4 Ways You Can Grow New Neurons
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If you believe you are beginning to suffer from cognitive decline, or if you simply want to prevent it, then it may be very disheartening to seek help. After all, if you ask the average person, and even some doctors, you'll likely be told that we stop growing neurons (brain cells) after we reach adulthood. You may encounter sympathy from your peers as they try to delicately explain to you that you should have protected what you had because, once it's gone, there's no getting it back.
Or, maybe you've already consulted a doctor and he informed you that he had good news: he can prescribe you drugs that aren't actually designed for brain health, but they actually help prevent memory loss. Another option is,
Congratulations! We have developed a cool technique to help target specific neurons where we put molecules that are sensitive to light on specific neurons and then shine a light on them so that we can elicit electrical impulses and possibly repair those areas of your brain! The only thing is that it's not yet approved in the US because of a bunch of restrictions on helpful genetic therapies. Anywho, this revolutionary medicine is called optogenetics.
But fear not; there has been a lot of new research on brain health and it turns out that you can, in fact, grow new neurons as an adult. What's more optimistic is that you can stimulate the growth of new brain cells by adhering to the right diet, performing specific exercises, and making some changes in your daily routines. As with most health-related information, however, there are a lot of common recommendations that are either false or baseless. What you're about to learn are some useful bits of information that are probably completely new to you. And, they're all backed up by legitimate science.
Diet Hacks for Growing New Neurons
I don't think anyone wants to even get into all of the common dietary suggestions for brain health. Some of it sounds healthy, but in the end, it actually detriments the health of our brain. Other suggestions are actually helpful for the health of your neurological cells. It may be hard to tell what you should follow and what is toxic nonsense. So to start with, let's get into a few scientifically verified dietary choices we can make to help us grow some new neurons.
And, of course, remember that this post is all for entertainment and information. None of what is written in any post on DonnyPodcast.com is to be considered advice of any kind. If you're seeking medical advice, a medical professional is the only person legal to consult for such information.
Foods for Good Brain Health
If you did a quick search for what food you should eat for brain health, you'll come across countless posts that throw a bunch of supplements, vitamins, and even diet plans at you. These websites will contain posts that talk about how eating certain foods are good for your brain. But, what sources do they cite for their information? Or, are they citing sources at all? Are they linking you out to other blog posts to refer to where they got their information?
Sometimes you'll find posts that are factual and accurate about what foods are healthy for your brain, but they don't really talk about growing new brain cells. They seem to only be expounding information that is good for preventing damage to neurons, but not really describing what might actually cause the beneficial regeneration of these cells. So, when considering the foods you can eat to stimulate the growth of new neurons, there are a few that can actually accomplish that.
Avoid Soft Foods
Interestingly, the texture of the food makes an impact on whether you are stimulating the growth of new brain cells or contributing to your cognitive organ's atrophy. According to a TED talk by Dr. Sandrine Thuret, it has been discovered that soft foods do nothing to improve your cognitive well-being. Eating foods that are crunchy or that require deliberate chewing actually stimulates the growth of new brain cells.
Just to be clear, that is a fact that strictly explains the effects of the texture of the food. Some foods provide very helpful compounds that improve your cerebral health. So, if you're going to make a strong effort to boost your brain's vigor, and you have a choice between a good brain food that is crunchy or mushy, choose the brittle one -- according to this food texture research.
Brain Boosting Compounds
In regard to eating foods high in neurogenerative compounds, you've probably heard of many common suggestions: eat nuts, berries, fish, ... etc. But, when it comes to neurogenesis, how effective is a diet rich in these foods? And how high-ranking are the commonly suggested foods in regard to the amount of these beneficial nutrients that they provide. The answer may surprise you.
Flavenoids
Meet flavenoids. There are many different compounds that fall under the umbrella of "flavenoids": Anthocyanins, flavanols, flavanones, and more. The pertinent thing in regard to the goal of this post is that flavenoids promote the production of new brain cells. That being considered, think of all the foods that you've always been told were good for your brain health. Where do you think they'd fall in the rankings? Based on data found in an article on PubMed, here are the top 10 foods that were studied in regard to their anthocyanin content:
mg per 100g
- 411: elderberry juice
- 349: aronia
- 285: bilberries
- 262: chickpeas
- 154: black currants
- 141: American bilberries
- 90: blackberries
- 75: red currants
- 63: red cabbage
- 40: raspberries
Where did your food fall on that list? Was it on the list? When I did this research and found this document, I was surprised at what I found. I never even heard of several of these foods. This list is composed of only 10 items from one graph found in this research publication. There are 5 charts that rank many foods based on each food's content of the different flavenoids graphed. Depending on the flavanoid graph that you look at, the food you thought would rank highest might have a lower rank than you thought.
