49:48But your brain is not something to get to later. And I think today's conversation really highlighted that. And I also hope no one leaves this conversation feeling like, great, one more thing I'm supposed to perfectly optimize and have to worry about. That's not the message. You don't have to overhaul your entire life, okay? Maybe you leave this episode knowing a little more about your own body. Maybe you make one small change. Maybe you ask your doctor a question you never knew to ask before. Or maybe you start treating your cognitive health as something worthy of your attention. Small things.

50:22That can actually make a big difference. Because caring for your future self is not selfish. And it is never too early or too late to start making time for her or him. Besties, I'm so grateful you're here. I cannot wait to hang with you again. I have to go crawl into bed though right now. I'm pooped. I'm tired. I'm ready to reset. But have a me moment and do it all again tomorrow. So I will see you next week. Bye. Bye.

51:19interest in products or services referred to in this episode.

51:49Deena:They're here to take you on a journey. A journey of two best friends who've traveled the world together. And always seem to find themselves trapped in a corner with a stranger who is telling us secrets. Like how he once killed a man. Or how to invest in crypto. Each episode will transport you to a new place with us as your trusted guides. Wait, Gabby, are you going? I'll go if you go. I'm in.