One conversation I had recently with a patient was an inspiration to write this post. I was asking them what they are drinking to stay hydrated throughout the day, and they told me that after they are done with one morning coffee, then another cup of coffee, that's pretty much it, then they have to push themselves to stay hydrated at all because they do not like the taste of plain water.

When I think about nutrition for the brain it would be so simplistic to write: eat dark chocolate, blueberries, concentrate on reducing saturated fats, eat frequent nutritious meals, but allow 8 hour fast (if your health allows that)and make sure not to skip meals for longer than needed. 

However I think it is very crucial here that we think about how we live, where we live and what season of the year we are observing to choose the healthiest brain recipes. 

Elizabeth Goldberg, MD agreed to talk to me about very interesting aspect of aging and brain/sensory related changes in nervous system that may cause falls. As a rheumatologist I vividly see how drastic life of my patients changes after falls. Aging skeleton is one of factors that predisposes to falls, but it really is multitude cognitive and other components that we have power to change, or at least understand and adjust, to prevent the unfortunate events of falls.

In part one and two I introduced and expanded on the concept of brain health, the importance of stress reduction and weapons we all can use to prevent brain decay - exercise and its biology. Today I will keep explaining additional brain benefits of exercise. I will also tackle a few ideas how stress hormones can contribute to brain damage and what to do to prevent that.

This weekend I tuned into Rhode Island’s BrainWeek Conference that just came to the end, but is available on the website. There is even virtual theater performance with topic, brain of course. The YouTube videos of events will be available as well.

I think of a brain as I think of a grain (even the shape of it is provokingly similar to the shape of the brain). In order for that grain to grow you have to cultivate it, prevent from too much sun, under or overwatering or insect infestation. You may need to add special nutrition to the mix for the grain to grow into your desired plant. And then finally you put some effort into growing the grain and you see how it branches out and shows as talented leaves, petals, nectars that attract pollinators like honey-bees. In the next few months I want to concentrate on ideas on how to age gracefully or rather - how to grow older gracefully and I start with command center, the brain.