Dr. Sandrine Thuret mentioned blueberries as a good source of flavenoids. But where do they fall on the charts? Blueberries weren't listed on any of the 5 charts in the linked research paper. According to this abstract, blueberries contain 7.2mg/g of anthocyanin. If you translate that number to the amount it would have at 100g of blueberries, then the result would be a whopping 720mg/100g -- blowing all the other foods on that chart completely out of the water.
During her TED talk, Thuret mentioned that dark chocolate is also neurogenerative. And, even in Janabi et al's publication containing the charts I've been referring to, dark chocolate ranks number 3 among the analyzed foods for flavanol content. The following are the 10 foods ranked by flavanol content charted in Janabi's publication:
mg per 100g of food
- Green tea: 116.15
- Black tea: 115.58
- Dark chocolate: 108.6
- Dried Cocoa: 52.73
- Black Berries: 42.5
- Cooked broad beans: 20.63
- Pecans: 15.99
- Red wine: 11.05
- Apples: 9.17
- Peaches: 8.6
Isn't it uplifting to know that red wine made it on this list of 10 high-flavanol foods? Being that dark chocolate made it to number 3, it proves that eating healthy doesn't have to be a form of deprivation.
Resveratrol
Another brain booster is resveratrol (Thuret). Resveratrol has long had a reputation for being a chemical that promotes long, healthy life. The health claims of resveratrol come with good reason, too. According to a publication originally written by Dr. Jane Higdon, this helpful compound improves vasodilation (the expansion of blood vessels) via the production of nitric oxide (NO). And, if you've read my post, "How Do Breathing Exercises Prevent Sickness?", then you know that nitric oxide is nothing to laugh at; NO actually helps kill pathogens in the upper respiratory tract.
In addition to the apparent immune system benefits and the vasodilation, resveratrol has been found in studies to provide help with protecting against many health problems: type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and even aging. What's fascinating in regard to longevity is that even when mice were on high-calorie diets, their lifespan extended to one similar to that of mice on a standard diet. This similarity in lifespan is significant because it is now known that a calorie-restricted diet significantly improves the longevity of several different animals, from bacteria to mice, and presumably humans, as well.
Now that we've elucidated some of the many benefits of resveratrol, the logical question is, "where do we get this stuff?" Red wine ranked number 8 among the 10 high-flavanol foods when we were exploring different types of flavonoids. And, right about now, red wine is starting to look like a superfood. That is because when we talk about resveratrol, it's silly not to include red wine in the conversation. If you're curious where red wine ranks among foods considered to be high in this longevity booster, the following is a list illustrating the resveratrol content of each item (Higdon):
mg of resveratrol per cup
- Pinot Noir: 0.85
- Merlot: 0.66
- Zweigelt: 0.45
- Shiraz: 0.43
- Cabernet Souvignon: 0.40
- *Boiled Peanuts: 0.32
- Red Grapes: 0.24
- Peanut butter: 0.04
- Raw Peanuts: 0.01
*Boiled peanuts had a wide range. Its maximum value was 1.28, making it potentially very significantly higher in resveratrol content than pinot noir. That statistic is mind-blowing because when you think "boiled peanuts," you think "gas station food," or, "comfort food." I always assumed that boiled peanuts were delicious, but junk food. Doing this research has been very eye-opening. That's very good to know, especially if you'd rather avoid alcohol. One lesson learned from this publication: Boiled peanuts contain more resveratrol than red wine.
Healthy Fat for Cognitive Enhancement
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One category of brain foods is a type with which most westerners are already familiar: healthy fats. There are multiple healthy fats for the brain, but in this article, let's focus on the famous omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are nutrients that are not only good for maintaining neurological health, but also help to build new nerve cells (ScienceDirect). By the end of this article, you may be surprised at where some touted high-omega-3 foods fall in the ranking.
When we talk about omega-3 fatty acids, there are 3 main fatty acids to which we are referring: alpha-linolenic acid, Eicosapentaenoic Acid, and Docosahexaenoic Acid (NIH). These are abbreviated as ALA, EPA, and DHA respectively. ALA is a short-chain fatty acid found in plant sources, such as seeds. EPA and DHA are animal-based omega-3s that are long-chain (oregonstate.edu).
What that means is that ALA (plant-based omega-3), needs to be combined together with other fats to become one of the other long-chain fatty acids. Animal-based omega-3s are already optimized for beneficial usage for the body without the body needing to scrounge for other resources to make them work. At least one article mentions that plant-based omega-3s are converted to DHA and EPA at a rate of less than 1%. The same article mentions that in some studies the conversion rate is as low as 1/10 of 1%. It is also mentioned that there has not been a single study involving humans that has shown that eating solely plant-based omega-3s has resulted in adequate production of DHA and EPA for human health.
All omega-3s are good for human health, but don't let the numbers fool you. Just because plant-based omega-3s may have high numbers does not mean that they are superior sources of omega-3s -- and, typically, they're not. But the main point in regard to the purpose of this post is that studies confirm that all 3 of these helpful fats are not only good for protecting the brain, but they also aid in building the brain's cells.
It's probably no surprise to anyone that omega-3s are good for cognitive health. So, here is a list of the top 10 foods according to omega-3 content (health.clevelandclinic):
Top Ten Foods According to Omega-3 Content (grams per ounce)
- ***Flaxseed oil: 14.52
- ***Chia seeds: 10.12
- ***Canola oil: 2.56
- Herring: 0.57
- Wild salmon: 0.53
- Anchovies: 0.45
- Bluefin tuna: 0.43
- Mackerel: 0.33
- Lake trout: 0.26
- Striped bass: 0.26
- Sardines: 0.24
***Note: If the information is true that plant-based omega-3s are only converted to DHA and EPA at a rate of 1% or less, then this means that flaxseed oil is only number 9 on this list. And canola oil comes in dead last. This implies that without professional medical supervision, many vegetarians and vegans could be dangerously overestimating how much of the daily recommended omega-3s they're actually getting. This, again, is because ALA needs to be combined together with other fats to make the required EPA and DHA that the body needs to maintain good health.
All of that dietetic information considered, when it comes to brain health, it's pretty par-for-the-course for people to mention healthy foods when talking about promoting neurological health. Now that you've read this far, hopefully, this post has been refreshing in that it has highlighted some not-so-common information regarding this subject. However, in contrast, it's less often mentioned that one thing that provides profound benefits for neurogenesis is abstinence from food.
How Fasting is Good for Your Brain
Exciting new research has discovered that abstaining from food in a healthy, controlled manner can significantly improve longevity. According to the documentary Eat, Fast, and Live Longer, fasting is not only good for preventing and fighting major diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, but it also has very good benefits for the brain. It is found that animals who had a calorie-restricted diet began to produce significantly more neurons in the brain.
When the question was posed to Professor Mark Mattson, "Why should fasting cause the growth of new brain cells?" Mattson responded that it makes sense when considering evolution. Animals that would have survived to pass on their genes would have been those that produced more brain cells when they needed them, such as in times when they didn't have food and had to figure out where they were going to get more. Thus, once you move down the timeline to where we currently are in the progress of evolution, you'd expect that the vast majority of animals are in a genetic predisposition to produce more neurons during a time of abstinence from food.
One very good resource for some very thorough research into the human diet is, of course, a documentary titled The Perfect Human Diet. It's available to be rented on YouTube. Though The Perfect Human Diet focuses mostly on what we ate as early humans, it also describes the nature of how and when we ate in the paleolithic era. The paleolithic era was the time when we as modern humans genetically first began to exist. Therefore, from a standpoint of evolution and genetics, the people we are today would be eating our healthiest if we ate a diet like the paleo diet.
As written above, it's not just about what we ate, but also how we ate. In my opinion, one very important factor with the diet is the frequency with which we consume our food. This is because the humans that survived to pass on their genes throughout the paleolithic era would have been those that were genetically designed to thrive with the availability of food that was expected during that time.
The availability of food, during the origins of man, would have been a cyclic pattern of feast and famine. Our first ancestors would have gone several hours before even finding something that could be eaten. Sometimes they would have gone a few days without a meal. Therefore, in regard to fasting, it not only makes sense that regular fasting would promote the growth of new brain cells, but it is also scientifically verified through the studies cited in this blog post.
Exercises for Growing New Brain Cells
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As with diet, it also makes sense that modern humans would thrive on physical activity similar to what early homo sapiens would have had to do in order to succeed. This is not to say that we should rub sticks together or throw spears at animals every time we want a good workout. But, in terms of intensity and duration, if our physical exercises resembled the strenuous activities of our early ancestors, they would likely yield ideal results. After all, studies have shown that health improves with HIIT compared to the results driven by prolonged cardio.
Even if you want to stick to the convention of believing that prolonged cardio activities are good for your health, and therefore your brain, then you would still agree that it's beneficial for your brain when you get your blood moving.
Pump Your Blood to Pump Your Brain
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But, is there more to it than that? Is physical exercise merely good enough to maintain what you haven't already lost? Or, is it something more powerful? According to Dr. Thuret's TED talk, physical exercise is likely more powerful than most people realize. It doesn't simply maintain the health of your neurons; physical exercise actually causes the production of new brain cells.
In the study to which Thuret was referring, the mice were exercising via a running wheel. Thuret believes that this is not to say that specifically, you have to run to gain new brain cells, but you simply need to do some physical exercise. So, hold off on that human-sized hamster wheel that you were thinking of ordering from Amazon.
Most people don't like the thought of having to do physical exercise simply for their health. The thought of exercise conjures painful images of time-costly and agonizing sessions in the gym. To many people, working out is synonymous with self-torture.
Fortunately, people such as Olaf Sorensen provide legitimate, empirical proof that some of the best workouts we can do for our health are not only brief but comfortable. The workouts to which I'm referring are high-intensity interval training sessions, which sounds painful by the name. However, Sorensen's YouTube channel is full of helpful and informative videos that demonstrate many different ways to perform HIIT, and many of them do not appear to be grueling, sweaty torture sessions. In fact, Sorensen even mentions in at least one of his lectures that his HIIT barely causes him to break a sweat, if he sweats at all.
What's even more exciting is that the idea of exercise being good for your brain is another one of those things that ancient people have already mastered. Thousands of years ago, people were already practicing and teaching very powerful techniques to make people's minds sharper. But these teachings have been largely forgotten, only to be maintained by a few cultures that remained loyal to their traditions. It's only now that modern science has begun to shine a light on the amazing benefits of some very simple, yet effective, exercises for boosting brain health.
The best part is: these ancient exercises to produce more neurons are simple and quick exercises such as a certain yoga exercise, a specific type of pranayama, and a very simple practice called neurobics, which doesn't even have to take a minute of your time. In other words, physical exercises to boost neuron growth can be simple, quick, and easy.
How to Do Super Brain Yoga
Thoppukaranam | Super Brain Yoga
If you want an exercise that is proven to boost the growth of cells in your brain, and is also quick and easy, then you may want to consider starting and ending your days with "Super Brain Yoga," also called "Thoppukaranam." This is one of those ancient treasures that has survived into modern times and is little-known to the majority of the world.
Thoppukaranam is a Sanskrit name that basically describes holding both ears and doing squats. This yogic exercise is used to offer prayers to Lord Ganesha. It also has been known, for thousands of years, to be effective at improving one's ability to think. And yes, because this exercise has made it into DonnyPodcast.com as an exercise to improve brain health, it is an exercise that has been studied and has been proven to build your brain.
Here's a basic explanation of how to do Thoppukaranam:
- Stand up straight while facing east.
- Touch your palate with your tongue.
- Take a few deep breaths.
- Hold your right ear with your left hand.
- Keep your left elbow as close to your chest as possible.
- Hold your left ear with your right hand.
- Keep your heels together (if it feels comfortable and safe).
- Keep the front of your left foot away from the front of your right foot (making a "V" with your feet).
- Exhale as your squat down.
- Inhale as you come up.
- Do this as many times as is comfortable.
- Do not overdo this.
- If you begin to feel lightheadedness or any other alarming symptoms, stop.
Note: The steps above are very basic. There are many nuances to Thoppukaranam. In some demonstrations, you may have to face a different direction, depending on your age. Some explanations state that women keep their right arm close to their chest and their left arm over their right arm when holding the ears. Yet, there are many historic photos that show female students using the exact same hand and arm positioning as males. One doctor who has had massive success with improving the cognitive function of his clients is shown on video telling a patient to inhale while going down and exhale while coming up.
The bottom line is: don't stress too much about all the details. Apparently, doing Super Brain Yoga is effective for improving your cognitive function, regardless. Like in Reiki, Qigong, massage, and life coaching, as long as you are giving it your most diligent effort and truly set the right intentions, you should expect good results.
How Thirumoolar Pranayama Benefits the Brain
Thirumoolar Pranayama
One may assume that, since breathing is perceived to be so simplistic, one breathing exercise would affect the body by the same mechanisms as another breathing exercise. What fascinates me about pranayama (breathing exercises) is the sheer diversity of the ways that each different exercise provides benefits to human health.
One set of pranayama exercises has been studied and found to cause your brain to make new neurological cells. The form of yoga in which those pranayama techniques are found is Thirumoolar Yoga. Thirumoolar Yoga was described by a man named Thirumoolar. Thirumoolar was a siddhar, which is one of only 18 wise men who have developed siddhi, an ascension that includes the attainment of spiritual powers. He wrote a tome called The Tirumantiram. Within this ancient text, Thirumoolar yoga is described. One aspect of this yoga is Thirumoolar Pranayama.
For millennia people have followed Thiramoolar's teachings and achieved great health benefits. Up until recently, Thiramoolar Pranayama has only been proven to work via trial and error: people wanted its benefits, practiced the teachings, and obtained the expected benefits.
Fortunately for us in the modern era, a biochemist by the name of Dr. Sundaravadivel Balasubramanian has brought this ancient practice to the light of current-day science to analyze whether or not this practice does, in fact, provide benefits to human health. What he discovered is that performing Thiramoolar Pranayama causes the body to increase its production of nerve growth factor, thus causing the production of new neurons.
Then, how is this type of pranayama done? I am no expert in Thiramoolar Pranayama. So, let's just take Dr. Balasubramanian's word for it:
Video by Good for Life
For a step-by-step explanation of how Thiramoolar Pranayama is done, this is how to do Thiramoolar Pranayama:
- Decide what your brief mantra will be for this exercise.
- Example: "I am a genius."
- Make a "dog's head" with your hand.
- Keep your middle and ring fingers curled in.
- Only extend your thumb and your ring and pinky fingers.
- Close one nostril by pressing on it with your thumb.
- Inhale for 2 mental mantra chants (Don't chant out loud. Chant in your head.)
- Close both your nostrils by gently pinching with your Thumb as well as your ring and pinky fingers.
- Hold your breath in this position for 8 chants.
- Release the nostril that your thumb was pressing, so that it can open again.
- Exhale through the thumb nostril for 4 chants.
- Now repeat the process by starting the inhale with the nostril you just exhaled from. Again it will be a 2-chant inhale.
- This will mean that you will then exhale out of the ring finger nostril. And inhale through the ring finger nostril to start the next cycle.
- Continue this 2-8-4 breathing pattern for as long as you desire, as long as you feel safe and you don't feel any alarming symptoms (like lightheadedness) while performing this exercise.
Note: If you can't comfortably do 2-8-4, then feel free to adjust the timing to something that is safe and comfortable for you. Eventually, you may adapt and become capable of easily and routinely doing 2-8-4.
Growth is Not Comfortable. Challenge Yourself.
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Another way to grow the cells necessary to improve your cognitive abilities is via neurobics. Neurobics combines the terms "neuron" and "aerobics." According to Marisa Peer, a leading expert on reversing the age of your brain, neurobics are mental exercises that result in making your brain younger. According to Peer, many studies were done on these mental exercises that have demonstrated reductions all across the board in the biological ages of the participants who were doing neurobics.
How to Do Neurobics
One awesome thing about neurobics is that it doesn't have to be any kind of time-consuming, strenuous, or pretentious activity. Essentially, to perform this brain-building practice, all you have to do is maintain the attitude that you are young and find a way to challenge yourself.
10 Ways to Do Neurobics
- Do a routine task in a way that you're not used to (brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand while standing on one foot).
- Learn a new hobby.
- Try to regain proficiency at something you used to be good at when you were younger (playing the ukulele, for example).
- Start working toward doing a physical activity that you used to be very good at when you were younger (Ex: dancing, if you used to dance a lot as a kid).
- Learn another language. Resources like Duolingo provide language-learning resources for free that are fun to use.
- Learn information about a subject that you find interesting. A good example is this website, DonnyPodcast.com, where everything I post is intended to be useful and interesting information regarding holistic wellness and taking care of the world we live in.
- Practice a new skill. YouTube and Udemy are a couple of really good resources for learning countless skills, from singing to IT certifications and more.
- When you want to get to a specific room in your house, try to get there by taking a different path.
- Play games that require a lot of thinking and/or challenge your memory, like chess or *Mahjong. Studies have shown that when people with dementia began to play Mahjong, they began to show significant improvement in cognitive abilities.
- Try to figure out alternative ways to use the technology that you routinely use. For example, you can open Google by its IP address instead of by its FQDN. This would require you to learn what an FQDN is, how to ping Google, how to obtain Google's IP address in IPv4 format so that you can more easily enter that into the browser, and what IPv4 is 😉. In addition, it's going to be awkward, and mentally challenging to do that compared to just clicking on your browser, typing in "goo," and then hitting "enter."
*As the theme with neurobics is to challenge your mind and step outside of your comfort zone, Mahjong would be especially good for most Americans as it is a game this is completely alien to most people in the US.
Your Compass for Finding Neurogenesis
In closing, all of this information on ways to promote neurogenesis may seem like a lot to remember, no pun intended. However, there is no need to worry if you think this is a lot of information to keep track of. There is a very simple way to guide yourself onto the path of neurogenesis.
Dr. Thuret explains, that there is a definite link between a lack of neurogenesis and the presence of depression. Thuret says that the link is so reliable that antidepressant drugs will fail to work if the production of new neurons is blocked. The research shows that this inverse link between the growth of new brain cells and depression is so strong that it seems that you almost cannot improve mood without improving neurogenesis.
Therefore, as Thuret explains, many of the things that improve our mood are proven in studies to boost the production of neurons in the adult brain.
Ways to Boost Your Mood and Your Brain
- Sex
- Having a fun dinner with friends
- Enjoying **foods that boost your mood
- Staying physically active
- Getting plenty of sleep
- Setting goals and sticking to them until they're accomplished
- Consuming healthy meals and eating in health-conducive amounts
- Learning new and interesting things
- Developing a new skill
- Relaxing and/or meditating
- Enjoying some time in nature
** Some critical thinking should be used when "enjoying food." This concept specifically refers to foods that make you feel good in the long run, not junk food. For example, people might love sugary snacks, energy drinks, and a plate full of pasta. But, they enjoy it because of the "reward" feeling it gives them as instant gratification. Using food in this way is literally taking a drug to try to achieve the desired effect, complete with side effects.
** People literally build a tolerance to certain foods and get addicted. The mind begins to demand unhealthy foods, not because that's what should be consumed, but because of the chemical imbalance the food addiction causes. Therefore, when considering item number 3, think of foods that truly make you feel good. One example from my own personal experience is a plate of lean meat and veggies. When my diet is very clean and devoid of alcohol, caffeine, and excessive carbs, I feel very good -- even better than any addictive food has ever made me feel.
To summarize, it's almost like the simplistic wisdom of our grandparents was far more true than we ever knew: Do what makes you happy.
Other Resources From DonnyPodcast
I always like to describe my blog as the central hub of all of the content that I produce. Everything I make has something to do with holistic wellness, including the appreciation of nature. Please take a look at my YouTube channel, Instagram, and Podcast.
Youtube: Donny Podcast
Instagram: Podrasky_Holistics
Podcast: Benevolent Vibes
If you have tried any of these methods for improving our cognitive performance and have had success with them, please let me know in the comment section of this post. Thanks for reading.
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